Reporting employment income online 133-04180000

The customer must meet these conditions on their reporting day.

Full-time students or Australian Apprentices

• getting ABSTUDY, Austudy or Youth Allowance (YA)
• must report employment income every fortnight, and
• if partnered, their partner is either eligible to report or not required to report

Other customers

• getting one of these payments - status of CUR, SUS (except ANR), CNP or CZR
• Age Pension (AGE)
• Carer Payment (CP)
• Disaster Recovery Allowance (DRA)
• Disability Support Pension (DSP)
• Farm Household Allowance (FHA)
• JobSeeker Payment (JSP)
• Non Resident Refugee or Status Resolution Support service
• Parenting Payment (PP) (partnered or single)
• Special Benefit (SpB)
• Youth Allowance (YA) (as a job seeker), and
• if partnered, their partner is either eligible to report or not required to report
• for notification reporting customers, see Item 6 in Table 3

A customer cannot report online if any of the following apply:

• not required to report
• before their reporting date
• more than 13 days after their usual reporting date
• have more than 6 outstanding reporting periods after a recent grant or restoration
• deceased record
• adding a new Australian Disability Enterprises (ADE) employer or a new Supported Wage System (SWS) employer
• gets Carer Payment (CP) and has not included their Activity Test details
• partner gets CP and the customer does not have permission to enquire (PPE)
• gets Assistance for Isolated Children (AIC) Scheme payment
• Youth Bonus Wage Subsidy (YBWS) 26 week suspension period
• if an eligible job seeker advises they have not met their mutual obligation requirements for:
• a third consecutive fortnight, or
• a reason of Other or No longer undertaking activity
• customer or their partner have multiple carer self-employment activities
• customer and partner have non-matching reporting regimes
• customer/partner have different Eligibility Period End Day (EPED) codes on their record

If the customer is reporting:

• $0 income for themselves (and their partner), they can submit the report successfully
• any income for themselves (or their partner), this triggers a handoff to a Service Officer to amend and adjust the rate of payment

• Centrelink online account help - Report employment income
• Centrelink online account help - Report employment income - Carers
• Express Plus Centrelink mobile app - Report employment income

For more help, see:

• Centrelink digital support products, and
• Staff Training Simulations

Where STP data is detected and the customer is a notification reporter, they will automatically be changed to a statement reporter to have the STP data shown to them through their reporting services.

If STP employer details are available, statement reporting customers are required to confirm, reject or match the pre-filled employer name and Australian Business Number (ABN) or Withholding Payer Number (WPN).

If the customer:

• confirms the pre-filled employer, they will be asked if this is the same as an employer already recorded. This helps avoid duplication of existing employer details. If a customer can match the STP employer information to their existing records, then the STP employer's ABN will merge. Otherwise, it will add as a new employer
• rejects the pre-filled STP employer, they will get a message advising that this employer has not been added to their record. If the customer rejects the pre-filled STP employer more than once, the STP employer will not show again

If STP employer details show, customers cannot submit their report without confirming or rejecting the information.

Customers must continue to report gross employment income from any non-STP employers and, if required, the number of hours (and minutes for Carer Payment (CP) customers) they have worked in their reporting period. If the customer or their partner's income support payment does not require reporting of hours worked, the Add Hours button will not appear in the reporting service.

Eligible customers and/or their partner can update their employment status through the reporting service in their Centrelink online account and Express Plus Centrelink mobile app if they:

• have started work, and
• are in receipt of eligible payments, without mutual obligation or participation requirements

After the update, the customer (and in some cases their partner) will be required to commence, or continue, fortnightly reporting of their gross employment income.

Eligible payments:

• ABSTUDY Living Allowance
• Youth Allowance (YA) (student)
• Austudy
• Age Pension (AGE)
• Carer Payment (CP)
• Parenting Payment (PP) (single and partnered)

Note: to be eligible to use this service, the customer and their partner must not be in receipt of a Disability Support Pension (DSP) payment.

See Employment income options online.

Statement reporters no longer have a reporting task on their homepage prior to their reporting due date. They cannot record non-STP employment income paid and hours worked prior to their reporting due date. Customers can use the Earnings Worksheet (SU505) to keep track of any pay events and hours worked they need to report on their next reporting due date.

