The $4 million Innovative Workforce Fund opens nationally today, and will be accepting applications until Monday, 27 March 2017.

The Innovative Workforce Fund is open to any organisation, business or individual in Australia with original, impactful project ideas that will engage, develop and utilise the disability workforce in order to meet the needs of NDIS participants.

National Disability Services (NDS) has been appointed to manage the Innovative Workforce Fund, an initiative of the Department of Social Services with an allocation from the Sector Development Fund, National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

Applicants must address one or more of the following four Fund priority areas:

• Stream 1: Redesign support worker roles and test new work roles, including strategies to improve access to allied health-related supports in areas of thin supply such as shared workforce and allied health assistant models.
• Stream 2: Streamlined administration practices such as human resources, recruitment and retention of staff, including work arrangements that demonstrate more effective workforce utilisation, supervision and support.
• Stream 3: Role of technology in workforce practices.
• Stream 4: Workforce development in rural and remote areas (including Indigenous workers) and strategies to build capacity to attract and develop the workforce in thin markets.

Applicants can apply for one of three project types, ranging from $30,000 to $200,000 per project, depending on the type.

The Fund will be distributed in two rounds in 2017 with final project reports completed by May 2018.

Submit your Round 1 Application Form on the IWF website.

For more information, contact Leila Wright, Project Manager, Innovative Workforce Fund, National Disability Services, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..