3.11.14.40 Serious failures & penalties

Introduction

The RAES commenced on 1 November 2025, replacing the Community Development Program (CDP). The service operates in RAES regions (formerly known as CDP regions). The RAES supports participants with the skills, mentoring and training they need to take up job opportunities, including those created through the Remote Jobs and Economic Development (RJED) program. Relevant information is being continually updated in the Social Security Guide.

This topic concerns information on serious failures and penalties under the compliance arrangements set out in SS(Admin)Act Part 3 Division 3A, otherwise known as the Job Seeker Compliance Framework. These arrangements only apply to participants on participation payments who are declared program participants (that is, RAES participants) under the Social Security (Declared Program Participant) Determination 2025.

Note: Participation in activities under RAES is voluntary and will continue to be listed as voluntary in Job Plans.

Serious failures are:

• refusing or failing to accept an offer of suitable employment, and
• persistent non-compliance.

Refusing or failing to accept a suitable job offer

A participant who refuses or fails to commence a suitable job without a reasonable excuse may have an 8-week non-payment penalty imposed. Before imposing an 8-week non-payment penalty for refusing an offer of a suitable job the decision maker must consider carefully whether or not the work was suitable and, if it was suitable, if the participant had a reasonable excuse for refusing it (see 3.11.1.20 for the definition of unsuitable work).

A participant who is a principal carer parent or who has a partial capacity to work is not subject to this penalty if the work they do not accept or commence is more than 15 hours per week.

Persistent non-compliance

Services Australia must undertake a CCA (3.11.14.70) before determining if a participant has persistently failed to comply with their mutual obligation requirements.

A number of matters, set out in the Social Security (Administration) (Persistent Non-compliance) Determination 2025, assist decision makers in deciding if a participant has been persistently non-compliant and whether the decision maker should therefore find that the participant has committed a serious failure for persistent non-compliance. However, decision makers should consider all relevant information, including matters not mentioned in the determination.

The decision maker cannot decide that a participant has been persistently non-compliant unless:

• they have taken into account the findings of the participant's most recent CCA
• the participant has incurred 3 or more connection, non-attendance, reconnection or NSNP failures in the 6 months before the CCA or since the end of the last serious failure period applied due to persistent non-compliance, whichever is the later
• they have taken into account the failures referred to above and considered whether they demonstrate a pattern of non-compliance, rather than a single instance of non-compliance, and
• they have considered the extent to which the participant has otherwise complied with their mutual obligation requirements during the 6 months preceding their last CCA or, if shorter, the period since the end of their last serious failure period for persistent non-compliance.

The term 'persistent' has its ordinary meaning. The non-compliance does not need to be total - a participant may be persistently non-compliant over a period despite complying with some of their mutual obligation requirements over that period. Equally, if the participant's record indicates that they are genuine in their efforts to find work, despite instances of non-compliance, the decision maker may find that they have not been persistently non-compliant. In other words, when determining if a participant was persistently non-compliant, a decision maker can decide that some of the matters listed above are not relevant for a particular case. It is particularly important to consider the participant's overall compliance record if their CCA has been automatically triggered by failures that could be considered a single instance of non-compliance.

In determining if a participant's non-compliance has been persistent, and that a serious failure has occurred as a result of this persistent non-compliance, Services Australia cannot take into account failures that are outside the participant's control. For failures within a participant's control, they can only take into account failures that were committed intentionally, recklessly or negligently.

Services Australia also cannot determine that a participant has committed a serious failure if the participant is already in a serious failure period, or is a new apprentice.

Serious failure penalties

The consequence of a serious failure is the application of a serious failure period, which stops the participant's participation payment for a period of 8 weeks. Once Services Australia has decided a serious failure has occurred, they may then choose to not commence the serious failure period if:

• the participant does NOT have the capacity to undertake a serious failure requirement (see also 3.11.14.60), or
• the serious failure period would cause them to be in severe financial hardship.

Otherwise, all add-on payments that rely on payment of the participation payment stop because the participant is not payable during this period. FTB (and RA where it is paid with the FTB) is not affected.

The serious failure period commences on the first day of the first instalment period that begins after the Secretary has made the determination to apply the serious failure.

Note: For information on ending a serious failure period early, please refer to 3.11.14.60.