Youth Activities to satisfy mutual obligation requirements 001-09070080

Determine if the job seeker is undertaking combined activities that can satisfy mutual obligation requirements as 'Youth Activities'.

A job seeker may be Centrelink Managed where they are undertaking sufficient Youth Activities and will not have to be referred to an Employment Services Provider.

Youth Activities can be approved for any Youth Allowance job seeker, including Early School Leavers (ESLs). ESLs do not have different requirements or hourly requirements under Youth Activities provisions.

If the job seeker has a disability or is incapacitated, or may have barriers to participation, request an Employment Services Assessment (ESAt) to determine their work capacity and potential entitlement to other income support payments.

If the job seeker has a dependent child under 16 years of age, ensure they are assessed as a Principal Carer if appropriate, and have the necessary coding completed.

Youth Activities hourly requirements are different for YA job seekers who are either Principal Carers or have a Partial Capacity to Work/Temporary Reduced Work Capacity.

Go to Step 2.

There are various activities and combinations of activities that could allow a YA job seeker to meet their mutual obligation requirements through 'Youth Activities', and be managed by Services Australia (the agency).

The primary focus when approving requirements as suitable is whether the requirement will improve the job seeker's skills, qualifications and their prospects of gaining employment, whilst increasing their social and economic participation.

The minimum hours required for Youth Activities will depend on the job seeker's participation category:

• Principal carers - 15 hours week
• Partial Capacity to Work job seekers - 15 hours per week
• Other YA job seekers - 25 hours per week

Examples of requirements (which can be used alone or in combination to meet the required hours) include, but are not limited to:

• part time study - students who:
• have temporarily decreased their study load to less than 75% of the full time load, and
• no longer have 'full time student' status, and
• lose access to the higher income threshold, and
• lose access to the student income bank
  If they are participating in 50 to 74 per cent of a full time study load (or meeting the hourly requirement), the part time study will fully satisfy mutual obligation requirements as Youth Activities
• paid employment (meeting the Sufficient Work Test)
• paid self-employment (meeting the Sufficient Work Test)
• a self-employment development opportunity
• paid work experience
• programs or measures designed to eliminate or reduce any disadvantage the person has in the labour market
• a requirement proposed by the person and approved by the Secretary (for example, unpaid voluntary work)
• training for Aboriginal program placement
• an approved literacy course through TAFE/Adult Education Providers
• a rehabilitation program, including a vocational rehabilitation program
• a state Drug Court program
• a program of assistance as recommended by an Employment Services Assessment (ESAt) or Job Capacity Assessment (JCA)
• NDIS work focussed activities

If the job seeker is not participating for the minimum hours per week, consider what additional requirements may be appropriate for the job seeker to undertake.

If the job seeker needs to undertake job search because they are not participating in sufficient hours of approved requirements or programs, Youth Activities cannot be approved by the agency. These job seekers must be connected to an Employment Service, who will negotiate a Job Plan.

Note: Job seekers may ask whether they can engage in part time study/training which has not been approved. Tell them they are not restricted from engaging in other requirements, but these must not interfere with the mutual obligation requirements already agreed to.

Is the job seeker participating in a local or state funded program?

• Yes, go to Step 3
• No, go to Step 4

Job seekers in their final 6 months of participation in NDIS work focussed activities can:

• directly register with a DES provider as an eligible school leaver, and
• start receiving DES assistance while they finish participating in the post school program

All other job seekers must exit the program if they want to participate in DES. Once the job seeker has exited the program, they are eligible to commence in DES under eligible school leaver arrangements. They do not need to have an Employment Services Assessment (ESAt) to access DES. Job seekers will be referred to DES by:

• the DES provider through direct registration procedures
• the agency through the Online Diary if they have a current and valid ESAt or Job Capacity Assessment (JCA) which recommends referral to DES

Note: an ESAt is not required for the agency to approve and record these programs for YA job seekers. However, any job seekers should still be referred for an ESAt if there is a valid reason apart from a DES referral, for example, to determine if they have a partial capacity to work.

