Determining when a client became non-compliant
When a client fails to complete Report Job Search without a good and sufficient reason, MSD must determine from which point the client was non-compliant.
The client's benefit will be suspended or reduced from the first day of the week that MSD determines a client was non-compliant.
The start of each week is based on when Report Job Search was imposed. This means the week may not begin on a Monday.
For example, if a client's Report Job Search is imposed on a Wednesday, the beginning of the week for the sanction will be Wednesday.
Client engaged initially and then stopped
A client may engage with Report Job Search for a period of time and then fail to meet the requirements before their Report Job Search has ended.
In this case, MSD will consider that a client was non-compliant from first day of the week in which a client stopped meeting the requirements.
Example
Tien failed a work obligation and MSD imposed Report Job Search as a non-financial sanction. He contacts MSD in his third week of Report Job Search and says he did not complete or report on his 3 job-search activities. When MSD asks about why he could not complete his job-search activities he says after week 2 he could not think of another activity to complete.
MSD is satisfied that Tien was complying with the requirements of Report Job Search in week one and 2, but he was no longer compliant in week 3. MSD determines non-compliance from day one of week 3.
Tien's payments are stopped from this date, and he is given a different recompliance activity to complete.
Client does not provide evidence
If a client attends their recompliance appointment and has been reporting on their job-search activities in MyMSD but cannot provide MSD with evidence of this (without a good and sufficient reason), non-compliance should be backdated to the beginning of the week they stopped meeting their sanction requirements.
Example
Dende failed a work obligation and his case manager imposed Report Job Search as a non-financial sanction. Throughout the 4-week sanction period, Dende reports on 4 job-search activities each week.
At the end of the four-week sanction period, when Dende meets with his case manager, he's unable to provide sufficient supporting evidence of his job-search activities because he forgot this was part of his sanction requirements and so didn't collect evidence throughout. As he doesn't have a good and sufficient reason for this, MSD determines that he hasn't met the requirements of the sanction.
MSD determines Dende became non-compliant at the beginning of week one of his sanction, as he was unable to provide any supporting evidence of his job-search activities.
His payments are stopped from the beginning of week one and a debt is established.
Client does not make contact
When a client does not make contact with MSD at the end of their 4-week period, they will be considered non-compliant from the first day after the 4-week period ended.
If a client later makes contact with MSD and has no good and sufficient reason for not meeting their requirements (including not providing sufficient evidence), non-compliance should be backdated to the beginning of the week in which they were no longer complying with the sanction.
MSD cannot determine when non-compliance occurred
When a client makes contact with MSD, MSD must use the information provided to determine when their non-compliance occurred. If the client does not provide enough information for MSD to determine this, non-compliance must be backdated to the beginning of the sanction period.
For more information see:
Legislation
- Sanction for first failure: report job search: failure without good and sufficient reason to meet requirements section 236F Social Security Act 2018
