This document outlines when an excess or incorrect payment received by a customer should be finalised 'no debt' (FND). This is because it is not a debt or it is an excess payment that is not legally recoverable.
Process Direct
On this page:
Identifying an Undetermined Debt Activity (UND)
Actioning finalised 'no debt' (FND)
Identifying an Undetermined Debt Activity (UND)
Table 1
Expand tableStep | Action |
1 | ABSTUDY Schooling A (ABT) record
  Did the UND occur when restoring the customer's ABSTUDY Schooling A (ABT) record?
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2 | Excess Pension Bonus Scheme payments
 Did the customer receive an excess payment under the Pension Bonus Scheme (PBS)?
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3 | Excess Incentive Allowance payment
 Did the customer receive an excess payment of Incentive Allowance due to participating in a qualifying activity and then transferring to Disability Support Pension (DSP)?
- Yes, this is not a debt. The customer was not told they had to notify Services Australia of changes in their Incentive Allowance status. Finalise any debt activity as 'no debt' (FND). See Table 2 > Step 2
- No, go to Step 4
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4 | Excess Special Benefit (SpB) payments
 Did a child receive an excess payment of SpB in their own right? For example, the parent was not residentially qualified for any payment.
- Yes, establish if the SpB recipient (in this case, the child) had a correspondence nominee:
- if the nominee was issued a correct notice under section 68 SS(A)A setting out their notification obligations but did not notify, raise a debt against the SpB recipient. Consider a waiver of the debt under section 1237AAD of the Act, see Actioning an undetermined debt on the Debt Management and Information System (DMIS)
- if there is no correspondence nominee, no debt exists. The customer (in this case, the child) was not told to notify the agency about their parents' income. Finalise any debt activity as FND. See Table 2 > Step 2
- No, go to Step 5
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5 | Crisis Payment (CrP)
 A CrP is not a recoverable debt unless the customer was:
- not entitled to the payment (they were paid under the Social Security Act and misrepresented their circumstances), or
- was covered by an Assurance of Support (AoS) when the payment was made. In this case, create a debt under the Migration regulations 1994, Regulation 2.38(3)(b). See the References page
When claiming the payment, did the customer meet one of the above? |
6 | Excess Youth Allowance (YA) payment
 Return of a Parental Income Reassessment form (SY012A) after 1 October
Does the UND have a start date in the period that includes 1 October? |
7 | Youth Allowance (YA)
 Did the customer receive an excess payment of YA based on an estimate of parental income or actual means that was lower than the assessed parental income or actual means for that period?
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8 | Youth Allowance (YA) payment
 Where the debt is based on an estimate of income, the excess payment is not a debt.
A debt activity can occur if a customer returns of the SY012A after 1 October. This is because the system will backdate the change in income to the pay fortnight that includes 1 October. It does this if the combined parental income exceeds: - 125% of the base tax year, and
- 125% of parental income free area
There is also no legislative basis to allow for the raising of such debts. The debt may be recoverable, if: - the debt period extends beyond 1 January, and
- the customer did not notify of actual parental income within their notification provisions
See Raising Parental Income Test (PIT) debts. Does the debt period extend beyond 1 January and the customer did not notify of actual parental income details? |
9 | Family Tax Benefit (FTB) and Rent Assistance (RA) arrears
 Customers FTB and RA arrears can be adjusted to prevent a duplicate payment. This can occur when a customer receives RA with an income support payment. This is due to an arrears of FTB and RA calculating for the same period. Staff must adjust the arrears before they finalise the FTB claim. This will prevent a duplicate RA payment from issuing.
Did the customer have a FTB and RA arrears adjusted to prevent a duplicate RA payment? - Yes, as there has been an adjustment, there is no excess payment. Finalise any debt activity as FND. In the FND Reason field, key COD. See Table 2 > Step 2
- No, see Table 2 > Step 1
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Actioning finalised 'no debt' (FND)
Table 2
Expand tableStep | Action |
1 | Finalised 'no debt' (FND)
  Check if the debt should be:
To finalise an Child Care Subsidy (CCS) Undetermined Debt Activity (UND) as 'finalised no debt' in Process Direct, see Raising Child Care Subsidy (CCS) debts in Process Direct. Should the debt be finalised 'no debt' (FND)? - Yes, go to Step 2
- No, see Table 2 in the Actioning an undetermined debt on the Debt Management and Information System (DMIS)
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2 | Coding FND
 Note: smart centre staff are to follow this procedure when the UND generates due to restoring ABSTUDY Schooling A payments.
  Use the Debt Assist workflow to FND the debt.
