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A number of changes have been made to mutual obligation rules to improve Centrelink payments for jobseekers, according to the federal budget.
Easing the rules is likely to see fewer people cut off the payment.
Among the changes comes the extension of the grace period before a Jobseeker recipient is cut off from payment for missing an appointment or activity at the employment services.
“From October 2024, people will have five days, an increase from the current two days, to reconnect with their employment service provider before suspension,” a spokesperson for the Department of Employment and Labor Relations told 7NEWS.com.au.
Another change will mean that from March 2025 recipients who work more than 30 hours every fortnight are exempt from a break if they miss an appointment with an employment service provider.
“All decisions regarding the application of financial sanctions will be made by a decision-maker within the Australian Services,” the spokesman said.
“New customers will not experience any compliance action the first time they fail to meet a requirement.”
The the budget allocated 6.4 million dollars over five years for “a more appropriate and consistent application of the mutual obligation rules for certain recipients of income support payments”.
The mutual duty adjustments come six months after a damning Workforce Australia review called the level of compliance and reporting activities “blatantly ridiculous”.
It was the first review of employment services since they were privatized by the Howard government almost 25 years ago, and the parliamentary committee found the system was driven by the “dole bludger” myth.
“Employers have made it clear that the system adds little value to their business and that it repeatedly attempts to force unsuitable jobseekers into vacancies without providing adequate incentives or support,” the report said.
The department’s spokesman said work on further changes was ongoing and the government would respond further to the Australian workforce report in the coming months.
Greens senator Janet Rice said at the time that there was no evidence that mutual obligations worked and should be scrapped.
– With AAP
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