Income support payments

What are income support payments?

An income support payment is a regular payment that helps you with living costs.

The following payments are income support payments:

• Age Pension
• Austudy
• Carer Payment
• Disability Support Pension
• JobSeeker Payment
• Parenting Payment
• Special Benefit.

The following allowances are income support payments:

• Farm Household Allowance
• Youth Allowance.

These payments are income support payments from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs:

• Age Pension
• Income Support Supplement
• Service Pension
• Veteran Payment.

What are mutual obligation activities? 

You may have tasks or agreed activities to complete if you get an income support payment.

The activities are usually designed to help you find a job, and you must complete them to get your payment.  

Mutual obligations are set out in your Job Plan, which you may have agreed to with your job seeker provider, or accepted via your MyGov account.

If you have mutual obligation requirements, the obligations will relate to a Workforce Australia Services provider or Workforce Australia online services.

What is Workforce Australia?

Workforce Australia is the employment service delivered by the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations. It replaced JobActive services on 4 July 2022. Centrelink recipients that obtain income support with mutual obligation requirements are connected with a Workforce Australia Services provider or participate in Workforce Australia online services.

What obligations must I meet as a jobseeker?

Some of your Workforce Australia mutual obligations will have points targets. A points reporting period lasts for one month and the points target each month is 100 points.

Points are earnt each month by doing tasks and activities, such as:

• applying for jobs
• going to interviews
• doing paid work
• participating in other activities such as drug and alcohol rehabilitation or counselling.

Some of the other obligations a job seeker might need to complete are:

• attending appointments
• follow up on job referrals
• accept suitable job offers
• accurately report completion of tasks/activities.

Can my mutual obligations be adjusted or reduced? 

Yes. If your circumstances change, your obligations can be adjusted. You may be able to ask for a temporary exemption if there is:

• illness or injury
• death of a family member
• domestic violence
• short-term care duties
• a disaster at home.

You need to contact Services Australia (via myGov, post or a service centre) for an exemption.

What happens if I miss an activity or appointment?

It is important to re-engage with your requirements where you have missed an activity. If you re-engage within 2 business days, your payment will not be suspended.

You may be asked to do a ‘re-engagement’ activity, such as applying for jobs. If you fail to comply with a reconnection within 4 weeks after you are notified, your payment will be cancelled.

If you miss an activity, you should provide a valid reason as soon as possible. Your payment could be suspended, penalised or cancelled and you should get legal advice as soon as possible. 

Can I seek a review of a payment penalty or cancellation?

Yes. The decision to apply a penalty or cancel a payment is a decision that can be reviewed by an Authorised Review Officer.

A review can be requested over the phone, in writing, or at a Services Australia office. It should be requested within 13 weeks of the decision date.

For more information see Reviews and appeals of a Centrelink decision on the Services Australia website.