Seasonal work preclusion period

What seasonal, contract or intermittent work is

Seasonal, contract and intermittent work is work that has an end date or is only available from time to time.

Seasonal work

Seasonal work is any work you do that's only available for part of each year, for example:

fruit picking
harvesting
shearing
fishing.

Contract work

Contract work is any work you do under a contract for a specific purpose or time. This also includes work you do as a subcontractor.

Contract work includes jobs such as:

consultancy work
work on building sites.

Intermittent work

Intermittent work is any work that's available from time to time. This includes work that:

you can predict will end or not be available for a period
lasts less than one year and doesn't accrue leave entitlements.

What other types of work may have a seasonal work preclusion period applied

Other types of work could include:

work that has regular shutdowns for regular maintenance or over the Christmas period
work in the arts and entertainment industries
work that regularly stops and starts, such as work in the mining or oil industry
work that's temporary in nature
relief teaching or relief work in the health industry
non-ongoing work, or work where a period of unemployment is predictable.

When a seasonal work preclusion period won’t apply

The seasonal work preclusion period won’t apply to either:

permanent employment that’s expected to last more than 12 months
any employment other than seasonal work, where you’ve been paid leave.

If your partner has recently died

The seasonal work preclusion period may not apply if you’re recently widowed and you submitted your claim within 14 weeks of your partner’s death.

If you were pregnant at the time of your partner’s death, it may not apply if you submitted your claim either:

within 14 weeks of the death of your partner
before the pregnancy ends, whichever is the longest period.

If you’re in severe financial hardship

The seasonal work preclusion period may not apply if you're in severe financial hardship.

If you are, you can tell us as part of your phone appointment with us. You can also call us on your regular payment line at any time.

How long the seasonal work preclusion period is

How long the seasonal work preclusion period will be applied to your payment depends on both:

how much you earned from your work
how long you were working for.

It also depends on how long it would take an average wage earner to earn the same amount you earned while doing contract, seasonal or intermittent work.

To work out your seasonal work preclusion period, we’ll do both of the following:

divide your total earnings by the Average Weekly Ordinary Time Earnings (AWOTE) amount
subtract the number of weeks you worked.

If your earnings are above the AWOTE, you may have to wait before you can get a Centrelink payment.

The AWOTE is updated each year. You can find out about the AWOTE on the Australian Bureau of Statistics website.

Example of calculating preclusion period

Rachel picked fruit on a farm for 8 weeks. She has no more work and claims JobSeeker Payment. Her total earnings for this period of work are $20,435. The AWOTE for 2025 is $1,924.60. To calculate Rachel’s preclusion period we do both of the following:

divide $20,435, her total earnings from work, by $1,924.60, the AWOTE amount, this equals 10.61 weeks
subtract 8, the number of weeks Rachel worked, from 10.61 weeks, this equals 2.61 weeks
round the result down to the nearest whole number, this equals 2.

Rachel will need to serve a 2 week seasonal work preclusion period from the date she finished work. She may also need to serve other waiting periods.

Employers

If you’re an employer whose workers might be affected by a preclusion period, we may ask you to give us information about their work. For more information call our National Business Gateway on 131 158.

How to report seasonal, contract and intermittent work

We may ask for evidence of your or your partner’s previous employment when you claim a payment. If we do, you’ll need to download and complete the Seasonal, Contract and Intermittent Work Details form. The form asks for information about:

the type of work you or your partner did
your employer at the time
dates you started and finished working
your gross earnings for the period
details of deductions you may be able to claim through the Australian Taxation Office.

You’ll also need to give us verification documents which may include:

payslips
invoice books
group certificates
profit and loss statements
wage books
bank statements
time sheets
a letter from your employer.

Remember, if you do any work while getting a payment from us, you must report your income.