Slide 1—Career Transition Assistance (CTA) Trial 2018-2020 Request for Proposal
Good morning/afternoon.
My name is ______from ______and my copresenter today is ______from ______and we are both from the Department of Jobs and Small Business.
I’d like to welcome you to today’s information session on the Request for Proposal for the Career Transition Assistance Trial2018–2020 – also called the CTA Trial.
I would like to respectfully acknowledge the traditional owners and custodians of the lands on which we meet today, and pay respect to their elders, past, present and future. I would like to extend that respect to other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who are present.
Today we will provide you with information on the CTA Trial. We will also provide you with details on the purchasing process and information for the Request for Proposal that was released on 22 January 2018.
The Department of Jobs and Small Business is committed to ensuring the CTA Trial purchasing process is conducted in a fair and transparent manner. The Department has appointed the law firm Maddocks as the independent Probity Adviser to assist and monitor the Department’s compliance with probity principles.
Note: If Maddocks is present, please introduce them using this sentence: ______is/are with us today from Maddocks.
We recognise that you will have questions and we will answer as many as possible today. However, there may be some questions that we need to take on notice and come back to you with a response. Responses to questions will be published on the Employment Services Purchasing Information website. Respondents are encouraged to regularly check this site for publication of new responses.
If you have further questions following today’s session, send them by email to the Employment Services Purchasing Hotline. A slide at the end of today’s presentation has the contact details for both the Employment Services Purchasing Information website and the Employment Services Purchasing Hotline. The addresses are also set out in the Request for Proposal under ‘Contact Details’, which is available from AusTender and 360Pro. 360Pro is the tool the Department uses for purchasing submissions.
A copy of the PowerPoint slides used in this presentation will be available on the Department’s website after the last information session.
For Roadshows: Cover housekeeping issues, such as fire/emergency exits, turning off mobile phones, etc.
I will now hand over to ______who will take you through the program design elements of the presentation.
Slide 2—Presentation Overview
Thank you ______.
We will start today’s presentation by providing some background information on the CTA Trial, by describing key features of the program including its objective and key elements, participant eligibility, referral process and fees.
We will then discuss service coverage, responding to the Selection Criteria, probity and purchasing arrangements, how to lodge a response and key dates.
Slide 3—Career Transition Assistance
CTA is part of the Australian Government’s $110 million Mature Age Employment package announced in the 2017-18 Federal Budget, along with the Expansion and Enhancement of the National Work Experience Programme and the Pathway to Work Pilots. CTA is for people aged 50 years and older and will provide opportunities for mature age people to identify and articulate transferable skills, increase job readiness and target job search to local industries with available jobs.
Note – In the bottom left of the slides are references to the Request for Proposal.
Slide 4—Career Transition Assistance
The CTA Trial will run from Monday 2 July 2018 to Friday 26 June 2020 in five Trial Regions, before a national rollout in July 2020. The five Trial Regions are:
•Ballarat, Victoria
•Somerset, Queensland
•Central West, New South Wales
•Adelaide South, South Australia
•Perth North, Western Australia.
The CTA Trial Request for Proposal opened on 22 January 2018 and closes at 12.00 noon (Canberra time) on 19 February 2018.
Further information can be found in the Request for Proposal and the Frequently Asked Questions document available from the Employment Services Purchasing Information website.
Appendix E of the Request for Proposal provides details of the five Trial Regions.
Slide 5—CTA Objectives
I would like to provide an overview of the objectives of CTA, noting that further detailed information on these objectives can be found in the Request for Proposal and the Frequently Asked Questions document
The objectives of CTA are to provide a high quality and individually tailored service to Participants.
In particular, this will include:
•supporting Participants to increase their confidence in the skills and experience they have, and building their resilience to continue looking for work especially where they have been unemployed for a long time
•helping Participants to increase their understanding of the opportunities available in their local labour market
•facilitating engagement with local employers and explore different occupations
•developing Participants ICT skills with core digital literacy capabilities
•supporting Participants to better tailor their job applications
preparing a tailored Career Pathway Plan outlining the steps a Participant will need to pursue employment opportunities (when completing the Tailored Career Assistance Element).
Slide 6—CTA Elements
CTA comprises two elements—Tailored Career Assistance and Functional Digital Literacy. I will cover the individual components over the next few slides.
Providers are expected to provide both elements; however, they may sub-contract out any part of CTA.
Further information about this can be found in the Request for Proposal and the Frequently Asked Questions document.
