Remote Australia Employment Service (RAES) 001-02140000

RAES replaced the Community Development Program (CDP) on 1 November 2025. It is the Government's remote employment and community development service.

RAES is aimed at supporting participants to prepare for work and stay employed with access to mentoring and tailored support. Where work is not available in the regions, RAES will support participants through engagement in community projects that build their skills and help them become job ready. RAES offers participants a pathway to learn new skills or build upon existing skills, to increase their experience and work-readiness through work-like activities and placements in real work settings.

For eligible participants living in one of 60 remote servicing regions, RAES is the only Employment services provider type available. The following employment services are not delivered in the 60 remote servicing regions:

• Workforce Australia
• Transition to Work (TtW)
• Inclusive Employment Australia (IEA)
• Parent Pathways

The key elements of the RAES are:

• RAES providers deliver a range of services based on the needs of both the community and the individuals in that community
• Each location/community will be serviced by only 1 RAES provider
• Community led solutions - Indigenous and community organisations in partnership with local leaders, have a say in the design and implementation of community projects and voluntary activities
• Catering to individual needs, participants are provided with personalised and tailored support, including access to job opportunities, skills development and training

There are two types of eligibility for RAES participants:

• Remote Fully Eligible job seekers
• Remote Community Volunteers

The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations will determine the participant's RAES employment services eligibility and jobseeker registration type based on the answers provided on the Job seeker registration and provider referral information screen.

Job seeker registration types are:

• Remote Fully Eligible (RFE)
• Remote Community Volunteer (RCV)
• No Remote Referral Required (NRRR)

Participants will be referred to the RAES provider in their region during the Participation Interview if they:

• have been determined as being Fully Eligible for RAES Services, and
• submit a new claim for a participation payment

An appointment is required to be booked for them with their RAES provider as part of the Participation Interview. For more information, see:

• Participation Interview
• RapidConnect

Where a RAES provider referral is required, refer to the Online Diary, process to complete the referral.

A Job Seeker Snapshot is not mandatory for RFE job seekers except for job seekers flagged as:

• Vulnerable Youth, or
• Vulnerable Youth (student)

Remote Fully Eligible job seekers are those who live in a designated RAES region and meet one of the following 4 criteria.

Customers with mutual obligation or participation requirements

Customers who have mutual obligations or participation requirements and receive or claim any of the following:

• JobSeeker Payment (JSP)
• Youth Allowance (other)
• Parenting Payment Single (PPS) job seeker (when their youngest child turns 6)
• Disability Support Pension (DSP - under 35 years of age)
• Special Benefit (SpB)

This also applies to customers who are fully meeting their mutual obligation requirements through approved activities and volunteer for RAES provider servicing, such as:

• Principal Carer parents and RAES participants with a Partial Capacity to Work who are fully meeting their requirements through part-time paid employment or study
• Mature Age (age 55 years and over) RAES participants who are fully meeting their requirements through part-time paid employment, self-employment, voluntary work, study or a combination of these activities

Volunteering for RAES during a mutual obligation exemption

These are customers where both of the following apply:

• they have an exemption from their mutual obligation requirements, and
• they volunteer for RAES provider services during their exemption period

Young people not receiving an income support payment, and vulnerable young people

Young people aged 15-21 years who are either of the following:

• not on an income support payment and are not employed for more than 15 hours per week or in full-time education
• vulnerable young people who are full-time students

Pre-released prisoners

Pre-released prisoners who:

• are not receiving income support
• are on approved day or partial day release
• are referred by their correctional institution to engage in paid work through a work-release program

Remote Community Volunteers are customers who live in a designated RAES remote region, volunteer for RAES services, and meet one of the following 2 criteria:

• Customers who receive or claim an income support payment with no mutual obligation requirements, such as:
• Parenting Payment customers (with a youngest child under 6 years of age)
• Youth Allowance (student) and ABSTUDY recipients who do not meet the Vulnerable Youth criteria
• customers who receive a non-activity-tested income support payment such as Carer Payment, Age Pension, Disability Support Pension (aged over 35 years)
• People who are not eligible for RAES services as they do not receive an income support payment:
• RAES providers register Remote Community Volunteers directly. Services Australia cannot refer them
• Services Australia cannot complete a Job Seeker Snapshot for RCV job seekers
• RCV job seekers are not subject to RapidConnect
• RCV job seekers do not require a RAES appointment

When attempting to refer a RCV job seeker via the Online Diary, the error message E009JW - Centrelink cannot refer Remote community volunteers Job seeker will appear. Do not refer to the ICT Application Helpdesk.

See Eligibility and registration as a Job Seeker Registration Only (JSRO)/No Remote Referral Required (NRRR) job seeker for further information.

RAES participants may be eligible to receive APWS of $20.80 if they are participating in Work Skills and Projects, which is an approved activity.

RAES providers are responsible for managing mutual obligation requirements for provider managed participants in remote servicing regions.

Participation in RAES activities is voluntary. This includes:

• Work Skills and Projects
• training
• work experience

RAES participants are not penalised if they fail to attend these activities. If they cease Work Skills and Projects, and the RAES provider notifies Services Australia that the participant has exited the activity, their Approved Program of Work Supplement (APWS) of $20.80 per fortnight will stop.

