Breaches and Penalties in the Social Security System

The Report of the Independent Review of
Breaches and Penalties in the Social Security System
© Dennis Pearce, Julian Disney and Heather Ridout
ISBN: 0-9580554-0-8

Printed March 2002
Design and layout by Kate Massy-Greene
Printed in Australia by Fineline Print & Copy Service, Sydney

Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in this report are those of authors. Opinions expressed in this report are not those of any organisation or individual associated with the authors, nor of any organisation or individual who has commissioned the report, or advised or made submissions to the authors.

• Members of the Review
• Acknowledgements
• 1 An Introduction and Overview
• Establishment of the Review
• Unemployment allowances
• Allowances, activity tests and agreements
• Organisational responsibilities
• Employment services and the Job Network
• The breaches and penalties system
• Recent government initiatives
• "Australians Working Together"
• Other initiatives
• Conduct of the Review
• Some basic principles
• Directions for improvement
• Communicating and working with jobseekers
• Imposing breaches and penalties
• Coordination, management and accountability
• Conclusion
• 2 Initial Interviews and Seminars
• Introduction
• Initial interviews
• Especially vulnerable jobseekers
• R1. Initial Centrelink Interviews
• R2. Especially Vulnerable Jobseekers
• Information seminars
• R3. Centrelink Information Seminars
• Special follow-up interviews
• Some recent initiatives
• R4. Special Follow-up Interviews
• Privacy of information
• R5. Privacy of Information
• 3 Ongoing Contact and Communication with Jobseekers
• Introduction
• Contacting jobseekers
• R6. Contacting Jobseekers
• R7. New Options for Making ContactError! Reference source not found.
• Effective communication
• R8. Effective Communication
• Especially vulnerable jobseekers
• R9. Arrangements for Especially Vulnerable Jobseekers
• 4 Selecting and Referring to Providers
• Introduction
• Initial selections of providers
• Encouraging choice
• A recent pilot
• Better information
• "Auto-referral" and Centrelink selection
• R10. Jobseeker Selection of Providers
• R11. "Auto-referral" and Centrelink Selection
• Referral processes
• Especially vulnerable jobseekers
• R12. Referral Processes
• R13. Referrals of Especially Vulnerable Jobseekers
• Changing providers
• R14. Changing Providers
• 5 Activity and Income Tests
• Activity test exemptions
• R15. Activity Test Exemptions
• R16. Activity Agreements
• Reporting income
• R17. Reporting Income
• 6 Reporting and Responding to Potential Breaches
• Introduction
• Reporting potential breaches
• Guidelines for preparing reports
• The name of the report
• R18. Attempts to Achieve Compliance
• R19. Preparation of Compliance Reports
• Responding to reports
• Current practice
• Indicators and guidelines
• Referral to specialist officers
• R20. Centrelink Investigations
• R21. Referral to Specialist Officers
• R22. Imposition of Breaches
• R23. Guidelines, Training and Monitoring
• 7 Penalties for Breaches
• Introduction
• The nature and level of penalties
• Categories of breaches and penalties
• Recovery of penalties by jobseekers
• Duration and rates of penalties
• Another option
• R24. Structure of the Penalty System
• R25. Recovery, Rate and Duration of Penalties
• Notification of penalties
• R26. Notification of Penalties
• Relief from penalties
• R27. Relief from Penalties
• Post-breach referrals
• R28. Post-breach Referrals
• Moves to low-employment areas
• R29. Moves to Low-employment Areas
• Travel concessions
• R30. Travel Concessions
• 8 Aspects of Management and Accountability
• Introduction
• Administrative review and independent advice
• Rights of review
• Independent advisers
• R31. Administrative Review
• R32. Independent Advice
• Contractual requirements and internal monitoring
• R33. Contracts and Internal Monitoring
• R34. Special Support Teams
• Broader consultation and accountability
• R35. Community Monitoring and Consultation
• R36. Parliamentary Review
• Appendix 1
• Commissioning Organizations
• Appendix 2
• Submissions
• Organisations
• Individuals
• Appendix 3
• Consultations
• Appendix 4
• Research and Resources