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Law Current to: September 17, 2025
Work and Development Orders
A Work and Development Order (WDO) is a way for people experiencing hardship to resolve their SPER debt through unpaid activities.
Your client may be eligible to satisfy all or part of their debt through a WDO. The hours your client spends completing WDO activities is translated into a monetary amount that is applied to their SPER account to ‘pay down’ their SPER debt. The amount that is deducted from a person’s SPER debt will depend on the activity they complete. WDO rates start at $30 per hour and a person can reduce their debt by up to $1000 per month.
This option won’t be suitable for everyone but, if suitable for your client, a WDO can allow them to pay off all or part of their SPER debt completing activities that also benefit their wellbeing and health.
WDOs are not available to satisfy SPER debts that are to be paid to a particular person or entity: SPE Act s 32I. For example, compensation or damages orders under s 35 (1) Penalties and Sentences Act 1992.
Completing a Work and Development Order
WDO’s are managed by approved sponsors, also known as SPER Hardship Partners. Hardship Partners are approved community agencies, financial counsellors, or health practitioner that provide services to people experiencing hardship.
Hardship Partners supervise the work completed and are responsible for updating the individual’s SPER record so that their account is credited.
The Queensland Government’s SPER Hardship Partner Participant Pack has more information.
For a person to complete a WDO, they must have their application supported by an approved Hardship Partner. This is the only way that an application may be made: State Penalties Enforcement Act 1999 (Qld) Act (SPE Act) s 32J. A list of hardship partners is available on the government website.
WDO applications can be refused if your client has already reached the maximum number of WDOs: SPE Act s 32L. However, there is not currently a maximum number set in the regulations. WDOs can also be revoked. For example, if your client does not comply with the order and has no reasonable excuse: SPE Act s 32Q.
Decisions about WDOs can be reviewed in the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal: SPE Act s 32S.
Advocacy tip: ask the client what services they already work with to see if there’s any that might be registered as a Hardship Partner.
WDOs tend to be more effective and easier to set up where they already fit into a client’s life.
WDO activities
The activities that may be undertaken as part of a WDO are outlined in s 32G(1) SPE Act.
WDO Activities in s 32G(1)
| S 32G(1) SPEA provision | Undertaking | Amount (sch 1A, SPE Regulation) |
|---|---|---|
| (a) | Unpaid work for, or on behalf of, an approved sponsor/hardship partner | $30 per hour |
| (b) | Medical or mental health treatment provided by a health practitioner (and under a hardship partner’s treatment plan) | Maximum of $1,000 per month |
| (c) | Educational, vocational or life skills course | $50 per hour |
| (d) | Financial or other counselling | $50 per hour |
| (e) | Drug or alcohol treatment | Maximum of $1,000 per month |
| (f) | Mentoring program (for clients under 25 years of age) | Maximum of $1,000 per month |
| (g) | Culturally appropriate programs (for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander persons who live in a remote area) | $50 per hour |
The amount paid for medical or mental health treatment, drug or alcohol treatment and mentoring programs is dependent on the number of hours the person undertakes these treatments in comparison to the number of hours the person is expected to undertake treatment each month: SPE Regulation s 19AF.
An eligibility assessment must be undertaken before making an application for a WDO: SPE Act s 32K(1). The registrar may require evidence from the hardship partner to support the eligibility assessment: SPE Act s 32K(2).
LawRight assisted Hakim with a large historic SPER debt. Hakim accepted responsibility for all the fines but was worried about setting up a payment plan because he didn’t have any income to spare each week after paying for rent, food and bills. LawRight discussed the possibility of undertaking a WDO. In doing so lawyers identified that Hakim was interested in studying at TAFE. He didn’t realise that doing so could also enable him to pay off his debt, and LawRight provided information about how to set this up.
Eligibility for WDOs
Under s 32H of the Act, a person will be eligible to apply for a WDO if they:
- are experiencing financial hardship;
- have a mental illness within the meaning prescribed by regulation;
- have a cognitive or intellectual disability;
- are homeless;
- have a substance use disorder as prescribed by regulation; or
- are experiencing domestic and family violence.
Eligibility under s 32H
| Ground under s 32H | Criteria | Supporting documentation |
|---|---|---|
| Experiencing financial hardship | Legislation No criteria provided Hardship Partner Participant Pack Income requirements Your client may be eligible if they have low income, as indicated by:
Your client must also not have suitable assets that can be used to satisfy their debt. Meaning of ‘suitable assets’ Suitable assets include any asset wholly or jointly owned, excluding:
Your client must also not have ‘readily accessible funds’, which would be funds up to $2,000 (eg in a savings account or redraw facility). | Your client will need to sign a declaration stating: ‘I declare that I do not possess suitable assets that could be used to pay my SPER debt’. Your client must provide to the hardship partner a copy of the Centrelink documents that are not more than four weeks old at the time of the WDO application. |
| Mental illness | Legislation Section 19AB of the SPE Regulation defines ‘mental illness’ by reference to the definition contained in s 10 of the Mental Health Act 2016 (Qld). Section 10(1) of the Mental Health Act 2016 (Qld) defines ‘mental illness’ as a ‘condition characterised by a clinically significant disturbance of thought, mood, perception or memory’. In determining what amounts to a ‘mental illness’, regard must also be had to the operation of s 10(2), which prescribes specific circumstances where a person will not be considered to be afflicted with a ‘mental illness’. Hardship Partner Participant Pack Your client must have a diagnosed mental illness by a treating doctor, psychiatrist, mental health clinician or health practitioner. | Documentation confirming the nature, severity and duration of the illness. This must be dated no more than 6 months before the WDO. |
| Cognitive or intellectual disability | Legislation No criteria provided Hardship Partner Participant Pack Having a condition attributable to an intellectual or cognitive impairment, or a combination of impairments as assessed by an appropriately qualified professional (eg dementia, acquired brain injury, Down Syndrome). | A declaration by the hardship partner that the cognitive or intellectual disability impacts on the ability of your client to pay their SPER debt AND a declaration signed by an appropriate professional attesting to the cognitive or intellectual disability OR documentation demonstrating that your client is in receipt of a benefit or service that is government funded and for which your client qualifies because of their cognitive or intellectual disability. |
| Homelessness | Legislation No criteria provided Hardship Partner Participant Pack If your client is in one of the following living arrangements:
| Documentation by a lawyer, specialist service provider or case worker attesting to your client’s living circumstances, the period they have been homeless, and their inability to pay the SPER debt. This should be dated no earlier than six months before the date of the WDO application. |
| Substance use disorder | Legislation Section 19AC(1) of the SPE Regulation defines ‘a prescribed substance use disorder is a pattern of substance use evaluated as being moderate or severe under the DSM-5’. Section 19AC(2) of the SPE Regulation provides ‘DSM-5 means the 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, published by the American Psychiatric Association’. | Documentation from an appropriately qualified professional (such as a drug or alcohol case worker, counsellor or health professional) that confirms the nature, severity and duration of the illness. This should be dated no earlier than six months before the date of the WDO application. |
| Experiencing domestic and family violence | Legislation No criteria provided Hardship Partner Participant Pack If your client is subject to domestic or family violence with an intimate personal, family or care relationship. | The sponsor must declare that the domestic or family violence impacts on the ability of your client to pay their SPER debt, and provide one of the following in support of the existence of domestic or family violence:
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