Assess employer eligibility for the scheme
Assess your eligibility for the scheme by completing a self-assessment to understand if you need to register and how many of your employees are eligible under the scheme.
On this page
Eligibility measures
Assess your eligibility for the scheme
What is predominant purpose
How to assess predominant purpose
Supporting documentation
Compliance reviews
Related information
Eligibility measures
Eligible employers are required to register in the CSI scheme.
If you employ 1 or more people to carry out community work, you are eligible in the scheme.
You are required to carry out a further assessment to determine how many of your employees will be covered by the scheme whose service you need to register with us. This is known as the predominant purpose test.
If the predominant purpose of your organisation is to provide a community service, you will be required to register all your workers, whether they do community service work or not.
If the predominant purpose of your organisation is not to provide a community service, you only need to register the service of those workers who do community service work.
Assess your eligibility for the scheme
Answer the following questions to complete a basic assessment of your eligibility.
Q1: Select one option that best describes you:
Which option best describes you | Result |
|---|---|
Commonwealth department or agency. | You are not eligible in the scheme. |
State department or agency. | You are not eligible in the scheme. |
Local government authority. | You are not eligible in the scheme. |
A company whose only workers are directors, if each of the directors participates in the management of the company or shares its profits. | You are not eligible in the scheme. |
Self-employed contractor. | You can opt-in to the scheme by registering yourself as a worker, it is not mandatory. |
None of the above. | You may be eligible under the scheme. Go to Question 2. |
Q2: Select one option that best describes you:
Which option best describes you | Result |
|---|---|
The predominant purpose of your organisation is to provide a community service. Visit the Community service work page to find out what is community service. | You are eligible in the scheme. Go to Question 3. |
You employ one or more people who do community service work. Visit the Community service work page to find out what is community service. | You are eligible in the scheme. You will be required to:
|
You supply one or more people through a labour hire arrangement to do community service work. Visit the Community service work page to find out what is community service. | You are eligible in the scheme. You will be required to:
|
None of the above. | You are not eligible in the scheme. |
Q3: After considering the multi-factor test for determining predominant purpose, select one option that best describes you:
Which option best describes you | Result |
|---|---|
I have determined that the majority of my organisation’s core activities and resource allocation are related to community service work. | You are eligible in the scheme. You will be required to:
|
I have done the multi-factor test but I’m not sure if the predominant purpose of my organisation is to provide a community service. | Contact LSC for help. |
I have done the multi-factor test and I don’t believe the predominant purpose of my organisation is to provide a community service, however I do employ one or more people who do community work. | Go back to Question 2. |
If you have considered the 31 types of community service and have questions about the relevance of the work of your organisation, contact us.
What is predominant purpose
An employer’s predominant purpose refers to the principal activities and functions of their organisation. It can be assessed by looking at the organisation’s core activities and resource allocation. If these are mostly focused on providing 1 or a number of the community services as defined in the scheme, this would be the predominant purpose of the organisation.
The determination of predominant purpose is not just based on business classification. It considers operational factors to ensure the scheme includes as many employees as possible.
How to assess predominant purpose
Employers must assess predominant purpose through a self-evaluation process, including:
- application of the multi-factor test – assessment of core activities and resource allocation across the organisation
- self-assessment – internal review based on publicly available information, including organisational documents and website content
- documentation review – supporting documentation demonstrating alignment with community service provision.
It’s important to conduct this assessment as you will be required to certify you meet the eligibility criteria when you register as an employer with us.
Applying the multi-factor test
The multi-factor test assists you in assessing the proportion of core activities and resource allocation within an individual organisation that provides a community service.
Follow these steps to complete the multi-factor test:
- Identify core business activities by listing your key services and client groups.
- Consider the roles and primary tasks of all employees working on a full-time, part-time and casual basis.
- Consider overall organisational focus and effort, key performance indicators and strategic objectives.
- Identify infrastructure and resources allocated to service delivery.
- Review the organisation’s mission and objectives in constitutional documents, strategic plans, and stated objectives.
- Consider classification of company registration or Australian Charities and Not-For-Profits Commission (ACNC) registration. Note: for-profit providers are still eligible for the scheme if they provide one or more prescribed community services.
Use this information to determine whether the majority of your organisation’s core activities and resource allocation are related to community service work as defined in the scheme.
If you determine the predominant purpose of your organisation is to provide a community service, you will be required to register with us accordingly.
Supporting documentation
Registered employers may be asked to substantiate their self-assessment with the following information:
- Governing documents such as a constitution or articles of association.
- Annual reports outlining service delivery operations.
- Organisational charts illustrating workforce composition data.
- Service delivery reports or impact statements.
- Employee role descriptions.
- Operational policies and procedures.
- ACNC and/or company registration details (if applicable).
Compliance reviews
We may conduct compliance reviews with registered employers to verify your eligibility in the scheme.
Reviews may include requests for information, random audits and targeted investigations where required.
Related information
Who is covered by the scheme
Community service work covered by the scheme
