Extending the return date for Carer Payment (CP) and Carer Allowance (CA) medical review 009-08030000

In some circumstances the return date of a medical review may need to be extended due to the carer needing more time to complete and submit the required forms.

The carer may be experiencing difficulties or delays in getting their forms completed by a doctor or Treating Health Professional (THP), or perhaps delays in the mail.

The granting of an extension is at the Service Officer’s discretion. The Service Officer will discuss with the carer the reasons for the request.

Note: most requests from carers would be considered reasonable, and therefore normally accepted.

Reviews can be deferred by a maximum of 28 days. It is possible to defer both the reminder letter (the 'reminder/request contact stage') and the cancellation stage. However, it is only possible to defer both for 28 days in total - for example, if the reminder stage is deferred by 15 days, the cancellation stage is only able to be deferred by 13 days.

The carer has 21 days to complete the initial review forms. If the carer fails to return the review within 21 days, a reminder letter is sent with no forms enclosed.

If the carer fails to respond to the reminder letter within 21 days (42 days in total) payments are suspended.

If no further response is received within 13 weeks of suspension, payment will be cancelled.

Carers should be encouraged to return the Care Needs Assessment section of the review as soon as possible (even if the medical report has not yet been completed by a THP), as recording the return of the Care Needs Assessment will prevent the carers payment being suspended by removing the review activity from Future Activity List (FAL).

Note: Child Care Load reviews, service components 427, 428 and 430, are not able to be extended or deferred.