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Approved Care Organisations (ACO) 007-01060000

This page includes generic information on Approved Care Organisations (ACO).

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General information on ACOs

Outbound contact with an ACO

Updates required to Organisation details

General information on ACOs

Table 1

Item	Description
1	ACO contacts requesting information in relation to the status of their Approval application, or FTB claim Tell the ACO their request will be referred on for further investigation and they will be contacted by a staff member within 2 business days to discuss. Escalate the request to the ACO processing team via email. Include the: Organisation Name: Organisation CRN (if known): Organisation Authorised Contact Name: Organisation Authorised Contact Phone Number: Organisation Authorised Contact email: Details of the enquiry:
2	ACO requests an ACO entitlement report For ACO Smart Centre Processing To access the ACO Entitlement Report (ACORPT) screen, in Customer First, key ACORPT in ‘Nxt’ Enter the relevant date range in the Date From: and Date To: fields Select Continue to go to the ACO Entitlement Report Online (ACORPTO) screen Key ‘Y’ in the Print Report (Y/N) field Key [local printer ID] in the Printer Id: field. Report will be printed locally. Staff must collect the report from the local printer Scan the report via the printer and select Email icon on the printer Select keyboard icon and enter personal Services Australia email address Select OK then select Start. (This will then scan the document and send to Service Officer’s email) Report will be emailed to the Service Officer’s personal email as a PDF document ACO processing officer can now attach this to the email sent to the ACO. This email is to be sent from the positional mailbox. See the Resources page for a link to the approved email template Delete the personal email and place the hard copy in the secure bin to be destroyed
3	ACO fails to provide admission/discharge spreadsheets for 28 days If the ACO is FTB current and they have failed to provide an admission/discharge spreadsheet in 28 days, contact the ACO via phone to remind the ACO of their obligations. Email notification must also be sent to the ACO. Issue an RFI using the approved RFI email template with a DUE DATE of 14 days from the date the email is sent Note: as the ACO has not provided the first and surnames of all associated children, the following amendment to the text has been approved: confirmation of the admission date of entry for {any young person in your care since (date of last spreadsheet)} and if there was an internal transfer confirmation of the discharge date confirmation of the discharge date for {any young person who has left your care since (date of last spreadsheet)} confirmation if there have been no admissions, internal transfers, or discharges that have occurred since {date of last spreadsheet} Once 14 days have passed and the ACO has not provided any further spreadsheets, cancel the ACO’s FTB via the BA screen using: Service Reason: FTB - Family Tax Benefit Action: CAN - Cancel Reason: FRC - Fail to reply to correspondence Effect Date: this will auto populate with DPT + 1 Document the record with the decision.

Outbound contact with an ACO

Table 2

Step	Action
1	Locate contact details ACO representative and phone details are located on the Organisation Contact Summary (OSCS) screen of the ACO CRN. If the ACO has more than 1 CRN, each CRN must have the same details. The Service Officer must use the contact details on the OSCS screen to make the outbound contact. Go to Step 2.
2	Outbound contact with the ACO When making an outbound contact, the Service Officer will greet the ACO representative who answers the phone and advise they are calling from Services Australia. For example: Hi, my name is [service officer's name]. Am I speaking with [employer's first name] from [business name]? Hi, this is [service officer's name] from Services Australia, who am I speaking with? Are you from [business name]? For information on best practice greetings, see Calling a customer or returning their call. Is the person an ACO representative or is the ACO representative available? Yes, go to Step 3 No, Do not disclose any information and politely end the call Document the record with the outbound contact attempt. Procedure ends here
3	Contact with employer representative – privacy message The service officer must read the privacy message to the ACO representative before disclosing the reason for the call or any other information. If the ACO representative is unaware or unsure of who Services Australia is or unwilling to proceed with the call, see Background > Information that can be disclosed prior to authentication. For any contact that involves information which is not general or publicly available, the ACO representative must be authenticated. The service officer must read the authentication message and establish the ACO representative’s identity (full name and business name) before discussing the reason for the call or disclosing any information.
4	Authentication of an ACO representative - establishing identity Establish the ACO representative’s identity by asking questions that potentially only the ACO representative would know the answers to. For example, questions about the organisation details that can be cross-checked with the organisation's record. Service officers must ask at least 3 of the following: Full name of ACO representative as per the OSCS screen Contact phone number and/or email address as per the OSCS screen Full physical and/or postal business address (including state and postcode) as per Address Summary (ADS) screen Payment details as per Payment Destination Details (PAFA) screen Number of licensed places as per FAO Approved Care Organisation (FACO) screen This is not an exhaustive list, and each case must be judged on its merits. Service officers can ask additional questions if they are not fully satisfied with the ACO representative’s responses. Note: be aware that other people could know simple information such as the address. Service officers should vary their question set when establishing the legal representatives claim to the organisation. Is the service officer satisfied with the identity of the ACO representative? Yes, continue with the call. After the call is completed, ensure the record is documented with the conversation outcome. Procedure ends here No, go to Step 5
5	ACO representative is not authenticated If the identity of the ACO representative is not authenticated, do not release any information. Customer Privacy and confidentiality always comes first. Offer to send the required information to the organisations email address. Document the record with the contact attempts.

