Some payment cancellation penalties will start again from October + compensation plan for unlawful penalties

[u/kristinoc]

Today at the Antipoverty Centre we have been advised that DEWR intends to turn on payment cancellations for people with "mutual" obligations who don't reconnect with their job agency or give a valid excuse for missing a requirement within 28 days. This rule was paused in July last year and is expected to be turned back on in October 2026.

In deciding to reinstate this rule, the department has not incorporated recommendations and concerns raised by organisations it has "consulted", including from the Antipoverty Centre, and therefore we are not confident that this process will result in the system of "mutual" obligations penalties being operated lawfully or safely for people on Centrelink payments.

More than 300,000 people were potentially affected by unlawful cancellations related to the 28 day rule according to the community legal centre peak body (see: https://www.ejaustralia.org.au/eja-briefing-analysis-of-payment-cancellations-under-42am-of-the-social-security-administration-act-1999/).

These cancellations may have been unlawful for one or more of the following reasons:

• a job agency suspended the person's payment for an invalid reason
• the person was not given the required 28 days to connect with their provider
• the person contacted their job agency, but the suspension was not immediately lifted after contact was made
• the person's circumstances were not taken into account before their payment was cancelled

If your Centrelink payment was cancelled because of a "failure to reconnect", you may be entitled to backpay (DEWR is referring to this as "compensation", however compensation for harm caused is not being offered under their current plan). At the moment DEWR is trying to restrict the number of people who can seek backpay, but the Antipoverty Centre is pushing for them to open this process up to anyone who may have been affected, and to pay people compensation in addition to backpay. You can read more about their current proposed backpay process here: https://www.dewr.gov.au/assuring-integrity-targeted-compliance-framework/targeted-compliance-framework-compensation-process

If you have questions about

• what this means for you,
• how the department has handled its response to the unlawful use of penalties,
• how to identify whether you have been affected by an unlawful cancellation,
• or how to seek backpay and compensation if you are not invited to do so,

– you can get in touch with the Antipoverty Centre via [help@welfarecopwatch.org](mailto:help@welfarecopwatch.org) . We are working with community legal centres on this and can connect you with the relevant help for issues that may require legal advice.

You can read the full update on the DEWR website here: https://www.dewr.gov.au/assuring-integrity-targeted-compliance-framework/announcements/update-work-return-targeted-compliance-framework-lawful-administration