Slide 7—Tailored Career Assistance Element (1)
The Tailored Career Assistance Element has a number of core components which must be delivered. These include:
•undertaking an Individual Career Pathway Assessment for each Participant
•exploring Participant’s goals and motivations
•understanding the local job market and identifying suitable opportunities
•exploring and translating the Participant’s transferable skills
•often mature age people have a wide range of skills and experience that are not well articulated and do not appear on their CVs.
Slide 8—Tailored Career Assistance Element (2)
•improving and tailoring resumes
•navigating the job application process, including online applications
•practicing and enhancing interview skills, particularly when applying for jobs in new industries
•experiencing different industries
•providing ongoing support for up to three months following the end of Tailored Career Assistance.
Slide 9—Functional Digital Literacy Element
The Functional Digital Literacy Element has a number of core components. At a minimum, the following must be covered:
•getting online and using general search tools
•applying for jobs online
•social-networking platforms
•navigating smartphones and tablets
•basic desktop computer publishing
•setting up and using an email account
•editing and uploading a resume.
Slide 10—Referral and Eligibility (1)
Referral to CTA is via a jobactive Provider only.
Depending on their needs, a Participant may be referred by the jobactive Provider to one or normally both elements of CTA.
A network of jobactive Providers operates across 1700 locations in Australia to provide employment services to employers and job seekers.
New job seekers on income support will have their first contact with Centrelink, who will assess their needs for jobactive services. Centrelink will refer the job seeker to a service ‘stream’ depending on their readiness for work.
This approach guides the level of support a job seeker will receive from a jobactive Provider. For instance:
•Stream A job seekers are the most job ready.
•Stream B job seekers need their jobactive Provider to play a greater role to help them become job ready and will be referred for case management support.
•Stream C job seekers have a combination of work capacity and personal issues that need to be addressed and will get case management support so that they can take up and keep a job.
If still unemployed after 12 months, job seekers will generally start Work for the Dole or another approved activity.
Slide 11—Referral and Eligibility (2)
CTA is a voluntary program.
It is open to all job seekers aged 50 and over who are registered with a jobactive Provider and who are located in one of the five CTA Trial Regions.
This includes job seekers in all jobactive Streams and also includes those not in receipt of an Income Support Payment.
Slide 12—Fees (1)
Payment for the Tailored Career Assistance Element is $1200 per Participant GST inclusive and $1500 GST inclusive where a regional loading applies.
The regional loading applies to the Ballarat, Victoria and Central West, New South Wales Regions.
Slide 13—Fees (2)
Payment for the Functional Digital Literacy Element is $600 GST inclusive and $750 GST inclusive where a regional loading applies.
Slide 14—Fees (3)
Payment will be made by the referring jobactive Provider once the CTA Provider has had the initial meeting with the Participant and on receipt of an invoice from the CTA Provider.
Slide 15—Responding to Selection Criteria – General
When responding to the Request for Proposal, the response must address all Selection Criteria and be submitted on the relevant forms.
Responses that are not received on the correct forms may, at the Department’s sole discretion, be excluded from the evaluation process. This is the minimum content and format requirement.
Respondents should address each of the sub-criteria under each Selection Criterion. Failure to address each of the sub-criteria may have a negative impact on the assessment of a response in relation to that Selection Criterion. Respondents should also include any information they consider will support their response to the Selection Criterion in that Selection Criterion response.
Where a character limit has been specified for a selection criterion, the inclusion of the text beyond the limit may not be considered under the assessment process. Character limits include letters, numbers, spaces, punctuation and carriage returns.
If any elements of the Career Transition Assistance service will be subcontracted, the Respondent must describe these arrangements in the relevant Selection Criterion and complete and lodge the Subcontractors Form.
Slide 16—Selection Criterion 1
Selection Criterion 1—Governance and organisational capability.
Your organisation must describe (once at the organisational level):
- Your organisation’s structure, governance, risk management and reporting frameworks that will support the efficient and effective delivery of CTA.
- The qualifications and experience of your organisation’s key personnel that are relevant to the delivery of CTA. This should include the names, qualifications and experience working with mature age people, of all key personnel who your organisation proposes will undertake the role of a Facilitator, and evidence that those qualifications are recognised in the career/professional development/coaching sector.
- Your organisation’s capability to deliver services in the proposed CTA Trial Region(s) to meet initial and ongoing demand for CTA from July 2018.
- Your organisation’s demonstrated capacity in working with mature age people in a culturally competent and effective manner.
