Parent Pathways 101-24081353

Parent Pathways is a voluntary and personalised service for parents and carers. The service focuses on offering flexible and individualised support to help customers plan for and pursue their study, training and work goals.

Parent Pathways participants can choose to participate, leave, take a break or come back at any time without it affecting their income support payment.

Parent Pathways is run by Parent Pathways providers and managed by the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR). Services Australia supports Parent Pathways by:

• identifying income support customers who are eligible for Parent Pathways
• informing them about Parent Pathways
• sharing the customer's information with a Parent Pathways provider if the customer wants to learn more about the service. The customer must have provided their consent to share their details using their Centrelink online service, or has contacted a Service Officer in person or over the phone

To be eligible for Parent Pathways, parents and carers must meet all of the following:

• principal carer of a child under 6 years old
• not be in paid employment including self-employment
• live in a non-remote area. The Resources page has details on how to check this in Office Locator
• aged over 15
• not participating in Workforce Australia or Disability Employment Services (DES)
• be receiving one of the following payments:
• Parenting Payment (PP)
• Carer Payment (CP)
• Special Benefit (SpB)
• if not receiving one of the above payments, they must be:
• under 22 years old, or
• an early school leaver (parents who don't have a Year 12 qualification or an equivalent qualification or higher), or
• First Nations

Parent Pathways offers eligible customers a range of support options, including working with a mentor to find activities, supports, services and/or training that meets the individual needs of each parent or carer. Services will include:

• language or literacy programs
• support to find a childcare place for a child and assistance with the cost of childcare
• financial support, for example to help with the cost of training courses or to purchase a computer
• referral to support such as financial information services and family and domestic violence support services
• training, such as a short course at a local Technical and Further Education (TAFE)
• career guidance

Note: financial support provided under Parent Pathways is:

• exempt from the income test, and
• not treated as in-kind support for assessment of income support payments

For income support customers, selection for Parent Pathways is automatically determined by the Services Australia system. This is based on the information contained on the customer's record at the time of the eligibility assessment.

• A customer who meets the eligibility criteria (and their correspondence nominee if applicable) are sent a letter to notify them about Parent Pathways. Customers can receive the letter in their myGov Inbox, Express Plus Centrelink mobile app or via post
• Customers are advised to use their Centrelink online account in their myGov or their Express Plus Centrelink mobile app to learn more about Parent Pathways. To connect with a Parent Pathways provider the customer will be asked to provide their consent to share their details so a Parent Pathways provider can contact them. They can also contact a Parent Pathways provider directly
• Service Officers can assist customers to provide their consent to share their details with a Parent Pathways provider by using the Customer Interest and Consent (CIC) screen in Process Direct (PD)
• Sending the customer's details and consent to a Parent Pathways provider does not commence them in the service. Only a Parent Pathways provider can complete the registration and commence customers into the service. Commencement in the service should only happen after the provider has contacted the customer and the customer has agreed to participate

Parents and carers not getting an income support payment need to contact Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) or a Parent Pathways provider to register. Provider details are on the Resources page.

Customers are sent a letter advising them they are eligible for Parent Pathways. Some eligible customers may not receive a letter if they meet one of the following:

• they have previously advised they never want to be reminded about Parent Pathways (for Special Benefit (SpB) and Carer Payment (CP) only)
• they have set a future date to be reminded
• their youngest child is aged 5 years and 6 months, or older
• CP claim has been granted and finalised, or a change of circumstances has occurred in the last 6 weeks
• they have exited Parent Pathways in the last 6 months
• they are in a bereavement period (for their child, partner or care receiver)
• they are in receipt of CP and the care receiver is in hospital (on Adult Medical Details (ADMD) and Child Medical Details (CDMD) screens)
• they are in receipt of CP and the care receiver is terminal (on ADMD and CDMD screens)
• they reside in an emergency affected area (mutual obligations are paused for other employment services)
• they have a Registered, Pending, Commenced or Suspended participation status in Parent Pathways

Note: these customers are still able to provide their consent to share their details with a Parent Pathways provider by:

• completing the Parent Pathways question set online, or
• contacting a Service Officer in person or over the phone

Customer Consent

Before an eligible customer can be connected to Parent Pathways they must provide their consent for Services Australia to:

• check if Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) already have their details, and
• share their eligibility and contact details with a Parent Pathways provider

Note: nominees and persons permitted to enquire are not authorised to provide consent on behalf of the customer.

Customers can register their interest and provide consent to share their details. Customers select the Parent Pathways tile in Manage Consent details on their Centrelink online account or their Express Plus Centrelink mobile app. The Parent Pathways tile will only display for customers who are eligible for this service, even if they did not receive a letter.

When the customer is unable to do this themselves, Service Officers can:

• record the customer's consent to share their details, and
• connect them to a Parent Pathways provider. They can do this via the Customer Interest and Consent (CIC) screen in Process Direct

After a customer provides consent, their details are sent to a Parent Pathways provider. The provider will contact the customer to discuss the benefits and services available.

The customer needs to contact a Parent Pathways provider or DEWR directly if:

• they have a Restricted Access record, or
• Services Australia is unable to match the customer's details with DEWR, or
• Services Australia system does not assess the customer as eligible, however they meet the eligibility criteria

Reminders

Customers not ready to participate in Parent Pathways can have a reminder letter sent to them by choosing one of the following options:

• in 3 months
• in 6 months
• in 9 months
• in 12 months
• Never (for Special Benefit (SpB) and Carer Payment (CP) only)

If the customer changes their mind before the reminder letter is sent, they are still able to connect with a Parent Pathways provider by:

• completing the Parent Pathways question set online, or
• contacting a Service Officer in person or over the phone

Withdraw consent

If the customer wishes to withdraw their consent to sharing their details, they will need to contact their local Parent Pathways provider directly to discuss this.

Participation status

Once a customer has commenced in Parent Pathways their provider will manage their participation, including if a customer chooses to leave or take a break. The participation status will display on the Parent Pathways (PPW) screen in Process Direct.

Exits

Once a customer has commenced participating in Parent Pathways, a change of circumstances may result in the Parent Pathways provider exiting them from the service. This will occur if they no longer meet the eligibility criteria.

Parent Pathways participants will exit from the service when one of the following occurs:

• their youngest child turns 6 years of age
• their income support payment is cancelled or suspended for any reason
• they relocate to a remote area
• they are temporarily overseas
• they start (have been recorded as attending an appointment) in Disability Employment Services (DES), Workforce Australia or Workforce Australia Online
• the customer passes away

Customers who have a Commenced or Suspended (Paused) participation status with Parent Pathways are eligible for an individual base level of 36 CCS hours per fortnight. For partnered customers, the number of subsidised hours is based on the member of the couple with the lowest Activity Test result.

Customer's active participation in Parent Pathways will be recognised as a Program of Support (POS) when applying for Disability Support Pension.