Assessing a job seeker's mutual obligation requirements based on Employment Services Assessment (ESAt)/Job Capacity Assessment (JCA) reports 008-06070070

ESAt/JCA reports make recommendations for referral to suitable employment services and other interventions such as:

• Workforce Australia
• Community Development Program (CDP)
• Disability Employment Services (DES)

Services Australia facilitates referrals to suitable programmes as recommended in the ESAt/JCA report.

If a new referral is recommended, the agency may be required to:

• liaise with the customer's current provider to arrange an exit from the current program
• code a new referral, and
• arrange for the customer to sign a Job Plan, unless the plan is negotiated by the Employment Services Provider

When an ESAt/JCA report recommends a referral to DES but the customer's current Temporary Reduced Work Capacity (TRWC) is 0-7 hours per week, the referral will be deferred until after the expiry of this period. See Deferred referral to Employment Services Providers.

Service Officers review the submitted reports. They then make the decision to either accept or return the report. Information is automatically populated into relevant fields on the system once the report is accepted.

Once an ESAt/JCA report has been submitted and accepted, the Service Officer uses the report to:

• make an informed decision regarding Approved activities for job seekers assessed as having a partial capacity to work (PCW) or temporary reduced work capacity (TRWC), including temporary exemption from their mutual obligation requirements and the number of hours these customers are able to work, as identified in the report
• negotiate suitable activities in a Job Plan if the job seeker is not exempt and if the job seeker has not been referred to an Employment Services Provider. Note: this does not occur where a job seeker has been referred to an Employment Services Provider who can update Job Plans as part of engaging the job seeker in voluntary activities that address barriers to participation and moving the job seeker along pathways to independence
• make decisions regarding eligibility for income support payments

The Service Officer may contact the Assessor to clarify any aspects of the reports to clarify any inconsistencies. For example, if the referral recommendation is for a program that the customer is ineligible for, the Service Officer may invite the Assessor to review their recommendation. If appropriate, the Assessor can review their recommendation and make a new referral while the report is still 'submitted'.

From 1 April 2023, a new version of Impairment Tables was introduced. The new Tables are used to assess a customer's medical eligibility for all DSP claims lodged on or after this date. See The Impairment Tables.