When a customer selects the Report task or Report employment income (REI) menu option online or in the app on their reporting day (or after their reporting day, if reporting late) they can:

• confirm, reject or match a pre-filled STP employer name and Australian Business Number (ABN) or Withholding Payer Number (WPN)
• check, confirm or change pre-filled STP employment income data
• add additional STP employer pay events that are not pre-filled yet
• view the pre-filled employment cessation date and reason reported by their STP employer when they cease work. Mutual obligation customers may be required to provide details why they ceased employment, when the cessation reason is dismissal or voluntary
• answer additional questions when unused leave and redundancy payments have been included with cessation details, such as the amount of days the leave covers or the average weekly wage
• answer additional questions when unused leave on termination income is included in their pay event, but no employment cessation details are included in the STP data
• enter their and their partner's (if applicable) non STP employment income paid and if required, hours worked in the reporting period
• enter Carer Activity Details or answer the activity test question (if applicable)
• view and edit previous reports for up to 6 past reports submitted (this does not apply to confirmed STP employment income)
• accept the Declaration and submit their report

Customers benefiting from pre-filled STP data enter into the STP Confirmation Service upon commencing the REI task. After confirming the STP data, customers are required to accept the terms and conditions listed in the STP Declaration page in the REI task workflow. When accepted, customers are returned to the REI workflow to add any non-STP employment details for them and their partner (if applicable).

Both statement and notification reporters can access the REI task at any time through the Income and assets menu option to view and update their previous reports. They can also view their upcoming reporting periods.

A Reporting tips message will also show to help customers report the right way. This appears each time they use the service. They need to select Got it to continue.

This page shows information given by the customer, including:

• Employer name
• Gross employment income reported
• Hours worked during the reporting period (travel time is also included for Carer Payment (CP))
• Response to mutual obligation or participation requirement question (if required)
• The partner's employer, gross income amount paid, and hours worked (if applicable)

Customers will get a message that they need to action new tasks that are created when:

• they have pre-filled STP Workers Compensation pay components and need to complete a MOD C
• they have pre-filled or have manually added 'Unused leave' on termination income, where the STP employer has not reported cessation of employment, they will be asked if they still work for that employer. If they answer No, they will need to provide an Employment separation certificate (SU1)
• AGE and CAR customers, who have pre-filled STP leave, answer Yes when asked if there are any changes to their income and assets. The new task requires them to update their income and assets details

These tasks will be available on their Centrelink online account homepage or Express Plus Centrelink mobile app home screen.

If the customer has Other income, they must update this after they finish reporting. They update it by selecting Menu > Income and assets > Income and assets details > Manage income and assets.

Other income is income from the following sources:

• grants or scholarships
• lump sum payments
• sales commissions
• income from a sole trader or partnership business

Customers can report for a partial period if they need to report employment income and their current reporting period is less than 2 weeks, for example, upon grant of payment, change of reporting cycle.

However, they may not be eligible to report due to other reasons. For example, their partner's entitlement period does not match.

A message advises the customer why they are unable to report.

Service Officers

Hand off the activity for manual intervention.

Check the Online Interaction Summary for the reason the customer was ineligible or unable to report online.

Complete the transaction for the customer.

All customers who have recently had their payment granted or restored can submit outstanding reports where there are up to 6 past reporting periods.

They can submit each report separately, up until their current entitlement period.

They can confirm, reject or match pre-filled Single Touch Payroll (STP) employer name and ABN or WPN and confirm or adjust pre-filled STP employment income data. This includes adding STP employer pay events that are not pre-filled yet.

They can report their partner's past income.

They need to include activity test details if they have participation requirements.

If a debt shell generates, it maps with code XWA and keyword NDBEAN.

If a customer wants to change pre-filled STP income in the reporting service, they can correct the amount shown before selecting Submit on the STP Declaration page. The customer can add additional pay components for the STP employer that have not pre-filled. After the STP Declaration is submitted, the customer can make no further changes to the pre-filled data.

The customer can manually edit or delete added pay events before completing their report. If the customer contacts to update confirmed STP income, they must provide evidence before changes are made.

If a customer has added gross income for a non-STP employer and not yet submitted their report, they can edit or delete the details they manually added.

To be paid, they must confirm the correction and submit their report.

