Processes for RapidConnect appointments 001-02030010

The Participation Interview identifies JobSeeker Payment (JSP) and Youth Allowance (YA) job seekers who are subject to RapidConnect requirements. If the job seeker is not automatically referred to the Workforce Australia Online, it is also used to connect job seekers with an Employment Services Provider by booking:

• the RapidConnect provider appointment, and
• subsequent interview with Services Australia if required

Within the Centrelink system, the Job Seeker RapidConnect (JMRC) screen displays the history of a job seeker's RapidConnect status. This screen is used for recording reasons for manually exempting a job seeker from RapidConnect.

Job seekers participating in the online service are not required to attend a RapidConnect appointment with a Workforce Australia provider. Instead, they will meet their RapidConnect obligation by agreeing to their Job Plan online.

From 4 December 2021, job seekers who are referred to online services under RapidConnect provisions will need to complete their Career Profile (known as your Profile in the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) system) before they can agree to their Job Plan online.

The Career Profile is in the DEWR system and is a brief summary of a job seeker’s skills and employment record.

RapidConnect will determine the payment start date in accordance with the job seeker's circumstances. Payment may start from:

• the date the job seeker attended their RapidConnect Appointment
• the date the Participation Interview was completed
• the date the original RapidConnect was booked, or
• the date the completed claim was lodged

Details about RapidConnect start dates may be found at Calculating the start day general rule.

Job seekers who require a RapidConnect appointment are referred to an Employment Services Provider for an appointment and advised of the requirement to attend. Ideally, the appointment should be within 2 working days (or up to a maximum of 14 working days) of having the Participation Interview run.

If a RapidConnect appointment is not available via the Online Diary within 2 working days:

• contact the relevant Employment Services Provider, and
• book the next available RapidConnect appointment within 14 days

If none of the providers in the customer's area have an appointment available within 14 working days, the customer can be exempt from RapidConnect.

When booking appointments for Community Development Program (CDP) job seekers, available appointments will display in the Online Diary for:

• the main CDP provider site, and
• other communities’ services by the provider across the CDP region

This means the Online Diary may show results for CDP sites in locations which are not within a reasonable commuting distance for the job seeker. Special care needs to be taken to ensure job seekers are not booked into CDP sites they are unable to access.

The provider is required to enter a result of the job seeker's attendance or failure to attend the RapidConnect appointment. A job seeker's attendance or non-attendance will be displayed in the Appointment Summary section of the job seeker's Online Diary.

If the job seeker attends their RapidConnect appointment:

• the provider is obliged to advise the agency when a job seeker has attended their RapidConnect appointment. Once this occurs, income support becomes payable

If the job seeker does not attend their RapidConnect appointment:

• the provider is to enter a free text reason of up to 150 characters why the job seeker did not attend, if known
• the provider may contact the job seeker to discuss the non-attendance and book another appointment with the job seeker. If this is within 14 days of the Participation Interview originally being run, the job seeker will be paid from the correct start date under RapidConnect rules. See Rescheduling and Rebooking RapidConnect appointments for more details

The provider has until the close of business of the day after the job seeker's scheduled appointment in which to enter the appointment result.

If the provider has not entered a result by this time, a 'No Result Entered (NRE)' flag will be sent back to the agency to indicate that the provider has not entered a result in the appropriate timeframe. This means that the job seeker will have met their RapidConnect obligations and can therefore be paid their income support payment from the relevant date.

Service Officers and Employment Services Providers can reschedule the RapidConnect appointment with the provider as long as:

• the appointment is still in the future, and
• a result has not been recorded for that appointment

Service Officers and Employment Services Providers must determine whether a request to reschedule a RapidConnect appointment is for an acceptable reason. Their decision will determine a job seeker’s payment start date.

When rescheduling the RapidConnect appointment, Service Officers need to ensure that the appointment is made within 14 days from the date of the Participation Interview being run and determine a job seeker's payment start date. If this is not done, the job seeker's income support payment start date may be affected.

Service Officers must tell the job seeker about their appointment details verbally or in writing, as a letter will not auto-issue to the job seeker for provider appointments.

If an appointment date has passed or an appointment result has been entered, then the appointment can no longer be rescheduled, and the appointment will need to be rebooked.

The Process page contains the steps required for assessing if a job seeker is subject to RapidConnect, rescheduling appointments and assessment of start date eligibility.

If the job seeker contacts Services Australia as they missed their RapidConnect appointment and the provider has not already rebooked the RapidConnect appointment, Service Officers can rebook the appointment using the Participation Interview, provided:

• the original claim was completed:
• online, or
• via the Assisted Customer Claims (ACC) workflow, and
• it is still within 14 days of the Participation Interview being run

When rebooking the RapidConnect appointment, Service Officers must ensure:

• the appointment is made within 14 days from the date of the Participation Interview being run, and
• the job seeker is told of their obligation to attend a RapidConnect appointment

If this is not done, the job seeker's income support payment start date may be affected.

If there are no appointments available, the Service Officer must contact the provider and request an appointment for the job seeker.

The Service Officer must ensure the job seeker is given their appointment details verbally or in writing.

If the appointment is outside the 14 days, then the entire Participation Interview will need to be re-run.

If a job seeker's income support claim has already been granted (including where the status is current zero rate (CZR)) the RapidConnect appointment is no longer able to be rebooked. The job seeker will need to be exempt from RapidConnect and have an initial appointment booked. The Service Officer must contact the provider to request they book this appointment for the job seeker.

The Process page contains the steps required for assessing if a job seeker is subject to RapidConnect, rescheduling appointments, rebooking appointments and assessment of start date eligibility.