Customers claiming JobSeeker Payment (JSP)/Youth Allowance (YA) (Incapacitated) 001-03020060

• Follow the process to determine the most suitable service offer on the basis of the customer's age, incapacity and job seeker or student status.
• For customers identified as job seekers with a temporary incapacity who are:
• able and willing to lodge a claim via online, go to Step 2
• unable or unwilling to lodge a claim via online, go to Step 3
• For information about:
• exemption from mutual obligation requirements and medical evidence, go to Step 4
• assessing a claim when medical evidence not supplied, go to Step 4
• backdating start date of claim, go to Step 9

Online accounts are available for online claims for JSP and online claims for YA (job seeker). A correspondence nominee can submit a job seeker online claim on behalf of their principal.

Discuss this option with the customer and register where appropriate:

• The customer must have an active self-service registration
• Tell the customer to submit their online claim as soon as possible to be paid from the earliest date
• The customer must have a contact phone number
• Record details on a DOC on the customer's record
• Tell the customer to lodge their supporting documents including medical certificate:
• via Upload documents or
• if not able to, in person at a service centre

Procedure ends here.

In most cases, Smart Centre staff:

• record the contact on a DOC
• book an appointment at the customer's local service centre to have the ACC completed. Refer to Office Locator for relevant JobSeeker Payment or Youth Allowance appointment type Short, Medium or Long

There are times where it is appropriate for Smart Centre staff to run the ACC for the customer to collect the information and submit the claim

At the scheduled interview, service centre Service Officer will get the customer's details via ACC for JSP or YAL (job seeker).

The customer's medical condition may mean they:

• are exempt from mutual obligation requirements if they:
• have a temporary incapacity for all work, (unable to work at least 8 hours a week), or
• are temporarily unable to undertake their normal work or study due to a medical condition, injury or illness, but have a job or study to return to. This includes customers with a concessional study load
• have modified mutual obligation requirements if they are able to work at least 8 hours a week but less than 30 hours a week

Is the claim still within 15 days of claim lodgement?

• Yes:
• Place the claim on hold until the 15th day
• Procedure ends here
• No, go to Step 5

Has the customer provided medical evidence?

• Yes,
• assess whether a temporary incapacity exemption can be granted, see Assessing and coding medical evidence for temporary incapacity exemptions
• go to Step 9
• No, and:
• this is the first request for medical evidence, go to Step 6
• medical evidence has previously been requested and customer does not have a job to return to, go to Step 7
• medical evidence has previously been requested and customer does have a job to return to, reject the claim - Failed to Supply Documents (FSD). See Rejecting a claim for JobSeeker Payment (JSP) or Youth Allowance (YA) (job seeker). Procedure ends here

Staff must make one genuine attempt to contact the customer to discuss medical evidence.

If the customer is subscribed:

• issue a pre-call notification (SMS only) between 8:00 am and 8:00 pm
• use the customer's local time to let them know a Service Officer will call them today from a private number

See Centrelink letters online and Electronic Messaging.

Was the contact successful?

• Yes, and the customer:
• does not have a job to return to, go to Step 7
• has a job to return to, go to Step 8
• No, and the customer:
• does not have a job to return to, go to Step 7
• has a job to be return to, reject the claim - Failed to Supply Documents (FSD). See Rejecting a claim for JobSeeker Payment (JSP) or Youth Allowance (YA) (job seeker). Procedure ends here

• The JSP or YA new claim cannot be rejected for this reason alone. JSP or YA may still be granted, but the customer may be subject to normal mutual obligation requirements
• For this reason, do not include the request for a medical certificate in any list of documents or information sent to the customer as a requirement to determine the new claim. However, encourage the customer to provide this information as soon as possible

If customer contact is required, tell the customer they will need to supply evidence if they want to be exempt from mutual obligations, otherwise they may be subject to normal mutual obligations requirements.

Does the customer agree to provide medical evidence?

• Yes:
• Annotate the Progress of Claim DOC with the contact outcome
• Place the claim on hold for 14 days. Do not use the Request Documents option, as the system may automatically reject as Failed to Supply Documents (FSD)
• Tell the customer that their claim will not be rejected, but may be granted with full mutual obligations if they do not provide the documents
• Procedure ends here
• No:
• Tell the customer of their full mutual obligation requirements. They will need to:
  - actively seek and be willing to undertake suitable paid work. The definition of 'suitable work' for PP job seekers is the same as for JSP/YA principal carers, or
  - undertake suitable paid work, or
  - participate in some other approved training, program or course which is likely to improve their employment prospects, and
  - enter into a Job Plan, if required, with Services Australia or an Employment Services Provider without unreasonable delay, and
  - fully comply with the terms of the Job Plan
• Grant the claim without evidence
• Record details on a DOC on their record
• Procedure ends here

If customer contact is not required and a request for medical evidence has already been made:

• Do not reject the claim
• Assess the claim with full mutual obligation requirements
• Record details on a DOC on their record
• Procedure ends here

The claim cannot be granted without this information. If the customer has a job to return to, they would not be considered unemployed for the purposes of JSP/YA unless a medical incapacity applies.

Will the customer provide evidence?

• Yes:
• Place the claim on hold for 14 days
• Annotate the Progress of Claim DOC with the contact outcome
• Procedure ends here
• No:
• Reject the claim - Failed to Supply Documents (FSD). Qualification for payment cannot be determined
• The Claim Finalisation DOC will appear, see Recording reasons for decisions
• Procedure ends here

If granting JSP or YA (incapacitated), backdating provisions can apply.

• If a person claims within 5 weeks of their date of incapacity, they may have their payment backdated to the first day on which they were qualified for payment. Provisions apply:
• The start date cannot be before the day they became incapacitated for work
• Relevant waiting or exclusion periods apply
• If a person claims more than 5 weeks after their date of incapacity, they may have their payment backdated to the first day on which they were qualified for payment. Provisions apply:
• The start date cannot be backdated more than 4 weeks from the date of claim
• The medical condition must be the sole or principal cause of their failure to make the claim. If there is more than one possible cause for the delay, the main cause must be the medical condition
• Relevant waiting or exclusion periods apply

See Calculating the start day - incapacitated customer for more information.