Waiving a serious failure period 001-10120060

When a serious failure is applied the CDP job seeker should be given the option of having the serious failure period waived by re-engaging with their provider. This option should also be offered when a CDP job seeker contacts during a serious failure period.

Messaging used by staff to discuss serious failure waiver provisions is an important part of implementing the compliance framework and reinforcing the intent of serious failures within the Job Seeker Compliance Framework. Messaging must have a strong focus on ensuring the CDP job seeker is aware they have incurred a serious failure due to persistently not meeting their requirements and, in return for access to waiver provisions, they are committing to meeting their mutual obligation requirements and engaging with their provider.

If the CDP job seeker is seeking an Authorised Review Officer (ARO) or Administrative Appeal Tribunal (AAT) review of the serious failure decision, access to waiver provisions is not assessed until the outcome of the review is known. This is because applying a serious failure waiver will prevent or limit access to Payment Pending Review (PPR) provisions.

See Non-compliance with compulsory requirements - review and appeals for further information.

CDP job seekers who are seeking waiver of their serious failure period by attending a waiver re-engagement appointment need to be reminded to still comply with all terms of their current Job Plan.

Ensure the CDP job seeker is aware of the terms within their current Job Plan and record you have informed the CDP job seeker of this requirement.

PST-skilled Service Officers (WNPPD) are responsible for deciding if a CDP job seeker has capacity to attend a waiver re-engagement appointment.

As a general rule, a CDP job seeker has capacity to if they do not have an exemption from mutual obligation requirements. If an exemption appears to be appropriate but it is yet to be granted, the CDP job seeker is assumed to have some capacity to attend a waiver re-engagement appointment until the exemption is granted.

No capacity to attend a waiver re-engagement appointment

If a CDP job seeker has no capacity to attend a waiver re-engagement appointment, the re-engagement appointment should not be arranged with the provider. Instead, assess if serious failure hardship provisions apply.

Before a conditional waiver is recorded, confirm the CDP job seeker understands they are required to attend a re-engagement appointment. If the CDP job seeker does not agree to attend, the serious failure period cannot be waived. The CDP job seeker should be advised their serious failure period will not be waived at this time but they may call back if they change their mind about attending the waiver re-engagement appointment.

Generally, a serious failure period waiver applies from the later of the start of the serious failure period or the date the CDP job seeker contacted to request a waiver.

A waiver is only applied from an earlier date when:

• the balance of the serious failure period has been reinstated due to non-attendance at the re-engagement appointment
• the CDP job seeker was unable to attend the appointment or make prior contact due to an extreme event, and
• the CDP job seeker contacted Services Australia as soon as possible after the event (generally within 2 working days of the CDP job seeker having capacity to contact)

Definition of an extreme event

An extreme event is an event which:

• prevented the CDP job seeker from attending, for example, unexpected hospitalisation, or
• is significant enough that it would be unreasonable for the CDP job seeker to attend, for example, the unexpected death of an immediate family member

When it has been established an extreme event occurred, the waiver should be backdated to the date the CDP job seeker failed to attend the waiver re-engagement appointment.

Granting a serious failure waiver is a 2 part process where the CDP job seeker is required to:

• advise Services Australia they are willing to attend a waiver re-engagement appointment so the waiver can be recorded, and
• attend the appointment with their provider

In most cases, when the CDP job seeker agrees to attend the appointment, their serious failure period should be conditionally waived pending their attendance.

However, if the CDP job seeker's provider confirms the job seeker has attended a re-engagement appointment for the relevant serious failure period/s, the serious failure period can be permanently waived. A re-engagement appointment must not be booked.

When a CDP job seeker has transferred to a Workforce Australia or Disability Employment Services (DES) provider and they have requested a waiver, an appointment must not be booked and the serious failure must be permanently waived.

Note: it may take a number of hours for a change in address to trigger a transfer to a new provider. The transfer can be delayed if the record is locked by staff or customers.

