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The network map

When one system ends, the next one does not come and find you

Checked August 2026The network map

Australia's income support systems are drawn here as one network of eight lines: working life, workers compensation, motor accident schemes, income protection, total and permanent disability (TPD) insurance, superannuation, JobSeeker and the Disability Support Pension (DSP). Most people are only ever shown the line they are standing on, so the joins between them, the points where one line stops and another can start, are the part almost nobody is handed.

Every station on the map is repeated as text below, with its one sentence detail and the source it came from. Nothing on this page is an assessment, and no station means anyone qualifies for anything.

Australia's income support systems drawn as a network map A network map of Australia's income support systems drawn as eight transit lines: working life, workers compensation, motor accident schemes, income protection, TPD insurance, superannuation, JobSeeker and the Disability Support Pension. Each line runs in its own horizontal lane with named stations. Connectors show documented moves between systems. Solid connectors are measured flows; dashed connectors are documented connections whose volume is not published. JobSeeker is the busiest interchange, with lines arriving from exhausted leave, ended compensation, declined insurance and pending DSP claims. A barrier marks the preclusion period, which is a gate rather than a station: after a compensation lump sum, Centrelink payments can be blocked for a calculated number of weeks. Coral ticks mark stations where people commonly join the network rather than starting at the beginning. The TPD line begins early on the map because under many policies a TPD claim is assessed once the person has been unable to work for three consecutive months, or six under some policies, counted from the date they stopped work, so the line runs alongside the schemes rather than after them. The working life line is drawn dashed and faded after sick leave, because only some people return to work; return routes from each station exist but are not drawn. The permanent incapacity release station sits just after the TPD lump sum, because the insurer pays the benefit into super first and the trustee's release is its own step shortly after. No pathway on this map is automatic, and the map says nothing about any individual claim. Working life Working Employer sick leave Back at work Workers compensation Claim accepted Payment step-down Work capacity decision Weekly payments end Lump sum / damages Motor accident schemes Claim accepted Rate steps Benefits end Damages settlement Income protection Waiting period Monthly payments Benefit period ends TPD insurance TPD claim lodged Assessment Lump sum paid Superannuation Permanent incapacity release Hardship release Centrelink: JobSeeker JobSeeker Partial capacity to work Provisional (DSP pending) Preclusion period Disability Support Pension DSP claim Manifest grant Program of support DSP granted Age Pension Preclusion period The working life line is dashed after sick leave because only some people get back to it. Return routes from each station are not drawn. measured flow documented connection, volume unknown people join here too
The busiest interchanges between Australia's income support systems A network map of Australia's income support systems drawn as eight transit lines: working life, workers compensation, motor accident schemes, income protection, TPD insurance, superannuation, JobSeeker and the Disability Support Pension. Each line runs in its own horizontal lane with named stations. Connectors show documented moves between systems. Solid connectors are measured flows; dashed connectors are documented connections whose volume is not published. JobSeeker is the busiest interchange, with lines arriving from exhausted leave, ended compensation, declined insurance and pending DSP claims. A barrier marks the preclusion period, which is a gate rather than a station: after a compensation lump sum, Centrelink payments can be blocked for a calculated number of weeks. Coral ticks mark stations where people commonly join the network rather than starting at the beginning. The TPD line begins early on the map because under many policies a TPD claim is assessed once the person has been unable to work for three consecutive months, or six under some policies, counted from the date they stopped work, so the line runs alongside the schemes rather than after them. The working life line is drawn dashed and faded after sick leave, because only some people return to work; return routes from each station exist but are not drawn. The permanent incapacity release station sits just after the TPD lump sum, because the insurer pays the benefit into super first and the trustee's release is its own step shortly after. No pathway on this map is automatic, and the map says nothing about any individual claim. Employer sick leave Employer leave is the biggest system of all (about 6.5 million people used it in 2015/16) and the platform most other Weekly payments end Most states stop weekly payments at a set week, 130 in NSW and Victoria, 104 in SA, unless impairment thresholds are Benefit period ends When income protection runs out, the documented next stop in the research is Centrelink. JobSeeker The network's central interchange: people arrive from exhausted leave, ended compensation, declined insurance DSP claim A claim is assessed against impairment tables and capacity rules; the condition must generally be diagnosed, treated and Preclusion period After a compensation lump sum, half the gross amount is divided by a set rate to produce a block of weeks when Centrelink
This map shows how systems connect. It says nothing about any individual claim.

On a narrow screen the map shows the busiest interchanges only, stacked. The full set of lines and stations is in the list below, on every screen size. How to read the map is explained further down the page.

