Who the principal carer is
A principal carer is someone who is the main care provider of a dependent child under 16. This can be someone like a parent or guardian.

They're 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 provide equal levels of care, you need to tell us who the principal carer is.

What mutual obligation requirements are
Mutual obligation requirements are tasks and activities you agree to do to keep getting your payment. They also help you find a job. Your Job Plan lists these approved tasks and activities.

Job Plan
Your Job Plan may include one or more of the following:

attending appointments with an employment services provider or us
job searches, including looking for work and applying for seek jobs
other approved activities such as study, training, paid or voluntary work.
Who has mutual obligation requirements
If you’re a principal carer and get a payment from us, you may have mutual obligation requirements. This is the case if you get any of these payments:

JobSeeker Payment
Youth Allowance as a job seeker
Parenting Payment single if your youngest dependent child is 6 or older
Parenting Payment and you’re a compulsory ParentsNext participant
Special Benefit paid under certain circumstances.
From 1 April 2021, you’ll need to meet mutual obligation requirements if you’re both:

a sole trader or other self-employed customer
getting JobSeeker Payment or Youth Allowance as a job seeker.
What the requirements are
Mutual obligation requirements are compulsory.

This means you must:

do all the tasks and activities listed in your Job Plan
go to appointments with your employment services provider
complete and report job searches
accept any offer of suitable paid work.
If you don’t meet your mutual obligation requirements, suspensions, demerits or financial penalties may apply.

If you haven’t already, you need to do both of the following:

complete the Job Seeker Snapshot questionnaire
agree to a Job Plan.
You’ll do these either:

with your employment services provider, if you have one
through the online employment service on the jobactive website.
You also need to:

tell us about changes to your circumstances
report your income.
If you’re a compulsory participant in ParentsNext, you’ll need to do all of these:

go to appointments
take part in set activities
sign a participation plan.
From early March 2021, job seekers may need to attend face-to-face appointments with their provider. This depends on local health advice and state and territory COVID-19 requirements.

This applies if you’re with any of the following providers:

jobactive
Disability Employment Services
ParentsNext.
When penalties apply
There are demerits and financial penalties for not meeting your mutual obligation requirements.

This applies to you if you’re in one of these:

online employment services

jobactive
Disability Employment Services
ParentsNext.
The penalties for not meeting your mutual obligation requirements are different if you’re in the Community Development Program.

Reporting your income and any changes to circumstances
You need to report your income every 2 weeks and tell us about any changes to your circumstances. This includes if you got JobKeeper Payment from your employer.

You’ll need to tell us what you and your partner earned in the last 14 days. Even if it’s $0.

You can report in any one of the following ways:

your Centrelink online account through myGov
the Express Plus Centrelink mobile app
phone self service.
If you can't use our self service facilities or attend a service centre, call us on your regular payment line.

Temporary requirements for COVID-19
You’ll get a temporary reduction in your requirements if both of these apply to your school aged children:

they can’t go to school because of COVID-19
there’s an order from federal, state or territory authorities to keep them at home.
You’ll need to talk to us or your employment services provider to see if this applies to you.

If you’re getting Parenting Payment and you’re partnered, you don’t have mutual obligation requirements. You can still choose to get help from an employment services provider.

Accept any offer of suitable paid work
We recognise your duties as a principal carer, but you must accept an offer of suitable paid work. This is any work you’re capable of doing.

You’ll get a work refusal failure if you either:

don’t accept a suitable job offer
don’t start a job you’ve accepted.
This doesn’t apply if you’re with a ParentsNext provider.

Read about what other penalties apply.

However, you don’t have to accept an offer of work that is either:

not suitable
more than 25 hours per week.
Work that isn’t suitable includes where any of the following apply:

appropriate child care isn’t available during work hours
the travel time from home to work is unreasonable, for example it’s more than 60 minutes one way
the most cost effective travel will exceed 10% of your gross wage
the employment doesn’t make you at least $50 per fortnight better off after deducting your costs.
What approved tasks and activities are
These are tasks and activities in your Job Plan. They may include things like:

looking for suitable work of at least 30 hours per fortnight
paid work
other approved activities like studying.
Paid work
This is when you’re doing suitable paid work for at least 30 hours a fortnight. This can include self-employment.

Your income must be no less than the national minimum wage, or relevant award wage. Read about minimum wages on the Fair Work Ombudsman website.