After a conditional waiver has been recorded, the following should be discussed with the CDP job seeker:

• their serious failure period has been waived because they have agreed to attend a re-engagement appointment
• confirm the date, time and location of the re-engagement appointment
• if they do not attend the re-engagement appointment, the remainder of the serious failure period will be reinstated
• they must contact their provider beforehand if they are unable to attend the appointment

When a decision is made to grant a serious failure waiver, it must be recorded in the Participation Compliance Hub.

If the waiver is:

• agreed at the time the decision is made to apply a serious failure, the waiver can be recorded at the end of the investigation in the Participation Compliance Hub
• requested after the failure decision has been recorded in the Participation Compliance Hub, the waiver should be recorded using the Review Decision workflow

Before recording the waiver, review the CDP job seeker's recent compliance actions to confirm the serious failure period/s they are serving (in addition to any serious failure periods about to be imposed).

The majority of CDP job seekers will only ever serve one serious failure period at a time. However it is possible for a CDP job seeker to serve 2 serious failure periods at the same time for different reasons, and when this occurs both serious failure periods must be waived.

Is the CDP job seeker serving 2 serious failure periods concurrently?

• Yes, go to Step 2
• No, go to Step 3

If the CDP job seeker needs to attend a waiver re-engagement appointment:

• the conditional waiver should be recorded and re-engagement appointment booked for the serious failure period with the longest outstanding duration, and
• the other serious failure period should be permanently waived without booking an appointment and a no re-engagement outcome should be recorded - go to Step 8 for permanent waiver then continue with workflow

Note: if the CDP job seeker fails to attend the waiver re-engagement appointment, the serious failure period that was conditionally waived will be reinstated.

If the CDP job seeker has already attended a waiver re-engagement appointment with their provider, ensure it is based on the combined duration of both serious failure periods. When this has occurred, both serious failure periods should be permanently waived without booking a re-engagement appointment.

What type of waiver is going to being applied?

• When a CDP job seeker has agreed to attend a provider re-engagement appointment, a conditional waiver should be applied, go to Step 4
• When a CDP job seeker has already attended a provider appointment or has transferred to a Workforce Australia or DES provider, a permanent waiver should be applied, go to Step 8

On the Decision/Recommendation or Review Decision screen select waive in the Actions Required field to navigate to the Waiver Consideration screen.

On the Waiver Consideration screen record the following:

• Who initiated the waiver discussion - Customer
• What was the date of contact for assessment of waiver? This field will automatically default to the current date but should be manually changed when it has been assessed the waiver should take effect from an earlier date
• Does the CDP job seeker have capacity to undertake a Serious Failure Requirement? - Yes
• Has the customer agreed to participate in a Serious Failure Requirement? - Yes
• Select the reason for waiving the penalty period - Pending serious failure requirement (PSW)
• What is the decision on this waiver action? - the system will automatically select Waive the non-payment period
• Provide a summary of why this waiver decision has been made - include the duration of the Compliance Activity in this field

When a conditional waiver is recorded, a re-engagement appointment must be booked. No more than one re-engagement appointment should ever be booked per waiver. This ensures the system takes the appropriate action to permanently waive the serious failure period if the CDP job seeker attends the appointment, or allows the serious failure period to be reinstated if the CDP job seeker does not attend the appointment.

To book the appointment select the Online Diary button on the Re-engagement page.

When booking the appointment keep the following in mind:

• The Online Diary will automatically search for and display any available provider appointments within the next 2 working days
• If a CDP job seeker is unable to attend an appointment within 2 working days, search for and book an appointment up to 28 days in the future using the 'More appointments' button
• If no appointments display in the Online Diary, always attempt to contact the provider to request a suitable timeslot be made available

Was the re-engagement appointment successfully booked?

• Yes, go to Step 6
• No, go to Step 7

On the Re-engagement screen record the following:

• Does the customer need to be re-engaged? - Yes
• Can the customer be re-engaged within 2 working days? - Yes (always record this option regardless of the appointment booked)
• What is the re-engagement outcome? - select Re-engaged via Online Diary
• Expected re-engagement date: the system will automatically record this date based on the appointment booked in the Online Diary

After completing the Re-engagement screen, finalise the workflow via the Assessment Results (AR) screen.

