The Law Handbook 2024

326 Section 5: Managing your money non-payment period of four or six weeks will be imposed; this means that if a new claim is paid, the payments will not be made for at least four weeks. Declared program participants Breaches in allowance and payment terms are called ‘participation failures’ and are set out in division 3A of the SSA Act (s 42A). The regime applies to payments with activity test requirements (generally the JobSeeker Payment, but also Youth Allowance, the Parenting Payment and the Special Benefit) are set out in division 3A of the SSA Act (s 42A). The regime applies to payments with activity test requirements (generally the JobSeeker Payment, but also Youth Allowance, the Parenting Payment, and the Special Benefit). The consequences depend on the type of failure. There are four types: 1 ‘no show, no pay’ failures (s 42C–D SSA Act); 2 connection failures (s 42E–L); 3 reconnection failures (s 42E–L); 4 serious failures (s 42M–R). Centrelink can impose a financial penalty, which is determined based on the type and frequency of the failure(s). ‘No show, no pay’ failures A person commits a ‘no show, no pay’ failure if they: • fail to participate in a compulsory activity required by a job plan; or • fail to comply with a serious failure requirement; or • engage in misconduct during an activity; or • fail to attend a job interview; or • during a job interview, deliberately behave in a way that results in them not receiving a job offer. It is only possible to commit one ‘no show, no pay’ failure per day. The penalty for a failure is the loss of one-tenth of the person’s fortnightly payment. A failure only applies if the person has no reasonable excuse (unless the person commits misconduct), although rules as to what constitutes a ‘reasonable excuse’ have been tightened (s 42UA SSA Act). Connection failures A person commits a connection failure if they (without a reasonable excuse): • fail to attend a compulsory Centrelink or Employ- ment Pathway Plan appointment; or • fail to enter into an Employment Pathway Plan; or • fail to meet a job search requirement or comply with an Employment Pathway Plan requirement; or • fail to keep or return a job seeker diary. Two or more connection failures can be committed in a single day. If a connection failure is committed, the person may be required to comply with a reconnection requirement (essentially an opportunity to fix the failure). There is no financial penalty for a connection failure. Reconnection failures A person commits a reconnection failure if they fail to comply with a reconnection requirement without a reasonable excuse. The penalty for a reconnection failure is the loss of one-tenth of the person’s fortnightly payment for each business day until the failure is fixed. Further reconnection requirements may be imposed even if the person had a reasonable excuse for committing an earlier reconnection failure. Serious failures A serious failure is committed if a person, without a reasonable excuse, persistently fails to comply with their obligations in relation to a participation payment or refuses to accept an offer of suitable paid work. An eight-week non-payment period applies if a serious failure is committed. Centrelink may require a person who has committed a serious failure to comply with a serious failure requirement. If the person begins to comply, Centrelink may end the non-payment period. If Centrelink determines that a person would be in severe financial hardship if required to serve the eight-week non-payment period, the non-payment period can be ended early. If a person requests a review of a decision to impose a non-payment period because of a serious failure, payment pending a review is available. Comprehensive Compliance Assessment Before deciding that a person has committed a serious failure due to persistent non-compliance, Centrelink must conduct a Comprehensive Compliance Assessment (CCA). The CCA aims to ascertain: