The single most common reason people miss their monthly points target is not that they did not do the activities. It is that they did them and forgot to log them. The Workforce Australia system tracks the count, not the work itself, and points you earn but never log do not count.
This post is a practical guide to logging your activities properly. The app, the online portal, what to log and when, the documentation worth keeping, and what to do when points you should have earned do not show up in your dashboard.
For the background on what the activities actually are, the anchor post on Workforce Australia points covers each one. For rules around what does and does not count in the first place, the plain English rules post is the one to read.
The two main places points are logged
Workforce Australia has two main interfaces.
Workforce Australia Online. The web portal, accessed through MyGov. Login through MyGov, then click through to Workforce Australia Online. This is where you log most activities, manage your Job Plan, update your Career Profile, and view your point total for the period.
The Workforce Australia mobile app. A separate app available on iOS and Android. The app does most of the same things as the online portal but is more convenient for quick logging on the go. Many people use the app for day-to-day entries and the portal for anything more involved.
Both interfaces sync to the same backend, so logging in one place updates the other. The point total at the top of the dashboard is the live number, updated as soon as an activity is logged and approved.
Your monthly dashboard, the at-a-glance view
The dashboard is the screen you should be checking weekly during the month. Three numbers matter.
Your target. The number of points you need to earn this period. Usually 100, but can be lower depending on your circumstances.
Your current total. Points earned and credited so far this period.
Your minimum applications outstanding. The number of advertised job applications you still need to lodge to meet the minimum in your Job Plan, separate from your point total.
Checking these three numbers each Sunday gives you a clear picture of where you stand and how much catch-up (if any) you need to plan for the coming week.
The dashboard also shows you a breakdown of how your current total was earned (X points from applications, Y from study, Z from work, etc.) which is useful for spotting whether the mix you planned is actually playing out the way you expected.
Logging applications
Most applications are logged automatically if you apply through certain channels.
Applications through Workforce Australia's own jobs board are logged automatically. The button click that submits the application also creates the log entry.
Applications through Seek, LinkedIn, Indeed, and other major boards are sometimes logged automatically through integrations, and sometimes require manual entry. Check your dashboard after applying. If the application shows up, you do not need to do anything. If it does not, log it manually.
Applications direct to employer websites or by email are almost always manual entries. The system has no way to know you applied unless you log it.
To log a job application manually, the app or portal walks you through a short form. You will need the job title, the employer, the date you applied, and ideally a confirmation reference or screenshot. The system asks for evidence in some cases, particularly if you have a history of unconfirmed applications.
Logging paid work
Paid work points are based on hours worked per week. Two ways to log this.
Single Touch Payroll feed. If your employer is part of Single Touch Payroll (most employers are), your hours are reported through that system and may be picked up automatically by Workforce Australia. You may still need to confirm them in your dashboard.
Manual entry. You can log hours manually using your payslips. Enter the week, the hours worked, and the employer. The system credits 10 points for weeks with 5 or more hours and 20 points for weeks with 15 or more hours.
Keep your payslips. The system can ask for them if your reported hours look unusual or if there is a discrepancy with what your employer reported through Single Touch Payroll.
Logging volunteer work
Volunteer work is always a manual entry. The form asks for:
- The name of the organisation.
- The dates worked.
- The hours worked per week.
- A contact at the organisation who can verify if asked.
Most volunteer roles have a coordinator or supervisor who can sign off on a roster or attendance sheet. Keep these. The documentation does not need to be submitted with every entry but you should have it ready if the system asks.
The five-hour weekly threshold is per week, not averaged across weeks. Four hours one week and six hours the next is two separate weeks, only one of which clears the threshold.
Logging study and training
Study points have two parts. The commencement bonus (25 points one-off) and the ongoing weekly enrolment points (5 per week).
Commencement. Log this once when you enrol. Upload the enrolment confirmation as evidence. The 25 points are credited within a few days.
Weekly enrolment. Most accredited courses automatically log a week of enrolment each week through the provider's reporting to the system. If the points are not appearing, check whether the provider has reported your enrolment correctly. Some smaller providers report less reliably and you may need to upload weekly confirmation manually.
If you complete a course mid-period, the weekly points stop the week you finish. The commencement bonus does not need to be repeated for the next course you start, unless you are starting a separate distinct course.
