FAQ: Your Rights

I am being forced to do a Work for the Dole activity against my will. Can I undertake another activity instead, such as voluntary work?

While many Employment Service Providers claim that Work for the Dole is the only option for unemployed workers once they enter their ‘Work for the Dole phase’ after 6 months of being on Newstart, this is not true. The fact of the matter is that, according to the Mutual Obligation Requirement Guideline, unemployed workers have a number of options when it comes to satisfying their mutual obligation requirements. They are as follows:

Voluntary Work

Under the job active guideline, unemployed workers can undertake voluntary work instead of Work for the Dole.  There are a few things to remember when you are deciding what voluntary work you would like to do.Firstly, it must be a non-for profit organisation.Secondly, it must be an approved Centrelink Voluntary organisation. This means the non-for profit organisation must fill out a ‘Request for Organisational Approval’ form, available here. After that form is complete, both you and your chosen volunteer organisation must fill out a ‘Verification of Voluntary Work’ form, available here. Please note that due to insurance issues the Australian Unemployed Workers’ Union is not able to become an approved voluntary organisation.

Unfortunately, to undertake voluntary work with your chosen non for profit organisation, you must do the leg work and get your organisation to fill out the required forms.

For more information about suitable voluntary work, click here.

Part-Time Study/Training

According to the Mutual Obligation Requirements Guideline, unemployed workers can undertake part-time study or training in a Certificate III or higher to meet their mutual obligations.

Accredited Language, Literacy and Numeracy Courses

Unemployed workers can also undertake accredited language, literacy and numeracy courses to meet their mutual obligation requirements.These courses can include:Skills for Education and Employment
Adult Migrant English Programme

Defense Force and Other Government Programs

Defence Force Reserves is an Approved Activity according to the Mutual Obligation Requirement Guideline, as well as Government programs including state government programmes and the Green Army Programme.

Do I have to undertake Work for the Dole (or another mutual obligation activity) when I am getting paid work?

No. Under the Job Active Guidelines, unemployed workers are exempt from Work for the Dole if they are receiving a reduced Newstart entitlement as a result of income they received from Employment.

I am not receiving my Work for the Dole Supplement. What can I do?

If you are undertaking a Work for the Dole activity in any given fortnight, you are eligible for a Work for the Dole supplement, currently $20.80, to be added to the relevant fortnightly payment. If you are not receiving this, contact Centrelink.

My personal circumstances prevent me from undertaking Work for the Dole and other mutual obligation activities, but my Job Agent refuses to acknowledge them. What can I do?

Ask Centrelink for an Employment Services Assessment (ESAt). At this assessment you are required to bring all relevant documentation that proves that you have barriers to work. Some of these barriers to work include:

• Physical condition
• Psychological condition
• Caring Responsibilities

Once your Employment Service Assessment is booked, you will not be required to undertake any appointments or activities demanded by your Employment Service Provider.

If your barriers to work are proven to be genuine, you can be exempted from doing any mutual obligation activities. In other cases, you will be considered to have a Partial Capacity to Work (PCW) , and your requirements will decrease. Whatever the decision you can request it be sent to you in writing.

The Australian Unemployed Workers Union strongly recommends unemployed workers who think they may have a barriers to work, no matter how slight, to request a Employment Services Assessment. More information on Employment Services Assessment’s can be found here.

My Work for the Dole activity is unsafe. What are my rights?

Risk assessments must be conducted and recorded for every Work for the Dole place and for each unemployed worker placed in a Work for the Dole place. These assessments are conducted either by the Work for the Dole Coordinator or the Provider if they have sourced the place.

If you believe that your Work for the Dole activity does not have nadequate “work health and safety processes”, the activity does not meet requirements of the jobactive deed and must be discontinued immediately.

According to the Work for the Dole Assessment Checklist, for a Work for the Dole activity to be approved all ‘identified work health and safety issues’ must be adequately “addressed and managed before the Place/Activity commences and at all times during the Place/Activity”.

For information on the requirements of a Risk Assessment, click here.

If your Work for the Dole activity is unsafe, we recommend you inform Centrelink, your Provider, the Department of Employment (1800 805 260), the Ombudsman, and your local Welfare Rights Centre to exert maximum pressure.

I want to change Employment Service Providers. How do I do this?

Transferring providers is an important right of unemployed workers. While you can request transfer at anytime by filing out a transfer by agreement from (which can be downloaded here), Employment Service Providers are only obliged to accept your transfer request under specific circumstances as noted under the jobactive ‘transfers’ Guideline.

