Ordinary Waiting Period (OWP) 106-05020010

A customer can only be given an exemption from the OWP at the new claim (grant) stage.

The OWP can only be waived after grant of the payment if the one week OWP has not been completed.

Exemptions automatically pre-fill in the:

• Exemption/Waiver Reason field of the Ordinary Waiting Period (OWP) screen for Parenting Payment Single (PPS) and Parenting Payment Partnered (PPP)
• OWP table in Process Direct for JobSeeker Payment (JSP) and Youth Allowance (YA)

Exemptions can also be coded manually if required. Manual coding is only required if it is identified during the new claim process that the system has not coded the exemption. For example, when a customer has received an income support payment within the last 13 weeks. If an exemption should apply but the system has not coded it, report this error via mySupport.

A customer may be exempt from the OWP if:

• they are reclaiming within 13 weeks of last receiving a social security benefit or allowance. For the purpose of this exemption only, Parental Leave Pay (PPL) also applies
• they are in severe financial hardship and are also experiencing a personal financial crisis because at some time in the 4 weeks immediately before the person's start day:
• they have been subjected to domestic violence
• they incurred unavoidable or reasonable expenditure
• the person was in prison or psychiatric confinement
• the person first entered Australia and was the holder of a humanitarian visa on that entry to Australia, OR
• the person's principal place of residence was lost or sustained major damage as a result of an extreme circumstance, OR
• the person is undertaking:
• a rehabilitation program (DES - DMS, see note below), OR
• an activity as part of the CDP for a person who would otherwise have been referred to DES - DMS, if not for the person being placed in CDP

Exemption codes:

• 13W: customer is reclaiming within 13 weeks of last receiving a social security benefit or allowance including:
• Age Pension
• Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment
• Austudy payment
• Carer Payment
• Disability Support Pension
• Farm Household Allowance
• Income Support Supplement (DVA)
• JobSeeker Payment
• Parenting Payment Partnered
• Parenting Payment Single
• Partner Allowance
• Service Pension (DVA)
• Special Benefit
• Veteran Payment (DVA)
• Widow Allowance
• Youth Allowance
• Parental Leave Pay (PPL) for this exemption only

ABSTUDY is not deemed to be a social security benefit or allowance, a social security pension or service pension under the current SSAct

• DES: customer is participating in Disability Employment Services (DES)
• RJC: customer is undertaking an activity as part of the Community Development Program (CDP) and has been assessed as eligible for DES via a current Employment Services Assessment (ESAt) or Job Capacity Assessment (JCA)
• PBV: customer is recently widowed with a bereavement period ending on or after 20/03/2020 and is claiming JSP or YA within 14 weeks of their partner's date of death or, if pregnant at the time of their loss, before the birth of the child/end of the pregnancy

Automatic exemptions for any of these reasons are viewable on the Ordinary Waiting Period (OWP) screen or the OWP table on the Date of Commencement (NDC) screen in Process Direct for customers claiming JobSeeker Payment (JSP) or Youth Allowance (YA) (job seeker) at any stage of the new claim process.

For claims actioned in Process Direct: For customers claiming Parenting Payment (Partnered - PPP or Single - PPS), exemptions will only be viewable on the OWP screen at the end of the new claim workflow before completion of the Entitlements (ELD) screen.

For claims actioned in Customer First: For customers claiming Parenting Payment (Partnered - PPP or Single - PPS), exemptions will only be viewable on the !OWP screen at the end of the new claim workflow before completion of the Assessment Results (AR) screen.

How to manually identify DES or RJC exemption eligibility if required

To check the current participation in DES or CDP activity in Process Direct for customers who:

• submit an online claim or a Service Officer has completed the Assisted Customer Claim (ACC) workflow:
• in the claim, select > Participation Interview > Activity type/Non-applied exemptions > Referral Summary, or
• in the Super Key field, key 'RRSUM', select Enter
• are currently receiving a payment:
• from the Process Direct landing page, select Customer Summary
• key the customer’s CRN, select Go
• in the Super Key field, key 'RRSUM', select Enter, or
• select > Participation Summary > Activity type/Non-applied exemptions > Referral Summary
• to identify eligibility for DES for a customer currently undertaking a CDP activity, check whether the customer has been assessed by a JCA or ESAt as eligible for DES within the last two years

Is the OWP exemption/waiver being considered?

• for exemption at the new claim activity, go to Step 3
• for waiver at grant, go to Step 4
• for waiver after grant but before the OWP has been served, go to Step 4

Note: the OWP cannot be waived after it has been served.

