Carer Payment (CP) and/or Carer Allowance (CA) Child to Adult Transfer (CTAT) 009-03060020

Carers are sent a CTAT invitation letter when the child care receiver turns:

• 15 years and 6 months of age, or
• 17 years and 9 months of age (for a child with a terminal condition)

The invitation letter:

• invites the carer to submit a transfer to CP and/or CA for an adult care receiver.
  Note: carers can only submit a transfer for the payment they currently receive. For example, if the carer currently only receives CA, they cannot apply to transfer to CP
• advises the carer to submit the transfer by the due date if they want their payments to be assessed under adult provisions
• informs the carer of the cancellation date of:
• child payment, or
• Health Care Card (HCC) only CA (child)

Before 1 July 2022 CTAT invitations were generally sent when the child turned 15 years and 9 months. Most carers with a child born between 1 October 2006 and 31 December 2006 inclusive were sent an invitation on 1 July 2022.

The FCSO for CTAT may be used to issue the required CTAT forms if the customer or nominee is unable or unwilling to submit the CTAT using the online CTAT task.

Identity for care receivers is not required for CTAT.

If identity documents for the care receiver are provided this should be coded. See Identity Confirmation.

Identity for carers is required for CTAT if their identity is not confirmed on the Identity Confirmation Dashboard in Process Direct.

If a carer submits the CTAT forms in a Service Centre, the forms must be scanned to the carer's record as soon as possible. If the forms are provided however they are not scanned on that day, the date of receipt when scanned must be updated in Customer First to the date the carer submitted the forms.

If the child was born before 1 January 2007, the CTAT will be due by the time the child is:

• 16 years of age for CA Health Care Card (HCC) only
• 16 years 3 months of age for CP, and/or CA

If the child was born on or after 1 January 2007, the CTAT will be due when the child is 16 years of age for CP and/or CA (including CA HCC only).

If the carer is being paid Carer Payment for a child with a terminal illness, the CTAT will be due when the child turns 18 years of age.

Carers who receive CP for a child with a short term or episodic condition will be not invited to submit a CTAT. However, if the CTAT is submitted it must be processed as a new claim and should only be processed when the short term or episodic medical certificate has expired.

The payment guarantee applies for carers of children born on or after 1 January 2007 (or 1 April 2005 if the carer is being paid Carer Payment for a child with a terminal illness).

If the carer submits the completed CTAT on or before the child turns 16 years of age, they will continue to receive CA and/or CP until the CTAT is processed, even if it is not processed until after the child turns 16 years and 3 months of age (or 18 years of age if terminal).

The payment guarantee does not apply to CA HCC only.

A CTAT does not need CRIA coding. The system will assess income and assets for the care receiver for 'CP reviews only'. If needed, the system will set up a CRIA review on the care receiver's record to issue on 1 November each year.

Depending on the time of submission, the carer's date of receipt may vary. The system will calculate the date and time of submission based on Canberra ACT time zone. This means if the carer who does not live in the same time zone as Canberra was to submit the CTAT late at night, the date of receipt might be one day later than when the review was submitted.

When a carer receives CP and CA (auto) the CTAT can be used to reassess their eligibility for CA under the adult provisions. There is no need for the carer to reclaim CP and/or CA under the adult provisions.

The outcome of the CTAT will be to:

• cancel CA HCC when child turns 16 years, 3 months of age and one day (or 16 years of age if born before 1 January 2007), or
• grant CA under the adult rules from the later date of when the child turned 16 years of age, or CTAT was submitted

The outcome of the CTAT will be to:

• cancel CP and/or CA, or
• continue CP and/or CA under the adult rules

If the child is born on or after 1 April 2005, the date of effect for the decision is the later date of when:

• child turns 18 years of age and one day, or
• the CTAT is processed

If the child is born before 1 April 2005, the date of effect for the decision is the date the child turns 18 years of age.

For a child care receiver, a terminal condition is where a medical practitioner has certified the child has a terminal condition and the average life expectancy for a child with the same or a similar condition is not substantially longer than 24 months.

For an adult care receiver, a terminal condition is where a person aged 16 years or over is in the final phase of a terminal illness and is not expected to live more than 3 months. It is therefore possible that a child with an ongoing terminal condition may not meet the terminal rules for an adult care receiver.

The outcome of the CTAT will be to:

• cancel CP and/or CA
• continue CP and/or CA under the adult rules

The date of effect for the decision if the CTAT is processed on or before the care receiver turns 16 years and 3 months of age is the later date of when:

• child turns 16 years of age, or
• the CTAT is processed

The date of effect for the decision if the CTAT is processed after the care receiver turns 16 years and 3 months of age, will be the date of cancellation if the carer qualifies under the adult provisions if:

• the carer submitted the CTAT before the cancellation, or
• within 13 weeks of the cancellation

If a carer submits a Child to adult transfer for Carer Payment and/or Carer Allowance form (SA432) more than 13 weeks after payments have been cancelled, the SA432 is considered a claim and standard new claim processes apply.

Note: CA does not have a Health Care Card for adult care receivers. Carers eligible for CP are entitled to a Pensioner Concession Card (PCC).

The carer will continue to be paid under the child rules up to and including the day the child turns 16 years and 3 months of age. If carer submits the CTAT on or before the child turns 16 years, they continue to be paid under the child rules past this date until the CTAT is processed.

The outcome of the CTAT will be to:

• cancel CP and/or CA
• continue CP and/or CA under adult rules

The date of effect for the decision is the later date of when:

• child turns 16 years, 3 months and one day, or
• the CTAT is processed

The date of effect for the decision if the CTAT is processed after payments have been cancelled is the date of cancellation if the carer qualifies under the adult provisions, and:

• the carer submitted the CTAT before the cancellation, or
• within 13 weeks of the cancellation

Note: if a carer submits a Child to adult transfer for Carer Payment and/or Carer Allowance form (SA432) more than 13 weeks after payments have been cancelled, the SA432 is considered a claim and standard new claim processes apply.

A CTAT for the CP needs to be processed if:

• a carer receiving CA under the child provisions has had a CTAT assessment completed for CA and
• is then granted CP under child provisions

However, the details from the previous CTAT may be used and the carer is not required to complete a new CTAT.

The child can claim for an Ex-Carer Allowance Health Care Card. They can do this even if the carer does not submit a CTAT.

There are 2 different reminders carers may get about the CTAT:

• When a carer has answered the questions in the CTAT task and all required tasks have been completed but the CTAT remains not submitted. The reminder is sent to their myGov inbox or via SMS message
• 2 months before the CTAT is due, carers will be automatically sent a reminder message if they have not yet submitted a CTAT. The reminder is sent to their myGov inbox, via SMS message or letter

A CTAT is a reassessment of entitlement rather than a new claim. If a carer asks for a review of their cancelled CP and/or CA because of a CTAT assessment, the standard review of decision provisions apply if cancellation was due to:

• non-lodgement of the CTAT, and
• the child turned 16 years and 3 months of age (C16) or 18 years of age if terminal (T18)

CP and/or CA can be reassessed if:

• within 13 weeks of getting the cancellation letter the carer either submits the CTAT form or asks for a review of their cancelled CP and/or CA, and
• the carer is eligible under the adult provisions

Note: if a carer lodges a new paper claim or a new online claim within 13 weeks of their CP and/or CA being cancelled, it can be considered as a request for a review of decision. If a carer lodges a new paper claim or submits a new online claim more than 13 weeks after payments have been cancelled, standard new claim processes apply.