Go to Step 3. |
3 | Select customer
From the Process Direct Landing page, select Customer Summary: - key the customer's CRN, select Go
- in the Super Key, key START
- from the Task Selector, select Debt Assist workflow
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4 | Select the debt to FND
The Debt Summary screen will show all: - undetermined debts
- determined debts, and
- finalised debts
From the Debt Information Overview: - select the undetermined Debt ID to be FND. Note: the Debt Assist workflow can only be used to FND an undetermined debt
- select Next
Does the confirmation question present 'Have you checked the debt is not suitable to be raised or waived, and confirm the debt is to be Finalised No Debt’? |
5 | Continue to FND using the Debt Assist workflow
If the confirmation question does not show after a debt is selected, this may indicate the workflow is already in progress. The workflow will go to the Circumstance Data screen. Investigate the previously started transaction to confirm the debt is to be FND. If staff exit the workflow and need to return to continue processing the debt, the Transaction ID must be visible at the top of the screen: - if the Transaction ID does not show:
- in the record, select the Transactions icon > All transactions
- select Transaction ID hyperlink
- select Process
- select Next on the Errors (SWE) screen
- when the confirmation question shows, select Next
Note: if the confirmation question does not show, the transaction cannot be finalised in Process Direct, see Handover function in Process Direct, Customer First and Customer Record. Go to Step 6. |
6 | Select debt action
To view debt information details, select View details. Respond to confirmation question 'Have you checked the debt is not suitable to be raised or waived, and confirm the debt is to be Finalised No Debt'? - Yes:
- No:
- a warning will appear advising 'You cannot proceed to Finalise No Debt'
- procedure ends here
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7 | Debt Information
The following fields will auto populate and cannot manually be updated: - Debt ID
- Debt status
- Date of event
- Debt start and end dates
- Legislative authority
- Estimated amount
- Calculated amount
Note: the calculated amount will be automatically set to $0.00 as FND has been selected. Confirm the details are for the correct debt. |
8 | Benefit type
The Benefit type field will auto populate and can be manually updated. To update, select the appropriate Benefit type from the dropdown menu. Note: the legislative authority will automatically update to the appropriate Act depending on the Benefit type selected. |
9 | Debt start and end dates
The source activity will auto populate the start and end date of the debt. |
10 | Reason to FND
Select the appropriate reason from the dropdown menu: - COD - Incorrect coding
- EXP - Excess payment
- FAM - Families
- MUL - Multiple debt activities. If MUL is selected, the relevant sub-category must be selected:
- Internal transfer debt - What benefits did the customer transfer to?
- Multiple debt amalgamation - What is the debt ID that the debt will be amalgamated into?
- DVA transfer
- NDC - No Debt Calculated
- NHL - NOHL Date of Event
- PRS - Payment restored
- RTN - Direct Credit Recall. If RTN is selected, the date the payment was returned field must be completed:
- What date was the payment returned?
- SCO - Scholarship Offset
- SYS - Bulk reassessment
- TPD - Third-party debt. If TPD is selected, the third-party Customer Reference Number (CRN) must be keyed into the Third-party reference field.
Note: the third party reference number will show in Additional reference
For further explanations on the reason, see the Resources page. |
11 | Notes
Key additional details in the Debt activity description/notes field: - Project code is optional
- Additional reference is mandatory for the following debt codes:
- AVT
- DRA
- EMG
- ERG
- EXG
- AGP
- XGO
- XGR
- AGD
- XGD
Note: these details will be included in the Finalisation Note, except for the third-party reference number. Additional reference details will present on the Debt Details screen. Select the appropriate options for the Document list (DL) document properties fields from the dropdown menu: - Who Contacted
- Source
- Channel
- Select Next.
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12 | Finalise the transaction
To finalise the transaction: - address any errors/warnings shown on the Errors (SWE) screen
- select Assess
- confirm outcome is correct on Debt Finalisation screen
- select Finish
- record any additional details of the update, assessment and decision in the Finalisation Note on the Finalise screen. Note: for third party debts, do not include the CRN or other identifying details in the Finalisation Note
- select Finalise to complete the transaction
There is no manual tax adjustment if the UND debt has been FND. Note: If transaction cannot be finalised in Process Direct, see Handover function in Process Direct, Customer First and Customer Record. |
13 | Send feedback when appropriate
Where the UND has been caused by incorrect coding: - leave constructive feedback for the staff member responsible for the initial incorrect coding that created the UND
- where possible, include guidance on corrective action and which references apply
- see the Resources page for a link to the Staff Feedback Tool
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Customer First/Customer Record
On this page:
Identifying an Undetermined Debt Activity (UND)
Actioning finalised 'no debt' (FND)
Identifying an Undetermined Debt Activity (UND)
Table 1
Summary: Table 1: this table describes how to identify an Undetermined Debt Activity.
Expand tableStep | Action |
1 | ABSTUDY Schooling A (ABT) record
  Did the UND occur when restoring the customer's ABSTUDY Schooling A (ABT) record?
|
2 | Excess Pension Bonus Scheme payments
 Did the customer receive an excess payment under the Pension Bonus Scheme (PBS)?
|
3 | Excess Incentive Allowance payment
 Did the customer receive an excess payment of Incentive Allowance due to participating in a qualifying activity and then transferring to Disability Support Pension (DSP)?
