National Panel of Assessors (NPA)

Evolution Research is a current member of the NPA and has conducted Supported Wage Assessments (SWS) since the system’s inception. Evolution Research has delivered Ongoing Support Assessments (OGS), SWS and Workplace Modification Assessments (WMS) services throughout Australia whilst maintaining independence and delivering high quality reports. Evolution Research is an established leader in providing independent assessment and training services to the disability employment sector for 25 years and has been engaged by the Department to provide advice and conduct the Review of the Supported Wage System for People with Mental Illness in 2012 as well as many other disability employment related projects.

Evolution Research has conducted over 5000 supported wage assessments, 7000 ongoing support assessments and 150 workplace modification assessments.  All assessments were carried out independently and to the highest quality, passing all Departmental audits of our work.

Our in-depth knowledge of the rationale for OSA, SWS, WMS and disability employment sector services ensures that our team of consultants collect all necessary information to make independent and accurate recommendations.  All assessments carried out by Evolution Research address and collect information on the following aspects of a participant’s placement, using a structured approach to ensure appropriate information is gathered and the correct level of support is recommended.

National Panel of
Assessor Training

(Supported Wage System and Ongoing Support Assessments)

This training is aimed at consolidating the information presented in the DSS online SWS and OSA training modules.  This two day training provides hands-on real life examples and scenarios to equip assessors to complete their role as independent assessors whilst maintaining the key principles of assessment - validity, reliability and fairness.  The Supported Wage System Training and Ongoing Support Training are two day face to face courses.  Indicative training outline is presented on the right side.

SWS Assessment Overview
(Day 1)

This session provides an overview of the assessment process and the role of the Assessor and how they collaborate to ensure the assessment principles are achieved. This session will help ensure that stakeholders are provided with a clear direction of the SWS assessment process.

  • SWS assessments in Open Employment vs SWS in ADE’s (assessor focus)

  • Employee Capacity – disability impact, task and productivity

  • Task Analysis: Identifying Duty and Task Breakdown and how to record

  • Applying supervision adjustment to employees – using decision making process

Assessment Observations and Data Collection (Day 2)

This session is critical to assisting staff to appropriately set and assess to valid and reliable benchmarks to ensure assessments are fair, valid and reliable. This is a practical session conducted during production.

  • Assessment planning and preparation

  • Assessment of appropriate and/or unique tasks

    • Determine the duration and method of timing. Time based vs unit based.

    • Establishing benchmarks

    • Conducting observations and data collection

    • Collecting productivity data

  • How data is incorporated into the wage assessment tool, including employer data

  • Productivity Calculations

  • Trouble shooting

  • Question time