Coding the paper Carer Payment and/or Carer Allowance Care Needs Assessment for a child under 16 years (SA408 and SA394) 009-04050040

The CNA forms part of the Disability Care Load Assessment (child) Determination (DCLAD) (2020) and identifies the amount of care required by a child care receiver when assessing qualification for CP (child) and/or CA (child).

For carers unable to claim online, the pre-populated SA408 (system generated) form or the manual SA394 (fillable and printable PDF) form is required for all carers claiming CP and/or CA for a child under the age of 16 years. For customers deemed unable or unsuitable to complete an online claim or Assisted Customer Claim (ACC), First Contact Service Offer (FCSO) workflow may need to be used. See Claim lodgement of Centrelink claims.

Note: the FCSO workflow is to be run only when a carer contacts to claim and all other options for claim lodgement cannot be used. If used, FCSO will determine if either the SA408 or SA394 is to be sent to the carer for a new claim.

Carers must achieve a qualifying rating of intense to qualify for CP and/or CA (child). A qualifying rating of intense will be achieved if the carer and care receiver have achieved a score of at least '85 or greater' on the CNA, as well as a qualifying Treating Health Professional (THP) score of 'greater than zero' on the THP medical report.

The carer must also meet all of the other requirements of the professional questionnaire in the medical report for the carer to be eligible for CP and/or CA (child).

Where a CP and/or CA (child) claim has been previously been rejected and the carer submits a new medical report or CNA within 13 weeks of the rejection and the claim can be reopened, the existing medical report or CNA responses which resulted in the initial rejection of the claim must not be amended or deleted. A new line must be created and the new medical report and/or carer responses added. To do this select the + and add a new medical report on the CDMD screens. This may occur in the following circumstances where the original claim has been rejected with a reason code of either:

• Failed to Reply to Correspondence (FRC) and a new medical report has been provided
• Insufficient Care Load (ICL) and a CNA has been provided

See Coding the Adult Disability Assessment Tool (ADAT) or Calculating the total Disability Care Load Assessment Determination (DCLAD) (2020) score for further details.

If the carer is claiming CA only, the CNA will not be issued at FCSO stage.

The CNA will be sent to the carer after the processing team has completed the Treating Health Professional (THP) assessment.

The CNA will then be sent to the carer to complete and return so the CA claim assessment can be finalised.

If the carer is claiming CP (child) or CA (child) for more than 1 child, a CNA (SA408 or SA394) must be completed for each child. Only 1 claim form is to be completed for each child if both payments are being claimed.

Note: if the child's Treating Health Professional (THP) has confirmed the disability or severe medical condition is on the List of Recognised Disabilities (LoRD), the carer will automatically qualify for CA and will not need to complete the SA408 or SA394 unless they are also claiming CP.

If a Treating Health Professional (THP) has certified the child care receiver is terminally ill, the carer will qualify for CP (child) without needing to complete a CNA if they meet all other eligibility criteria.

In some circumstances, referral to a Carer Specialist Assessment Team (CSAT) may be made if the carer is just under the qualifying score. This may be done automatically by the system or manually by a Service Officer.

If the claim for CP (child) is borderline, referral to the CSAT may result in investigation of additional evidence of the carer's qualification for payment. The CSAT may consider a range of evidence provided to establish if any of the CNA responses should be changed. The outcome will assist in determining eligibility for CP (child).

Carers who are current or suspended on 30 June 2010 and were:

• granted CP (child) under the DCLAD (2009) or CA (child) under the Child Disability Assessment Determination (CDAD) (2001) will maintain qualification and payability under their existing provisions. This remains until they are selected for review under DCLAD 2010 or lose qualification on or after 1 July 2010. This group of care receivers will not appear on the Carer Payment Grandfathered (CRGF) screen
• granted CP (child) due to caring for a Profoundly Disabled Child (PDC), or two children who require the equivalent care of a PDC, will maintain qualification and payability under PDC provisions until they are selected for review under DCLAD 2020 or lose qualification on or after 1 July 2010. Carers in this group who reclaim CP (child) for the same care receiver from 1 July 2010 to 17 August 2020 will be required to provide a DCLAD (2020) care load assessment and medical report. These groups of care receivers will appear on the CRGF screen