- Yes, this is not a debt. The customer was not told they had to notify Services Australia of changes in their Incentive Allowance status. Finalise any debt activity as 'no debt' (FND). See Table 2 > Step 2
- No, go to Step 4
|
4 | Excess Special Benefit (SpB) payments
 Did a child receive an excess payment of SpB in their own right? For example, the parent was not residentially qualified for any payment.
- Yes, establish if the SpB recipient (in this case, the child) had a correspondence nominee:
- if the nominee was issued a correct notice under section 68 SS(A)A setting out their notification obligations but did not notify, raise a debt against the SpB recipient. Consider a waiver of the debt under section 1237AAD of the Act, see Actioning an undetermined debt on the Debt Management and Information System (DMIS)
- if there is no correspondence nominee, no debt exists. The customer (in this case, the child) was not told to notify the agency about their parents' income. Finalise any debt activity as FND. See Table 2 > Step 2
- No, go to Step 5
|
5 | Crisis Payment (CrP)
 A CrP is not a recoverable debt unless the customer was:
- not entitled to the payment (they were paid under the Social Security Act and misrepresented their circumstances), or
- was covered by an Assurance of Support (AoS) when the payment was made. In this case, create a debt under the Migration regulations 1994, Regulation 2.38(3)(b). See the References page
When claiming the payment, did the customer meet one of the above? |
6 | Excess Youth Allowance (YA) payment
 Return of a Parental Income Reassessment form (SY012A) after 1 October
Does the UND have a start date in the period that includes 1 October? |
7 | Youth Allowance (YA)
 Did the customer receive an excess payment of YA based on an estimate of parental income or actual means that was lower than the assessed parental income or actual means for that period?
|
8 | Youth Allowance (YA) payment
 Where the debt is based on an estimate of income, the excess payment is not a debt.
A debt activity can occur if a customer returns of the SY012A after 1 October. This is because the system will backdate the change in income to the pay fortnight that includes 1 October. It does this if the combined parental income exceeds: - 125% of the base tax year, and
- 125% of parental income free area
There is also no legislative basis to allow for the raising of such debts. The debt may be recoverable, if: - the debt period extends beyond 1 January, and
- the customer did not notify of actual parental income within their notification provisions
See Raising Parental Income Test (PIT) debts. Does the debt period extend beyond 1 January and the customer did not notify of actual parental income details? |
9 | Family Tax Benefit (FTB) and Rent Assistance (RA) arrears
 Customers FTB and RA arrears can be adjusted to prevent a duplicate payment. This can occur when a customer receives RA with an income support payment. This is due to an arrears of FTB and RA calculating for the same period. Staff must adjust the arrears before they finalise the FTB claim. This will prevent a duplicate RA payment from issuing.
Did the customer have a FTB and RA arrears adjusted to prevent a duplicate RA payment? - Yes, as there has been an adjustment, there is no excess payment. Finalise any debt activity as FND. In the FND Reason field, key COD. See Table 2 > Step 2
- No, see Table 2 > Step 1
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Actioning finalised 'no debt' (FND)
Table 2
Expand tableStep | Action |
1 | Finalised 'no debt' (FND)
  Check if the debt should be:
To finalise an Undetermined Debt Activity (UND) as 'finalised no debt' in Process Direct, see Raising Child Care Subsidy (CCS) debts in Process Direct. Should the debt be finalised 'no debt' (FND)? - Yes, go to Step 2
- No, see Table 2 in Actioning an undetermined debt on the Debt Management and Information System (DMIS)
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2 | Coding FND
 Note: smart centre staff are to follow this procedure when the UND generates due to restoring ABSTUDY Schooling A payments.
  Use the Debt Action script to FND or amend the debt to zero.
If the script is unavailable or cannot be used for: - undetermined debts:
- select the relevant Debt ID from the Activity List (AL) screen
- go to the Modify/Assess Debt (OPMA) screen
- for the Calculated Amount $, key 0.00. For the FND Reason, use field help (?) or see the Resources page. Go to Step 3
- determined debt, see Table 1 > Step 3 in Changing account details on debts raised in the Debt Management Information System (DMIS)
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3 | Finalise the activity
  Go to the Assessment Finalisation (OPAF) screen:
- in the Finished? field, key Y > [Enter]
- record details on a DOC
There is no manual tax adjustment if the UND debt has been FND. |
4 | Generate feedback when appropriate
 Where the UND has been caused by incorrect coding:
- leave constructive feedback for the staff member responsible for the initial incorrect coding that created the UND
- where possible, include guidance on corrective action and which references apply
- see the Resources page for a link to the Staff Feedback Tool
|
Expand all