The disputes process

The disputes process is a quick process where you must respond to a client's dispute immediately.

You must take into account any new information provided by the client and let the client know your decision straight away.

A letter is sent automatically to the client once a decision has been recorded on the dispute.

A client can dispute the decision if they believe:

• they did not fail their obligations including when they believe they have taken all reasonable steps to meet a social obligation or
• that they had a good and sufficient reason for failing to complete the obligation
• Note if a client has disputed the obligations failure and you have upheld your decision, the client can only dispute it again by following the Review of Decision or Medical Appeal Board appeal (drug test failure only) processes.

If a sanction has been imposed you can still use the disputes process. This allows the client an opportunity for a quick resolution to their dispute before proceeding with the Review of Decision process.

For more information see:

• Recording decisions on a dispute

The client can dispute the decision if they believe they did not fail their obligations, for one of the following reasons:

• an obligations failure was initiated, but the client had undertaken the activity or
• an obligations failure was initiated, but the client had a good and sufficient reason for the failure or
• undertaking or completing the activity was dependent on the provision of assistance by Work and Income and that assistance was not supplied or
• reasonable steps weren't taken by Work and Income to inform a client of the activity that they were required to do

Note some clients may fail more than one obligation at the same time. In this case, for the obligation failure not to apply, the client will need to successfully dispute or review all failures in order to not have a sanction imposed. If only one failure is disputed, a sanction may still be imposed for obligation failures that were not disputed, or were disputed and upheld.

You must consider the circumstances of the client, and determine whether it would have been reasonable for the client to have undertaken the activity.

Good and sufficient reasons for failing to undertake an activity will depend on the obligation the client has failed. For social obligations you must consider whether the client has taken all reasonable steps to meet their social obligations.

Note that if you are unsure whether a client has a good and sufficient reason you should seek guidance from your capability developer, Helpline, manager client service operations, manager client service delivery.