Every line and every station, with its source

This is the map written out. Each station carries the one sentence that explains it and the source it was taken from, all checked August 2026.

Working life

  • Working. Most journeys start here, and how the illness or injury happened, not choice, decides which line is boarded first. Cross Sector Project (Monash/Comcare, 2018) p30
  • Employer sick leave. Employer leave is the biggest system of all (about 6.5 million people used it in 2015/16) and the platform most other lines are boarded from once it runs out. Cross Sector Project Table 2 p22, Table 4 p24
  • Back at work. Not always a final stop: about 1 in 5 people who return take further time off later, so this station loops back onto the map. Safe Work Australia, National Return to Work Survey 2025

Workers compensation

  • Claim accepted. Workers compensation covers work-related injury and illness; sole traders are usually outside this line entirely. Cross Sector Project pp30, 32
  • Payment step-down. Weekly payments drop at fixed weeks set by each state's law, for example week 14 in NSW and Victoria, week 26 in Queensland. Safe Work Australia, Comparison of WC Arrangements 2023, Table 5.1
  • Work capacity decision. An insurer can reduce payments by what it assesses a person could earn in suitable work, in some states whether or not that work actually exists. SIRA weekly payments guidance; NT Return to Work Act s65(2)(b)(ii)
  • Weekly payments end. Most states stop weekly payments at a set week, 130 in NSW and Victoria, 104 in SA, unless impairment thresholds are met, and no system hands people to the next line. State Acts via SWA Table 5.1; Cross Sector Project p57
  • Lump sum / damages. Settlements, redemptions and common law damages close this line, and a lump sum can lock the Centrelink gate for a calculated block of weeks. DSS Social Security Guide 4.13.2; SWA Table 5.6

Motor accident schemes

  • Claim accepted. Which motor accident scheme applies depends on the state, and in some schemes on who was at fault. MAIA 2017 (NSW); Transport Accident Act 1986 (Vic)
  • Rate steps. Payments change at set marks, weeks 13 and 78 in NSW, 18 months in Victoria, and the test itself changes from lost earnings to lost earning capacity. MAIA ss3.6 to 3.8; TAA ss44, 46
  • Benefits end. NSW weekly benefits stop between roughly 2 and 5 years depending on injury level and any pending damages claim; Victoria's stop at 3 years below 50% impairment. MAIA s3.12; TAA s53
  • Damages settlement. Recovering damages ends weekly benefits, repays what the scheme already paid, and can start a Centrelink preclusion period. MAIA s3.40; DSS Guide 4.13.2.30

Income protection

  • Waiting period. Most income protection policies pay only after employer leave is used and a waiting period passes, a documented gap where people may have no income at all. Cross Sector Project Table 4 p24, p56
  • Monthly payments. Usually a percentage of pre-injury income, and many policies stop after two years. Cross Sector Project p16
  • Benefit period ends. When income protection runs out, the documented next stop in the research is Centrelink. Cross Sector Project Table 4 p24

TPD insurance

  • TPD claim lodged. This station sits early on the map on purpose. Under many group policies a TPD claim is assessed once you have been unable to work for three consecutive months (six under some policies), counted from the date you stopped work, and some serious medical conditions are assessed straight away with no waiting period. So the TPD line can run alongside the other schemes, not after them. Check your fund's insurance guide for the exact rules. Many people hold this cover without knowing it, and experts estimate up to half of TPD claimants have already been through a compensation scheme in the same period off work. Cbus Applying for a TPD payment factsheet; UniSuper TPD cover page; Hostplus Insurance in Your Super Guide (six-month definition); Cross Sector Project pp8, 23 (expert-interview estimate)
  • Assessment. TPD claims are assessed against work capacity after a waiting period; a decline is a documented route onto JobSeeker, not the end of every option. Cross Sector Project Case 3 p34
  • Lump sum paid. TPD benefits are usually paid into super, and receiving the money can start a Centrelink preclusion period, one worked case ran 98 weeks. Cross Sector Project p32; DSS Guide 4.13.2.60

Superannuation

  • Permanent incapacity release. The trustee must be satisfied the person is unlikely to work again in a job their education, training or experience fits, this is how TPD money sitting in super is actually reached. It sits just after the TPD lump sum on the map because the insurer pays the benefit into the super account first, and the trustee's release is its own step shortly after. SIS Regulations reg 6.01(2); APRA AFLSS Table 4 (28,749 accounts, yr to Jun 2025)
  • Hardship release. Under preservation age, only reachable after 26 continuous weeks on income support, by law this station sits downstream of Centrelink, and the fund trustee, not the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), decides. ATO conditions of release; APRA (120,310 accounts, yr to Jun 2025)

