Raising of Social Security debts due to linking of same-sex partner 107-04020230

Category

Description

1

Customer notifies after 1 July 2009

Customer notifies on 25 July 2009 that they are in a same-sex relationship. Customer states they have been in this relationship for the last 5 years. The system is updated to reflect the partnered status with the date of event being 1 July 2009 (this is the earliest date of event that can be coded as this is when legislation was introduced). A debt is prompted for the period 1 July 2009 to 24 July 2009. The first notice issued to the customer that advised of the requirement to notify of same-sex relationships was sent on 17 July 2009.

• Customer was issued first official notice with legislative requirement to notify of same-sex relationship on 17 July 2009 (date of valid notice)
• Customer advised of same-sex de facto or registered relationship on 25 July 2009 (which is within 14 days of the notice being issued)
• A debt shell is created for the period 1 July 2009 to 24 July 2009
• As the customer notified within 14 days of being issued an official notice, no legal debt exists
• Debt shell should be FND

2

Customer notified during the voluntary declaration period

Customer notified on 15 June 2009 that they are in a same-sex relationship. The customer is issued with the appropriate forms to complete regarding the relationship on 15 June 2009. The customer returns these forms on 22 July 2009 and the information is updated. A debt is prompted for the period 1 July 2009 to 21 July 2009. The first notice to this customer advising of the requirement to notify of same-sex relationships was issued on 11 July 2009.

• Customer voluntarily declared their same-sex relationship on 15 June 2009, relevant forms were issued on the same day
• Customer was issued first official notice with legislative requirement to notify of same-sex relationship on 11 July 2009
• Customer returned the relevant forms on 22 July 2009 and MS screen was updated with DOV 1 July 2009
• A debt shell is created for period 1 July 2009 to 21 July 2009
• As the customer notified within 14 days of being issued an official notice, no legal debt exists
• Debt shell should be FND

Note: although the customer self-identified in the voluntary declaration period, no legislative requirement existed for the customer to notify of the same-sex relationship until they had received a valid notice.

The debt start date for a customer who fails to notify is the date they received a valid notice. Under legislation, this is the date of the original notice. In this instance, this means the date of effect is the date of event.

3

Customer notified after 1 July 2009

Customer notified on 15 Aug 2009 that they have been in a same-sex relationship since 2007. The customer is issued with the appropriate forms to complete regarding the relationship and lodges these on 15 Aug 2009. The information is immediately updated. A debt is prompted for the period 1 July 2009 to 13 Aug 2009. The first notice to this customer advising of the requirement to notify of same-sex relationships was issued on 11 July 2009.

• Customer was issued their first official notice which advised of their requirement to notify of same-sex relationship on 11 July 2009 (date of valid notice)
• Customer advised of same-sex relationship on 15 Aug 2009 (which is outside 14 days of the notice being issued)
• A debt shell is generated for the period 1 July 2009 to 13 Aug 2009
• As the customer did not notify within 14 days of being issued an official notice, a legal debt exists
• The period 1 July 2009 to 10 July 2009 is not a legally recoverable overpayment as a valid notice was not issued until 11 Jul 2009

The period of the debt 11 July 2009 to 13 Aug 2009 is a legally recoverable debt.