Conducting compliance investigations 001-10040000

For job seekers managed under the Targeted Compliance Framework, compliance investigations may be initiated to determine if:

• an unemployment failure or work refusal failure has been committed, or
• a financial penalty will be applied where a job seeker in the penalty zone commits a mutual obligation failure

For job seekers managed under the Job Seeker Compliance Framework in Community Development Program (CDP) regions, compliance investigations may be initiated to determine if:

• an Unemployment Non-Payment Period (UNPP) will be applied
• a connection, non-attendance, reconnection, No Show, No Pay or serious failure has occurred

Providers who initiate a job seeker compliance investigation may speak with the job seeker before submitting a compliance investigation. Compliance investigations focus on determining whether a financial penalty will be applied to a job seeker.

Staff members who are responsible for these job seeker compliance decisions are referred to as Participation Solutions Team (PST)-skilled staff.

Services Australia may also generate compliance investigations when an unemployment failure or work refusal failure has been identified, however Service Officers must have evidence that these non-compliance events have occurred before generating an investigation.

PST-skilled staff or staff with UNPP security resource are responsible for investigating:

• voluntary unemployment at new claim or
• unemployment due to misconduct at new claim

The reported non-compliance event is the starting point for all compliance investigations.

When conducting a compliance investigation, Services Australia must:

• ensure job seekers clearly understand expectations, as well as the consequences of not meeting requirements
• provide opportunity for job seekers to explain their reason for non-compliance and any matters they would like considered as part of the investigation and decision making process
• collect and consider all relevant evidence to establish the facts
• record and review any job seeker circumstances that are impacting the job seeker's compliance and may affect future servicing or require discussion with their provider

Note: a PST skilled staff must consult with a PST-skilled social worker where the job seeker presents with family and domestic violence or has a current Family relationships/Domestic violence circumstance recorded. See Accessing a PST-skilled social worker.

All compliance investigations are recorded in the Participation compliance hub.