Voluntary work as an approved activity 001-09070060

Within the first 12 months of receiving their current income support payment

Job seekers aged 55 to 59 (inclusive) who are within the first 12 months of receiving their current income support payments (including suspension periods of up to 3 months), can choose to fully meet their mutual obligation requirements by undertaking:

• 30 hours per fortnight of paid work, or
• 30 hours per fortnight of a combination of paid work and approved voluntary work, at least 15 hours of which must be paid work

After 12 months or more of receiving their income support payment

After receiving their current payment for a 12 month period, these job seekers may fully satisfy their requirements by undertaking 30 hours or more per fortnight of any combination of approved unpaid voluntary work and suitable paid work or self-employment. This includes solely through approved unpaid voluntary work.

Service Officers must update any previous compulsory activities on the job seekers record when approving voluntary work for job seekers 55 years of age or more who fully meet their mutual obligation requirements.

From 1 July 2024, providers will also be able to approve voluntary work activities (VWK/VPE) for mature age 55+ job seekers who are assessed as fully meeting their mutual obligation requirements. The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) will either suspend (if the activity is under 13 weeks) or exit (if the activity is more than 13 weeks) the job seeker from employment services.

These job seekers will:

• be displayed as Centrelink managed when notified by DEWR
• require a Centrelink Job Plan to be negotiated. Service Officers will be allocated a specific work item to contact the jobseeker

Job seekers aged 60 years to Age Pension age can choose to fully meet their requirements by undertaking voluntary work, suitable paid work, self-employment or a combination of these activities for at least 30 hours per fortnight.

Job seekers under 55 years of age and those with a PCW, can partially meet their requirements by undertaking voluntary work only, if their Employment Services Provider decides that voluntary work would improve the job seeker's employment prospects.

Principal carer job seekers under 55 years of age getting JobSeeker Payment (JSP), Youth Allowance (YA) (job seeker), Parenting Payment Single (PPS) (when their youngest child turns 6) or Special Benefit (SpB) (Nominated visa holders) can fully meet their mutual obligation requirements by undertaking voluntary work, or a combination of voluntary work and other paid work or study, of at least 30 hours per fortnight.

This can only be approved by their Employment Services Provider or the Digital Services Contact Centre (for Workforce Australia - online job seekers), and only if the job seeker lives in a poor labour market, has limited training opportunities available locally and there are significant vocational benefits to the voluntary work.

Providers only can approve the following standalone or combination approved voluntary work activities for principal carers under 55 years of age participating in at least 30 hours per fortnight to fully meet their mutual obligation requirements:

• PVW - approved voluntary work
• PVS - approved voluntary work and study
• PSV - approved voluntary work, study and paid work
• PVP - approved voluntary work and paid work

DEWR will either suspend (if the activity is under 13 weeks) or exit (if the activity is more than 13 weeks) the job seeker from employment services. These job seekers will:

• be displayed as Centrelink managed when notified by DEWR
• require a Centrelink Job Plan to be negotiated. Service Officers will be allocated a specific work item to contact the jobseeker

Note: for principal carers with a dependent child (unless otherwise requested or agreed by the principal carer), activities and other requirements should be scheduled to occur during school hours, that is, generally between 9:00am and 3:00pm during school terms.

For voluntary work to be an approved activity, the organisation must declare they meet the relevant policy criteria as a Voluntary Work Organisation by Services Australia.

The job seeker and Voluntary Work Organisation must complete a Verification of voluntary work (SU462) form to seek approval to do voluntary work as an approved activity.

Regardless of the circumstances in which it is undertaken, voluntary work must:

• occur without payment, other than for out-of-pocket expenses
• have a community focus
• not be undertaken in the job seeker's own home
• not primarily promote a particular religious or political view
• not involve working for the job seeker's (or a family member's) own organisation
• not involve violence towards people or damage to property
• not undertake tasks which would normally be done by a paid employee, including a casual or part-time paid employee
• not reduce hours usually worked by a paid employee or reduce overtime of an existing employee

Voluntary Work Organisations must declare they have a 'not-for-profit' status and appropriate insurance cover for both Public Liability and Personal Accident when signing the SU462 form.

