Early or late lodgement of job seeker reports 001-18120545

Reporting Statement (SU19) due date

A statement reporter job seeker must report on their Entitlement Period End Date (EPED). The questions in the Reporting Statement relate to the full fortnight period or the relevant period for variable reporters.

Early reporting can be accepted if:

• a customer changes their pay day code, see Changing Entitlement Period End Dates (EPED)
• special arrangements are in place for national public holidays (such as Easter, Christmas, Anzac Day and Australia Day). Job seekers will be notified of their early reporting date, see Payment and reporting arrangements over national public holiday periods
• customer advises they are going overseas, see Recording and correcting employment income details

Customers can view a summary of due to report dates and reporting periods in their online account. All reporting periods within 12 weeks of the date viewed will display. The summary is accessed by selecting Income and Assets > Employment Income > Next reporting periods from the menu.

Variable reporting

A job seeker on variable reporting can use self-managed service reporting on their non-stimulus Entitlement Period End Date (EPED).

If the job seeker, or their partner, receives a family assistance payment, they may need to update their estimate due to the change in income.

Determining and recording a late report

If a job seeker reports late or a self service reporter is referred to a Service Officer after the report 'drops through', discuss the reason for late reporting and remind the job seeker to report on their due date to avoid delays in payment.

Note: there may be barriers to participation for Indigenous customers.

Determine:

• whether or not the reason for late reporting is acceptable
• if any special circumstances apply for reporting form late, and
• if payment will be approved and processed

The Service Officer must record:

• whether or not the reason is satisfactory/acceptable, and
• how the job seeker met mutual obligation requirements during this period, and
• whether the customer has a pending compliance investigation

Reason for late reporting not acceptable

If the reason(s) for late reporting is not acceptable, the Service Officer can cancel/suspend payment and advise the job seeker of the decision. If payment is cancelled, tell the job seeker to test their eligibility and re-claim a payment. Job seekers must be advised in writing the reason their payment is cancelled or suspended.

Outstanding compliance action

Where a job seeker has a participation-related payment suspension or outstanding compliance action, they will need to re-engage with their employment services provider and/or speak to the Participation Solutions Team (PST) about any outstanding failure investigation before reporting can be finalised. Service Officers must check the Participation Compliance workflow summary and where the:

• Completed/Provider to Action section shows outstanding compliance actions the provider is responsible for managing, advise the job seeker to contact their provider, and/or
• Outstanding section shows a compliance investigation is outstanding, assist the job seeker to contact the PST

Note: any changes to the customer's circumstances must be updated before the customer contacts PST.

Self service for reporting customers

The obligation to report on their due date applies to job seekers who use self service (online, Express Plus mobile app or phone self service (IVR)). Self service reporters can report up to 13 days after the due date without any penalty or cancellation.

If the job seeker tries to report more than 13 days after their due Entitlement Period End Date (EPED) using self service channels, reporting will not be available as they will be cancelled Did Not Lodge (CAN-DNL). The job seeker will receive a message which will refer them to a Service Officer for assistance.

Job seekers can:

• update and correct reported employment income online using the Update employment income service to change their initial report
• correct employment income reported in the last 6 reporting periods

Note: employment income confirmed via the Single Touch Payroll (STP) channel cannot be corrected via self service. Customers must discuss changes and provide evidence to staff.

Genuine attempts must be made to transition customers to report via self service options before assisted reporting is completed, unless an exception applies.

Customer fails to report

A job seeker's payment is not generated until they have reported. Late reporting (after 5pm on the due date) can delay the customer and/or their partner's payment.

If the partner is a:

• notification reporter, payment is made automatically regardless of whether the customer has reported or not
• statement reporter (fortnightly/2 weekly), payment is generated when the job seeker reports. When the job seeker reports, their partner's payment is generated, unless the partner has mutual obligation requirements and is also required to report

If a job seeker fails to report for 2 consecutive fortnights (28 days), the payment will cancel automatically from Date Paid To +1 (DPT +1). For more information, see JobSeeker Payment (JSP) cancellations, suspensions and restorations.

Variable reporting customer fails to report

If the customer is on variable reporting, payments issued automatically cannot be proven until they have reported. For example, if the customer doesn't report within 15 days of their reporting date, payment will cancel back to date last reported +1.

If a job seeker was on a variable reporting cycle when their payment cancelled did not lodge (CAN/DNL) or cancelled failed to report (CAN/FRP), the system automatically creates an undetermined debt shell. The debt shell is automatically placed on hold for 21 days to allow time for the job seeker to make contact and report. If the job seeker reports while the debt shell is on hold, it will adjust if the payment is restored. If no report has occurred in the 21 days the debt shell is on hold, the debt can then be investigated.

When a debt shell is created, a cancellation letter is automatically sent to the job seeker. This letter advises the job seeker to report within 14 days of receiving the notification by contacting Services Australia by phone or going to a service centre. The letter includes a warning that failure to report may result in a debt being raised for payments already received within the reporting period.

Reporting within 13 weeks of payment cancellation

If the job seeker is seeking restoration and reports within 13 weeks of payment cancellation and it is has been determined:

• the job seeker was entitled to payment during that period, and
• continuing ongoing entitlement has been established,

payment must be restored from the cancellation date and the customer must report for each 2 weekly reporting period from their cancellation date. The reports can be confirmed verbally if the mutual obligation requirements have been met and all employment income is reported for each 2 weekly reporting period.

When the job seeker's income support payment is:

• suspended or cancelled, outstanding compliance action is maintained where it is likely the payment may be restored back to the suspension/cancellation date
• restored, outstanding compliance action may need to be actioned before reporting can be finalised
• cancelled for a participation-related reason, the payment may not be restorable and the job seeker may have to reclaim payment

If the system prompts arrears, ensure arrears are correct, particularly if a debt has already been raised due to the job seeker failing to report.

If arrears have been manually adjusted to ensure a duplicate payment is not made, the Service Officer must send a Fast Note to the relevant Debt Raising Team to allow adjustment of the debt. The Debt Raising Team is responsible for adjusting the debt.

Report more than 13 weeks after cancellation

Job seekers must lodge a new claim if it is 13 weeks or more since notification of cancellation.

If the job seeker applies for a formal review of the cancellation decision, normal review and appeal procedures must be followed.