Social Security (Administration) Act 1999

A person commits a work refusal failure if:

the person is receiving a participation payment; and

in the case where the participation payment is parenting payment—the person is not someone to whom paragraph 500(1)(ca) of the 1991 Act applies; and

the person refuses or fails to accept an offer of paid work in Australia, except particular paid work that is unsuitable to be done by the person.

In certain circumstances a person is taken to be receiving a participation payment even if it is not payable to the person: see section 42AQ.

See Division 2B for the circumstances in which paid work is unsuitable to be done by a person.

However, a person does not commit a work refusal failure if:

the person is the principal carer of at least one child or has a partial capacity to work; and

the person refuses or fails to accept an offer of paid work in Australia that is more than 15 hours per week.

For principal carer see subsections 5(15) to (24) of the 1991 Act.

For partial capacity to work see section 16B of the 1991 Act.