Frequently Asked Questions

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What is the department doing to ensure decisions are lawful and robust?

The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations is conducting two reviews to ensure decisions taken are made in a lawful and robust manner. These include:

  • An independent assurance review examined the IT system operating the Targeted Compliance Framework against policy and business rules to ensure the system is operating as intended.
  • The review and its recommendations, together with the findings of the Commonwealth Ombudsman’s first report are being acted on as a priority and the urgent actions identified in the reviews are underway.
  • There is also a legal review examining whether decisions are being properly made and whether decision making processes are aligned with the law. 

This work has identified examples where the system is not operating in alignment with the law and policies or is not operating with the rigour that we expect.

Decisions that affect people's social security payment can have a profound impact on people.

This has led to decisions to pause decision making in some parts of the system.

If we have reasonable concerns that the system is not operating in accordance with the law, we will work to change the processes and systems, so decisions are being made lawfully. 

What other decisions under the Social Security Administration Act are paused?

The effect of decisions taken by the department is that all payment reductions and payment cancellations made as a result of mutual obligations failures under the Social Security framework are paused.

These will remain paused until we are certain that the processes and systems support lawful and robust decisions.

On 5 March 2025 the Secretary took a decision to pause cancellations of people’s social security payment and imposition of preclusion periods due to an “unemployment failure” (defined in section 42AE) made under subsection 42AH(1) and (2) of the Social Security (Administration) Act 1999 (Administration Act). These remain paused.

On 6 March 2025, the Secretary took a decision to pause reductions to people’s social security payment due to persistent mutual obligation failures made under subsection 42AF(2)(c) of the Administration Act. These remain paused.

On 5 July 2025, the Department paused decisions under 42AG of the Administration Act impacting a person’s social security payment for work refusal failures.

Earlier decisions were taken to pause two further decisions occurring. These are set out below.

What are mutual obligation requirements?

Job seekers have mutual obligation requirements when they receive a social security participation payment.

These mutual obligation requirements set out activities that a person does to demonstrate their willingness to actively seek and to accept and undertake suitable work.

Mutual obligations will vary depending on a person’s circumstances.

A failure to meet them can result in a suspension of income support.

What is an unemployment failure?

An unemployment failure occurs when a person who is receiving, or has made a claim for, a participation payment (jobseeker payment and, for some people, youth allowance, parenting payment and special benefit) becomes unemployed as a direct or indirect result of a voluntary act, or as a result of the person’s misconduct as an employee.

However, a person does not commit an unemployment failure if they:

  • satisfy the Secretary that the voluntary act leading to unemployment was reasonable; or
  • is the principal carer of at least one child or has a partial capacity to work, and the person became unemployed from work that was for more than 15 hours per week.