Changes to Centrelink Payment Compulsory Activities and the Targeted Compliance Framework

This information was written by Inclusion Australia on 6 August 2026.

Where it says ‘we’ it means Inclusion Australia.

This information is written in Easy Read.

Hard words are in bold.

We explain what they mean.

It is a good idea to read this information with support.

It is about changes to how compulsory activities will happen in employment services.

Compulsory activities are the things some people must do to keep getting their Centrelink payment.

For example they might need to:

• Look for work.
• Go to appointments
• Use an employment service.

Employment services include:

• Workforce Australia
• Inclusive Employment Australia (IEA)

IEA used to be called Disability Employment Services or DES. 

If compulsory activities are not done sometimes Centrelink can:

• Stop a payment for a short time
• Reduce a payment
• Cancel a payment.

This is sometimes called a penalty.

We know there are at least 3200 people with an intellectual disability who have compulsory activities.

We think there are a lot more people with an intellectual disability who have not told Centrelink they have an intellectual disability.

Inclusion Australia has made Easy Read information about compulsory activities and people’s rights.

You can read it here: Inclusive-Employment-Australia_Easy-Read-factsheet_final-1.pdf

The Targeted Compliance Framework is called the TCF for short.

The TCF is the rules about what happens if people do not do their compulsory activities.

Some TCF rules are not being used now.

This is because some of the rules were not following the law.

For example cancelling Centrelink payments.

On Tuesday 4 August the government said it might bring these rules back in the TCF.

This means that from 26 October 2026 more people’s payments could be suspended or cancelled.

We know that many people with an intellectual disability face barriers to doing compulsory activities.

Many of the rules and systems are not accessible.

Information about what you need to do can be confusing.

We know the TCF causes serious harm to people with an intellectual disability.

If a person’s payment is stopped they might not have enough money for:

• Food
• Housing
• Medicine
• Travel
• Other everyday needs.

Inclusion Australia is asking for:

• The TCF to be removed
• All compulsory activities to be removed
• People affected by payment penalties that are against the law to get compensation in an accessible way.

Compensation means people are paid money they are owed plus extra because something wrong happened to them.

We also want clear and accessible information to be available about:

• Compensation
• How to find help with individual advocacy
• How to find help to get legal advice.

Inclusion Australia will continue to talk to the government and tell them what we are worried about.

We will share more information about speaking up for the rights of people with an intellectual disability when they are accessing Centrelink payments when it is available.