Community Development Program (CDP) 001-02140000

The CDP is the Government's remote employment and community development service. CDP is aimed at preparing participants for work while contributing to the goals of their community. CDP providers tailor a package of assistance suited to each individual participant based on their needs and readiness for employment.

CDP activities are also designed to support local communities and be responsive to available and future employment opportunities.

The CDP 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, CDP 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)
• Disability Employment Services (DES)
• ParentsNext

The key elements of the CDP are:

• CDP providers deliver a range of services based on the needs of both the community and the individuals in that community
• Each CDP region has only 1 or 2 CDP service providers
• Community development to support economic and employment development - 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 support and case management, including access to job opportunities, skills development and training

There are two types of eligibility for CDP participants:

• Remote Fully Eligible job seekers
• Remote Community Volunteers

The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations will determine the participant's CDP employment services eligibility and therefore job seeker registration type:

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

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

Customers with mutual obligation requirements

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

• JobSeeker Payment (JSP)
• Youth Allowance (other)
• Parenting Payment (PP)
• 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 CDP provider servicing, such as:

• Principal Carer parents and CDP 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) CDP 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 CDP during a mutual obligation exemption

These are customers where both of the following apply:

• they have an exemption from their mutual obligation requirements
• they volunteer for CDP 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 CDP remote region, volunteer for CDP 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 CDP services as they do not receive an income support payment:
• CDP providers register Remote Community Volunteers directly. Services Australia cannot refer them.

CDP participants may be eligible to receive the APWS if they are participating in Work for the Dole, which is an approved activity.

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

Participation in CDP activities is voluntary. This includes:

• Work for the Dole
• training
• work experience

CDP participants are not penalised if they fail to attend these activities. If they cease Work for the Dole, and the CDP 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.

CDP 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 CDP provider.

In negotiating Job Plans with CDP 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 CDP 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 CDP participants. If a CDP participant elects to participate in an activity such as Work for the Dole, 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.

CDP 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 CDP provider referral is in place or not.

The key aim of Work for the Dole in CDP 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 CDP, WFD 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 CDP 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 CDP participants who elect to undertake Work for the Dole
• will not be subject to the Job Seeker Compliance Framework

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

CDP 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 supplement of $20.80 per fortnight, to assist with the costs of their placement. CDP participants cannot get the WFD supplement and the Pensioner Education Supplement (PES) at the same time.

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

When deciding how best to support a CDP 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 WFD activities designed to boost the CDP participant’s skills and experience
• job placements and work experience
• post-placement support, and
• mentoring

If the CDP 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 CDP participant may request a referral to Workforce Australia or a Workforce Australia job seeker can request a referral to CDP 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 CDP/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 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

See the Process page for more information about the transfer process.

CDP participants who approach Services Australia about a breakdown in their relationship with their CDP provider organisation should be advised to discuss their situation with their provider in the first instance. In situations when a CDP 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).

The CDP will be replaced with a new remote jobs program.

It will be developed in partnership with First Nations people, with learnings from trials and consultation feeding into program design.

The new remote jobs program will:

• increase economic opportunities and jobs in remote areas
• support community needs and aspirations, and
• give communities more control to determine local projects

The start date of the new program is yet to be decided. Until the new program commences, current CDP services will continue through an extension of CDP provider agreements to 31 October 2024.

CDP Trials

Trials are currently in progress or are due to commence in 2023 in CDP regions to help test ideas and approaches to remote employment:

• Trialling Pathways to Real Jobs:
• The Trialling Pathways to Real Jobs trial commenced from November 2022 and entered the Community Projects phase from July 2023
• Under the initiative, CDP providers are trialling new and approved activities aimed at creating pathways to work and addressing community priorities
• New Jobs Program Trial:
• The New Jobs Program Trial is expected to commence in the second half of 2023
• Under this trial, community organisations in selected trial regions will have the opportunity to develop local approaches to jobs
• Wage subsidies will be provided to employ CDP participants in jobs that address community priorities, supporting them to move off income support and transition into employment
• Remote Employment Program Trial:
• The Remote Employment Program (also known as Ngaanyatjarra Lands) Trial commenced from July 2023 and is focussed on testing approaches in very remote regions with thin labour markets
• Under this trial, CDP providers will offer voluntary placements which are like having a job to eligible CDP participants
• Participants who choose to participate in a placement for 15 hours per week will be paid a supplement of $190 per fortnight in addition to their usual income support payment