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LEX 39013
Circumstances affecting capacity to comply with
compulsory requirement 001-10050000
Currently published version valid from 22/08/2018 11:00 am
Background
This document outlines how Service Officers identify and capture circumstances affecting capacity to comply
with compulsory requirements for job seekers or ParentsNext participants.
On this Page:
Personal responsibility
A key principle underpinning the job seeker compliance system is that job seekers and ParentsNext
participants take personal responsibility managing and ensuring they can meet their requirements.
This includes:
talking with their Employment Services Provider or ParentsNext provider about circumstances that
may be affecting their ability to participate so the activities in their Job/Participation Plan are
appropriate and achievable
recording Personal Events in the online dashboard Calendar to ensure their provider is aware of
specific periods of time when they have personal commitments they want their provider to be aware
of when scheduling requirements
letting their provider know beforehand if unable to attend on a day, and
recording their own attendance at compulsory requirements
Circumstances that are likely to have ongoing impacts
If job seekers, including ParentsNext participants, have personal circumstances that are likely to have an
ongoing impact on their capacity to comply, the Department of Human Services and providers flag these to
ensure they are given appropriate consideration when negotiating compulsory requirements or if non-
compliance occurs.
Providers have responsibility for identifying appropriate interventions or services to address recognised
circumstances impacting compliance, and may also re-negotiate compulsory requirements when
appropriate.
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Department of Human Services responsibilities
All Service Officers have responsibility for identifying, recording and reviewing job seeker circumstances that
are ongoing in nature and are likely to have an impact on the job seeker’s capacity to comply with
requirements on an ongoing basis.
When job seeker circumstances are recorded or reviewed, Human Services is expected to reinforce key
messages to job seekers about their personal responsibilities.
Key messages include:
talk with your provider as soon as possible about any personal circumstances that are likely to
impact your ability to comply with compulsory requirements
job seekers on income support have mutual obligations and you are expected to fully participate in
employment services and other activities outlined in your Job Plan/Participation Plan
keep the personal events in the Job Seeker Account calendar up to date to make sure your provider
is aware of personal commitments, such as school pick up times or work, when scheduling
requirements
Recording circumstances affecting capacity to comply with compulsory requirements
The
Circumstances Impacting Compliance screen displays all identified circumstances that have been
flagged as potentially affecting the job seeker’s capacity to comply with compulsory requirements.
The Human Services system will automatically flag job seeker circumstances on this screen when:
providers record circumstances in the Capability Management Tool in the Employment Services
System (ESS)
Homelessness Indicators have been recorded
Vulnerability Indicators and Comprehensive Compliance Assessment (CCA) barriers were recorded
prior to 1 July 2018
an Employment Services Assessment (ESAt)/Job Capacity Assessment (JCA) or Job Seeker
Classification Instrument (JSCI) identifies factors likely to impact capacity
When job seeker circumstances have been automatically flagged, these will contain minimal information and
need to be reviewed and updated as appropriate during Human Services staff interactions, for example,
failure investigations.
When Human Services identify additional job seeker circumstances (such as, any not automatically flagged),
these may be added manually.
Disclosing information to providers
Circumstances that are affecting compliance is information that providers require to ensure compulsory
requirements are reasonable, they can identify appropriate support services and undertake their roles and
responsibilities in relation to administration of social security law.
Section 202 of the Social Security (Administration) Act 1999 provides Human Services with the authority to
disclose information to providers which is relevant to their servicing and which assists the provider to deliver
an effective service to the job seeker.
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By using the
Circumstances Impacting Compliance screen, Human Services ensures that relevant
information about a job seeker’s circumstances which are ongoing in nature are made available to the job
seeker’s provider in a manner that adheres to privacy principles. For certain circumstances, as long as the
appropriate minimum evidence has been recorded, the information Human Services record is shared
electronically with the provider as a Vulnerability Indicator.
The Resources page contains attachments describing when the various job seeker circumstances categories
can be added, updated or ended, and the evidence required for different circumstances. It also contains a
high level overview of the Circumstances Impacting Compliance workflow.
Related links
Assessing reasonable excuse - drug or alcohol related reasons
Roles and responsibilities for managing compliance with compulsory requirements
Targeted Compliance Framework
Job Seeker Compliance Model
Conducting compliance investigations
Participation Compliance workflow
Homelessness Indicators
Referring customers to Welfare Agencies
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Process
This page contains information about recording and reviewing circumstances affecting compliance for job
seekers and ParentsNext participants who have compulsory requirements.
Circumstances affecting capacity to comply with compulsory requirements
Recording and reviewing job seeker circumstances
This table contains information about recording and reviewing job seeker circumstances affecting capacity to
comply with compulsory requirements.
Item
Description
1
Responsibility for identifying job seeker circumstance that may affect capacity to comply +
Read more ...
Participation Solutions Team (PST)-skilled Service Officers identify and record ongoing
circumstances directly contributing to a job seeker's non-compliance during a compliance
investigation, Capability Assessment or Comprehensive Compliance Assessment (CCA).
