Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Jobs and Innovation) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Siewert, for restating the question. Under the new compliance framework, while jobseekers are able to appeal any financial penalty, they will not receive payment pending the outcome of the appeal or payment pending review. However, jobseekers will be paid back pay if their appeal is successful. Under the current compliance framework, in practice, payment pending review is only available for eight-week serious failure penalties and unemployment non-payment periods, which will no longer exist under the new framework. Payment pending review is currently not available for the majority of penalty types.

Before a jobseeker faces any financial penalty under the new framework, they will have missed a minimum of five requirements in six months without reasonable excuse, or will have refused work and therefore be demonstrably capable of obtaining work. The jobseeker's capabilities will also generally have been assessed twice, by both their provider and Human Services, before any penalties are applied. These arrangements are intended to ensure that only those jobseekers who are fully capable of meeting their requirements, but deliberately choose not to, will lose payment. The intention is to provide such jobseekers with a strong incentive to change their behaviour or find work. Allowing payment pending review for such jobseekers would significantly undermine this incentive effect.