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Mutual obligation requirements are tasks and activities you agree to do, to help you find a job. This includes reporting regularly.
You must meet your requirements to keep getting your payment. If you don’t, demerits and financial penalties may apply.
Who the principal carer is
You’re a principal carer if you’re:
- the main care provider of a dependent child under 16, for example their parent or guardian
- responsible for the day-to-day care, welfare and development of the child.
Only one person can be the principal carer of a child. If you and your partner give equal levels of care, you need to tell us who the principal carer is.
How to meet your requirements
You can meet your requirements by doing at least 30 hours a fortnight of any of the following:
- suitable paid work where the income is equal to or more than the national minimum wage
- self-employment where your net business income is equal to or more than the relevant national minimum wage
- participating in other approved activities
- a combination of suitable paid work and self-employment
- approved study
- a combination of study and paid work including self-employment.
- looking for work as agreed with your employment services provider.
You must also report the employment income you and your partner get paid every 14 days, even if it’s $0. We may ask you if you’re meeting your requirements as part of your report.
If your Centrelink online account is linked to myGov, you can report and check your reporting dates online.
If you don’t have a myGov account or a Centrelink online account you’ll need to create them.
You can also report using the Express Plus Centrelink mobile app.
Accept any offer of suitable paid work
If you need to look for work to meet your requirements, you must accept any offer of suitable paid work. However, you don’t have to accept an offer of work that is either:
- not suitable
- more than 15 hours per week.
Paid work is considered unsuitable if any of the following apply:
- you aren’t capable of doing it because of medical illness, disability or injury
- you don’t have the skills needed for the work and the employer doesn’t provide training
- the travel time from home to work is more than one hour travel each way
- the cheapest travel costs more than 10 percent of your gross wage
- you aren’t at least $50 per fortnight better off after deducting your costs
- appropriate childcare isn’t available during work hours or travel to the childcare makes your total travel time more than one hour each way
- doing the work requires you to move
- the work contradicts your moral, cultural or religious beliefs
- the work doesn’t meet award or minimum national standards for pay, working hours and leave.
You may get a penalty if you don’t accept a suitable job offer or don’t start a job you’ve accepted. Find out about unsuitable paid work.
Principal carers aged under 55
You can meet your requirements by doing 30 hours a fortnight of any of the following:
- paid work
- self-employment
- approved voluntary work (approved by your provider prior to 1/4/2025)
- approved study
- a combination of voluntary work and paid work, self-employment or study.
If you’re doing a combination, you must do at least 15 hours of paid work, self-employment or study. You can only do up to 15 hours of voluntary work.
Find out more about what activities you can do to meet your requirements.
Principal carers aged 55 to 59
How you can meet your requirements depends on how long you’ve been on your payment.
12 months or less on your current income support payment
You can meet your requirements by doing 30 hours a fortnight of any of the following:
- study
- suitable paid work where the income is equal to or more than the relevant national minimum wage
- self-employment where the net business income is equal to or more than the relevant national minimum wage
- a combination of approved voluntary work and study, paid work or self-employment.
If you’re doing a combination, you need to do at least 15 hours of study, paid work or self-employment. You can only do up to 15 hours of approved voluntary work.
Find out more about what activities you can do to meet your requirements.
12 months or more on your current income support payment
You can meet your requirements by doing 30 hours a fortnight of any of the following:
- study
- suitable paid work where the income is equal to or more than the relevant national minimum wage
- self-employment where the net business income is equal to or more than the relevant national minimum wage
- approved voluntary work
- a combination of study, paid work, self-employment or approved voluntary work.
Find out more about what activities you can do to meet your requirements.
Principal carers aged 60 or older
You can meet your requirements by doing 30 hours a fortnight of any of the following:
- study
- suitable paid work where the income is equal to or more than the relevant national minimum wage
- self-employment where the net business income is equal to or more than the relevant national minimum wage
- approved voluntary work
- a combination of study, paid work, self-employment or approved voluntary work.
Find out more about what activities you can do to meet your requirements.
What exemptions may apply
For principal carers, your requirements recognise the caring responsibilities of parents and guardians. For some family situations, there are specific exemptions from requirements.
You may be eligible for an exemption from mutual obligation requirements for a period of time.
While we assess your request for an exemption, you need to keep meeting your requirements. This includes attending appointments with your provider.
You may also be exempt in other circumstances.
What holiday arrangements apply
Christmas and New Year period
Principal carer parents are not required to meet any requirements for the fortnight during which the Christmas Day public holiday falls.
However, you still need to lodge a statement with us for this period in order to report any earnings and get your payment.
We consider a principal carer parentis fully meeting their mutual obligation requirements through paid work, when both of the following apply:
- work is one of a combination of activities
- their employer shuts down over the long school holidays .
This applies as long as they reasonably expect to return to their job when the workplace reopens in the New Year.
This employer-initiated shut down can only be taken while the workplace has shut down, up to a maximum of 8 weeks. After 8 weeks, the principal carer parent must participate in additional activities to meet their mutual obligation requirements.
Other school holiday breaks
There are no exemptions from requirements in school holidays. This applies even if you lack child care to allow you to work or search for a job.
Having to use child care shouldn’t prevent you from looking for work. You may be eligible to get the Child Care Subsidy to help you meet the cost of child care. You may need to accept any suitable child care available to you.
However, you don’t have to accept an offer of work that isn’t suitable. Read more about what is unsuitable work.
Please talk to your provider if either of these make it hard for you to meet your requirements:
- availability of child care
- school holidays.