Dudinski and Secretary, Department of Social Services (Social services second review)

This matter concerned an application by Mr Dudinski for review of a decision by the Secretary of the Department of Social Services to impose a penalty on his Newstart allowance. Mr Dudinski, who had been receiving the allowance since 1992, failed to attend a scheduled appointment with his employment services provider, Matchworks, on 29 July 2016. He had been notified of the appointment by letter and telephone. Matchworks reported his non-attendance to Centrelink, noting a history of missed appointments for which Mr Dudinski provided similar reasons. Centrelink contacted Mr Dudinski, who stated he had a private matter and a right to privacy, and that he had been unable to reschedule the appointment. Centrelink determined he had no barriers to attendance and had not provided a reasonable excuse. Consequently, his Newstart allowance was stopped from 16 July 2016.

The legal issues before the Tribunal were whether Mr Dudinski had a reasonable excuse for failing to attend his appointment and whether his persistent non-compliance with his Newstart obligations constituted a serious failure warranting an eight-week penalty period. The Tribunal was required to consider the provisions of the Social Security Act 1991 and relevant guidelines concerning job search requirements and the imposition of penalties for non-compliance.

The Tribunal found that Mr Dudinski had indeed failed to attend his appointment without prior notice or a reasonable excuse, which resulted in a penalty period from 8 August 2016 to 24 August 2016. Furthermore, the Tribunal determined that Mr Dudinski had committed a serious failure due to persistent non-compliance with his obligations on three occasions within a six-week period. This serious failure attracted an eight-week penalty period applied to his Newstart allowance. The Tribunal affirmed the decision under review, noting that a penalty, rather than a cancellation, should have been applied to his allowance, and that his allowance should be reinstated.