A person is not subject to an OWP if they are reclaiming within 13 weeks of last receiving a social security benefit or allowance. This period is calculated from the date the customer last received a benefit or allowance of greater than zero dollars ($0). This may be an earlier date than the benefit/allowance calculation date. See the Resources page for examples.

For claims processed in Customer First, a question will display in the Ordinary Waiting Period workflow: A one week OWP may apply unless the customer is exempt, or eligible for a waiver due to personal financial crisis. Will the customer be assessed for a waiver? Refer to 'Helptext'

This question will not display if the customer has received an income support payment in the last 13 weeks, and is therefore eligible for an OWP exemption.

For claims actioned in Process Direct, if eligible, the exemption should automatically display on the NDC screen in the Waiting Period table.

For claims actioned in Customer First, if eligible, the exemption should automatically display on the AR screen.

Does the customer have a DES or RJC exemption?

For claims actioned in Process Direct, for PPP and PPS customers, this information will only be available on the OWP screen at the end of the new claim workflow, before completion of the ELD screen.

For claims actioned in Customer First, for PPP & PPS customers, this information will only be available on the OWP screen at the end of the new claim workflow, before completion of the AR screen.

• Yes, do not discuss waiver eligibility with the customer. Procedure ends here
• No, go to Step 4

For a link to the definition of severe financial hardship in the Guide to Social Security Law, see the Policy page.

JSP (Incapacitated) customers may be eligible for a 5 week backdating provision. The OWP can be waived at any time from the date claim was lodged; or while serving the waiting period; or if their claim is being backdated the OWP can be waived for a previous period within the 5 weeks of initial contact. The Service Officer must confirm the customer's financial circumstances back to the period in question.

• Check the claim and, if provided, the Income and Assets for the value of the customer's liquid assets
• Determine the amount of liquid assets the customer has at the time of claiming and 4 weeks prior to the customer's start date

Is the customer in severe financial hardship?

• Yes, see Step 1 in Table 2
• No, the OWP cannot be waived. The OWP will be applied unless an exemption has been automatically granted. Procedure ends here

Suitable evidence to support the waiver of the OWP must be provided. The Resources page contains examples of appropriate evidence.

If the customer has submitted an online claim, evidence of personal financial crisis may have already been provided by the customer.

Appropriate evidence of a personal financial crisis may already be on the customer record. This may include any of the following that occurred within the 4 weeks prior to the customer's calculated OWP start date:

• Arrival on a qualifying humanitarian visa type. The Resources page contains examples of qualifying visa types
• Verification on the customer record of a grant or claim for a Crisis Payment due to:
• prison release
• domestic or family violence
• extreme circumstances (home lost or incurred major damage)
• National Health Emergency
  Note: a claim for Crisis Payment may be lodged at the same time as an income support payment, and will therefore be lodged within the 4 weeks prior to the customer's start date where an OWP is applied
• Receipts for unavoidable or reasonable expenditure

For online claim or assisted customer claim processing, go to Step 2

For assessment of waiver after payment has been granted, go to Step 4

Customers will be advised as part of their claim that they may be subject to a one week OWP unless they are in severe financial hardship due to personal financial crisis. They will be advised of the evidence required to apply for a waiver.

It is the customer's responsibility to supply the necessary evidence with their claim documents for staff to assess at claim finalisation as to whether the OWP is waived.

For claims actioned in Process Direct, for PPP and PPS customers, an exemption will auto-populate the OWP screen at the end of the new claim workflow before completion of the ELD screen.

For claims actioned in Customer First, for PPP and PPS customers, an exemption will auto-populate the OWP screen at the end of the new claim workflow before completion of the AR screen.

Has evidence of severe financial hardship, due to a personal financial crisis, been provided with all other documents in order to complete the claim?

• Yes, go to Step 3
• No, continue with claim determination and assess claim with the OWP applied. Do not waive the OWP without evidence. Procedure ends here

It is up to the customer to provide evidence of severe financial hardship and request waiver of the OWP. Evidence can be supplied after a claim has been granted whilst the customer is still serving the OWP.

Determine whether the evidence provided is sufficient to waive the OWP. If no evidence is provided the OWP is not to be waived. The Resources page contains examples of suitable evidence and example scenarios. All relevant evidence must be scanned and attached to the customer's record.

Does the customer qualify for a waiver?

• Yes, go to Step 4
• No, to code the rejection in
• Process Direct, go to Step 7
• Customer First, go to Step 8

The OWP will be waived in full. It does not matter how much of the waiting period the customer still has to serve.

This is a significant decision and details must be recorded on a Note/DOC and on the OWP screen. The OWP screen can be accessed during a new claim or after grant of claim.

