Finalised 'no debt' (FND) or 'zeroing' debts that are not legally recoverable 107-05110010

Did the UND occur when restoring the customer's ABSTUDY Schooling A (ABT) record?

• Yes, see Table 2 > Step 1
• No, smart centre staff, refer the UND debt to Debt Staff. Otherwise, go to Step 2

Did the customer receive an excess payment under the Pension Bonus Scheme (PBS)?

• Yes:
• Finalise any debt activity as 'no debt' (FND) if the customer was entitled to the payment at the time. See Table 2 > Step 1
• Raise a Pension Bonus Scheme (PBS) debt if the customer received the payment on the basis of fraudulent or misleading information
• Raise a Pension Bonus Scheme (PBS) debt if the customer received the payment due to an administrative error
• No, go to Step 3

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

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

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?

• Yes, create a new debt record on the Debt Management and Information System (DMIS). Procedure ends here
• No, go to Step 6

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?

• Yes, go to Step 8
• No, go to Step 7

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?

• Yes, go to Step 8
• No, go to Step 9

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?

• Yes, create a new debt record on the DMIS
• No, finalise any debt activity as FND. See Table 2 > Step 1

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

Check if the debt should be:

• FND
• raised, or
• waived

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)

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.

• Select Customer Summary from the Process Direct Landing page
• Enter the customer's CRN, select Go
• Key START in the Super Key
• Select Debt Assist workflow from the Task Selector

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’?

• Yes, go to Step 6
• No, go to Step 5

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
• The confirmation question will now show, 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.

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:
• Select Next
• Go to Step 7
• No:
• A warning will appear advising 'You cannot proceed to Finalise No Debt'
• Procedure ends here

The following fields will auto populate and cannot manually be updated:

• Debt ID
• Debt status
• 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.

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.

The source activity will auto populate the start and end date of the debt.

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.

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

• 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.

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

Did the UND occur when restoring the customer's ABSTUDY Schooling A (ABT) record?

• Yes, see Table 2 > Step 1
• No, smart centre staff, refer the UND debt to Debt Staff. Otherwise, go to Step 2

Did the customer receive an excess payment under the Pension Bonus Scheme (PBS)?

• Yes:
• Finalise any debt activity as 'no debt' (FND) if the customer was entitled to the payment at the time. See Table 2 > Step 1
• Raise a Pension Bonus Scheme (PBS) debt if the customer received the payment on the basis of fraudulent or misleading information
• Raise a Pension Bonus Scheme (PBS) debt if the customer received the payment due to an administrative error
• No, go to Step 3

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

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

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?

• Yes, create a new debt record on the Debt Management and Information System (DMIS). Procedure ends here
• No, go to Step 6

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?

• Yes, go to Step 8
• No, go to Step 7

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?

• Yes, go to Step 8
• No, go to Step 9

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?

• Yes, create a new debt record on the DMIS
• No, finalise any debt activity as FND. See Table 2 > Step 1

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

Check if the debt should be:

• FND
• raised, or
• waived

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)

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)

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.

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