on this page
Sick or injured
If you’re sick or injured, you may be temporarily exempt from your requirements. You’ll need to give us a valid medical certificate. You can do this by either:
- uploading it on your Centrelink online account through myGov
- bringing it into a service centre.
The medical certificate must state all of the following:
- what your illness, injury or disability is
- if you’re unable to work for at least 8 hours a week
- how long you’re unable to work for at least 8 hours a week.
You’ll need to give us a medical certificate if you’re getting any of the following:
If you can’t attend an appointment with your service provider or with us, you’ll need to either:
- let your service provider know if your appointment is with them
- call us on your regular payment line if your appointment is with us.
Assessment of work capacity
If you have a disability, illness or injury that impacts your ability to find or keep a job, we’ll need to assess your capacity to work. You may need to attend an Employment Services Assessment.
Read more about capacity to work if you’re getting one of the following payments from us:
You may also need to attend an Employment Services Assessment or a Job Capacity Assessment to determine if you may be eligible for Disability Support Pension. If you can’t work for at least 30 hours a week, we’ll assess if you have either a partial capacity to work or temporary reduced work capacity.
What a quarterly participation interview is
If you have an assessed partial capacity to work or temporary reduced capacity to work between 0-14 hours per week, we may ask you to attend a quarterly participation interview. The interview is an appointment where we discuss how to improve your capacity to work so you can meet your mutual obligation requirements.
At the appointment, we’ll discuss:
- your current circumstances
- support you to increase your capacity to take part in the workforce
- any other activities you may want to do.
We’ll review or renew your Job Plan to ensure your requirements are relevant for your current circumstances.
If you’re finding it hard to meet your requirements, you may be eligible for a temporary exemption. Read more about what exemptions may apply.
We may approve you doing certain activities to fully meet your requirements, such as paid work. You should call us on your regular payment line to seek this approval.
There also may be adjustments to the appointments you need to have with us.
Read more about what activities you can do.