The reason for waiver must be clearly noted in the Note/DOC along with the following:

• Circumstances that led to the request
• Amount of available funds at the claimant's start date (not the date of claim processing)
• Type of expenditure that caused the hardship (unavoidable or reasonable cost of living)
• Amount that the expenditure equated to
• The type of evidence used to support the determination and the location of this evidence (for example, scanned on the customer record)

Is the OWP waiver part of a new claim activity?

• Yes, and the changes are being made in:
• Process Direct, go to Step 5
• Customer First, go to Step 6
• No, the claim has been finalised and the changes are being made in:
• Process Direct, go to Step 7
• Customer First, go to Step 8

For claims being actioned in Process Direct, the waiver can be coded in the Create Ordinary Waiting Period table.

Go to the OWP screen using Super Key.

Select Add to open the Create Ordinary Waiting Period Details table.

On the OWP screen, complete the following fields.

Exemption/Waiver Reason:

Select the waiver code from the following options:

• RUE Personal financial crisis - unavoidable or reasonable expenditure
• DOM Personal financial crisis - domestic or family violence
• PFO Personal financial crisis - other circumstances.
  Do not use PFO for unavoidable or reasonable expenditure waivers.
  PFO is used when any of the following circumstances apply to the customer:
• in prison or psychiatric confinement
• first entered Australia as the holder of a qualifying humanitarian visa
• the customer's home was lost or incurred major damage by an extreme circumstance

Note: if the OWP has been waived, consider if the customer is also eligible for a RapidConnect exemption.

Exemption/Waiver Evidence

• Select the appropriate code
• Record comments if Other is selected

Is the Exemption/Waiver Granted?

• Select Yes

In some circumstances, it is mandatory to include information in the comments section.

After manually recording the waiver on the OWP screen, the waiver code will display on the NDC screen or Waiting Period Cancellation Results (WPCR).

For claims in Process Direct, select Save to create provisional data in the Ordinary Waiting Period table.

Does the customer want to apply for a hardship advance?

• Yes, see Immediate payments for urgent payments and hardship advances
• No, finalise the assessment

To access the OWP screen, either:

• key '!OWP' in the Next field, or
• from the Newstart DOC Calculator (NDC) screen, key 'S' in the Go to OWP field, or
• from the Waiting Periods menu item

Does the customer want to apply for a hardship advance?

• Yes, see Immediate payments for urgent payments and hardship advances
• No, finalise the assessment

Select Ordinary waiting period/NSS start date calculator from the Task Selector

• Enter Receipt date and Channel details and select Next
• Update any required details on Date of Commencement (NDC). Select Next
• On the Ordinary waiting period (OWP) screen select Edit to open Change ordinary waiting period details

To complete the fields go to Step 9.

To access the OWP screen, either:

• key '!OWP' in the Next field, or
• from the Newstart DOC Calculator (NDC) screen, key 'S' in the Go to OWP field, or
• from the Waiting Periods menu item

To complete the fields go to Step 9.

Exemption/Waiver reason

A drop-down menu of exemption and waiver codes will display. Select from the following options the correct waiver code:

• RUE Personal financial crisis - unavoidable or reasonable expenditure
• DOM Personal financial crisis - domestic or family violence
• PFO Personal financial crisis - other circumstances.
  Do not use PFO for unavoidable or reasonable expenditure waivers.
  PFO is only used when one of the following circumstances apply to the customer:
• in prison or psychiatric confinement
• first entered Australia as the holder of a qualifying humanitarian visa
• the customer's home was lost or incurred major damage by an extreme circumstance

Exemption/Waiver evidence

• Select the appropriate code
• Record comments if Other is selected

Is the exemption/waiver to be granted?

• Yes, go to Step 10
• No, go to Step 11

Answer Yes to the question Is the Exemption/Waiver granted?

In some circumstances, it is mandatory to include information in the Comments section.

Complete the coding:

• In Process Direct:
• select Save to create provisional data in the Ordinary waiting period details table
• select Next, then Assess and Finalise to complete the update
• In Customer First:
• complete the update using the Assessment Results (AR) screen

After recording the waiver on the OWP screen, the waiver code will display on the NDC screen or Waiting Period Cancellation Results (WPCR).

Consider if the customer is also eligible for a RapidConnect exemption.

Does the customer want to apply for a hardship advance?

• Yes:
• see Immediate payments for urgent payments and hardship advances
• procedure ends here
• No, procedure ends here

Answer No to the question Is the Exemption/Waiver Granted?

When rejecting a waiver, comments must be entered in the Comments section.

Complete the coding:

• In Process Direct
• select Save to create provisional data in the Ordinary waiting period details table
• select Next, then Assess and Finalise to complete the update
• In Customer First:
• complete the update using the Assessment Results (AR) screen