What your commitments are

What you need to do

You need to report your income every 2 weeks.

Mutual obligation requirements

Mutual obligation requirements are activities you agree to do to help you get back into work. Your activities may include:

• training
• upskilling
• employment.

They’re listed in your Job Plan. The plan is an agreement between you and us or your employment services provider based on your personal situation.

While it’s voluntary to complete a Job Plan, we encourage you to do it. It will give you time to start thinking about your goals and plans for finding a job. We’ll let you know when this changes.

If you’re in online employment services, you can access online tools like the jobs board or job matching. This helps to keep you linked to the job market. You can sign on to the service on the jobactive website.

Suspensions and penalties don’t currently apply if you can’t do these:

• attend appointments with your provider
• do the activities in your Job Plan.

We’ll let you know when this changes.

Report employment income

You’ll need to do both of these:

• report any income for you and your partner
• tell us about any change to your circumstances.

You need to report these things to us every 2 weeks.

Keep in mind, if your circumstances change, you need to tell us as soon as possible.

You can report to us using the Express Plus Centrelink mobile app or through your Centrelink online account. This will keep us up to date on your situation and job search.

When you can’t do the activities in your Job Plan

Sometimes things happen in your life that stop you doing the activities in your Job Plan. First, talk to your employment services provider. They may be able to renegotiate your Job Plan, taking your situation into consideration.

When you can’t do any activities at all, we may give you a temporary exemption.

If you’re sick or injured you’ll need to give us a medical certificate. You can do this using your Centrelink online account through myGov. The medical certificate must state why you’re unfit to work and for how long.

Some other situations where we can give you a temporary exemption include where you:

• have a major personal crisis, such as the death of an immediate family member, domestic violence or homelessness
• experience a major disruption to your home, such as a fire or flood
• have temporary caring responsibilities for an adult or child
• meet the eligibility criteria for Widow Allowance and claim JobSeeker Payment.

You can call us on your regular payment line to find out if you can get an exemption.