This snapshot on payment suspensions is for the period 1 Apr- 30 June 2023.
What are Payment suspensions
A payment suspension is a temporary withholding of an income support payment until a mutual obligation condition is met (see Mutual obligation Snapshot – the Targeted Compliance Framework). The first stage of receiving a payment suspension is an SMS or a message on the jobseeker dashboard that tells people they have not met a mutual obligation requirement. This warning gives people 2 days to rectify the issue before their payment is put ‘on hold’ – the term that is used for payment suspensions. About 30 per cent of potential payment suspensions are resolved this way.
Workforce Australia comprises Online and Provider services. People who have been unemployed for less than 1 year usually use Online Services, and are transferred into Provider Services if they do not find a job within 12 months.
Key statistics April-June 2023
- In the quarter Apr-June 2023 there were 538,995 people who had reporting requirements under the compliance framework in Workforce Australia.
• The number of people in both provider and online services for the period was 386,470and 152,525 respectively.
• Over that period there were 442,395 payment suspensions that affected 239,805 or 45% of the 538,995 people in Workforce Australia overall.
• Without the two-day resolution period there would have been around 56% more suspensions overall.
• Overall, 44% of the suspensions were for not being able to complete Points under the Points-based activation model on time and 52% were for not attending appointments
Overall payment suspensions and Workforce Australia caseload
Number of people* affected by payment suspensions
* The number of people affected by payment suspensions is lower than the number of suspensions overall because a person may experience more than one suspension.
Payment suspensions by reason
In provider services 224,310 payment suspensions were appointment related or 59% of the
Demerit points
In provider services, 40% of participants received at least one demerit point.
In online services, 24% received a demerit point.
Demerit points for PBAS accounted for 83% in online services, and 66% in provider services.
This data suggests that automated demerit points are higher than demerit points for non-attendance, because while 59% of payment suspensions in provider services were for non attendance at an appointment, only 33% of those converted into demerit points after the reason for non-attendance was reviewed by a work.
Online Job plans
There has been an increase in payment suspensions and demerit points for job plans for people using online services. In online services, there were 10095 suspensions affecting 10,015 people or approximately 5% of the caseload.
Because suspensions for online job plans are most likely to affect people who have just commenced using online employment services, the rate of suspensions for not completing job plans for new entrants into employment services is worrying. This might indicate that people are having difficulty completing online job plans.
Key statistics Jan-Mar 2023
• In the quarter Jan–Mar 2023 there were 518,880 people who had reporting requirements under the compliance framework in Workforce Australia.
• The number of people in both provider and online services on 31 March 2023 was 384,455 and 145,150 respectively.
• Over that period there were 446,075 payment suspensions that affected 242,885 or 47% of the 518,880 people in Workforce Australia overall.
• Without the two-day resolution period there would have been around 49% more suspensions overall.
• Overall, 46% of the suspensions were for not being able to complete Points under the Points-based activation model on time.
Provider services:
• Payments suspensions affected 210,825 or 55% of participants.
• 147,825 or 38% were appointment related suspensions, while 121,095 or 31% for not meeting their points requirement during a period.
In online services:
• Payment suspensions affected 33,485 (23%) of the participants.
• 29,585 (20%) of participants were suspended for not meeting their points requirement during a period.
• 3,975 (3%) of participants were suspended for not completing job plans.
• The main reason for suspensions in Provider services was for not attending appointments with providers 58%, with not meeting their points requirement during a period following at 41%.
• The main reason for suspensions in Online services was for PBAS (89%), and 9% for Job Plan.
• Overall, 46% of the suspensions were for not meeting their points requirement during a period
Related information
Mutual obligation Snapshot – the Targeted Compliance Framework