Work obligations

Full-time work obligations apply to:

• primary clients (except those receiving Jobseeker Support on ground of a health condition, injury or disability)
• partners with no dependent children and
• partners with a youngest dependent child aged 14 years or over

Part-time work obligations apply to:

• primary clients receiving Jobseeker Support (health condition, injury or disability) who have part-time work capacity
• partners with a youngest dependent child aged between 3 and 13 years

Clients (and partners) with work obligations must:

• be available for, and take reasonable steps to obtain, suitable employment
• accept any offer of suitable employment, including temporary employment or employment that is seasonal or subsidised

Note suitable employment can include employment that contains an employment trial.

• attend and participate in an interview for any opportunity of suitable employment to which the client is referred
• when required to attend and participate in any interview with Work and Income or on behalf of Work and Income
• when required to undertake planning for employment
• report to Work and Income on progress in meeting their work obligations as often as required and
• when required by Work and Income, undertake any activity to improve their work readiness and employment prospects, including:
  • any work assessment
  • any programme or seminar
  • any work experience or work exploration activity
  • any employment-related training
  • rehabilitation (but not medical treatment)

Young partners (aged 16 to 19 years old) of clients receiving Jobseeker Support have youth activity obligations, and not work or work preparation obligations, if they are:

• aged 16 or 17 years old without dependent children or
• aged 16 to 19 years old with a dependent child or children and
• married to, or in a civil union, or de facto relationship with a person receiving Jobseeker Support

For more information see:

Clients with full-time work obligations must be available for, and take reasonable steps to find suitable employment of at least 30 hours or more per week.

Clients with part-time work obligations must be available for, and take reasonable steps to find suitable employment of at least:

• 15 hours per week, for clients that qualify for Jobseeker Support on the grounds of a health condition, injury, or disability
• 20 hours per week for all other clients

However, if suitable employment is available for hours other than 15, 20 or 30 hours per week (as applicable), the client or partner can be required to accept an offer of this job.

Work obligations can be applied on any day of the week provided it is suitable for the client's circumstances.

To help you decide if the job is suitable for the client see:

• Suitable employment
• Hours range for suitable employment

Clients who fail to comply with their work obligations have an obligations failure.

If a client (or partner) does not meet their work obligations, without a good and sufficient reason, you should initiate an obligations failure.

You should consider the client's individual circumstances before referring them to a job or an activity, to ensure that they can realistically meet their obligations.

Clients may be able to receive a temporary deferral from their work obligations in specific circumstances. These clients will generally have work preparation obligations for the duration of the deferral. For more information about deferrals, see:

• Deferrals

Clients may be able to receive a temporary exemption from their work obligations. For more information about exemptions, see:

• Exemptions

For more information see:

• Meeting job search requirements
• Informing clients of their obligations
• Setting appropriate activities for clients
• Employment trial period of up to 90 days
• Drug test obligations
• Reporting progress
• Rehabilitation
• Exemptions
• Table of Exemptions
• Deferrals
• Obligations failures