Registering a customer as a job seeker 001-02040000

Job seekers eligible for services from Workforce Australia Employment Services Providers, need to register to access these services. Services Australia usually only conducts registration for job seekers claiming payments subject to mutual obligation requirements. The system will attempt to automatically register them upon submission of their online claim. If this is not possible, registration will be completed as part of the Participation Interview workflow during the Job Seeker new claim appointment. Other customers who are eligible for employment services can be registered manually at any time.

There are several types of job seeker registration for employment services assistance:

• Customers claiming or receiving Job Seeker Payment (JSP), Youth Allowance (YA) (job seeker) including early school leavers, Special Benefit (SpB) (under Jobseeker conditions), and Parenting Payment Single (PPS) with mutual obligation requirements must register as Fully Eligible Participant (FEP) job seekers. Young people who present with at least one non-vocational barrier are eligible for FEP registration and will have either a Vulnerable Youth (VY) or Vulnerable Youth (Student) (VY(S)) flag recorded on their record. Other customers claiming or receiving a payment without mutual obligation requirements may also be fully eligible to be registered for Workforce Australia employment services as a volunteer, such as Parenting Payment Partnered (PPP) and Disability Support Pension (DSP) recipients
• Job seekers in a Department of Employment and Workplace Relations designated remote area are referred to a Community Development Programme (CDP) provider. Job seekers in CDP regions can be registered as Remote Fully Eligible (RFE), which is the equivalent of Fully Eligible (FEP). In these areas, the job seeker will not have a choice of providers, as there is only one CDP provider servicing each area. The CDP provider will provide similar services to a Workforce Australia Employment Services Provider or Disability Employment Services (DES) provider
• Customers requiring registration only to access employment services as a volunteer, and who do not require a referral to an Employment Services Provider or a CDP provider, can be registered as Job Seeker Registration Only (JSRO)/No Remote Referral Required (NRRR). This includes:
• customers who need a Department of Employment and Workplace Relations record to be referred for an Employment Services Assessment (ESAt), such as customers claiming or receiving Disability Support Pension (DSP)
• full-time students who are transferring to a job seeker payment within 4 weeks of their student end date
• some customers requiring a Job Plan as a condition of their income support payment. This includes principal carers, mature age 55+ or people assessed as having a partial capacity to work who already fully meeting their requirements (for example, by undertaking suitable work of at least 30 hours per fortnight) and do not want to volunteer for employment services during this period
• claimants participating in Small Business Coaching under Self-Employment Assistance presenting to Services Australia after 39 weeks of participation to claim income support

Young people who have registered will be able to access education, a variety of youth services, or other programs according to their assessed needs and availability. Any claimant for YA as a job seeker must be registered as a FEP/RFE, where they:

• are under 22, and
• have not completed Year 12 or attained an equivalent qualification, but
• are currently undertaking a program of study or training that would fully meet their mutual obligation requirements

The process of registering a job seeker is completed by selecting the Participation Interview workflow (for new claims of payments subject to mutual obligation requirements) or the Job Seeker Registration workflow via the Participation Summary page in Process Direct for all other registrations. These tools are used to assess the type of service a job seeker is eligible for.

For some job seekers, registration might have already been completed during the claim submission process. In these cases, the role of Services Australia is to encourage completion of the Job Seeker Snapshot online or complete with job seeker.

Eligible job seekers are automatically referred to Workforce Australia Online for Individuals, (unless already connected to a provider or a provider is deemed more suitable) when they are registered.

On submission of new claim, the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations will assess suitability for Workforce Australia Online for Individuals and refer customers to a physical provider where appropriate.

Job seekers eligible for CDP, Workforce Australia - Transition to Work (TtW) or ParentsNext are referred to a provider of their choice who provide these services. Services Australia will arrange an initial appointment with the provider.

Job seekers can register directly for Workforce Australia Online as a Volunteer via myGov or the Workforce Australia website. If the job seeker approaches Services Australia to register and they are eligible, Service Officers can provide this service.

The Job Seeker Snapshot Off-line paper form should be completed with the job seeker or correspondence nominee (where appropriate) when Process Direct is unavailable, and:

• an extended system disruption has occurred, or
• the job seeker is serviced offsite from a:
• hospital
• residential drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre
• mental health facility, or
• refuge

Once the system becomes available or upon returning onsite, the responses within the Job Seeker Snapshot Off-line paper form (see the Resources page) should be used to complete the job seeker registration workflow.

The Job Seeker Snapshot Off-line paper form does not contain a form number or scanning bar code. It should be scanned with the UNS003 Reclassification page for Employer supporting documents - see the Resources page.

When a customer initially contacts Services Australia to register as a job seeker, the agency issues a Job Seeker Identification (JSID) number. This is done in person but if a JSID number has been issued previously and the registration is still current, the job seeker can be advised of the number over the phone.