Where an organisation has not completed their relevant section of the SU462 form, or the organisation does not meet the Voluntary Work Organisation policy criteria (they are not a 'not-for-profit' organisation and/or do not currently have appropriate insurance cover for both Public Liability and Personal Accident), the Service Officer must not approve voluntary work as an approved activity to fully meet the mutual obligation requirements for the job seeker.

Where voluntary work is not approved as an activity, Service Officers should advise job seekers they can start voluntary work, but it will not contribute to their mutual obligation requirements. To continue getting their income support payment, the job seeker must continue to meet their requirements and be connected to an appropriate Employment Services Provider. The job seeker must also continue to satisfy the requirements included in their Job Plan or be willing to enter into a new Job Plan and agree to suitable activities if requested.

Note: if the job seeker must attend a 'base' or like place and is participating in a work-like activity for the duration of their time on call, these hours may count towards their voluntary work hours.

If the job seeker is going about their daily life, without participating in any work-like activity while on call, these hours cannot be counted towards their voluntary work hours.

To fully meet their mutual obligation requirements, mature age job seekers may do any combination of the following:

• part-time work
• Self-employment as an approved activity to satisfy mutual obligation requirements
• voluntary work

The combined time for the activities must be at least 30 hours per fortnight and any income from paid work or net business income for self-employment, must not be less than the national minimum wage.

Job seekers must negotiate an appropriate Job Plan.

If voluntary work is approved as fully meeting the mutual obligation requirements as part of a new claim for an income support payment, the job seeker is not required to be referred to employment services.

All job seekers can participate in voluntary work as a voluntary activity, however, this may not always fully meet their mutual obligation requirements and the job seeker may need to participate in additional activities. Note: do not update the Job Plan if the job seeker is a Disability Employment Services (DES) participant in Post Placement Support.

Service Officers can approve the activity for the job seeker if it meets all the requirements to be considered an approved activity. Once the approved activities are recorded on the job seeker's record and the job seeker is fully meeting their requirements, details are sent to DEWR and the job seeker will be suspended or exited from their Employment Services Provider.

There may be times when a job seeker has not completed the required hours or earned a sufficient level of income to satisfy their requirements for a fortnight. Notification that the job seeker has failed to meet agreed voluntary work activity may come from the job seeker or the Voluntary Work Organisation. Service Officers should check if the job seeker has a reasonable excuse for not meeting the requirements of their Job Plan and that their voluntary hours should return to normal in the next fortnight. The only acceptable excuses for failing to meet requirements are:

• job seeker ill or injured
• sick child/ren
• a cancelled shift
• a short-term reduction in hours due to public holiday (e.g. Easter, Christmas)
• pupil-free day(s)/school holiday
• no longer undertaking activity
• other

A reasonable excuse may apply to someone who does ongoing volunteer work for a community organisation that closes over the Christmas/New Year period. However, someone whose voluntary work ceases or reduces below 30 hours per fortnight for the near future is not considered to have a reasonable excuse. Reasonable excuse provisions are not intended to give someone time to find other voluntary work.

There are strict limits on how often a reasonable excuse is acceptable before the job seeker's activities must be renegotiated.

If the job seeker fails to meet the voluntary work activity requirements or advise they are no longer participating in their activity, the Service Officer must make relevant updates to the record, negotiate new activities (if applicable) or refer the job seeker to employment services.

New activities must be negotiated (if eligible) when any of the following apply. The job seeker of any age:

• has given a reasonable excuse for 2 consecutive fortnights
• does not have a reasonable excuse

If the job seeker can have another activity approved to fully meet their mutual obligation requirements, they will remain as Centrelink managed, and Services Australia must negotiate a Job Plan. Otherwise, the job seeker will need to be referred to an Employment Services Provider who will negotiate a Job Plan.

Centrelink managed job seekers undertaking voluntary work to fully meet their mutual obligation requirements are required to update their Job Plan every 12 months (363 days) and have their circumstances reviewed. A new Job Plan is negotiated as part of their annual Approved Activity Review (AAR). Job seekers will receive either an approved online task or a request to contact letter if they are not registered for self service. The notification is issued 28 days before the expiry date of the approved activity on the Activity and Exemption Summary (AEX) screen.

Note: provider approved activities (PVW/PVS/PSV/PVP) are not included in the AAR. When the job seeker is no longer participating, they will need to be referred back to employment services for review.