Person seeks restoration and compensation after a wrongly cancelled payment

The third remedy process in this database, and the same shape as the other two. The harm was automated and instant; the remedy is manual, applied for, and years later.

paymentsA person whose income support was cancelled under the compliance framework in circumstances later found to be unlawful skeleton compare across jurisdictions

This is a structural skeleton, not a measured process. The steps, the authorities and the sequence are researched from this jurisdiction's published requirements and are broadly right. The durations are a uniform template applied across all jurisdictions, so the differences between them on the comparison page are mostly an artefact of that template rather than evidence about Australia. Do not quote the day counts. Replacing them with sourced figures for even one jurisdiction would make this page genuinely useful.

1365 days elapsed
longest dependent chain

8 discrete steps
across 4 bodies

40% waiting on availability
scheduling or queue, not assessment

60 days saved by concurrency
vs. 1425 if run end-to-end

Where the time goes

Critical-path days only. Steps that run alongside others are real work but do not lengthen the process, so counting them here would overstate the prize.

third party	730d	Waiting on an external body outside the regulator's control.
queue	545d	Waiting behind unrelated work in a backlog.
applicant	90d	Waiting on the applicant to supply or fix something.

545 of 1365 elapsed days are spent waiting for a person or a meeting rather than for a judgement to be formed. Removing that time changes no assessment standard and lowers no bar -- it is the cost of scheduling alone.

The process, step by step

Applies when: A person's income support was cancelled under the Targeted Compliance Framework and the cancellation was incorrect.

#	Step	Who	Why it waits	Clock	Typical	Basis
1	Payment cancelled decision	Services Australia	assessment	—	0 estimate	—
2	Manage without income application The period between cancellation and any restoration, during which the person has no income support. after Payment cancelled 1305d slack	—	applicant	—	60 estimate	—
3	Seek review of the decision appeal only if triggered Internal review by an authorised review officer. Triggered when: The person disputes the cancellation and knows review is available. after Manage without income 1245d slack	Services Australia	queue	—	60 estimate	—
4	Review by the Administrative Review Tribunal appeal only if triggered Triggered when: Internal review does not resolve the matter. after Seek review of the decision 880d slack	Administrative Review Tribunal	queue	—	365 reported	Administrative Review Tribunal Act 2024 (Cth)
5	Ombudsman investigation and systemic finding assessment An oversight body establishes that cancellations were unlawful and that remediation was inadequate. after Payment cancelled 635d slack	Commonwealth Ombudsman	third party	—	730 reported	—
6	Department identifies affected people assessment DEWR works with Services Australia to identify people adversely affected by an incorrect cancellation. after Ombudsman investigation and systemic finding 270d slack	Department of Employment and Workplace Relations	queue	—	365 reported	—
7	Submit a compensation claim application after Department identifies affected people 180d slack	Department of Employment and Workplace Relations	applicant	—	90 estimate	—
8	Assessment and payment of compensation decision after Submit a compensation claim	Department of Employment and Workplace Relations	queue	—	180 estimate	—

on the critical path scheduling/queue = delay not caused by the assessment itself

Sources

Commonwealth Ombudsman: 964 people unlawfully had income support cancelled between April 2022 and July 2024; the cancellations and remediation process were neither fair nor reasonable
Economic Justice Australia analysis of more than 300,000 people potentially affected, acknowledged by DEWR at Senate Estimates
DEWR: work with Services Australia to identify people adversely affected by incorrect cancellation decisions, after which affected people will be invited to submit a claim for compensation

Something wrong here?

This page is wrong in some way -- every page like it is. If you have run this process, the most useful thing you can do is tell us which step took longer than we say and why. Edit data/processes/au-jobseeker-payment-restored.toml and open a pull request, or send us the correction.