Waiving a serious failure period 001-10120060

Item

Scenario

1

Serious failure waiver due to extreme event

• Jacinta is admitted to hospital on Monday, the evening before a waiver re-engagement appointment, suffering acute appendicitis
• As Jacinta has not contacted the provider to make alternative arrangements for the appointment and has not attended the appointment, the balance of the serious failure period is reinstated. Jacinta is subsequently discharged from hospital on Friday with no complications
• Jacinta contacts Services Australia on the following Monday to enquire about how to waive the serious failure period again
• As Jacinta has been subject to an extreme event that Services Australia has been able to substantiate and Jacinta has contacted Services Australia without delay to make alternative arrangements, the date of contact for the new waiver is set to the previous Tuesday (the date of the original missed appointment) resulting in the extension of the conditional waiver from the original date of contact

2

Serious failure waiver not applicable

• Jacob is admitted to hospital for an elective procedure 2 days before a waiver re-engagement appointment
• Jacob did not attempt to reschedule the re-engagement appointment prior to being admitted to hospital, and the serious failure period was reinstated following the non-attendance
• Jacob called Services Australia again on the day of being released from hospital in regard to the missed appointment and a new appointment was arranged
• In this case, as it would generally have been considered reasonable to have expected Jacob to reschedule the appointment prior to the event, a planned admission to hospital is not regarded as an unforeseen and extreme event. Jacob is payable again due to a conditional waiver from the most recent date of contact pending attendance at the new appointment