All Department of Human Services staff who deliver services to job seekers have responsibility
for identifying and flagging job seeker circumstances that may affect capacity to comply with
compulsory requirements on an ongoing or adhoc/episodic basis.
This includes:
Service Officers assisting job seekers during any face-to-face or smart centre contact
PST-skilled Service Officers during a compliance investigation, Capability Assessment or
Comprehensive Compliance Assessment (CCA)
Social Worker assistance
Specialist officer contact - Community Engagement Officers, Multicultural Services
Officers, Indigenous Service Officers
Prison Liaison Officers assisting job seekers recently released from prison
Job seekers have a personal responsibility for ensuring their provider is aware of circumstances
that affect their capacity to comply with requirements. The job seeker must be encouraged to
talk with their provider about any circumstances that have been added or updated.
For more information on consultation with a PST-skilled social worker, see Social work role in
the Participation Solutions Team (PST).
2
Circumstances Impacting Compliance screen + Read more ...
The
Circumstances Impacting Compliance screen is the system tool used to flag identified job
seeker circumstances.
The screen can be accessed from the
Participation menu by selecting
Circumstances
Impacting Compliance.
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The screen is also accessed via the
Participation Compliance workflow from the:
Compliance Investigation workflow, by selecting the:
o
Circumstances impacting Compliance link on the
Other Related Information
page
o
View Circumstance link on the
Key Information page
o
Job Seeker Circumstances link on the
Investigation page
o
Review Circumstances link on the
Decision and Penalty page
Capability Assessment workflow, by selecting:
o
Continue on the
Capability Assessment page when 'Yes' has been selected for
'Does the Job Seeker/Participant statement suggest there are ongoing
circumstances directly impacting their ability to comply with requirements'
o the
Existing circumstances impacting compliance require review to confirm
they are up to date link, on the
Capability Assessment Outcomes page
Capability Assessment workflow, by selecting the:
o
Continue button on the
CCA Commencement page
Information recorded in the
Circumstances Impacting Compliance screen is available to
Human Services staff delivering services to job seekers. Job seeker circumstances are
presented in the
Participation Compliance workflow when compliance action has been
generated. The Capability Management tool in the Employment Services System (ESS) also
displays existing circumstances that are affecting compliance to providers as a Vulnerability
Indicator.
Before flagging a job seeker circumstance affecting compliance, Service Officers should
consider the impact the circumstance is likely to have on the job seeker’s capacity to comply
with compulsory requirements. For further information, see Item 4.
A circumstance that is unlikely to affect the job seeker’s capacity to comply with their
compulsory requirements should not be recorded and any existing circumstances that are no
longer likely to impact should be ended, see Item 6.
3
Recording free text on the Circumstances Impacting Compliance screen + Read more ...
Free text descriptions should:
Be written in a clear concise manner using a factual tone
Only information that is specific and relevant to both the circumstance and the
requirements that it impacts should be included
Be logical and coherent, and
Consider the various audiences who use the information. They must be easily
understood by both Human Services staff and providers
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It is never appropriate to include:
sensitive information
acronyms that are not universally or commonly in use
special characters (for example, '<', ‘>’, ':', '&' or ','). These characters will not transition
appropriately to the Employment Services System(ESS) which may affect the meaning
Note: job seekers may request details of job seeker circumstances that have been recorded
under Freedom of Information.
4
Adding a new circumstance + Read more ...
The Human Services system will automatically add some circumstances based on information
from other sources, including:
Certain responses recorded in the Job Seeker Classification Instrument (JSCI)
suggesting a job seeker may have difficulty meeting some requirements
Homelessness Indicators recorded in the Homelessness Indicator workflow
Barriers and Risk of Non-compliance ratings recorded in an Employment Services
Assessment (ESAt)
Barriers manually recorded by providers in the Capability Management Tool
Before adding a new circumstance, review the summary of existing circumstances.
When a job seeker circumstances category:
currently exists, it may be more appropriate to review this circumstance, see Item 5
already exists but has ended, select the category from the previous circumstances
impacting compliance and update
has not previously been recorded, add a new circumstance
The appropriate job seeker circumstances category (see Item 5) should be selected from the
drop down menu. Depending on the category selected, the screen will display additional
prompts to record further information about the nature of the job seeker circumstances that
are affecting.
Note: if more than 1 job seeker circumstance is affecting the job seeker’s capacity to comply,
multiple job seeker circumstance categories may be recorded.
A factual and succinct free text description of the circumstances identified and how they affect
the job seeker’s capacity to comply with compulsory requirements must be recorded.
Evidence + Read more ...
Job seeker circumstances affecting compliance must be supported by appropriate and
sufficient evidence. What is considered sufficient evidence will be dependent on how the
circumstance will be used. For example, circumstances may only be used to inform a Capability
Assessment where one of the identified minimum level evidence criteria has been provided.
