You Didn’t Win, Now What?
Rebuild, Refocus, and Get Ready for What’s Next. Our first two blogs explored how the IEA landscape is changing, and what successful providers need to do next. But what if your organisation wasn’t selected? This blog is for you.
The Inclusive Employment Australia (IEA) contract outcomes have now landed. For some organisations, the result has been a win. For others, it’s been a tough blow.
If you didn’t win or retain an IEA licence, it’s understandable to feel frustrated. But this isn’t the end of the road. And it’s certainly not a reason to give up. What you do next matters.
What is Inclusive Employment Australia?
Inclusive Employment Australia (IEA) is the new specialist disability employment program, replacing Disability Employment Services (DES) from 1 November 2025.
Under IEA, 83 providers have been licensed to deliver participant-centred employment services, bringing a mix of specialist and generalist providers to the national network. This includes 23-24 new providers and 60 retained. There are 24 providers exiting disability employment services (source: Disability Employment Australia).
If your organisation is not among the 83 selected, now is the time to reflect, regroup, and chart a new course. Here are our recommendations on what to do next.
Step 1: Get clarity
In time, you’ll be able to request a formal debrief. Sometimes that process is insightful. Other times, you may be left without a clear answer. That’s why it’s equally important to run your own internal debrief.
Approach it with honesty and openness. This isn’t about assigning blame, it’s about understanding what factors may have influenced the outcome and how to improve for next time.
Use these questions to help structure your debrief:
Was there underperformance in recent years?
Were there compliance issues, service gaps, or missed opportunities to innovate?
Did your proposal genuinely reflect your organisation’s current capability, or did it rely on outdated assumptions?
Were your chosen Employment Service Areas (ESAs) realistic based on your footprint and track record?
Did your leadership, board, or frontline teams reflect the communities you aim to serve?
Was lived experience meaningfully embedded in service design, delivery, and governance?
Were staff adequately trained and supported, and did that come through in your bid?
Could a past issue, breach, or reputational concern have influenced the result?
Answering these questions with humility and strategic intent can help you shape a stronger bid, a more focused direction, or a compelling case for partnership in future opportunities. If you need an independent facilitator to conduct your tender debrief, get in touch with our team.
Step 2: Support your staff and protect your reputation
A contract loss can create uncertainty across your organisation. Staff may begin looking for new roles, particularly with successful IEA providers, where they can continue working in the sector or supporting participants they already know.
Where possible, keep key team members engaged and supported. Even if you are winding down disability employment services, you may still be delivering other programs where their skills are needed. If staff do move on, support them in that transition. Facilitate introductions, share opportunities, and conduct thoughtful exit debriefs to understand what knowledge, relationships, and capabilities you may need to retain or rebuild later.
At the same time, focus on protecting your organisation’s reputation. In many communities, you’ve spent years building trust with employers, schools, referral networks, and service partners. Those relationships don’t automatically shift to the new provider, and they don’t simply vanish either.
Be proactive. Reach out to your partners. Let them know what’s changing, what isn’t, and how they can stay connected to your work. If you’re exploring subcontracting or future partnerships, these long-standing relationships may be your most valuable asset.
This is also a time when your organisational culture is on full display. How you treat staff, communicate with community and employer partners, and carry yourself in the sector will shape how others see you in the months and years ahead. Be transparent. Be collaborative. Be guided by your values. Your future opportunities will be influenced as much by reputation as by readiness.
Step 3: Use this time to rebuild capability
Now is the time to invest in your people and your systems.
Training isn’t just for program delivery. It builds morale, improves retention, and prepares your team for what’s next. For example, if community and employer engagement were areas of weakness, start closing those gaps now.
This also applies to leadership, governance, and bid strategy. Strengthen your value proposition, rebuild your case study library, and revisit your data and evaluation frameworks.
Step 4: Refresh your strategy and positioning
The IEA landscape has changed. That opens up new possibilities.
Consider:
Could you partner with a current IEA licence holder to deliver localised support or specialist services?
Are there adjacent funding streams, like NDIS employment supports or local jobs programs, where you can apply your expertise?
Can you transfer existing leases to new providers if they are no longer provided?
Can you show support for your employer partners by facilitating introductions?
Do you need to revisit your service footprint or organisational structure ahead of the next funding round?
Let go of what no longer fits and refocus on where your organisation can have the greatest impact.
Step 5: Plan your comeback early
It’s never too early to plan for the next tender. Transition to Work and Workforce Australia will come around quickly and you have a window of opportunity, likely between 18-24 months, to strengthen your position.
Use this time wisely:
Update your workforce strategy and leadership structure to reflect the evolving job market and program expectations
Deepen your connection with lived experience voices in governance and design to ensure your programs genuinely meet community needs
Strengthen local partnerships and build an evidence base that demonstrates your impact on employment outcomes
Refine your future bid strategy using insights from tender debriefs and emerging program guidelines
Build your organisational capability with intention and for long-term impact, not just compliance.
Careful and deliberate planning now, well before procurement starts again, gives you the best possible lead time.
Prospert can help
If you’re navigating disappointment or uncertainty, Prospert offers practical support to help you regroup and move forward. Our services include:
Business Intelligence: Turn data into real performance power
Business Transformation: Deliver exceptional contract outcomes
Learning and Development: Practical training that delivers measurable performance
Operational Improvements: Empowering teams to achieve better employment outcomes
Social Impact: Demonstrate how your work changes lives
Strategic Planning: Build clear strategies that drive real results
Back-up: Practical plans to navigate change and growth
Tender Management: Find the winning recipe to grant and tender success
We’ve worked with providers at every stage, before, during, and after major contract transitions. We know how to help you turn a setback into a strategy. Contact us for an initial conversation about your specific needs