These are:

1. Due to Change of Address

After changing addresses, the Department of Human Services can automatically transfer you to a new provider if it is determined that your current Employment Provider is “not with a reasonable distance” of your new address.

If the department does not do this automatically, then you can do it yourself through a transfer by agreement form.

If you get transferred automatically and you would prefer to stay at your old Provider, you can request a transfer.

2. Due to Relationship Failure

If you believe you cannot maintain a “reasonable and constructive relationship” with your Employment Service Provider, you can call the Department of Employment National Customer Service Line on 1800 805 260. A customer service officer will record the request and help to make the transfer if approved.

3. You Believe you can get ‘Better Servicing’ Elsewhere

If you believe that you could receive services that could “better enhance” your Employment prospects from another provider, you can request a transfer.

To request a transfer, you must call the Department of Employment’s National Customer Service on 1800 805 260, which will assess the request. If the Department agrees, they will action the transfer. If they do not agree, you will be informed of the decision.

I am being threatened with a penalty that I do not understand. What can I do?

Employment Service Providers regularly threaten unemployed workers with penalties that are not fair. If your Employment Service Provider is threatening with a penalty that you think is unfair, request they explain the penalty in writing with reference to the jobactive deed or jobactive guidelines.

If they refuse, inform them that you will be making an official complain to the department of employment (1800 805 260).

My Job Agent is forcing me sign a Job Plan that I disagree with. What are my rights?

As noted in the Job Plan Guideline, you have a number of important of rights when it comes to negotiating a Job Plan with your Provider. These are:

1. The right to carefully consider your Job Plan before signing.

You cannot be compelled into signing a job plan at your first appointment. Despite what your Employment Service Provider might say, you can only be penalised for failing to sign a job plan after the second appointment. This gives you time to think it over.

2. The right to have your individual circumstances recognised

Below is a direct exert from the Job Plan Guideline:

When setting and approving the terms of a job seeker’s Job Plan, (including those without Mutual Obligation Requirements) the Provider must take into account the following:

• the job seeker’s individual circumstances, in particular their assessed work capacity (where relevant), their capacity to comply with the requirements and their personal needs
• the job seeker’s education, experience, skills and age
• the impact of any disability, illness, mental condition or physical condition of the person on the person’s ability to work, to look for work or to participate in activities
• the state of the local labour market and the transport options available to the person in accessing that market
• the participation opportunities available to the person
• the family and caring responsibilities of the person (including availability of child care)
• the length of travel time required to comply with the requirements (90 minutes each way or 60 minutes if the job seeker is a principal carer parent or has a Partial Capacity to Work)
• the financial costs (such as travel costs) of complying with the requirements, and the person’s capacity to pay for such costs
• any other matters that the Provider considers relevant in the circumstances (including if they disclose that they are a victim of family violence)
• if the job seeker has any vulnerabilities or vulnerability indicators (as identified by DHS) such as homelessness, psychiatric problems or mental illness, severe drug or alcohol dependency, traumatic relationship breakdown, etc
• cultural factors

My Job Agent does not give me enough notice before scheduling an appointment or activity. What can I do?

As noted in the Job Seeker Compliance Framework, your Employment Service Provider must ensure that it provides reasonable notice ahead of an appointment or activity.

So what is reasonable notice?

It depends on how you are contacted.

• If your provider contacts you by phone, face to face, or handed a letter to organise an appointment or activity, you must be given 3 Calendar days notice.

Note: If you are contacted by phone, the provider must speak directly to the job seeker.

• If you are contacted you by email (only available when it is the job seeker’s notification preference), you must be given 2 business days notice.

Note: For an email notification to be valid, Providers must ensure that the job seeker has read and understood the email—for example, by using a ‘read receipt’—at least one day before the Appointment or activity. Where the job seeker does not respond to email notification, another method should be used.

• If you are contacted by mail, you must be given 4 business days notice.

However, according to Social Security Law the Employment Service Providers can simply by-pass these rules by simply organising an appointment or activity directly with the unemployed worker as long as the unemployed worker agrees.

This relies on the job seeker not knowing their rights. If your Employment Provider tries to organise an appointment or activity without the required notice, simply inform them of your rights.

I want to have my Job Search requirements reduced. What are my rights?

