Inclusive Employment Australia (IEA)

Inclusive Employment Australia (IEA) is the new Australian Government specialist disability employment program, that replaced the Disability Employment Services (DES) on November 1, 2025.

The program aims to provide tailored support to help people with disability, injury, or health conditions to prepare for, find and keep meaningful work. It features include personalised plans, flexible support intensity, and ongoing assistance for participants to build their careers.

The program places participants at the centre of the service. It aims to improve and simplify services for people looking for work, as well as employers and service providers.

More people will now have access to the IEA program including:

• people with an assessed work capacity of less than 8 hours per week

• voluntary participants not getting a Centrelink income support payment.

There will no longer be a two-year limit on the time people can stay in the program.

The IEA program has an improved service offer including:

• intensive support for people who are preparing to be ready to work

• flexible support for people who don’t need intensive services.

Features of the program for participants include:

• Participants can choose their own provider.

• Participants can move to a new provider at any time.

• Participants don’t need to get government payments to be in the program.

• There will be more providers skilled in working with people with different disabilities or from diverse backgrounds.

• Providers will be more responsive to your needs.

• No time limits for servicing – participants can stay with their provider for as long as they need and can choose to be on the program even if they only work a few hours a week.

This Federal contract is managed by the Department of Social Services (DSS).