Job Seeker Snapshot initiated Employment Services Assessment (ESAt) flags 001-02050080

The Job Seeker Snapshot:

• identifies a job seeker's ability to find suitable employment
• determines the level of employment assistance they may require, and
• whether or not an ESAt is required

The ESAt determines the level of support that best meets the job seeker's needs, that is:

• whether the job seeker will benefit from referral to a Workforce Australia Services Provider, or
• if they are eligible for a referral to Disability Employment Services (DES)

Job seekers in Community Development Program (CDP) regions do not require the Job Seeker Snapshot to be run for streaming purposes. A Job Seeker Snapshot is required for an ESAt referral for CDP job seekers.

An ESAt may be triggered as a result of the online Job Seeker Snapshot, the Participation Interview or Start job seeker registration workflow. If so, the Job Seeker Snapshot status will display as pending and an outstanding activity will be created on the customer's record. See Actioning a pending Job Seeker Snapshot initiated Employment Services Assessment (ESAt) activity for details.

The Job Seeker Snapshot question set may be presented online to some new customers of JobSeeker Payment (JSP) and Youth Allowance (YA) (other). In these cases, the job seeker registration and the Job Seeker Snapshot question set will be skipped at the Participation Interview and the workflow will go straight to the results page.

In their responses to the Job Seeker Snapshot question set, a job seeker may disclose that they have barriers which trigger a Job Seeker Snapshot initiated ESAt.

Barriers may also be identified by Employment Services Providers during the Job Seeker Snapshot process.

Based on a job seeker's responses to the Job Seeker Snapshot questions, the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations system may identify the requirement for an ESAt.

The need for an ESAt can be triggered:

• by single issues such as if the job seeker identifies as having a medical condition that will impact on their ability to work for 3 months or more, or
• due to multiple factors that have been identified as potentially impacting on the job seeker's ability to find and maintain employment

See Actioning a pending Job Seeker Snapshot initiated Employment Services Assessment (ESAt) activity.

Job seekers who report family trauma, grief or family and domestic violence should be referred to a Services Australia specialist officer. This officer will determine when the job seeker should be referred for an ESAt.

Service Officers may manually add the ESAt flag, if the job seeker's responses have not already flagged an ESAt, when conducting a Job Seeker Snapshot interview as part of:

• a Participation Interview at the new claim stage, or
• the standalone Job Seeker Snapshot via Start job seeker registration button from the Participation Summary

This can only be done before the workflow is completed.

This action may be appropriate when the Service Officer considers that the job seeker has significant non-vocational barriers to employment and the job seeker:

• did not disclose these when they completed the Jobseeker Snapshot as part of the new claim process
• does not disclose these during the Participation Interview, or
• is unable to recognise or denies non-vocational barriers

The reasons for this manual action must always be documented on the customer record, to help staff making a decision about management of the pending Job Seeker Snapshot. If an ESAt referral is required, the details on the record must explain the reasons for the addition of the ESAt flag. This is to:

• enable Assessment Services staff actioning the ESAt request to make appropriate decisions about the need for the ESAt, and
• ensure the Assessor has sufficient detail about the reasons for the referral

Service Officers may manually remove the ESAt flag, even where the job seeker's Job Seeker Snapshot responses have flagged that an ESAt is required, when:

• conducting a Job Seeker Snapshot interview as part of a Participation Interview at new claim stage, or
• completing the standalone Job Seeker Snapshot via Start job seeker registration button from the Participation Summary

This can only be done before the workflow is completed.

This action should only be taken:

• if it is clear that the issues flagged by the job seeker responses to the Job Seeker Snapshot:
• do not have a significant impact on the job seeker's ability to work or participate in other activities, or
• if the job seeker does not have any other relevant barriers
• when the job seeker has provided medical evidence clearly indicating they have a serious illness and a Temporary Incapacity exemption (serious illness) can be granted. In these circumstances, an ESAt is not required and employment assistance services would not be appropriate, or
• in other circumstances where it would not be beneficial to refer for an ESAt, for example, the customer is in hospital or undertaking a rehabilitation program

Manually removing the ESAt flag should only be done by suitably skilled Service Officers and the reasons must be clearly documented on the customer's record.

Note: it is not appropriate for refugee customers (first 12 weeks) to have their ESAt flag removed. This customer group will have their ESAt deferred to the end of their activity exemption period at the new claim interview.

For more information, see Actioning a pending Job Seeker Snapshot initiated Employment Services Assessment (ESAt) activity.

If the Service Officer confirms that the previous ESAt/JCA is current and valid and should be reapplied, the system will automatically copy the current ESAt/JCA details across. This removes the requirement for a new ESAt, and will allow the customer to be referred immediately to suitable employment assistance services.

A current and valid ESAt/JCA is one which:

• was submitted within the past 2 years, and
• reflects the customer's current circumstances and addresses the issues and barriers disclosed by the customer in the latest Job Seeker Snapshot, and
• contains a valid recommendation for referral to employment assistance services such as Workforce Australia or DES

Note: if the customer has been exited from a DES program with either an employment or education outcome since the previous ESAt was completed, a new ESAt will be required even if the previous assessment is less than 2 years old.

See Actioning a pending Job Seeker Snapshot initiated Employment Services Assessment (ESAt) activity.