Workforce Australia - Transition to Work (TtW) 001-02290000

TtW assists eligible young job seekers into work, education, apprenticeships and traineeships. TtW services are delivered by Employment Service Providers. They operate separately to Workforce Australia, Disability Employment Services (DES) and Community Development Program (CDP).

TtW is for young job seekers aged 15 to 24 and is targeted to early school leavers and young people who have experienced difficulty transitioning from education to employment. Eligibility is determined by the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) ICT system. Eligible job seekers will be given intensive pre-employment assistance by a TtW provider to prepare them for work, an apprenticeship, a traineeship or further education. This may include but is not limited to:

• support in overcoming barriers to working
• access to mentoring
• career advice
• work experience
• help to gain drivers' licences (particularly in regional areas)
• referrals to relevant support services in their local area
• develop practical skills to get a job
• connect with education or training

Job seekers with mutual obligation requirements are expected to participate in TtW for 25 hours per week for up to a maximum of 18 months. Some job seekers who face significant non-vocational barriers may have their participation extended to 24 months (as determined by DEWR). After the completion of TtW, if they are not tracking towards an outcome, their TtW Provider will transfer the job seeker to Workforce Australia Services. Note: volunteer participants will not be referred to Workforce Australia Services.

To be eligible to participate in TtW, job seekers must:

• be aged 15-24 years of age on commencement in the service, and
• an Australian citizen, or
• the holder of a permanent visa, or
• New Zealand Special Category Visa holders (a protected Special Category Visa holder, and non-protected Special Category Visa holder), or
• Nominated Visa Holders (including Temporary Protection Visa Holders and Safe Haven Visa Holders), and
• meet the requirements as determined by the DEWR ICT system

Note: job seekers who live in a DEWR designated remote area, are referred to a Community Development Program (CDP) provider. TtW is not available to job seekers in these areas.

The TtW programme provides assistance to three groups of participants. These are:

Group One - Early School Leavers (referred by Services Australia):

• A young person who:
• has not been awarded a Year 12 Certificate or a Certificate III or higher (as identified by the Job Seeker Snapshot), and is assessed as eligible for Workforce Australia Services, or
• is an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person (including a person who has been awarded a Year 12 Certificate or Certificate III or higher), and
• They are receiving Youth Allowance (other), or any other 'activity tested' Income Support Payment with mutual obligation requirements, and
• They do not have a pending Employment Services Assessment (ESAt)

Group Two - disengaged young people (directly registered or Services Australia referred as volunteers):

• They have not completed Year 12 (or equivalent) or Certificate III or higher (as identified by the Job Seeker Snapshot), and
• They are not already participating in employment services, and
• They are not currently working an average of eight hours or more per week for a period of 4 weeks (32 hours), and
• They:
• have not attended secondary education for a period of 4 weeks, or
• are not currently enrolled in secondary education, or
• have an approved exemption from legal requirements to attend school

or

• They have been awarded a Year 12 Certificate or a Certificate III or higher but have not engaged with employment or education for six months or more, and
• They are not already participating in employment services, and
• They are not currently enrolled in secondary education, or have an approved exemption from legal requirements to attend school

or

• They are an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person who has been awarded a Year 12 Certificate or a Certificate III or higher, irrespective of whether they have been engaged in education or employment for the previous six months or more

Note: Group Two includes young people who are not receiving income support, or, those receiving income support such as Parenting Payment but who do not have mutual obligation requirements.