Go to Step 4.

Before negotiating a Centrelink managed Job Plan, check the Activity and Exemption (AEX) screen shows the job seeker participation activity.

To code Youth Activities 'YAC' on the AEX screen in Process Direct:

• Go to the Activity and Exemption Summary (AEX) screen
• Select Add
• On the Create Activity and Exemption Summary (AEX) screen, select YAC - Youth Activities from Activity Type
• Key the Start date and End date, select Save
• Complete the Receipt Date and Channel fields, select Save
• Select Assess and address any errors/warnings
• Finalise the transaction by selecting Assess again, then select Finish. Record details of the update on the Finalise screen
• Select Finalise to complete the transaction

Note: YA job seekers who are identified at the new claim stage, via the Participation Interview workflow, as potentially eligible for Youth Activities will be RapidConnect exempt. The job seeker referral to a Workforce Australia employment services, national Workforce Australia - Transition to Work program or Community Development Program (CDP) provider will be automatically deferred for a period of 6 weeks. Procedure ends here. For more information, see Deferred referral to Employment Services Providers.

YA job seekers who have Youth Activities approved and have already started in employment services will:

• be suspended from their Employment Service for the duration of the program, and
• revert to Centrelink managed

Go to Step 5.

Tell the job seeker about the requirement to enter into a Job Plan, their rights and obligations in relation to the terms of the Job Plan, and information about compliance:

• Restate the job seeker's mutual obligation requirements
• In accordance with the job seeker's participation category, discuss with the job seeker the requirements that will be included in the Job Plan
• If the job seeker needs to negotiate a Job Plan as part of a new claim but the new claim cannot be finalised, the Service Officer may choose to negotiate a pre-grant Job Plan if they are confident:
• the job seeker will be Centrelink managed, and
• which participation category the job seeker will fall into

Do not negotiate a Job Plan for job seekers placed in Post Placement Support. Check the job seeker’s current Placement Type on the Provider referral information table within the Participation Summary in Process Direct. Job seekers in Disability Employment Services (DES) Post Placement Support will have their Job Plan updated by the DES provider.

In Process Direct, to begin or continue a started Job Plan:

• For job seekers who submit an online claim, or when a Service Officer has completed the Assisted Customer Claim (ACC) workflow:
• once in the claim, select > Participation Interview > Job Plan > Negotiate Job Plan
• For job seekers currently receiving a payment:
• select Customer Summary from the Process Direct landing page
• enter the job seeker's CRN, select Go
• in the job seeker's record, select > Participation Summary > Job Plan > Negotiate Job Plan

On the Overview screen, complete the following questions:

• Do you wish to create/update Job Plan?
• Do you wish to clean slate the customer's Job Plan?

Select Next to navigate through the following Job Plan screens:

On the Participation Activities screen, the compulsory activity will automatically populate the Job Plan from the Youth Activities (YAC) coding already completed on the AEX screen.

The Summary screen will display to confirm the requirement included in the job seeker’s pending Job Plan.

The Finalise screen enables the Service Officer to:

• indicate if an interpreter was used when negotiating the Job Plan
• print a PDF copy of the Job Plan for the job seeker to sign if the Job Plan is negotiated in person, or they are from a remote area
• specify if the job seeker has an online account and wishes to agree to the Job Plan online
• indicate if a job seeker has signed their Job Plan. If the job seeker has declined to agree to their Job Plan online, see Step 6 in Table 3 in Negotiating Centrelink Managed Job Plans
• finalise the Job Plan

If the job seeker has an online account, they can agree to the Job Plan via their online account. The Job Plan will be available in their online account immediately.

Once finalised, the details of the Job Plan will be sent to the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations.

Note: some of these types of programs are 2 year programs, however Youth Activities (YAC) can only be coded for a maximum of 12 months. The job seeker will need to return to Services Australia at the end of the first 12 month period to have Youth Activities coded on the AEX screen for a second 12 month period.

For more information, see Negotiating Centrelink Managed Job Plans.