New Centrelink arrangements
From 1 July 2018, job seekers will no longer be able to be granted an exemption from their mutual obligation requirements if the reason for the exemption is wholly or predominantly due to drug or alcohol use issues.
An exemption suspends a job seeker from the employment service providers’ caseload. Instead, they will remain connected with their employment services provider and will have appropriate activities in their Job Plan. From 1 January 2018, this can include drug and alcohol treatment activities for all job seekers and will count toward their Annual Activity Requirement. An attempt by a job seeker to seek an exemption from DHS (Centrelink) for this reason will trigger a notification to the job services provider that they may need to review the job seeker’s Job Plan with them.
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