Workforce Australia - Transition to Work (TtW) 001-02290000

TtW assists eligible young people into work, education, apprenticeships and traineeships. TtW services are delivered by employment services providers and is the youth-specialist service under Workforce Australia. They operate separately to targeted services such as Inclusive Employment Australia (IEA) and Remote Australia Employment Service (RAES).

TtW is for young people aged 15 to 24 and is targeted to early school leavers and young people who have experienced difficulty transitioning from education to employment. Eligibility is determined by the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) ICT system. Eligible participants will be given intensive pre-employment assistance and support by a TtW provider to prepare them for work, an apprenticeship, a traineeship or further education. This may include but is not limited to:

• support in overcoming barriers to working or studying
• access to mentoring
• career advice
• work experience
• help to gain drivers' licences (particularly in regional areas)
• referrals to relevant support services in their local area
• develop practical skills to get a job
• connect with education or training

Participants with mutual obligation requirements are expected to participate in TtW for 25 hours per week for up to a maximum of 18 months. Some participants who face significant non-vocational barriers may have their participation extended to 24 months (as determined by DEWR). After the completion of TtW, if they are not tracking towards an outcome, their TtW Provider will transfer the participant to Workforce Australia Services. Note: volunteer participants will not be referred to Workforce Australia Services at the end of their 18 months in TtW. They can register for Workforce Australia Online for Individuals Base Service.

Participants participating with a Workforce Australia - TtW provider cannot participate in Work for the Dole (WFD) unless they:

• exit TtW services, and
• are referred to a Workforce Australia Services Provider

To be eligible to participate in TtW, participants must:

• be aged 15-24 years of age on referral to the service, and
• an Australian citizen, or
• the holder of a permanent visa, or
• New Zealand Special Category Visa holders (a protected Special Category Visa holder, and non-protected Special Category Visa holder), or
• Nominated Visa Holders (including Temporary Protection Visa Holders and Safe Haven Visa Holders), and
• meet the requirements as determined by the DEWR ICT system

Note: job seekers who live in a DEWR designated remote area, are referred to a Remote Australia Employment Service (RAES) provider. TtW is not available to job seekers in these areas.

The TtW program provides assistance to two groups of participants. These are:

Group One - referred by Services Australia

A young person who:

• is receiving Youth Allowance (other), or any other 'activity tested' Income Support Payment with mutual obligation requirements, and
• is assessed as being at higher risk of not successfully transitioning to employment, including early school leavers (identified by the Job Seeker Snapshot), and
• does not have a pending Employment Services Assessment (ESAt)

Group Two - disengaged young people who volunteer to directly register for TtW (directly registered or Services Australia referred as volunteers)

This group includes young people who are not receiving income support, or those receiving income support such as Parenting Payment but who do not have mutual obligation requirements.

A young person who:

• has not completed Year 12 (or equivalent) or Certificate III or higher (as identified by the Job Seeker Snapshot), and
• is not currently working an average of eight hours or more per week for a period of 4 weeks (32 hours), and has:
  • not attended secondary education for a period of 4 weeks, or
  • not currently enrolled in secondary education, or
  • an approved exemption from legal requirements to attend school (for those of compulsory school age)

or

• has been awarded a Year 12 Certificate or a Certificate III or higher but has not engaged with employment or education for six months or more

or

• is an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person, irrespective of their level of education, or their history of engagement in education or employment, and
• is of compulsory school age and has an approved exemption from legal requirements to attend school

The agency's role is to provide details and refer eligible job seekers to a TtW service provider. This includes:

• Group One job seekers who are applying for Youth Allowance and have mutual obligation requirements
• Group Two young people who can voluntarily participate in TtW

For Group One job seekers, service officers must:

• register the job seeker
• conduct the Job Seeker Snapshot, and
• refer eligible participants via the Participation Interview workflow

For Group Two young people, service officers can:

• advise the young person they can directly register with their local TtW provider; or
• register the young person, and
• refer eligible participants via the Online Diary

Where available, TtW referrals have priority over Workforce Australia employment services. If TtW is available and offered in the Online Diary, job seekers must be referred to TtW, and should not be referred to Workforce Australia employment services. Where a local TtW provider is showing in the Online Diary but no appointments are available, service officers must contact the TtW provider and request an appointment timeslot be opened to facilitate the referral. Job seekers can request referral to Workforce Australia employment services.

Service officers must not refer job seekers who have already commenced in Workforce Australia employment services. Job seekers who are participating with Workforce Australia employment services should discuss participation in TtW with their Workforce Australia employment services provider.

Following an Employment Services Assessment (ESAt) an assessor may make the determination that referral to TtW is the most appropriate outcome. Assessors are able to then action a TtW referral in the DEWR ICT system.

TtW is available in most locations across Australia, except in remote areas serviced by Remote Australia Employment Service (RAES) providers.

Job seekers eligible for TtW are subject to existing RapidConnect rules of payability and appointment availability. Job seekers must be advised how provider appointment attendance can affect payability.

If there is a TtW provider in a job seeker's local area, but they are unable to offer any appointments within 14 days, refer the job seeker to Workforce Australia employment services. This makes sure they will not miss out on any payments due to RapidConnect rules.

Job seekers are not penalised under RapidConnect rules for being referred to a TtW provider within 14 days, where a Workforce Australia employment services provider appointment is available within two days. The system will consider only TtW appointment availability in this scenario.

For more details, see Processes for RapidConnect.

If a job seeker is exempt from RapidConnect requirements, (or RapidConnect does not apply) a suspension and cancellation process applies when they are referred to TtW. Under this process, if the job seeker does not attend a compellable initial appointment with their TtW provider, their payment will be suspended and may subsequently be cancelled.

Job seekers must contact their TtW provider and attend a compellable appointment in order to restore their payment. Services Australia cannot manually restore a job seeker's payment following suspension for failing to attend a compellable TtW appointment, unless the customer has:

• subsequently commenced full time study, and
• transferred to Youth Allowance (student), or
• attended a further compellable appointment and the trigger has failed, resulting in a NSS/REA activity on the Activity List (AL) screen with a keyword of TT902

The Process page contains more details.

Job seekers receiving income support with mutual obligation requirements will fully meet their requirements by participating in TtW. Participants in TtW are provider managed and consequently, the TtW service provider is responsible for developing a Job Plan with participants. If the job seeker does not meet their mutual obligation requirements, they will be exited from the service, and transferred to Workforce Australia employment services by their TtW provider. Volunteers will not be referred to Workforce Australia.

As a system requirement, all job seekers under 18 years of age who have not completed Year 12 (or equivalent) or a Certificate III or higher and are a new customer, are required to have a study exemption coded on the Newstart Education Status (NES) screen to qualify for Youth Allowance (YA), even when they are meeting their mutual obligation requirements.

However, YA will no longer be cancelled when the exemption expires. The exemption does not have to be recorded again while the job seeker remains on payment.

For more details, see Mutual obligation requirements for YA job seekers under 22 years of age who have not completed Year 12 or an equivalent level of education (Certificate III or higher) qualification.

Job seekers participating in TtW are not subject to Targeted Compliance Framework.

Job seekers with mutual obligation requirements that are participating in TtW will be exited from the service and transferred to Workforce Australia services, by their TtW provider, if they are not compliant in the program. Volunteers will not be referred to Workforce Australia.

When a job seeker is referred to a TtW provider they will generally remain with the provider for the duration of their service period. However, there are instances where a job seeker may need to transfer to another provider, including:

• change of address
• by agreement
• a breakdown of the relationship between a job seeker and their TtW provider

The Process page contains more details about each of these transfer types.