Note: if a waiver is recorded within 2 weeks of the serious failure period end date, the Re-engagement screen may indicate a Review of Circumstances form needs to be completed. The Review of Circumstances form is not required if a waiver is applied.

Procedure ends here.

If a re-engagement appointment has been booked in the Online Diary and doesn't appear on the Re-engagement screen it will not be possible to record the re-engagement outcome Re-engaged via Online Diary (RYA) and it will not be possible to reinstate the serious failure period if the CDP job seeker does not attend the re-engagement appointment. If this problem occurs:

• it should be reported via mySupport and to the PST Programme Team. See Resources
• the serious failure period should be permanently waived and a no re-engagement outcome should be recorded
• Go to Step 8

If the exemption ends more than 28 days in the future and as a result it is not possible to book a re-engagement appointment the following action should be taken instead:

• the serious failure should be permanently waived
• a re-engagement appointment must not be booked
• go to Step 8

If the CDP job seeker has recently transferred to a new CDP provider and the Online Diary will not allow a re-engagement appointment to be arranged with the new provider:

• contact the new provider and advise them to arrange an appropriate timeslot for the waiver re-engagement appointment as soon as possible
• the serious failure period should be permanently waived
• a re-engagement appointment must not be booked
• go to Step 8

Note: when an outstanding waiver re-engagement appointment exists and the CDP job seeker transfers to another provider site the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations will automatically cancel the appointment and the waiver status will be changed to 'confirmed serious failure requirement'.

When:

• there are no available suitable appointments in the Online Diary, and
• contact with the provider to arrange for a suitable timeslot for the purpose of arranging a re-engagement appointment has been unsuccessful:
• notify the Job Seeker Compliance Team of the unsuccessful attempt to re-engage the CDP job seeker by completing the Compliance Activity Re-engagement Report form. See the Resources page. The Job Seeker Compliance Team will then refer reported cases to the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations
• permanently waive the serious failure period
• go to Step 8

On the Decision/Recommendation or Review Decision screen select waive in the Actions Required field to navigate to the Waiver Consideration screen.

On the Waiver Consideration screen record the following:

• Who initiated the waiver discussion - Customer
• What was the date of contact for assessment of waiver? - this field will automatically default to the current date but should be manually changed when it has been assessed the waiver should take effect from an earlier date
• Does the CDP job seeker have capacity to undertake a Serious Failure Requirement? - Yes
• Has the customer agreed to participate in a Serious Failure Requirement? - Yes
• Select the reason for waiving the penalty period - Confirmed serious failure requirement(CSF)
• What is the decision on this waiver action? - the system will automatically select Waive the non-payment period
• Provide a summary of why this waiver decision has been made. Include the following in this field:
• the reason why the serious failure period was permanently waived
• If you are navigated to the Re-engagement screen record the following:
• Does the customer need to be re-engaged? - No

Finalise the workflow via the Assessment Results (AR) screen.

If a CDP job seeker is seeking a review of a serious failure decision that is subject to Payment Pending Review (PPR) provisions, serious failure waiver provisions should not be applied until the outcome of the review is known. If a waiver is incorrectly recorded under these circumstances the following action should be taken:

• Finalise the waiver and reinstate the serious failure period:
• for conditional waivers, change the waiver status to indicate the serious failure period has been permanently waived and record the re-engagement outcome No re-engagement, referred to other program
• for conditional and permanent waivers use the Review Decision workflow to change the serious failure period end date; it should be changed to the end date that existed before the waiver was recorded, and
• when a waiver re-engagement appointment has been booked advise the provider it was booked in error
  Note: waiver re-engagement appointments cannot be cancelled by Services Australia
• After the serious failure period has been reinstated it should be possible to record Payment Pending Review (PPR)