Job agencies running ParentsNext scheme made invalid claims for taxpayer-funded bonuses, audit finds

But an audit of these claims, obtained by Guardian Australia under freedom of information laws, found 59% of education outcomes and 20% of employment outcomes were noncompliant.

The audit was small, covering only 105 education outcomes ($32,000) and 79 employment outcomes (worth $24,000) between September 2021 and March 2022. The department recouped a combined $21,000 in invalid claims.

The documents suggest the education claims were mostly faulty because providers had failed to provide dates for when participants had started and completed their education courses. Similar issues around the recording of hours and pay were found with employment outcomes.

It was the first time education and employment outcome payments had been included in the audit, the documents say.

But noncompliant claims were widespread across the system, with 17 agencies who had below 70% of their assessed claims satisfying or mostly satisfying requirements.

Two providers were 100% compliant with the claims process.

Only 4% of claims to the participation fund were noncompliant, with the department recouping just over $2,000 of the $172,000 in spending that was audited.

Groups including the Australian Council of Social Service and the National Council of Single Mothers and their Children have labelled the scheme discriminatory, while a parliamentary inquiry last year recommended it be made voluntary.

ParentsNext underwent some minor changes in 2019 amid widespread complaints, including allegations revealed by the Guardian that some providers had denied exemptions to single mothers experiencing health issues or domestic violence in order to keep receiving taxpayer funds.

Guardian Australia revealed last year the federal government clawed back more than $1m in wrongful claims in the Jobactive and ParentsNext programs in 2020. The current ParentsNext contracts expire in 2024.

The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations was approached for comment.

Do you have a story? luke.henriques-gomes@theguardian.com