Compliance action initiated by Community Development Program (CDP) providers 001-10030000

When a CDP participant does not meet their compulsory requirements, the CDP provider may choose to use the Job Seeker Compliance Framework to improve engagement and reinforce mutual obligation requirements.

The types of compliance actions that can be initiated by a CDP provider include:

• suspension of payment via the submission of a Non-Attendance Report (NAR)
• No Show, No Pay, connection, and serious failure, or Unemployment Non-Payment Period (UNPP) investigations, including in some cases, suspension of payment via the submission of Participation Reports
• non-attendance and reconnection failure investigations via the submission of Provider Appointment Reports (PAR), or
• Comprehensive Compliance Assessments (CCA) via the submission of Comprehensive Compliance Assessment Requests where there are indicators the CDP participant has unidentified barriers to compliance

All provider-initiated compliance actions require appropriate consideration before a decision is made to apply a failure or UNPP. Once Services Australia have investigated and made a decision regarding the provider-initiated compliance action, the outcome will be electronically forwarded to the provider.

CDP participants who are receiving participation payments are required to:

• attend appointments with their provider when notified of a requirement to do so, and
• contact their provider prior to the scheduled appointment start time if they will be unable to attend a compulsory appointment to discuss their reasons for this

When a CDP provider accepts the reasons why a CDP participant will be unable to attend, the provider may reschedule the appointment and issue a new connection requirement without initiating compliance action.

When a CDP participant fails to attend a regular or reconnection appointment, a CDP provider may submit either a Non-Attendance Report (NAR) to trigger suspension of payment or both a NAR and a Provider Attendance Report (PAR) to trigger a compliance investigation for Services Australia to investigate and finalise. The PAR will be used only after the provider has spoken to the CDP participant seeker about the reason for non-compliance and considers the imposition of a financial penalty as the best way to ensure future compliance by that CDP participant.

If the provider decides to submit a NAR they are responsible for:

• reporting a CDP participant's non-attendance at the compulsory appointment to Services Australia within 2 working days of the event to suspend payment
• notifying the CDP participant their payment is no longer payable due to the missed appointment
• discussing with the CDP participant their reasons for non-attendance, and
• reconnecting the CDP participant following the submission of a NAR

The formal notification issued to the CDP participant to attend the appointment will be attached to the NAR, and will include the date, time and location of the appointment.

When a NAR has been submitted, the Services Australia system will automatically:

• suspend the CDP participant's payment with reason 'Non-Attendance Report Received' (ANR)
• prevent the CDP participant from finalising their reporting statement until the ANR suspension is lifted
• send a letter to the CDP participant notifying the suspension decision and that they must contact their provider to discuss the NAR
• display messaging via self service (IVR, mobile app and the online landing page) advising the CDP participant to contact their provider regarding the outstanding NAR

Generally, suspension occurs from the start of the instalment period in which the NAR is received or the day after the date paid or reported to (whichever is the later) unless payment has already been suspended for another reason. In these cases, the ANR suspension is automatically applied once the other suspension is lifted.

CDP participants need to contact the provider to discuss the outstanding NAR. During this contact, the provider is responsible for:

• determining if the NAR is still required
• determining if reconnection is required and negotiating a suitable re-engagement appointment within 2 days
• notifying the CDP participant of the reconnection requirement, including providing them with the appropriate compliance warnings
• recording the CDP participant's acceptance or refusal of the reconnection requirement, and
• finalising the NAR so information will be electronically transmitted to the Services Australia system

The CDP participant's payment will be automatically restored once the provider finalises the NAR and:

• updates the CDP participant's record to verify attendance at a re-engagement appointment for the submitted NAR, or
• updates the NAR to advise the CDP participant is no longer required to attend the re-engagement appointment

In limited circumstances, Participation Solutions Team (PST) - skilled staff with WNPPD or PFDEC security resources can manually finalise a NAR. See Restoring payment where a payment suspension (participation) has been imposed for Community Development Program (CDP) participants for further details.

If the provider decides to submit a PAR for the CDP participant's non-attendance at the compulsory appointment (including reconnection appointments), the provider is responsible for:

• reporting a CDP participant's non-attendance at the compulsory appointment via a NAR
• notifying the CDP participant their participation payment is not payable due to the appointment they missed
• discussing the reasons for non-attendance with the CDP participant
• reconnecting the CDP participant during the discussion, and
• submitting a valid PAR for the same non-attendance event date as the NAR, triggering either a Non-Attendance Failure or a reconnection failure for Services Australia to investigate

Note: providers are unable to have a PAR withdrawn once it has been submitted.

