Receipt of claims, forms and documentation for family assistance 007-01040000

Forms must be completed in blue or black pen.

Check the form has been completed correctly and in full. If any claim form pages are missing, note the missing page numbers on the front of the form.

Check the form has been signed. See Resources page for signature requirements for customers claiming Family Tax Benefit (FTB) and/or Parental Leave Pay (PPL) and action to take if the requirements are not met.

Documents: take care to sight, copy/scan all pages immediately. If appropriate, store on site in scan batch or return any original documents to the customer. For help, see Sighting, recording and returning original documents.

• If a passport is provided to meet residence requirements for family assistance, only the first page needs to be scanned/copied. This shows the country of issue and passport number
• If evidence to support an income estimate is required, copies of originals can be accepted

If a customer has lodged a Claim for Bereavement Payment (FA008) or documentation for an online or paper claim for a stillborn child or deceased child:

• Record details on a DOC. Record keyword 'FA008'. Record if any referral has been made, for example, to a social worker
• If the FA008 lodged for one child of a multiple birth, record on a DOC the type of claim lodged for surviving child/ren and any action taken with that claim
• Scan all pages immediately to allow prompt assessment by the DOP team and Bereavement Smart Centre processing staff. If appropriate, store on site in scan batch or return original documents to the customer
• Medicare staff without access to scanning, see Digital Image Management and Locating digital images

Complex enquiries relating to child bereavement

Refer complex enquiries to the DOP/Bereavement helpdesk. The Resources page contains a link to Office Locator for details of the helpdesk phone number.

Hospital has issued obsolete form or has no FA008 supplies

If an obsolete form has been issued to a customer by the hospital it is to be accepted. The customer will then be contacted to obtain any further information.

A Team Leader or Service Support Officer (SSO) must then contact the hospital about FA081/FA008 supplies to discuss ordering a new supply of stock and to arrange urgent delivery, if appropriate.

The FA081 can be lodged to support a claim for family assistance and Paid Parental Leave scheme payments, and to enrol the child in Medicare, Medicare Safety Net, My Health Record and Australian Immunisation Register.

If a customer lodges a completed FA081:

• Check that all relevant questions on the form have been answered and it is signed
• If the customer wants to claim FTB and/or PPL for the child, check if they have made an online claim or lodged a Claim for Paid Parental Leave and Family Tax Benefit (FA100). If they are claiming FTB only, do not intend to claim PPL, and FTB current for other children, a fully completed FA081 can be used to reassess their FTB for the newborn child
• If the customer wants to claim payments for the child but has not yet done so, advise them how to claim and timeframes for claiming PPL. For more information, see Initial contact by customers claiming payments for families
• If the customer has given consent for Medicare enrolment, a new Medicare card will be sent by mail. If child needs to go to the doctor before the new card is received, they will need to contact Medicare
• If the customer was issued with an FA081 and the child has since died:
• Do not issue a Claim for Bereavement Payment (FA008M) if:
  they have submitted an online claim or lodged an FA100, or
  they are FTB current and only adding the child for FTB
• Accept the FA081 and confirmation of the child's death
• All claims relating to the death of a child are processed by Smart Centres Families Bereavement and Double Orphan Pension (DOP) team

Was a post birth claim or Add Newborn for family assistance and Paid Parental Leave for the newborn child lodged online?

• Yes, select Scan to store when scanning the document
• No, if:
• not actioning the FA081 at first contact, do not select Scan to store. This will leave the scan open and work item will be allocated to an appropriately trained Service Officer
• actioning the FA081, select Scan to store

See Scanning Centrelink documents using an MFD.

An FA081 should be lodged online using Upload documents or scanned to the customer record. If a customer does not provide their Customer Reference Number (CRN), search for the customer and record CRN for scanning.

Scan paper claims and any documentation received for an online or paper claim upon receipt and store locally.

In sites where scanning is not available (e.g. Medicare sites), see Scanning Centrelink documents using an MFD.

See Helping customers provide proof of a child's birth for family assistance, Child Care Subsidy (CCS) and Paid Parental Leave scheme claims.

Current income support (non-Parenting Payment) customers lodging one of the following forms at a service centre are to be offered a transfer to Parenting Payment (PP) where appropriate:

• Newborn Child Declaration (FA081)
• Details of your child's care arrangements (FA012) form

Customers may also attend a service centre in relation to a previously lodged FA081 or FA012 for which a scanned image is available.

Service Officers are to action the PP transfer immediately without the need for a full PP claim or Assisted Customer Claim (ACC). If the customer does not lodge an online claim, the ACC still needs to be run based on known information and the customer contacted for additional information if required to enable a proper assessment of the claim.

Note: if unable to determine care at point of contact, usual claim processes apply.

This does not apply if the customer or their partner is not receiving income support payments.

For claim processing, see Claiming Parenting Payment (PP)

Acceptable evidence to support the claim should be lodged with the SC003 by the customer.

For more information on how to check and register an SC003, see Initial contact by customers claiming Double Orphan Pension (DOP).

Smart Centre staff who have received recent training in the last 12 months and who have processed or are proficient in processing Family Tax Benefit (FTB) or Child Care Subsidy (CCS) claims may process these claims at first contact. Normal Records Management Unit (RMU) procedures apply.

Otherwise:

• Transfer activity to Families Processing Services virtual queue (FCC). Note: do not transfer if documents support existing claim activity. If appropriate, it will be picked up by a specific Smart Centre Processing service via Integrated Activity Management (IAM)
• Centrelink Service Centres: scan immediately and, if appropriate, store on site in scan batch or return any original documents to the customer. Note: the following CCS can be accepted and processed without the partner's signature, unless there is evidence to suggest the partner's details may not be completed or correct. In these cases, a phone call to the partner will be required by FCC Processing staff:
• Claim for Child Care Subsidy (FA084)
• Application for Additional Chid Care Subsidy (Transition to Work) (FA085)
• Application for Additional Child Care Subsidy (Temporary Financial Hardship) (FA086)
• Immunisation evidence: Assessments of immunisation status, including exemptions are managed by the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR). In most cases, customers are not required to provide documentary evidence to the agency as vaccination providers will update the AIR. For more information, see Management of immunisation evidence
• Medicare Service Centres, see Digital Image Management and Locating digital images

• Information is to be requested to be provided within 14 days (21 days for remote area or overseas customers), unless the customer is required to return bank account (payment destination) details and/or tax file number, in which case the information is to be returned within 28 days, see new postage timeframes
• Claim activities are to be held for a minimum of 15 days, however before making an adverse decision, allow extra time for mail delivery see new postage timeframes to determine correct held date
• Processing Services staff may contact the customer by phone or mail if further information is required for their claim to be finalised
• If a scanned form is incomplete (e.g. customer has skipped a page) and the customer cannot be contacted, Processing Services staff may print the entire scanned form
• attempt to contact the customer by phone to obtain missing information
• issue a request to the customer to provide the additional or missing information
• If rent assistance verification has not been previously requested or provided with a claim for FTB Part A instalments, the claim can be granted and verification of rent requested as a follow up activity, if it appears the customer would meet Rent Assistance eligibility requirements