Logging interviews
Attended job interviews earn 25 points each. To log:
- Date and time of the interview.
- Employer and role.
- Confirmation that you attended.
The system credits the points based on your self-report but can verify by contacting the employer if needed. The interview has to be for a role you lodged a tracked application for. Walk-in conversations with employers about possible work are not the same thing.
If the interview was through your provider or through a Workforce Australia event, the attendance may be logged automatically. Otherwise it is a manual entry.
Common reporting mistakes
A handful of mistakes come up regularly.
Logging activities after the reporting period closes. The system is strict about this. Activities logged after the period ends usually do not count toward that period and may not roll into the next. Always log activities within the same reporting period.
Forgetting to log Career Profile completion. The 20 points are credited automatically when you submit the profile, but only after you actually press submit. Filling out the form without submitting it is a common cause of missed points.
Not uploading evidence for activities that require it. Some activities (interviews, certain volunteer roles, manual application entries) ask for evidence. If you skip the upload, the activity may stay in pending status indefinitely.
Logging the wrong week for paid work. The system tracks weeks as Monday to Sunday. A shift worked late Sunday night belongs to that week, not the following one.
Duplicate applications. Applying to the same role on two boards and logging both. The system deduplicates, so only one credits.
Not confirming auto-logged applications. Some applications through external boards do not log automatically even when the integration is supposed to handle it. Always check the dashboard after applying.
What to do when points are missing
If you logged an activity and the points have not appeared in your total, the most common causes are:
Activity still pending. Some activities take 24 to 48 hours to be credited, particularly those requiring documentation review. Wait a couple of days before assuming there is a problem.
Documentation rejected. If you uploaded evidence and it was deemed insufficient, the activity may be in a rejected state. Check the activity log for status messages.
Auto-logging failed. External integrations sometimes fail silently. If an application you submitted through Seek did not show up after 48 hours, log it manually.
Activity outside recognised categories. If you logged something that does not fit one of the points categories, it will not be credited. The plain English rules post covers what counts.
If the cause is not obvious from the activity log, the right next step is to contact your provider. If you are managing through Workforce Australia Online without a provider, the portal has a query system that gets a written response within a few business days.
A weekly tracking habit
The single most effective discipline is a five-minute Sunday check.
- Open the dashboard.
- Confirm your current point total and the gap to your target.
- Check that every activity you completed in the previous week is showing as logged and credited.
- Plan the activities for the coming week.
Five minutes a week is enough to catch any logging issues before they become problems and to keep the upcoming week's plan in your head. Most people who miss targets do so because they did not check until the last day of the period and discovered a problem they could no longer fix.
Documentation worth keeping
A short list of documents worth keeping in a folder (physical or digital) for the current reporting period:
- Application confirmations or screenshots.
- Payslips for any paid work.
- Enrolment confirmation for courses.
- Weekly enrolment confirmations if the provider does not report automatically.
- Volunteer rosters or sign-off sheets.
- Interview confirmation emails or texts.
- Any provider correspondence.
Keep these until two reporting periods have passed. After that the documentation usually has no remaining use and can be archived.
Reset dates and reporting periods
Reporting periods are calendar months for most people. The reset happens at the start of each month and your point total goes back to zero.
A few practical implications:
Activities completed late in the month need to be logged before midnight on the last day. The dashboard often shows a countdown timer in the last week.
Activities that span periods (like a course running across months) are credited in the period the activity occurred. The week of February enrolment counts toward February's total. The week of March enrolment counts toward March's.
The first day of the new period is when missed targets become locked in. If you missed the previous month, the recovery process (reasonable excuse, late activity logging) usually has to happen quickly.
A useful frame
The Workforce Australia tracking system is mostly fine. The interface is reasonable, the categories are clear, the documentation requirements are not onerous. The challenge is consistency. Log every activity the day you do it. Check the dashboard once a week. Keep the documentation in one place for the current period.
Most of the people who fall behind on points do not do so because they did not earn them. They do so because they trusted the system to log activities automatically when it did not, or because they meant to enter something and forgot, or because they thought an activity counted when it did not.
A small amount of admin discipline turns the whole points system into a non-issue. For everything else, the anchor post on points and the plain English rules post cover the structure and the edge cases.