Parental Leave Pay (PPL) debt raising, debt offsetting and recovery 107-04070010

A PPL debt can be raised against a customer (employee):

• when they have:
• not met residency requirements
• received a payment made after death
• worked on a PPL day
• not had care of a child on a PPL day
• received a duplicate payment
• for a child born or entered care before 1 July 2023:
• no longer being the primary carer
• the care giver was deemed ineligible for PPL
• PPL payability ceasing due to return to work
• transfer of payment
• due to fraud and/or misrepresentation

On the customer’s (employee) record, go to the Document List (DL) screen. Debt staff must check for any DOCs made by PPLEPT staff before actioning the debt.

Debt staff can also check the OPTD screen to see what debts have been transferred to another record (such as their employer).

Is there a DOC by PPLEPT staff on record?

• Yes, review the DOC. It will include information such as:
• Debt reason
• Start date and end date
• Calculated amount
• Go to Step 2
• No, investigate the debt. See Debt raising support for customers

Note: the customer is to repay all amounts of the debt. This includes Pay As You Go (PAYG) deductions which have been remitted to the ATO.

For debt benefit types and components applicable to the PPL claim and debt period, see the Resources page.

See Debt investigation.

Is there a legally recoverable debt?

• Yes, consider waiver of debt. Go to Step 3
• No, FND the debt. Go to Finalised ‘no debt’ (FND) or ‘zeroing’ debts that are not legally recoverable. Procedure ends here

Determine whether the debt can be waived partially or in full.

A PPL debt can be waived under the reason code LTW if the debt has an outstanding balance equal to or more than $50, but less than $200, and it is not cost effective to recover the remaining amount. The LTW reason code is only for PPL.

Does the debt meet the criteria for a waiver?

• Yes, see Waiving Centrelink debts. Procedure ends here
• No, action the debt as per BAU processes, see Debt raising support for customers. Procedure ends here

Note: There are additional considerations for the Account Payable when raising a PPL debt.

For PPL customer debts, key the total amount of all PPL amounts paid to the customer in the Amount Received field, regardless of whether the payment was delivered by the employer or the agency.

When the PAYG withholdings amount has been paid, it must be included in the account payable free text.

Do not include amounts paid to the employer that were not passed on to the customer. These amounts are raised as employer debts.

Customer is requesting:

• refund to an offset amount, go to Step 2
• exemptions to their PPL offsetting, go to Step 3

Locate the information via the offsetting screen.

The PPL Withholding Offsetting Summary (P1WOS) screen displays a summary view of current and historical PPL withholding and offsetting actions.

The information on this screen can be expanded by entering:

• ‘O’ in the line to go to the PPL Offsetting Details (P1WOOD) screen to view the details of offsetting, including income support payment details
• ‘W’ in the line to go to PPL Withholding Details (P1WOWD) screen to view Debt ID, withholding amounts and type (standard, non-standard)

Note: P1WOS can be accessed from Assessment Results (AR) screen by entering ‘L’ in the activity.

Customers must provide evidence to show that they are experiencing exceptional or unforeseen circumstance that may cause severe financial hardship.

Service Officers/Social workers should request information and refer this to a Subject Matter Expert for a quality check.

Do not refer directly to the Families Level 2 Helpdesk.

Regular living and medical expenses are not grounds for a refund/exemption, requests must meet the definition of exceptional or unforeseen.

Is there sufficient evidence?

• Yes, refer to the National Families and Child Care Level 2 Policy Helpdesk for further assessment. Go to Step 5
• No:
• advise referrer that insufficient information is available, go to Step 3
• if customer cannot provide any further information, they do not meet the requirements for refund. Advise customer of decision and their rights to an internal review via Authorised Review Officer (ARO)

Include the following information for the referral:

• The refund amount requested
• What the refund will be used for
• Details of the unforeseen or exceptional circumstances
• The costs and how these have contributed to financial hardship
• Evidence to support the unforeseen or exceptional circumstances and the costs

The Resources page has a link to the Level 2 Policy Helpdesk.

Note: the maximum period for an exemption to be in place is 12 months.

Does the customer meet requirements for a refund/exemption?

• Yes, for:
• refunds, advise customer and go to Step 7
• exemptions, advise referring officer of outcome, referring officer to contact customer
• No:
• tell the referring officer of the outcome. Referring officer to advise the customer of outcome and their right to seek further review by an ARO
• DOC record (provide detail on why request was denied)
• procedure ends here

Create an open DOC. Use Fast Note - select Auto text, use Debts > Updates > Debt offset refund request.

Include the following information:

• Helpdesk enquiry number (do not apply for ARO reviews)
• If the customer is 'at risk' or experiencing hardship, add the URGENT keyword

System will include the ACTDRU keyword on DOC for allocation to Debt Staff.

Debt Staff to follow the Refunding debt payments procedure.