Determining when a partner became non-compliant

When a partner fails to find or complete Community Work Experience without a good and sufficient reason, MSD must determine from which point the partner was non-compliant.

MSD may consider information shared by an organisation when determining if a partner has a good and sufficient reason for failing to find or complete Community Work Experience, however MSD must also consider information provided by the partner. 

The partner’s benefit will be suspended or reduced from the first day of the week that MSD determines a partner was non-compliant. 

The start of each week is based on when the Community Work Experience was imposed. This means the week may not begin on a Monday.

For example, if a partner’s Community Work Experience is imposed on a Wednesday, the beginning of the week for the sanction will be Wednesday. 

A partner may engage with Community Work Experience for a period of time, and then fail to meet the requirements before their Community Work Experience has ended.

In this case, MSD will consider that the partner was non-compliant from first day of the week that the partner stopped meeting the requirements. 

When a partner does not provide verification or make contact with MSD at the end of their search period or the end of their position period, they will be considered non-compliant from the first day after the respective period ended.

If a partner later makes contact with MSD and has no good and sufficient reason for not meeting their requirements, non-compliance should be backdated to the beginning of the week in which they were no longer complying with the sanction.