Contract referral placement: Status, Code

The terms 'Referral', 'Commencement/Commenced', 'Pending', 'Suspended' and 'Exited' have specific meanings in relation to Employment Services:

'Referral' or 'Referred' means a referral of a participant to an Employment Services provider by Services Australia or the department following an assessment of their eligibility for Workforce Australia Services. This includes:

•  when a participant is moved from another service into Workforce Australia Services,
•  when a Workforce Australia Online Services participant requests to be moved to Workforce Australia Services, or
• When a participant is transferred from one employment services provider to another. 

'Commencement' or 'Commenced' means that a provider has recorded a participant's attendance at their initial interview and the participant's Job Plan is recorded as approved in the departments' IT systems (as entered by a provider).

'Pending' means that a participant has been referred to a provider but has not yet commenced e.g. their attendance at their initial interview has not been recorded and/or their job plan has not been approved.

'Suspensions' or 'Suspended' are periods during which participants are not required to participate in services and/or complete their mutual obligations and still receive payments. Participants can be suspended for the following reasons:

• If they have an exemption applied by Services Australia.
• They are a Principal Carer Parent and are fully meeting their part-time Mutual Obligation Requirements through participating in 30 hours a fortnight of paid work and/or study.
• They have a Partial Capacity to Work (PCW) of 15 to 29 hours a week and are fully meeting their part-time Mutual Obligation Requirements through participating in 30 hours a fortnight of paid work and/or study.
• They have been identified as having a Partial Work Capacity (PCW) participant who has a current and future work capacity of less than 15 hours per week
• They have a temporary reduced work capacity of less than 15 hours per week, or
• They are aged 55 years and over and is meeting their full-time Mutual Obligation Requirements through participating in paid work and/or approved Voluntary Work depending on their age and circumstances.
  • If the participant is aged 55 – 59 and in their first 12 months of receiving their Income Support Payment, they can fully meet their Mutual Obligation Requirements by completing 30 hours per fortnight of paid work. These Participants can also fully meet their Mutual Obligation Requirements by completing 30 hours per fortnight of a combination of approved Voluntary Work and paid work, however, this must include at least 15 hours per fortnight of paid work.
  • If the participant is aged 55 – 59 and has been receiving their Income Support Payment for more than 12 months, they can fully meet their Mutual Obligation Requirements if they undertake at least 30 hours per fortnight of paid work, approved Voluntary Work or a combination of both Activities.
  • If the participant is aged between 60 and the Age Pension age, they can fully meet their Mutual Obligation Requirements if they undertake at least 30 hours per fortnight of paid work, approved Voluntary Work or a combination of both activities.

'Exit' or 'Exited' means that a participant has exited Workforce Australia. This will usually happen automatically (known as an 'effective exit') but there are some instances where a provider can manually exit a participant. An effective exit occurs when:

• The Participant (Mutual Obligation) is no longer receiving an eligible Income Support Payment. This can include where a Participant is in a job and has had 6 consecutive fortnights with nil rate of Income Support, or where the Participant has not lodged a report of income with Services Australia (even if this is zero) 14 days after their Report Due Date
• The Participant is commenced in Disability Employment Services or the Community Development Program.
• The Participant begins receiving Self-Employment Assistance Small Business Coaching (formerly known as ‘Comprehensive Services’).

A provider may exit a participant manually in the following circumstances:

• When the participant is Suspended and has a Partial Capacity to Work of:
  • less than 15 hours per week, or
  • 15 hours or more per week, and they are meeting their Mutual Obligation Requirements through 30 hours or more a fortnight of paid work and/or study that will likely be ongoing or last more than 13 weeks. \
• When the participant is a Principal Carer Parent and Suspended and:
  • has a long-term Exemption (end date longer than 16 weeks),
  • or is meeting their Mutual Obligation Requirements through 30 hours or more a fortnight of paid work and/or study that will likely be ongoing or last more than 13 weeks.
• The participant is voluntary (has no mutual obligations) and ceases to participate in voluntary activities or no longer wishes to participate in Services.
• The participant's Youth Bonus Wage Subsidy is suspended.

This item is used to determine whether a contract referral placement (and therefore the participant it is related to) is counted as 'active' on an employment services caseload.