Non-attendance failure penalties 001-10120110

A non-attendance failure penalty period will be imposed when a Non-Attendance Report (NAR) has been received for the same non-compliance event and the non-attendance failure has been applied (for instance, if the Non-Attendance Failure has a status of 'Applied' or 'APP').

The penalty period will commence from the date the Community Development Program (CDP) participant is deemed to have received notice their participation payment is no longer payable due to the missed appointment.

A non-attendance failure will only be applied (APP) if:

• the appointment the CDP participant did not attend was a compulsory appointment with their provider that was not a reconnection or further reconnection requirement
• they are currently receiving a participation payment, and
• a Non-Attendance Report has been accepted by Services Australia for the same incident date

Has the non-attendance failure been applied?

• Yes, go to Step 2
• No, the CDP participant will not be subject to a non-attendance failure penalty. Procedure ends here

A non-attendance failure period commences from the date the CDP participant is deemed to have received proper notification from their provider of the decision their participation payment is not payable due to the appointment they missed. This date is recorded on the Participation Compliance Hub under the Completed Compliance action section.

In Process Direct:

• Go to the Participation Compliance Hub (BIPCW) screen
• Under Completed/provider compliance actions, select Compliance Workflow next to the completed activity, with the same date as the non-attendance failure
• On the Completed Compliance Action screen, select Participation Compliance Summary
• A summary of failure displays, showing the failure event date

The non-attendance failure period continues until the day before:

• the CDP participant's reconnection requirement
• the day the provider deems the CDP participant has met the requirement
• the day the provider determines they are no longer required to comply with the reconnection requirement
• the day the provider is unable to book a re-engagement appointment within two working days excluding public holidays (providing the CDP participant has agreed to re-engage)
• Services Australia determines the CDP participant no longer has the capacity (such as an exemption from their mutual obligation requirements has been granted) to comply
• the CDP participant is formally notified of a requirement to attend a Comprehensive Compliance Assessment (CCA)
• the CDP participant's re-engagement appointment is rescheduled/cancelled by their provider
• the CDP participant's participation payment is cancelled to being granted a non-participation payment
• the CDP participant's participation payment is cancelled for at least 10 weeks or re-granted with a break in payment, or
• the CDP participant commences a serious failure period or Unemployment Non-Payment Period (UNPP)

Note: non-attendance failure penalty periods will always have a pre-populated end date as the day before the CDP participant's reconnection requirement.

Ending a non-attendance failure period following notification of a requirement to attend a CCA

If the application of the non-attendance failure will result in a CCA being generated or triggered, the non-attendance failure penalty period ceases once the CDP participant has been formally notified of the requirement to attend a CCA. See Generating and preparing for a Comprehensive Compliance Assessment (CCA).

Backdating determination in exceptional circumstances

When it is determined the CDP participant is no longer required to re-engage, the determination may only be backdated to an earlier date in exceptional circumstances.

For backdating to occur due to exceptional circumstances the PST-skilled Service Officer must be satisfied that:

• a significant change in the CDP participant's circumstances occurred after the most recent non-attendance or non-compliance failure event, and
• the CDP participant was clearly unable to contact Services Australia or their provider any earlier than they did to discuss their change in circumstances

As the decision date cannot be backdated in the system, the non-attendance failure period start and end dates may require manual changes in the Review Decision workflow.

• Go to the Participation Compliance Hub (BIPCW) screen
• Under Completed/provider compliance actions select Compliance Workflow relevant to the completed activity with the same date as the non-attendance failure
• On the Completed Compliance Action Screen, select Review Decision
• Update the table with the relevant details
• Select Assess to go to the Errors (SWE) screen
• Select Assess to go to the Entitlement (ELD) screen
• Select Finalise
• Process ends here

Has the CDP participant failed to comply with a reconnection requirement?

• Yes, see Investigating a reconnection failure. Procedure ends here
• No, go to Step 3

The penalty amount for a non-attendance failure period cannot be confirmed until the end of the affected instalment period. This is because the penalty calculation occurs after the application of the income and assets test for the period.

Determine the basic benefit amount; the basic benefit amount is the maximum rate of benefit the CDP participant is entitled to receive after the application of the income and assets test (including Working Credits), but before any penalty amounts for previous failures or withholdings for debts of advance payments are deducted.

In addition to the basic benefit, determine the supplementary payments and add-ons for each instalment period.

The following Add-On and supplementary payments are included in the calculation of a non-attendance failure penalty:

• Approved Program of Work Supplement (APWS)
• Language, Literacy and Numeracy Supplement (LLNS)
• Energy Supplement paid on a fortnightly basis. Note: the Energy Supplement is not included if it is paid on a quarterly basis

The following Add-On and supplementary payments are not included in the calculation of a non-attendance failure penalty:

• Carer Allowance (CA)
• Energy Supplement paid on a quarterly basis
• Mobility Allowance (MOB)
• Pensioner Education Supplement (PES)
• Pension Supplement
• Pharmaceutical Allowance (PhA)
• Remote Area Allowance (RAA)
• Rent Assistance (RA)
• Telephone and Utilities Allowances
• Youth Disability Supplement (YDS)

Calculate the net basic benefit and applicable supplementary payments and add-ons for each instalment period.

Family assistance payments are not affected by a non-attendance failure penalty.

CDP participant's will generally accrue a daily penalty amount equivalent to one tenth of their fortnightly payment for each business day the penalty applies. The daily penalty amount will be calculated using two different formulas. The lesser of the two amounts will be used.

When a non-attendance failure period spans more than one instalment period, the formula used to calculate the penalty may differ for each period.

For formulas used to calculate the penalty, see the Resources page.

For the impacts of multiple failure events within the one instalment period, see Determining failure hierarchy when there are multiple failures.

For the recovery of penalty amounts, see Calculating the effect of Job Seeker Compliance Framework failure penalties on fortnightly instalments.

Viewing non-attendance failure penalty details

The Penalty Amount Summary and Penalty Amount Details screens will display the penalty amounts for a non-attendance failure period and indicate which formula/s has been used. When multiple formulas have been used to calculate a penalty spanning more than one instalment periods, the formula will display as 'X' on the Penalty Amount Summary screen. Further detail about the penalty for each instalment period can be found on the Penalty Amount Details screen.

If a non-attendance failure penalty period has been recorded and the Non-Attendance Report (NAR) for the same incident date is found to be invalid the system will determine if the penalty no longer applies or should be maintained on the basis of other failures in the sequence.

When a penalty no longer applies the system will automatically update the record.