Providers can however supply additional evidence to Services Australia to assist PST-skilled staff determine whether:

• the compliance action generated as a result of the PAR was invalid, or
• the CDP participant had a reasonable excuse and a valid reason for not making prior contact (where applicable)

The type of failure generated from a PAR depends on the type of appointment the CDP participant did not attend. Failure to attend:

• a 'regular' appointment will result in a non-attendance failure
• an appointment that was a reconnection requirement will result in a reconnection failure

The following provider re-engagement appointment type is booked by Services Australia:

• RAPRC - Re-engagement appointment booked for a connection or reconnection failure
• RACOA - Re-engagement appointment booked for a serious failure waiver

Note: re-engagement appointments booked for a serious failure waiver (RACOA) will trigger the re-application of the serious failure where they are finalised with a 'Did not attend result - invalid (DNAI)' or 'Did not enter Job Plan (DNEP)'. A NAR and/or PAR are not used in these circumstances.

When a CDP participant is non-compliant with a compulsory connection requirement (other than non-attendance at a compulsory provider appointment), the CDP provider may submit a Participation Report to notify Services Australia they wish to pursue formal compliance action.

The provider may submit a Participation Report to trigger compliance action as a result of:

• non-attendance at a compulsory third party appointment the provider has arranged
• refusal to enter a Job Plan
• non-attendance at a job interview
• failure to meet job search requirements
• misconduct at an appointment
• inappropriate behaviour at a job interview
• refusal or failure to start suitable work
• leaving a job voluntarily or dismissal due to misconduct

A Participation Report may result in the investigation of the following types of compliance action:

• a No Show, No Pay failure
• a connection failure
• a serious failure, or
• an Unemployment Non-Payment Period (UNPP)

When a Participation Report is received for a connection failure the CDP participant's payment may be suspended until they agree to re-engage (with their provider) or it is determined re-engagement is no longer required.

All provider generated investigations require consideration of the circumstances relevant to the incident before a decision is made to apply a failure or UNPP.

All Participation Reports submitted to Services Australia for consideration must be in a valid format. A valid format includes:

• details of the compliance action that requires investigation
• details of the formal notification provided to the CDP participant regarding their requirement to attend an appointment, or details of the CDP participant's agreement to comply with a requirement
• other relevant information which may assist Services Australia investigate the compliance action

A CDP participant's payment may be automatically suspended following the generation of a Non-Attendance Report (NAR) or a connection/reconnection failure.

Where payment has been suspended following receipt of a:

• NAR (suspension reason 'Non-Attendance Report Received' - ANR), the CDP participant will be prompted to contact their provider who is responsible for re-engaging the CDP participant and sending an electronic transaction that will automatically lift the suspension
• connection failure (suspension reason 'did not attend participation appointment' - APA), the CDP participant will be prompted to contact Services Australia to discuss the compliance action. The PST-skilled Service Officer will book the re-engagement appointment and manually lift the suspension after the CDP participant agrees to attend the appointment

Financial penalties are only imposed for failures within a CDP participant's control, for example, as a result of deliberate or persistent non-compliance.

A financial penalty may occur as a result of the following types of compliance action:

• No Show, No Pay failures
• non-attendance failures
• reconnection failures
• serious failures
• Unemployment Non-Payment Periods (UNPP)

CDP participants who incur a No Show, No Pay failure, connection failure, non-attendance failure or reconnection failure are encouraged to re-engage quickly to avoid or reduce financial penalties.

CDP participants who incur a serious failure are encouraged to attend a waiver re-engagement appointment in lieu of serving some or all of the serious failure period. CDP participants who do not have the capacity to attend the waiver re-engagement appointment and are in severe financial hardship may be eligible for payment under serious failure hardship provisions during the serious failure penalty period.

Hardship provisions may also be considered where the CDP participant has a UNPP applied and falls within a class of person specified by the secretary of the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations and would be in severe financial hardship as a result of the UNPP.

In some cases, a CDP participant demonstrating ongoing non-compliance may have their participation payment cancelled due to loss of qualification.

PST-skilled staff are responsible for helping CDP participants:

• by telling them to contact their CDP provider following the submission of a Non-Attendance Report (NAR), including giving them the CDP provider's contact details if needed, or
• with the review and appeal process where the CDP participant has requested an explanation or applied for a formal review of the decision

Provider Appointment Reports (PAR) and Participation Reports

PST-skilled staff with a PFDEC/WNPPD security resource are responsible for investigating compliance action triggered by a PAR or Participation Report. Contact will be established with the CDP participant to provide opportunity to explain the circumstances that led to non-compliance before a decision is made regarding compliance action.

PST-skilled staff will not be required to re-engage the CDP participant or restore payment for PARs. This is part of the NAR process that the provider is responsible for completing.

For further information, see Services Australia's responsibilities for managing compliance with compulsory requirements.