Updates required to Organisation details

Table 3

Item	Description
1	Organisation name ACO names must be correct to ensure all letters are correct. If the ACO has more than 1 CRN, each CRN must have the same details. To update the organisation name: In Next, enter ‘OND’ to go to the Organisation Name Detail (OND) screen In the Organisation Name field, update the ACO’s name In the Date of Event field, enter the Date Services Australia was first made aware of the change Enter Source and Receipt Date Select ‘Save’ Proceed to Assessment Results (AR) to check the outcome and finalise Document the record with the update Escalate to Service Delivery Support Team to arrange the ACO Contact Master List and Content Manager files to be updated
2	Contact or ACO representative Only the Contact name on the Organisation Contact Summary (OSCS) is to be contacted when making an outbound call. If the ACO has more than 1 CRN, each CRN must have the same details. To update the organisation name: In Next, enter ‘OSCS’ to go to the Organisation Name Detail (OND) screen To add a new ACO representative: Select ‘Add Contact’ Add all required details Enter Source and Receipt Date Select ‘Save’ Otherwise, select the radio button of the contact To modify the ACO representative details: Select ‘Modify Contact’ Change required details Enter Source and Receipt Date Select ‘Save’ To end date an ACO representative: Select ‘Modify Contact’ Enter an end date Enter Source and Receipt Date Select ‘Save’ Proceed to Assessment Results (AR) to check the outcome and finalise Document the record with the update Escalate to Service Delivery Support Team to arrange the ACO Contact Master List updated
3	Contact Phone number Only the phone number on the Organisation Contact Summary (OSCS) is to be used when making an outbound call. If the ACO has more than 1 CRN, each CRN must have the same details. To update the phone number: In Next, enter ‘OSCS’ to go to the Organisation Name Detail (OND) screen: To modify the ACO Contact Phone details Select ‘Modify Phone Detail’ Select the relevant radio button Change required details Enter Source and Receipt Date Select ‘Save’ To end date an ACO representative: Select ‘Modify Contact’ Enter an end date Enter Source and Receipt Date Select ‘Save’ Proceed to Assessment Results (AR) to check the outcome and finalise Document the record with the update Escalate to Service Delivery Support Team to arrange the ACO Contact Master List updated
4	Maximum Number of places FTB payments are based on the number of places the ACO has been approved for. If the ACO has more than 1 CRN, each CRN must have the same details. To update the number of places for the ACO: In Next, enter ‘FACO’ to go to the FAO Approved Care Organisation (FACO) screen To modify the ACO Contact Phone details: Enter Event Date (date Services Australia was notified) Type: as per previous entry Legal status: as per previous entry Max Num Places: Number of places approved for Last Visit: remain blank Status: as per previous entry Reason code: as per previous entry Enter Source and Receipt Date Proceed to Assessment Results (AR) to check the outcome and finalise Document the record with the update Escalate to Service Delivery Support Team to notify Business Owners