Abstract
The National Information Management System for open employment services for people with a disability (NIMS) has been operating in Australia since January 1995. It is a system for collecting information on client and job characteristics, and open employment support received for all clients of these services. The number of active clients recorded on the NIMS database has increased from 18,527 in 1995 to 27,361 in 1997. In each of the three years over this period about one-half of all clients were supported in one or more jobs during the year. Generally there is a high peak period of support provided at the time a client gains a job, and the level of support declines with increasing time in the job. However, patterns of support, along with measures of job experience, vary considerably with client characteristics such as age, sex, disability group, presence of other disability, and assistance required for activities of daily living.