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The workflow will present a drop down list of the available evidence type(s) appropriate for
each of the job seeker circumstance categories. In some circumstances a statement from the
job seeker may be sufficient, other categories may require a medical certificate, Employment
Services Assessment (ESAt), a specialist assessment or other third party verification.
While all available evidence options presented for a category will allow the circumstance to be
added, if the circumstance is being used to inform a Capability Assessment, a higher level of
evidence is required.
The screen will help to identify the appropriate evidence based on the category
When evidence was provided through consultation, select who was consulted from the
drop down menu provided
Other evidence used to identify or support the impact of the circumstance on the job
seeker’s capacity to comply should also be selected from the drop down menus
provided
See Resources for further information about the evidence required to assess job seeker
capability
Adding a circumstance via the Participation Compliance workflow + Read more ...
Where a new job seeker circumstance is added while conducting a Capability Assessment,
compliance investigation or Comprehensive Compliance Assessment (CCA) further information
will be required before the
Circumstances Impacting Compliance screen can be completed.
This further information required relates to how the identified job seeker circumstances
affects the compliance action currently being undertaken. The following may be required:
Explanation of how the circumstances impact the job seeker's ability to meet
requirements and whether consultation occurred to assess the impact
When the circumstances started to impact the job seeker's ability to meet
requirements
Whether the circumstance or the requirement have changed since a Capability
Assessment was last conducted.
Note: where a penalty decision is being made soon
after completion of a Capability Assessment, if the impact of circumstances have
already been considered and requirements have not changed it is unlikely it would be
appropriate not to apply a financial penalty unless there were other factors impacting
the job seeker's ability to comply and relevant to the decision on reasonable excuse
Whether job seeker circumstances have significantly changed since the last CCA was
conducted
When accessing the screen via the
Capability Assessment workflow, the following additional
information is required to assist with identifying specific Capability Assessment outcomes:
Whether the circumstances directly contributed to non-compliance events that
occurred on or after the circumstances started to impact, and which requirements the
circumstance is impacting and how they are affected
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Types of activities that can still be undertaken and dates and times the job seeker can
attend. Care must be taken to ensure that dates and times recorded will still allow the
job seeker to meet the minimum required hours for their current participation
category
5
Circumstance categories + Read more ...
Job seeker circumstance categories include:
Accommodation/living arrangements
Behavioural Issues
Caring Responsibilities
Cultural Issues
Drug and alcohol dependence
Family relationships/Domestic violence
Financial Issues
Geographic isolation or limited social networks
Job seeker in Transition
Legal Issues
Limited literacy/numeracy/English
Medical conditions - Cognitive/neurological impairment
Medical conditions - Mental health
Medical conditions - Other illness, injury requiring frequent treatment
Medical conditions - Other illness/not resulting in a VI being recorded
Other educational or vocational limitations (automatically recorded by system) but can
be updated or ended manually
Other (automatically recorded by system but can be updated or ended manually)
Recent prison release
Technology access
Transport access
See Resources for when categories can be added, ended or updated.
6
Reviewing or ending existing circumstances + Read more ...
Service Officers are required to review existing circumstances when job seeker contact occurs.
Job seeker circumstances no longer affecting the job seeker's capacity to comply must be
ended.
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The
Participation Compliance workflow will prompt that a review of Circumstances Impacting
Compliance is required.
When the circumstance:
continues to affect capacity, update the current status of the circumstance if this has
changed, the end date, and the description and evidence fields
was recorded in error, this must be immediately removed using the Delete button
no longer have any impact on requirements, the status will need to be updated
Job seeker circumstances automatically end when the maximum duration is reached for the
following categories:
Recent prison release
Job seeker in Transition
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References
This page contains links to legislation.
Legislation
Links to the Federal Register of Legislation site point to a 'Series' page which lists all available historical
versions. Navigate to the appropriate legislative reference(s) listed below by selecting the ‘Latest’
compilation at the top of the list.
Social Security (Administration) Act 1999
section 202, protection of personal information
Resources
This page contains attachments describing when the various job seeker circumstances categories can be
added, updated or ended and what evidence is required to assess job seeker capability. It also contains a
high level overview of the Circumstances Impacting Compliance workflow. Links on this page may not be
available to external audiences.
Job seeker circumstance category
Job seeker circumstance category
Evidence required to assess job seeker capability
Evidence required to assess job seeker capability
Circumstances Impacting Compliance workflow - high level overview
This attachment may not be printed, broadcast or released externally. For contact details and more
information, see Information Publication Scheme.
Circumstances Impacting Compliance workflow
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Training & Support
This page contains training information. Links on this page may be unavailable to external audiences.
Training packages
The following training about this topic is available for staff in ESSentials:
CLK00888 - Circumstances impacting compliance
To access this training, go to the Learning Portal in ESSentials and search for the relevant course number in
the
Search field.
Note: ensure line manager approval has been provided before applying for any training through ESSentials.
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