Customers can also correct details for the past 6 reporting periods (this does not apply to confirmed STP employment income).

They can do this by selecting the:

• Previous report option in the Report Employment Income service
• View and update employment income option from the main menu

Note: the mutual obligation requirements field may change because of this update to the income field.

If the customer submits an income report on their reporting date, but after the payment strip, a message tells them their new payment date.

Their partner's income shows on the customer's reporting dashboard.

The Summary page shows existing income details for their partner if they have given the customer permission for their partner to enquire (PPE).

Customers can report partner's income to:

• add new employer details or select an existing employer
• advise hours of work (if required) and employment income paid, and
• view and check their partner's employment income information on the Report Employment Income page before submitting the report

A nominee can only report on behalf of the customer and not their partner. See Item 5 in Self service for nominees.

For a list of partnered customer reporting scenarios, on the Resources page of Reporting overview, see Table 3 and the attachment Expanded partner reporting matrix.

If customer and partner both report

Single Touch Payroll employment details do not pre-fill for partners.

The system compares information reported by both customers. It does not automatically duplicate employment income already recorded.

If a customer updates the income details that their partner reported for them, the latest report will override the income details already declared for that reporting period.

To minimise the chance of duplicating income, tell customers:

• if both members of a couple are required to report and only one of them has STP income, the customer with STP income should report first. This will reduce the chance of the STP service duplicating earnings on top of what their partner has already reported
• they must review all earnings shown when completing their report to make sure:
• the total income amounts are correct, and
• there are no duplicated employer or income entries
• although they cannot amend STP income, they can amend non STP income using the edit/delete function to make sure the total income is correct

Eligible job seekers with a benefit status of CUR or SUS and in receipt of the following payments, can advise if they are unable to meet their mutual obligation requirements:

• Parenting Payment Single (PPS) (youngest child in care turns 6 years)
• JobSeeker Payment (JSP)
• Youth Allowance (YA) (job seeker)
• Special Benefit (SpB) (who have mutual obligation requirements)

They must also have an approved activity code. For example, PTW, VWK or SEL, either approved initially by Services Australia or their employment service provider (where applicable).

Customers can select the following reasons why they are unable to meet their obligations:

• Illness or Injury
• Sick child (or children)
• Cancelled shift
• Short term reduction in hours due to public holiday (e.g. Easter or Christmas)
• Pupil-free day(s)/school holidays
• No longer undertaking activity
• Other

Except for Other or No longer undertaking activity, the Declaration page shows and the customer can then submit their report.

Customers who select Other or No longer undertaking activity are advised reporting could not be completed. They will need to contact to complete their report.

Customers may not get this option if they have used a reasonable excuse in their Centrelink online account or the Express Plus Centrelink mobile app for the previous 2 consecutive reporting periods. Customers are to contact the agency to discuss options for an exemption and complete their report.

When the Receipt page advises a customer they have submitted the report successfully, the following details show:

• receipt ID
• date and time the report was submitted
• next payment amount for the customer and partner (if applicable) and the date they will get their payment
• Income Bank balance, Working Credit balance and/or Work Bonus balance (if applicable)
• next reporting date for the customer and partner (if applicable)
• any Centrelink appointments due for the customer
• an option to view the information they have provided, including confirmation or rejection response to pre-filled Single Touch Payroll (STP) employer name and Australian Business Number (ABN)
• other information based on their circumstances, for example, new tasks added for customers to complete

The customer should print or save the receipt details in case they need to contact about their payment. An option to save the page as PDF is available by selecting Save your Receipt.

If a customer cannot finalise their report, they may get one of the following messages (including more details about why the message shows and what they must do):

• Failed to submit
• Action required

When this happens in the Express Plus Centrelink mobile app and it is during office hours, the service will show a Contact us now button. If customers select this:

• The Digital Assistant opens
• They are told it looks like there is a problem with their income reporting and they need to speak to a Service Officer
• They can then select Yes or No to Would you like me to start a phone call to a Service Officer?
• If they select Yes, the call is transferred to the Centrelink reporting line phone queue and the customer shows as already authenticated in the IVR
• If they select No, the customer will need to contact another time to complete their report

To view the information the customer has reported in the past:

• In the customer's record in Customer First, go to Online Interaction summary
• this resource is located by going to Workspace > Customer Online Account > Online Interaction Summary
• update the status field to completed, then select Search
• Select the relevant completed transaction, then the Notes tab to view the details

Information shows as on the customer's receipt page. This includes:

• information provided by the customer
• date and time of the report
• period the report was for
• outcome of the report

This applies to JobSeeker Payment (JSP), Youth Allowance (YA) (job seeker), some Special Benefit (SpB) and Parenting Payment Single (PPS) job seekers with mutual obligation or participation requirements.

