Re-engaging to a Community Development Program (CDP) provider 001-10090020

Re-engagement is not required for all compliance actions, however it must be considered when certain failures are investigated.

A CDP job seeker is required to re-engage if their circumstances at the time the compliance action is completed suggests they will be able to meet the requirement within a reasonable timeframe.

A provider re-engagement appointment will generally be required if a connection failure is being investigated as the CDP job seeker:

• did not enter an Job Plan with their provider when notified of a requirement to do so, or
• failed to attend an appointment arranged by the provider with a third party

Re-engagement is required when a valid Non-Attendance Report (NAR) is submitted, however this is the CDP provider's responsibility. The provider has responsibility for:

• negotiating a re-engagement appointment with the CDP job seeker (when re-engagement is required)
• notifying the CDP job seeker of the reconnection or further reconnection requirement
• finalising the NAR when the reconnection requirement is met, and
• managing any subsequent requests to reschedule

Note: Services Australia is not required to re-engage the CDP job seeker when investigating a non-attendance failure or a reconnection failure that was generated by a Provider Appointment Report (PAR). Re-engagement for these failures is managed by the provider as part of the NAR process.

When a failure is being investigated that requires Services Australia to arrange re-engagement, the reconnection requirement is scheduled by Participation Solutions Team (PST) staff and the CDP job seeker is notified of this during the failure investigation.

When a CDP job seeker's circumstances indicate they can re-engage, a reconnection or further reconnection requirement must be notified. A requirement given by a provider while actioning a Non-Attendance Report (NAR), or Services Australia while investigating a connection failure, is defined as a reconnection requirement or further reconnection requirement within legislation. Further non-compliance with a reconnection or further reconnection requirement may result in a reconnection failure and a reconnection failure period being imposed or continuing to affect a CDP job seeker's payment.

In all cases, the specific re-engagement requirement given for a compliance action will be attendance at a re-engagement appointment with their provider.

CDP job seekers should be re-engaged as quickly as possible. As a general rule, a re-engagement appointment should be arranged within the next 2 working days if the CDP job seeker's circumstances and appointment availability allow it. If a suitable CDP provider re-engagement appointment is not available within this timeframe, the first suitable appointment should be booked. If the CDP job seeker is unable to attend a re-engagement appointment within the next 28 calendar days due to circumstances outside of their control, they should not be given a re-engagement requirement.

Both Services Australia and CDP providers are able to reschedule re-engagement appointments arranged by Services Australia.

If the CDP job seeker contacts Services Australia to reschedule their re-engagement appointment, careful consideration is required before rescheduling the appointment.

CDP job seekers who contact Services Australia should not be directed to their provider when Service Officers are able to reschedule. Service Officers should consider whether reasons provided for the reschedule request are reasonable and, if so, reschedule the appointment.

When a Non-Attendance Report is submitted, the re-engagement appointment can only be arranged and rescheduled by the provider.