- How your organisation can provide economic benefit to the Australian economy if it is selected as a Provider.
Selection Criterion 1 has a limit of 10,000 characters (not words), including punctuation and spaces, and will be assessed on a Pass or Fail basis. If a Response is assessed as a fail, it may not proceed any further in the assessment process.
Slide 17—Selection Criterion 2 (1)
Selection Criterion 2—Ability to design and deliver CTA and achieve the intended outcomes
Your organisation should describe (once at the organisational level) the organisation’s proposed method of delivery of CTA, and examples where relevant, to meet the objectives of CTA, including:
- Where and how the service will be delivered, including the location(s) and physical address(es).
- Your organisation’s experience in delivering similar services or support and how this performance demonstrates your capacity to deliver CTA.
- Your organisation’s approach to working with mature age people, including those from diverse backgrounds and with varied needs, and the rationale for your service delivery design for CTA.
- The specific way you intend to help mature age people identify local labour market opportunities, explore and translate transferrable skills, increase confidence and employability, and the rationale for this.
- The specific way you intend to deliver both the Tailored Career Assistance Element and the Functional Digital Literacy Element, including providing Participants with access to suitable technology, your organisation’s experience in delivering services to mature age people, and proposed subcontracting arrangements if applicable
- The specific way your organisation will support evaluation of the CTA Trial.
Slide 18—Selection Criterion 2 (2)
Selection Criterion 2 has a limit of 20,000 characters, including punctuation and spaces, and has a weighting of 50 per cent.
Slide 19—Selection Criterion 3 (1)
Selection Criterion 3—Demonstrated knowledge and capacity to identify local labour market opportunities and issues, and support mature age people to become more competitive in that market.
Your organisation should describe (once for each CTA Trial Region for which it is offering to deliver CTA services) the organisation’s experience and/or capacity to identify local labour market opportunities and issues, and support mature age people to become more competitive in that market. Examples should be provided where relevant. This should include:
- Your organisation’s demonstrated awareness of local labour market issues in the relevant CTA Trial Region, including how the local market has changed over time, available opportunities, and the future changes to industry in your region.
- Your organisation’s demonstrated connections, or strategies to make connections, with regional development organisations and industry bodies within the relevant CTA Trial Region, and the way in which your organisation will engage with these to support the intent of the CTA Trial.
- Understanding of the employment-related needs of Participants residing in the CTA Trial Region in which you propose to deliver services, including Participants with varying levels of employment experience and length of unemployment
Slide 20—Selection Criterion 3 (2)
- How your organisation will identify and work with local Employers and provide industry engagement opportunities for CTA Participants as part of the program (providing at least two examples). Consideration should be given to the broader Mature Age Employment package, including Pathway to Work Pilots and the National Work Experience Programme.
- How your organisation will work with Participants to identify their employment related goals and how you will help them to achieve these goals.
- Should the Respondent be delivering employment services to government or services connected to other employment service(s), the Respondent must clearly demonstrate how the CTA services it will deliver will be different and distinguishable from the services it currently provides, and how it will ensure a clear physical delineation between the CTA services and the employment service(s) as per the requirements specified in Section 2.5 of the Request for Proposal.
- How your organisation has worked and/or will work with (other) jobactive Provider and Provider of different employment services and training programs to achieve thedesired outcomes of CTA.
Selection Criterion 3 has a limit of 15,000 characters, including punctuation and spaces, and has a weighting of 50 per cent.
I will now hand over to ______who will discuss the probity and purchasing arrangements.
Slide 21—Probity and Purchasing—Overview
Thank you ______.
In this part of the session I will cover:
•the objectives of the Request for Proposal process, including factors that will be taken into account in assessing value for money
•the Probity principles
•the Communication Protocol
•some aspects of electronic lodgement, including use of 360Pro
•the Request for Proposal closing date and time.
I will also cover the key points about preparing a proposal and the assessment process, including the evaluation process.
You are strongly encouraged to read the Request for Proposal as it sets out the definitive requirements.
Slide 22—Probity Principles
The Department is committed to ensuring that the CTA Trial purchasing process is conducted in a fair and transparent manner and will be undertaken in accordance with the Probity Principles outlined on the slide.
As mentioned earlier, the Department has appointed Maddocks as the independent external Probity Adviser toassist and monitor the Department’s compliance with probity principles.
The role of the external Probity Adviser is to:
•advise the Delegate on the probity and integrity of the Request for Proposal process