When a customer has already recorded income and hours that meet their requirements, the mutual obligation or participation requirements question defaults to Yes.

When a Centrelink managed job seeker with an approved activity coded on the Activity and Exemption (AEX) screen records income and hours that do not meet their requirements or they answer No to their specific mutual obligation requirement question, their online update will not complete and a STArted EANS/STM activity creates on their record. Service Officers can use this information when contacting the customer to discuss the failure.

The customer can provide the number of hours and minutes worked each week, plus travel time. This excludes Carer Payment (XWP) customers. The 'Add hours' section will not show for a customer or partner if they are CP (XWP) as there is no requirement to capture activity hours from these customers.

If the customer is not a CP (XWP) customer and they exceed the 25 hour rule and have at least 7 respite days available, they need to indicate if this is temporary or always.

Exceeding temporarily

Would they like to use 7 days respite rather than having CP cancelled?

• Yes, the system deducts 7 days from their current respite balance and updates the customer's record. The number of respite days they have left shows on the Carers page
• No, this triggers a handoff

Always exceeding

CP cancels. The system assesses the 25-hour rule based on all activities on the customer's record, including studies.

If the customer also gets Carer Allowance (CA), their CA is not affected if CP cancels due to the 25-hour rule (unless CA is paid under auto provisions).

For the process when a CP customer or partner contacts, see Carer Payment (CP) processing in the Earnings and reporting tool.

Australian Apprentices who get ABSTUDY, Austudy or Youth Allowance (YA) need to report fortnightly. If the customer does not report earnings online, the update will not complete.

When discussing the customer's employment status. If the customer:

• remains registered as an Apprentice/Trainee and has no income from work, the service officer can complete their report
• is no longer registered as an Apprentice/Trainee, see Customer no longer an Australian Apprentice

After they submit their report, a message on the Receipt page prompts the customer to update their annual family income estimate for FTB if they need to.

An extended employment suspension period of up to 2 years may apply for customers in receipt of the following payments:

• Age Pension (AGE)
• Disability Support Pension (DSP)
• Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) Age Pension
• Invalidity Service Pension
• Income Support Supplement
• Veteran Payment

Eligibility for the extended employment suspension period depends on the payment the customer receives:

• Disability Support Pension (DSP), the customer can access the extended employment suspension period when:
• the customer works 30 or more hours per week on an ongoing basis, or
• their employment income (combined with their partner's employment income, if applicable), exceeds the income cut off resulting in an employment income nil rate period, and
• this is the twelfth full entitlement period in a row, where they have received an employment income nil rate period for the above reason
• All other eligible payments, the customer can access the extended employment suspension period when:
• their own income either partly or fully exceeds the income cut off resulting in an employment income nil rate period, and
• this is the twelfth full entitlement period in a row, where they have received an employment income nil rate period for the above reason

For all eligible customers, the payment automatically suspends when, reporting for the thirteenth full entitlement period in a row results in an employment income nil rate period. Staff must not code this suspension manually.

The customer will receive a message on their Receipt page advising their payment is suspended and the agency will contact them.

If a customer has no employment income, or meets an exemption for continuous employment income, they are profiled as a notification reporter; unless they:

• receive a payment with mutual obligations, or
• have other employment income

Notification reporters must advise of any changes to their employment within 14 days.

• Centrelink online account: select Menu > Income and assets > Employment income > Report employment income
• Express Plus Centrelink mobile app: under Frequently used, select Report

Customers with ongoing 1WE or 2WE employment income recorded can advise a change to their employment income amount and the date paid by selecting the Edit icon for their employer. They can select Add more pay (in Centrelink online account) or Add Pay (in the Express Plus Centrelink mobile app) to add a new employer.

