Australians living with a disability and their employers will be eligible for a funding boost to make workplaces safer and more accessible.
Following the landmark jobs and skills summit last year, the federal government committed to increasing work opportunities for people with a disability and will ramp up funding for workplace Auslan services and building modifications.
It will be the first change to Employment Assistance Fund (EAF) caps in 13 years. The EAF provides financial assistance for work-related modifications, equipment, disability awareness training and Auslan interpreting.
Under the changes, the annual funding cap for work-related Auslan interpreting services will double from $6000 to $12,000.
The building modifications cap will also double from $30,000 to $60,000 and can help fund lifts, wheelchair accessible toilets, access ramps and automatic doors in an effort to remove workplace barriers.
An existing requirement to make funding applications enabling Auslan interpreters to be at job interviews, site visits and information sessions will also be scrapped.
Instead, applications will now be allowed up to five days post-interview or job-related activity.
Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth is set to formally announce the funding changes in Adelaide on Thursday.
She said the unemployment rate for Australians with a disability had not changed in 30 years but she hoped the funding changes would improve that.
"With this funding increase, jobseekers can be confident they have the financial assistance to access the Auslan interpreting services they need and that any modifications required to their future workplace are able to be carried out," she said.
Ms Rishworth said in the past employers sometimes chose not to go ahead with a modification if they couldn't afford to cover the difference once they hit the $30,000 limit.
"No one should miss out on a job interview, test or information session because they could not access Auslan interpreting services or their employer couldn't afford modifications required," she said.