Group Three - Workforce Australia referrals (referred only by Workforce Australia Employment Providers):

• They are identified by Workforce Australia as having a capacity to benefit from TtW services (for example, a young job seeker who has addressed their unstable housing or mental health issues)

The agency's role is to provide information and refer eligible job seekers to a TtW service provider. This includes:

• Group One job seekers who are applying for Youth Allowance and have mutual obligation requirements
• Group Two young people who can voluntarily participate in TtW

For Group One job seekers, Service Officers must:

• register the job seeker
• conduct the Job Seeker Snapshot, and
• refer eligible participants via the Participation Interview workflow

For Group Two young people, Service Officers can:

• advise the young person they can directly register with their local TtW provider; or
• register the young person, and
• refer eligible participants via the Online Diary

Where available, TtW referrals have priority over Workforce Australia employment services. If TtW is available and offered in the Online Diary, job seekers must be referred to TtW, and should not be referred to Workforce Australia employment services. Where a local TtW provider is displayed in the Online Diary but no appointments are available, Service Officers must contact the TtW provider and request an appointment timeslot be opened to facilitate the referral. Job seekers can request referral to Workforce Australia employment services.

Service Officers must not refer job seekers who have already commenced in Workforce Australia employment services. Job seekers who are participating with Workforce Australia employment services should discuss participation in TtW with their Workforce Australia employment services provider.

Following an Employment Services Assessment (ESAt) an assessor may make the determination that referral to TtW is the most appropriate outcome. Assessors are able to then action a TtW referral in the DEWR ICT system.

TtW is available in most locations across Australia, except in remote areas serviced by Community Development Program (CDP) providers.

Job seekers eligible for TtW are subject to existing RapidConnect rules of payability and appointment availability. Job seekers must be advised how provider appointment attendance can affect payability.

If there is a TtW provider in a job seeker's local area, but they are unable to offer any appointments within 14 days, refer the job seeker to Workforce Australia employment services. This ensures they will not miss out on any payments due to RapidConnect rules.

Job seekers are not penalised under RapidConnect rules for being referred to a TtW provider within 14 days, where a Workforce Australia Employment Services Provider appointment is available within two days. The system will consider only TtW appointment availability in this scenario.

See Processes for RapidConnect.

If a job seeker is exempt from RapidConnect requirements, (or RapidConnect does not apply) a suspension and cancellation process applies when they are referred to TtW. Under this process, if the job seeker does not attend a compellable initial appointment with their TtW provider, their payment will be suspended and may subsequently be cancelled.

Job seekers must contact their TtW provider and attend a compellable appointment in order to restore their payment. Services Australia cannot manually restore a job seeker's payment following suspension for failing to attend a compellable TtW appointment, unless the customer has:

• subsequently commenced full time study, and
• transferred to Youth Allowance (student)

Job seekers receiving income support with mutual obligation requirements will fully meet their requirements by participating in TtW. Participants in TtW are provider managed and consequently, the TtW service provider is responsible for developing a Job Plan with participants. If the job seeker does not meet their mutual obligation requirements, they will be exited from the service, and transferred to Workforce Australia employment services by their TtW provider. Volunteers will not be referred to Workforce Australia.

As a system requirement, all job seekers under 18 years of age who have not completed Year 12 (or equivalent) or a Certificate III or higher and are a new customer, are required to have a study exemption coded on the Newstart Education Status (NES) screen to qualify for Youth Allowance (YA), even when they are meeting their mutual obligation requirements.

However, YA will no longer be cancelled when the exemption expires. The exemption does not have to be recorded again while the job seeker remains on payment.

For more information see Mutual obligation requirements for YA job seekers under 22 years of age who have not completed Year 12 or an equivalent level of education (Certificate III or higher) qualification.

Job seekers participating in TtW are not subject to Targeted Compliance Framework.

Job seekers with mutual obligation requirements that are participating in TtW will be exited from the service and transferred to Workforce Australia Services, by their TtW provider, if they are not compliant in the program. Volunteers will not be referred to Workforce Australia.

When a job seeker is referred to a TtW provider they will generally remain with the provider for the duration of their service period. However, there are instances where a job seeker may need to transfer to another provider, including:

• change of address
• by agreement
• a breakdown of the relationship between a job seeker and their TtW provider

See the Process page for more information about each of these transfer types.