Activity obligations failures

If a young person fails to comply with their activity obligations, an activity obligations failure needs to be considered.

The service provider or Work and Income "in-house" service:

• must be satisfied that the young person did not have a good and sufficient reason for their failure and
• if the young person did not have a good and sufficient reason, recommend an activity obligations failure be imposed

The Youth Service Support Unit (YSSU):

• makes the decision to apply a sanction, based on the recommendation of the service provider or Work and Income "in-house" service and
• initiates the activity obligations failure in the system

For more information see:

• Obligations
• Good and sufficient reason for failing activity obligations

If it is decided that the young person has failed their activity obligations, the YSSU will initiate an activity obligations failure. The young person will then be notified by text message or letter that

• an obligations failure has occurred and
• they have five working days to recomply otherwise a sanction will be imposed

All young people have a five working day notice period to dispute or recomply before the sanction is imposed. If a young person recomplies within the five working day notice period their benefit is not sanctioned but the activity obligations failure is recorded. For more information see:

• When the sanction is imposed
• Counting previous activity obligations failures

For more information, see:

• Disputes or reviews of an activity obligations failure
• Recompliance Grade 1 and 2
• Recompliance (13 week non-entitlement period)
• Effect of sanctions on assistance