Assessing reasonable notice 001-10040060

Services Australia and Employment Services Providers are delegated to issue formal notification related to compulsory requirements.

Proper notification must include the:

• date, time, location and purpose of the appointment, and
• consequences for failing to attend or failing to advise of an inability to attend

For participants in the Community Development Program (CDP) or Disability Employment Services (DES), the requirement must be recorded in the Job Plan and must include the following:

• a description of the requirement
• start and end date the job seeker is required to participate, and
• the number of hours per fortnight of required participation

CDP and DES participants receive formal notification of their Job Search Requirement through their Job Plan. This includes the number of Job Search efforts required, the date the efforts are due to be reported, and how they can meet this requirement and report their Job Search efforts.

For job seekers in Workforce Australia and Workforce Australia Online, the Job Plan is simplified and must only include mandatory requirements like:

• achieving a monthly points target, including a minimum job search requirement where applicable
• attending compulsory appointments, and
• participation in Mandatory Activation Point tasks as required

Workforce Australia job seekers receive formal notification of their Points Requirement (including minimum job search) via their Workforce Australia homepage.

All job seekers are required to make prior contact with their provider, prior to the scheduled commencement of their activity or appointment (wherever reasonable and safe to do so) to discuss the reasons that they are unable to comply with the compulsory requirement.

Providers are required to issue formal notification any time they set or change a compulsory requirement. This includes when they:

• initially set the requirement
• reschedule a requirement
• adjust a requirement, or
• set a re-engagement requirement

When notification is issued requesting evidence of an activity, it must include:

• the evidence the job seeker needs to provide
• when the evidence needs to be provided
• the organisation the information should be provided to

Formal (or primary) notification

Formal notification must meet the requirements set out under Social Security Law.

That means it must include the following details:

• What the requirement is
• The purpose or reason for the requirement (if relevant)
• The date and time of the requirement, or the date and/or time the requirement needs to be completed by
• The location or address of the requirement (if relevant)
• The requirement for prior contact to be made with their provider if they have an acceptable reason for not being able to meet it
• The consequences of not meeting the requirement, and
• A statement that the notification is being issued under Social Security Law, explaining the job seeker must meet their requirements in order to receive income support payments

Formal (primary) notification methods used by providers can include:

• Participant electronic calendar (for Workforce Australia and DES job seekers) - a formal notification is issued to the job seeker when their provider books a compulsory appointment/requirement within the Workforce Australia App calendar
• Letter-mailed - a letter is mailed to the job seeker's residential address on the day the requirement is scheduled
• Letter-handed - a letter is handed to the job seeker in person as they are currently with the Provider
• Phone (script) - a script is read to the job seeker by their provider as the requirement is being scheduled. Note: leaving a message on an answering machine or with another person in the job seeker's household does not count as formal notification
• Face to face (script) - a script is read to the job seeker as they are in attendance at the provider's office as the requirement is being scheduled
• Email - sent to the job seeker with a read receipt sent back to the Provider. This is only available if it is recorded as the job seeker's preferred method of notification

Secondary notification (reminders)

Depending on the requirement, job seekers may also receive reminders through:

• SMS
• Email
• A Push Notification on their Workforce Australia App
• An Inbox message through their homepage on the Workforce Australia website

Secondary notifications act as a reminder only to support previous notification/s issued.

Both Services Australia and providers are required to keep accurate records of all notification and contact attempts, whether successful or not.

These records are used to help determine if a financial penalty is appropriate when non-compliance occurs.

Records should include:

• the date and method of any notification or reminder
• the nature or purpose of the requirement
• that a compliance warning was issued
• any explanations given by a job seeker for requesting to reschedule a notified appointment

When notification of a requirement was provided in writing, a copy should be kept as evidence of notification.

Evidence that proper notification has occurred is shown by one or more of the following:

• written notification of the appointment or the requirement on the History Summary (HS) screen
• the job seeker's Job Plan
• details recorded in a DOC when the job seeker was verbally notified of the appointment and no workflow was used to facilitate the appointment
• information recorded in the Online Diary
• any other appointment, notification and reminder details recorded

The job seeker must be given enough time between formal notification being issued and a requirement occurring to receive the notification and prepare for the requirement.

Reasonable notice will vary according to the method of notification and whether or not the job seeker was directly consulted prior to notice being given.

Direct consultation:

When an appointment has been made in consultation with a job seeker and they have agreed to attend, reasonable notice has been given.

Reasonable notice time frames for other formal notification methods:

The Employment Services System (ESS) ensures appropriate notification is given when the provider is setting requirements for the jobseeker. This is to allow for the notification to meet the following policy guidelines:

• 2 business days for:
• Participants electronic calendar
• Letter handed to a job seeker
• Verbal script read face to face or over the phone
• Email
• 6 business days for:
• Letter mailed to the job seeker (Non CDP)
• 8 business days for:
• Letter mailed to the CDP participant. CDP providers are required to post their letters 8 business days ahead of the scheduled appointment

When the job seeker disputes notification of the requirement, PST-skilled staff should consider:

• the address where the letter was sent
• if the notification was made by email
• if there was sufficient time for the job seeker to receive the notification, and
• if there was sufficient time for the job seeker to make the necessary arrangements required to attend. Examples include arranging:
• transport to the appointment, or
• child care arrangements

Note: in rural and remote areas, local mail delivery conditions and the job seeker arrangements for collecting mail should also be taken into consideration.

When a non-compliance event is reported, a history of the formal notification will be provided to the agency automatically via Services Australia IT system.

Notification records can be viewed in the Participation Compliance Hub, when conducting a compliance investigation. Linked notifications are available within the relevant provider report on the Provider Report Summary (BIPRS) screen.

Job Seeker Compliance Framework:

The type of notification used by the provider can be located by reviewing:

• Non-Attendance Report (NAR)
• above the 'Evidence' heading within the report
• Participation Reports and Provider Appointment Reports (PAR)
• under the 'Notification' heading

Targeted Compliance Framework:

The type of notification used by the provider can be located by reviewing:

• Compliance Investigation workflow - other related information page under the recent non-compliance link available, or
• within the NCE on the Provider Report Summary screen

Details of the notification given may not be displayed in these links, for example when the notification has been:

• verbally issued
• generated via the Activity Diary/Calendar, or
• archived

When notification was made using the Activity Diary/Calendar, the record will show the print date.

When a requirement was scheduled in the Calendar, job seekers will be able to see the notice issued online via their homepage on the Workforce Australia website or in the Workforce Australia App.

Providers may include additional relevant information regarding notices issued when reporting a non-compliance event, for example:

• the date a locally printed letter was handed or posted to the job seeker, or
• any follow up contacts to confirm appointment

A non-compliance event notification will include evidence to satisfy appropriate notification. Where doubt exists, clarification should be sought from the provider.

Archiving of provider notifications

The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations archiving rules for notifications are:

• primary notifications, for example letter or written notifications, are archived after 9 months from the date notification was created
• secondary notifications (for example SMS) can be archived 14 days after they are created

PST-skilled staff can request archived notifications from the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations via the Level 2 Policy Helpdesk. See the Resources page for contact details.