• Current employers - employers from the Employment Income Summary (EANS) screen with a $0.00 balance will not show. When a customer is recommencing with an existing employer that previously had a $0.00 balance recorded, they need to add them as a new employer
• Add or Edit - customers can add a new employer, edit their current employer details
• No paid income to report - when customers stop working for an STP employer, STP cessation data shows to customers during reporting. If the customer confirms cessation of work, and is in receipt of a payment not subject to mutual obligation requirements, their reporting profile will go back to that required for their income support payment after 12 fortnights, unless the customer and/or partner has other employment income
• Customers who do not have mutual obligation requirements, and have ceased work for a non-STP employer, will be changed to a notification reporter when there are no longer 2 instances of employment income in the last 6 reporting periods
• Customer/Partner - customers cannot update their partner's employment where PPE is 'N' (No), or where the partner is in receipt of an income support payment
• Carer payment (CP) customers are asked questions to determine the level of care provided. These details will be recorded on the Carer Payment Activity Summary (CPAS) screen

Work Item created due to unsuccessful update

In some circumstances, the online update will not complete. The customer is given a message advising them to contact Services Australia (the agency). A started activity is created on the customer's record. The started transaction in PD will contain the provisional data reported by the customer through self service and staff can view a summary in the transaction slider. Staff must discuss the change to employment income and determine if an exception is still met for 1WE/2WE continuous income. Staff must use this to complete the update when the customer contacts.

Customers in receipt of Disability Support Pension (DSP)

Customers who get DSP and who record employment in excess of 30 hours per week, will be shown an unsuccessful receipt page. They are advised to contact the agency to complete the update. When customers contact, a Service Officer will discuss their employment - refer to Commencing or returning to work or self-employment Disability Support Pension (DSP). Service Officers must select the started update to finalise the report.

Customers in receipt of Carer Payment (CP)

When a Carer reports that 'care not met' exceeds 25 hours, they are shown an unsuccessful receipt page. They are advised to contact the agency to complete the update. When customers contact to discuss their situation, Service Officers must refer to Carer Payment (CP) and Carer Allowance (CA) carer undertakes paid employment, self-employment, voluntary work, education or training activities. Service Officers must select the started update to finalise the report.

A customer will be profiled as a statement reporter If they:

• have mutual obligation or participation requirements, or
• must advise of their employment income on their Entitlement Period End Date (EPED) before being paid

Customers can now update their submitted employment income for the current reporting period and up to 6 previous reporting periods online (this does not include confirmed STP income). This applies to finalised reporting periods.

• Centrelink online account: select Menu > Income and assets > Employment income > Report
• Express Plus Centrelink mobile app: under Frequently used, select Report
• On the receipt page of the submitted report, select the Update report button

Using the Update employment income service:

• Add or Edit: customers can add a new employer, edit their current employer details
• Customer/Partner: customers cannot update their partner's employment if PPE is 'N' (No), if the partner has mutual obligation requirements or is in receipt of Carer Payment (CP)
• Carer Payment (CP) customers cannot use this service

Stopping work

When customers stop work for an STP employer, STP cessation data may be shown to customers during reporting. If the customer confirms cessation of work and is in receipt of a payment not subject to mutual obligation requirements, they will be taken off statement reporting 6 fortnights after their cessation date, unless the customer and/or partner has other employment income.

Customers who do not have mutual obligation requirements and have ceased work for a non-STP employer will be changed to a notification reporter when there are no longer 2 instances of employment income in the last 6 reporting periods.

Customers in receipt of Disability Support Pension (DSP)

DSP customers who record employment of more than 30 hours per week, are shown an unsuccessful receipt page. A Work item is created due to the unsuccessful update. See Commencing or returning to work or self-employment Disability Support Pension (DSP). Service Officers must select the started update to finalise the report.

Work Item created due to unsuccessful update

In some circumstances, the online update will not complete. If a Service Officer is allocated a work item for an unsuccessful online update:

• In the Online Interaction Summary, view notes for the Earnings activity in the Online Interaction Record
• action the update:
• if a potential arrears is identified, create a new activity using the event date and details provided online by the customer
• for all other circumstances, review the started activity from the Activity List (AL) screen
• finalise the activity and check outcome is correct
• DOC the record

See Recording and correcting employment income details.