Reconnection, Employment and Learning (REAL) program 125-25092405

There is no change to the Pre-release new claim process for REAL participants. Upon release from prison job seekers:

• will be granted:
  • JobSeeker Payment (JSP), or
  • Youth Allowance (YA) job seeker
• may be granted a Major Personal Crisis (MPC) exemption as appropriate

Job seekers who participated in the REAL program while in prison are eligible to continue in the program following their release. After their MPC exemption has ended, the job seeker will:

• attend a REAL Initial Appointment with Services Australia
• discuss their mutual obligation requirements

Job seekers who choose to continue in REAL will fully meet their mutual obligation requirements and are Centrelink managed:

• The Activities and Exemption (AEX) screen is updated with the REL approved activity code
• A Job Plan is negotiated with Services Australia at the REAL appointment
• Participation will be with the REAL provider

If the job seeker does not want to continue in REAL they will be referred to an employment services provider at their appointment.

Job seekers who are held on remand do not claim for payment via the Pre-release new claim process. Generally after release, an Assisted Customer Claim (ACC) will be completed for:

• JobSeeker Payment (JSP), or
• Youth Allowance (YA) job seeker

There is no change to the claim process for REAL participants. Job seekers released from prison may be granted a Major Personal Crisis (MPC) exemption as appropriate.

Job seekers who participated in the REAL program while held on remand are eligible to continue in the program following their release. After their MPC exemption has ended the job seeker will:

• attend a REAL Initial appointment with Services Australia
• discuss their mutual obligation requirements

Job seekers who choose to continue in REAL will fully meet their mutual obligation requirements and are Centrelink managed.

• The Activities and Exemption (AEX) screen is updated with the REL approved activity code
• A Job Plan is negotiated with Services Australia at the REAL appointment
• Participation will be with the REAL provider

If the job seeker does not want to continue in REAL they will be referred to an employment services provider at their appointment.

The job seeker is not eligible to participate in REAL post-release to satisfy their mutual obligation requirements.

A customer can attend a REAL provider in their area and request to be voluntarily connected.

Job seekers who have an existing PCW or TRWC of 0-14 hours upon release from prison will meet their requirements attending Quarterly Participation Interviews (QTI activity code) with Services Australia. QTI takes priority over REAL as an approved activity. The job seeker can remain connected with the REAL provider on a voluntary basis, while fully meeting their requirements through QTI. These job seekers:

• do not need to attend a REAL Initial Appointment with Services Australia
• will be required to:
  • attend QTI appointments with Services Australia
  • negotiate Job Plan as required

Job seekers who are assessed as having a PCW or TRWC of 0-14 hours meet their requirements attending Quarterly Participation Interviews (QTI) with Services Australia. QTI takes priority over REAL as an approved activity. If a job seeker has REL coded as an approved activity, staff should not end date the REL activity.

The job seeker will be required to:

• attend a QTI Initial appointment
• have their Activities and Exemption (AEX) screen updated with the QTI activity code, and
• negotiate a Job Plan with Services Australia

The job seeker can remain connected with the REAL provider on a voluntary basis while fully meeting their requirements through QTI.

Services Australia cannot exit a job seeker from REAL. If the job seeker requests an exit, they should be directed to their REAL provider.

End dating the REL activity on the AEX screen does not exit the customer from the program. The REAL provider holds the responsibility of exiting a participant.

If the REAL participant re-offends, the income support payment will suspend due to Imprisoned/on remand (SUS-IMP). The REL activity on the Activities and Exemption (AEX) screen will remain. If the customer is incarcerated for:

• more than 13 weeks:
  • the payment will cancel (CAN-IMP)
  • DEWR will be notified of the benefit status change, and this will trigger the exit from REAL participation
  • REL coding on the AEX screen will automatically end
  • the customer may reconnect with the REAL provider during incarceration and be eligible for a new 12-month duration upon release, if appropriate
• less than 13 weeks:
  • the payment may be restored
  • job seeker remains Centrelink managed, fully meeting mutual obligations with REL activity code and the existing end date applies
  • as the customer remained connected with the REAL provider during their 0-13 week period of incarceration, they are not eligible for extension due to being incarcerated

A job seeker who is fully meeting their requirements by participating in REAL can volunteer with the following employment services at the same time:

• Workforce Australia
  • including Online Services
  • excluding Transition to Work (TtW)
• Remote Australia Employment Service (RAES)
• Inclusive Employment Australia (IEA)

The job seeker will:

• remain Centrelink Managed
• be connected to REAL on a compulsory basis
• not enter a Provider managed Job Plan

If the job seeker:

• chooses to cease voluntary participation, they must request their provider to exit them
• is concurrently serviced at the time of their exit from REAL, the system will not generate the need for a REAL Exit appointment and they will remain connected however on a compulsory basis

A REAL participant may be eligible to fully meet mutual obligation requirements by meeting one of the following participation categories:

• Mature age job seeker aged 55 and over
• Principal Carer (PC) parent
• Job seekers assessed with a Partial Capacity to Work (PCW) or Temporary Reduced Work Capacity (TRWC) of 15-29 hours her week
• Job seekers in receipt of Carer Allowance (CA)

Where eligible, a REAL participant can have another approved activity (e.g. Part-time Work PTW) coded on the AEX screen (concurrently participating in more than one approved activity) however:

• only the Quarterly Interview (QTI) activity holds a higher priority
• the higher priority is the only activity that is negotiated in the Centrelink managed Job Plan

Job seekers can only participate in REAL as fully meeting requirements for up to 12 months after their release. The job seeker may be eligible to fully meet their requirements by participating in another approved activity.

If not eligible, it is mandatory to:

• run the Job Seeker Snapshot
• refer to an employment services provider (if appropriate)

If the job seeker advises a change of address, staff should update the record with the new address information. If the new location has:

• REAL servicing:
  • Job seeker to discuss their change of location with their REAL provider
  • The REAL provider and job seeker will discuss if they choose to stay with the original provider or change over to a new provider. If a change in provider occurs, DEWR will transfer the job seeker to the new provider
  • Job seeker can remain fully meeting requirements by participating in REAL and remain Centrelink managed
  • There is no change to the original 12-month participation post release due to transferring to a different REAL provider
• no REAL servicing:
  • Advise the job seeker to contact their REAL provider and discuss ongoing participation in REAL. The job seeker may be eligible to continue participating with that initial REAL provider virtually rather than Face to Face contact
  • DEWR will determine when it's appropriate to exit the job seeker from their service