RAES participants need to meet other compulsory mutual obligation requirements such as:

• agreeing to a Job Plan
• attending provider and third party appointments when notified
• attending job interviews
• meeting job search requirements if appropriate
• accepting suitable paid work

Participants who are provider managed have a Job Plan negotiated with their RAES provider.

In negotiating Job Plans with RAES participants, providers consider each participant's assessed capacity and individual circumstances.

For 'assessed capacity', see Job seekers with a partial capacity to work or a temporary reduced work capacity.

There are no specific requirements for RAES participants according to their age group or participant category, e.g. for principal carer parents or participants aged over 55.

Minimum hourly requirements do not apply for RAES participants. If a RAES participant elects to participate in an activity such as Work Skills and Projects, the provider records in the Job Plan the number of hours the participant has volunteered to undertake. If the participant does not participate in the activity for the elected number of hours, penalties will not apply, as their participation is voluntary.

If a participant does not elect to participate in an activity, the hourly requirements in their Job Plan are zero.

RAES participants who are Centrelink managed have a Job Plan negotiated by Services Australia. The type of plan to be negotiated is determined automatically by the system, based on information sent by the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations IT system, and depends on whether a RAES provider referral is in place or not.

The key aim of Work Skills and Projects in RAES regions is providing real pathways to long-term employment. Eligible participants will also have access to support services and activities such as basic literacy and numeracy training, driver's license training, and other training that is linked directly to a job.

Under the RAES, WSP activities:

• can provide a combination of work-like experiences and vocational/non-vocational training linked to a job
• can be individual or group based
• can be delivered by the RAES provider or through the providers arranging a third party host organisation to undertake them
• are not added as a compulsory activity within a Job Plan
• are voluntary for any RAES participants who elect to undertake Work Skills and Projects
• will not be subject to the Job Seeker Compliance Framework

Note: RAES providers may approve flexible participation hours for some RAES participants, which may include activities outside of standard business hours, or variation in the number of days per week. RAES participants can discuss this in more detail with their RAES provider.

RAES participants remain entitled to their income support payment (that is, JobSeeker Payment (JSP), Special Benefit (SpB), Youth Allowance (YA), Disability Support Pension (DSP) or Parenting Payment (PP)) and a Approved Program of Work Supplement (APWS) of $20.80 per fortnight, to assist with the costs of their placement. RAES participants cannot get the APWS and the Pensioner Education Supplement (PES) at the same time.

Additional Child Care Subsidy (ACCS) (transition to work) may also be available to RAES participants.

When deciding how best to support a RAES participant, providers have access to a number of initiatives and pathways that can be added to a Job Plan. These can include:

• vocational and non-vocational training (including on-the-job training)
• essential skills training and assistance to overcome personal barriers to employment (for example, literacy problems)
• JobSearch assistance
• Voluntary WSP activities designed to boost the RAES participant’s skills and experience
• job placements and work experience
• post-placement support, and
• mentoring

If the RAES participant has moved to a new region but remains linked to the provider in their previous region, advise the participant to contact their provider or to call the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations Customer Service Line. For further information see Job seeker change of address.

A RAES participant may request a referral to Workforce Australia or a Workforce Australia job seeker can request a referral to RAES if they can demonstrate extenuating circumstances as to why the transfer would be beneficial to them.

Extenuating circumstances may include a range of factors or issues impacting the participant. A contributing factor, for example, may be that the participant lives close to the RAES/Workforce Australia boundary or travels to the location where their requested provider operates on a very regular basis. There are no specific criteria that are required to be met, as the intent is that individual circumstances are assessed within the local context.

A participant seeking a transfer to RAES or Workforce Australia should first discuss the request with their current provider.

The participant needs to contact the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) National Customer Service Line (NCSL) to:

• request the transfer, and
• provide a business case to demonstrate an extenuating circumstance for the request to be considered by the NCS

Should the NCSL consider the request to be an acceptable extenuating circumstance they will escalate the request to the National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA) and DEWR to raise with the relevant RAES and Workforce Australia providers for consideration.

If either provider expresses an unwillingness to accept the transfer, they are requested to provide the reasons for the decision, so that this feedback can be provided to the participant.

The request to transfer the participant will be finalised and actioned by the NCSL when they receive confirmation.

A complaint regarding service delivery by the current provider is not a valid reason for requests to transfer. These should be addressed using the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) National Customer Service Line (NCSL) complaints process as usual.

If a participant contacts Services Australia to request a transfer, or advises Services Australia staff they intend to seek a transfer, Services Australia staff:

• must not advise the participant on the likely outcome of a transfer request, Services Australia is not able to advise whether a transfer will be approved
• should advise the participant to discuss the request with their current provider
• may advise the participant that a transfer can be approved where they can demonstrate extenuating circumstances as to why the transfer would be beneficial to them
• may advise the participant of the transfer process
• where appropriate, may support the participant to request the transfer, with the participant’s consent

RAES participants who approach Services Australia about a breakdown in their relationship with their RAES provider organisation should be advised to discuss their situation with their provider in the first instance. In situations when a RAES participant feels they cannot talk to their provider, or are not happy with the provider's response to their issue, participants should be advised to contact the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) National Customer Service Line (NCSL).