Building a stronger, more sustainable Inclusive Employment Australia sector
Inclusive Employment Australia (IEA) represents a significant investment in improving employment outcomes for people with disability. As the program continues to mature following its commencement in November 2025, providers are adapting to a new operating environment, evolving service expectations and changing financial, workforce and caseload dynamics.
To support the sector through this transition, Disability Employment Investments (DEInvestments), in partnership with Disability Employment Australia (DEA) and Ability Roundtable, is developing a national provider benchmarking study for IEA providers.
The project will establish a trusted, sector-led benchmarking capability across three core areas:
service quality and participant outcomes
operational performance and workforce structures
financial performance and organisational sustainability
Participating providers will be able to compare their performance with relevant peer organisations and better understand how their service models, cost structures and operational settings align with broader sector trends.
Why benchmarking matters
At present, there is no consistent, sector-wide mechanism for comparing performance across the service, operational and financial dimensions of IEA delivery. This limits the sector’s ability to identify emerging pressures, understand variation between providers, share effective practice and build a clear evidence base about what is working.
Benchmarking creates greater visibility to support learning, informed decision-making and continuous improvement.
By bringing together consistent and comparable data, the study will help providers:
identify organisational strengths and opportunities for improvement
understand operational and financial pressures earlier
make more informed strategic and investment decisions
learn from leading practices across the sector
strengthen service quality and organisational sustainability
By the sector, for the sector
A central principle of the project is that the benchmarking framework will be shaped by the sector itself. Providers will help determine the measures that are most meaningful and useful to their organisations, ensuring the study reflects the realities of delivering employment services under IEA.
Ability Roundtable brings extensive experience delivering secure, provider-led benchmarking across the disability sector. Its approach combines confidential organisational reporting, comparative analysis and communities of practice that enable providers to explore the data, share innovations and learn from one another.
The benchmarking study is intended to become more than a one-off report. Over time, it will support a stronger culture of collaboration, transparency and evidence-informed improvement across the IEA sector, helping providers strengthen their organisations while contributing to better employment outcomes for people with disability.
Interested in participating?
DEInvestments, DEA and Ability Roundtable are inviting expressions of interest from IEA providers that would like to learn more about participating in the benchmarking study.
To register your interest or request further information, please contact:
Kylie van Luyn
Head of Strategy, Disability Employment Investments
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