As noted in the Mutual Obligation Requirements Guideline, there are a number of instances where your job search requirements can be reduced. These include:

1. Special Circumstances

Below is an exert from the Mutual Obligation Guideline:

There are some prescribed circumstances in which the number of Job Searches may be reduced. Providers may reduce the number of Job Searches as a result of a job seeker’s:

For all Job Seekers

• physical, intellectual or psychiatric impairment
• alcohol or drug abuse, where this is likely to impede Job Search
• substantially elevated level of family and caring responsibilities
• accommodation situation, where this is likely to impede Job Search
• education or skill level, where this is likely to substantially limit job opportunities
• current Employment status (Part-Time or casual work)
• domestic violence (including family violence) or family relationship breakdown

(Note: DHS may also grant an Exemption from Mutual Obligation Requirements in these circumstances.)

• final three months of pregnancy
• level of English language skills, where the job seeker is undertaking a course to improve these skills
• cultural factors
• the state of the labour market and the transport options available to the person in accessing that market (for example, taking into account travel time).

For example, a Stream A job seeker either living in a metropolitan area or within 90 minutes travel time to a metropolitan area would be expected to have 20 Job Searches per month. In a regional area with limited vacancies and where the travel time to more positive labour markets is more than 90 minutes, it might be appropriate that a Stream A job seeker has a lower Job Search requirement—for example, 15 Job Searches per month.

For Stream C job seekers and job seekers aged 60 years and over

The number of Job Searches required by Stream C job seekers and job seekers aged 60 years and over depends on their capacity. However, in general they would be expected to undertake 10 Job Searches per month.

In setting an appropriate number of Job Searches, in addition to the considerations outlined above, Providers may also consider the extent to which:

• other non-vocational issues or vocational issues are being, or have been, addressed•the job seeker has undertaken re-skilling or re-training.

For Stream C job seekers, it might be appropriate in some Exceptional Circumstances to have no Job Searches for a period while non-vocational issues are actively being addressed (for example, where a job seeker is undertaking a residential drug and alcohol rehabilitation programme).

The number of Job Searches required of Stream C job seekers would be expected to increase over time as they overcome or sufficiently manage personal or non-vocational issues

2. Paid Work

According to the Mutual Obligations Guideline, if you are undertaking at least 40 hours of declared paid work (including self-employment) per fortnight, the number of Job Searches should be halved.

If you undertaking at least 70 hours of declared paid work (including self-employment) per fortnight, the number of Job Searches should be nil.

If you are a recognised Primary Care Parent (PCP) or have a Partial Capacity to Work and you are working 11-29 hours of paid work (including self-employment) per fortnight, your Job Search should be halved.

3. Other Reasons

Below is an exert from the Mutual Obligation Requirement Guideline:

Language, Literacy and Numeracy (LLN) courses

For those job seekers that Providers have identified as needing to improve their LLN skills, Providers may reduce the number of Job Searches during the period when the job seeker is actively participating in a LLN course. The job seeker would need to be undertaking Skills for Education and Employment, Adult Migrant English Program or another accredited LLN course. However, Providers must ensure that the job seeker is simultaneously undertaking some Job Search while participating in these programmes.

Other circumstances

Providers must not include Job Search requirements for job seekers while they are undertaking NEIS Training, the NEIS programme or during the final three months of pregnancy.
PCPs and PCWs (15 to 29 hours per week) who are fully meeting their part-time Mutual Obligation Requirements through 30 hours per fortnight of paid work or approved study must not have any simultaneous Job Search requirements included in their Job Plans.
Job seekers aged 55 years and over who are meeting their full-time Mutual Obligation Requirements through 30 hours per fortnight of paid work or approved Voluntary Work must not have any simultaneous Job Search requirements included in their Job Plans.

Providers must also not include Job Search requirements in the Job Plans of Early School Leavers (ESLs),

How do I appeal against a penalty?

After being informed of your penalty, contact Centrelink – either by phone or in writing – and request an internal review. This process is well worth it as Centrelink changes roughly one-third of decisions.

According to Centrelink you should ask for a review “within 13 weeks of being notified about a social security decision. If your request for a review is more than 13 weeks after being notified and the decision can be changed, you may only receive your entitlement from the date you requested the review.”

If you would like to place further pressure on Centrelink to ensure a full and thorough investigation takes place, it is worth informing the Ombudsman (1300 362 072) of your issue as well as lodging an official complaint with the Department of Employment (1800 805 260).

My appeal was unsuccessful. How do I take my appeal further?

Take your appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. Click here for more details.

This is a worthwhile process as Centrelink change around 25% of decisions.

Can I get legal support?

Contact your local Welfare Rights Legal Centre for advise.