Centrelink: JobSeeker

  • JobSeeker. The network's central interchange: people arrive from exhausted leave, ended compensation, declined insurance and pending DSP claims, and many also join here directly with no earlier station. Cross Sector Project Table 4 p24, p25 (PwC Baseline Valuation 2015)
  • Partial capacity to work. 371,000 people, 38% of unemployment payment recipients, have assessed partial capacity, partly because JobSeeker counts unstabilised conditions that DSP's rules cannot. AIHW, Income support payments (Oct 2025); SS Guide 1.1.P.65
  • Provisional (DSP pending). A person waiting on an undetermined DSP claim can be paid JobSeeker with mutual obligations suspended, where JobSeeker's own tests are met, many DSP claimants are standing on this platform on decision day. Social Security Act s593(1C); SS Guide 3.2.1.60
  • Preclusion period. After a compensation lump sum, half the gross amount is divided by a set rate to produce a block of weeks when Centrelink cannot be paid, and it can reach back to the injury date. Social Security Act s1170; DSS Guide 4.13.2.60

Disability Support Pension

  • DSP claim. A claim is assessed against impairment tables and capacity rules; the condition must generally be diagnosed, treated and stabilised before points can even be scored. Social Security (Tables) Determination; SS Guide 3.6.2
  • Manifest grant. Terminal illness, permanent blindness, nursing-home-level care and similar conditions skip the capacity assessment and program requirements entirely. SS Guide 3.6.2.20 (rev. 1 Jul 2026)
  • Program of support. When no single condition scores 20 impairment points on its own, 18 months of participation in an employment program is usually required first, most often served while on JobSeeker. Social Security Act s94(2)(aa), s94(3B); Senate Community Affairs Committee, Feb 2022
  • DSP granted. The average stay is 11.7 years and more than half of recipients have been here over a decade, for most people this is a long-term line, not a stopover. Cross Sector Project pp16, 21 (DSS data, Jun 2016)
  • Age Pension. About half of all DSP journeys end here, at pension age. Cross Sector Project p25 (PwC Baseline Valuation 2015)

How to read this map

A map like this can imply things it has no right to imply, so the drawing rules are set out here rather than left for you to guess.

  • A solid connector is a measured flow. Research has counted people making that move between the two systems, so the line is drawn at full strength.
  • A dashed connector means the connection is documented but the volume is not published. The route is real and recorded. How many people take it is not something anyone has counted, so the line is drawn weaker rather than dropped or drawn as if it were the same evidence.
  • The preclusion barrier is a gate, not a station. Nobody travels to it. It sits across the Centrelink line, and after a compensation lump sum it can block payment for a calculated block of weeks. It is drawn as a barrier because that is what it does.
  • Parallel running is a tie, not an arrow. Where two payments can run at the same time, the two lines are joined by a short tie. An arrow would say people leave one system for the other, and that is not what the research shows.
  • Coral ticks mean people join there too. A tick above a station marks a place people commonly enter the network, rather than starting at the left of the map. Many people never stand on the earlier stations at all.
  • Left to right is progression, not time. There is no calendar on this map, and no station is a date. Two stations side by side are not two things that happen in the same week.
  • The TPD line starts early on purpose. Under many group policies a TPD claim is assessed once you have been unable to work for three consecutive months, or six under some policies, counted from the date you stopped work, and some serious medical conditions are assessed straight away with no waiting period. So the line runs alongside the schemes, not after them. The exact rules are in your fund's insurance guide, and that document wins.
  • The working life line goes quiet, on purpose. It is drawn dashed after sick leave and its terminus fades, because only some of the people on this map return to work and the map must not draw return as the expected destination. Return is possible from every station; those routes are not drawn, because a line from every point would cover the map. For those who do get back, the research counted one more thing: about 1 in 5 take further time off later.
  • One line, one lane. Each system runs in its own horizontal lane and never shares one. Colour confirms the lane; it does not carry meaning on its own, so the map still reads in greyscale.
  • No route here is automatic. A drawn connector means the move is documented, not that it happens by itself, is offered to anyone, or is guaranteed.

This map shows how systems connect. It says nothing about any individual claim. Where you sit on any of these lines is a question for you and for licensed professionals, not something a drawing decides.

Where to go next

If a station here has changed since it was checked, tell us and we will fix it: contact.

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