Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 section 46

Disqualifications

Section 46 sets out the circumstances in which a person may be disqualified from receiving illness benefit, including misconduct, non-compliance with requirements, engaging in work, and late claims.

• A claimant may be disqualified from illness benefit for up to 9 weeks if their incapacity arose from their own misconduct, or if they fail without good cause to comply with specified requirements such as attending medical examinations, following medical instructions, avoiding behaviour that hinders recovery, or being available to meet departmental officers.
• A person receiving or entitled to illness benefit must not engage in work, although exceptions exist for prescribed classes of employment or training under specified conditions.
• The Minister may impose additional conditions, restrictions on rate, or limits on duration of illness benefit for particular classes of persons where special circumstances require this to prevent inequalities or injustice.
• A person may be disqualified from illness benefit if they fail to claim within the prescribed time after becoming incapable of work, though regulations may allow extensions subject to certain conditions.