Claiming payments for children leaving care as part of the process of adoption, surrogacy arrangement, or a child removed by state/territory child protection agency 007-02010010

FTB can include Newborn Supplement (NBS) and Newborn Upfront Payment (NBU) if the customer is not eligible for PPL.

Has the customer lodged a claim for payment?

• Yes, go to Step 3
• No, go to Step 2

Encourage customers to complete an online claim for family assistance and PPL. This is the preferred service offer. It gives customers a streamlined experience.

Help the customer register for online services if necessary. Make sure they can access an 'active' online account before directing them to claim online.

If it is unreasonable for the customer to claim online, Service Officers can offer to complete an Assisted Customer Claim (ACC) with a verbal signature declaration or issue a Claim for Parental Leave Pay and Family Tax Benefit (FA100) to be completed signed and returned.

Extra assistance is available to help remote Indigenous customers make a claim.

In some instances, birth mothers who are relinquishing care of the child as part of a surrogacy or adoption may have the child in their care for a period of time following the birth. In these cases the customer may claim:

• Family Tax Benefit (FTB) including Newborn Supplement (NBS) and Newborn Upfront Payment (NBU), or
• Family Tax Benefit (FTB) and Parental Leave Pay (PPL) for the child.

Note: the birth mother/ carer may receive either PPL or NBS/NBU for the newborn child. Customers cannot be paid both PPL and NBS/NBU for the same child.

Which payment/s is the customer claiming?

• FTB (including NBS/NBU), go to step 4
• PPL only or FTB/PPL combined, go to step 5

FTB including NBS/NBU may be payable to a birth mother while the child is in their care and they are the primary carer of the child following the birth. For example, the surrogacy agreement stipulates the child is to remain in the birth mothers care for a specified period for breast feeding. Once the child leaves their care, eligibility for FTB including NBS will cease.

For:

• pre-birth, see Pre-processing checks for standalone and combined claims for family assistance and/or Paid Parental Leave payments. Procedure ends here.
• post birth, go to Step 8.

Select the option below based on the birth mother’s circumstance:

FTB

FTB, including NBS/NBU may be payable to a birth mother when the child remains in their care and they are the primary carer of the child following the birth. For example, the child remains in their care for a specified time for breast feeding. Once the child leaves their care, eligibility for FTB will cease.

PPL

Where the birth mother is eligible for PPL and the child remains in their care following the birth, the birth mother:

• cannot be paid PPL on a day they are performing paid work
• must claim all of their PPL days within the allowable payment period or the day before they relinquish care of the child, whichever is the later
• can share their entitlement with their partner. However, their partner ceases to be payable for any PPL days on or after the date the birth mother relinquishes care of the child

FTB

FTB is not payable as the customer doesn’t have care of the child.

PPL

Birth mothers who cease to have care of their child after the birth may still be eligible for PPL for maternal recovery purposes. The birth mother can only claim PPL days within the allowable payment period.

Depending on the date of birth of the child, they may be eligible for up to the maximum number of PPL days. The birth mother cannot:

• be paid PPL on a day they are performing paid work
• share any days with their partner or another person

If the birth mother claims and provides all relevant documents more than 100 days following the birth, PPL may only start within 100 days from the date all information is received. This means they may receive less than the full entitlement.

Note: gaining parents in a surrogacy and adoptive parents can also receive up to the maximum entitlement of PPL for the same child. See Claiming payments for children entrusted to care as part of the process of adoption or surrogacy.

To receive the maximum amount of PPL days the customer must claim all of their PPL days within the allowable payment period.

If the customer hasn’t claimed any PPL days within the allowable payment period their PPL claim cannot be assessed due to error E991P1 no eligible days no assessment possible. The claim will need to be manually made not effective (NEF) Information/details not provided (INF). See Processing standalone and combined claims for family assistance and/or Paid Parental Leave scheme payments

If the customer has selected any PPL days after the allowable payment period, these days will be rejected.

For general claim processing requirements, see:

• Pre-processing checks for standalone and combined claims for family assistance and/or Paid Parental Leave payments
• Processing standalone and combined claims for family assistance and/or Paid Parental Leave scheme payments

Has the customer selected all of their PPL days within the allowable payment period?

• Yes, ensure the correct coding is completed on PPL Claim Details (P1CLM) screen and PPL Relinquishing Child Care Details (P1RKC) screen for:
• post birth claims, go to Step 7
• pre-birth claims, procedure ends here
• No, the customer may not receive the full PPL entitlement
• Confirm the customer has selected a PPL day
• If the customer hasn’t claimed any PPL days within the allowable period or selected any PPL days after the allowable payment period attempt to contact the customer. Make 2 genuine attempts to contact the customer, over a 2 day period. Send a DEMC prior to contact. If contact has been unsuccessful, finalise the claim with the dates provided
• For post birth claims, go to Step 7
• For pre-birth claims, procedure ends here

Has the customer advised in their claim that the child has been removed from care due to a court order by a state or territory child protection agency?

• Yes, and
• evidence has been provided by the customer or third party confirming the child has been removed from care due to a court order by a state or territory child protection agency, continue to finalise the claim, go to Step 9
• no evidence has been provided. Check for notes on customer record. If no additional information go to Step 8
• No, go to Step 9

If additional information is required or evidence was not provided, contact the customer to confirm the circumstances of the child being removed from care. Make 2 genuine attempts to contact the customer, over a 2 day period. Send a DEMC prior to contact.

If contact is:

• successful and the customer confirms the child:
• has been removed from care, continue to finalise the claim, go to Step 9
• is still in their care and they incorrectly advised the child had been removed, delete provisional details on PPL Relinquishing Child Care Details (P1RKC) screen. See Processing standalone and combined claims for family assistance and/or Paid Parental Leave scheme payments. Procedure ends here
• unsuccessful, continue to process the claim as per the details provided, go to Step 9

Children must be named, but if care of the child has been relinquished as part of the process of adoption or a surrogacy arrangement and the child was never in the care of the birth mother, a claim can be accepted for the child without a name being given.

Has the customer provided a name for the child?

• Yes, go to Step 10
• No, add the child to the customer's record with a first name and surname of 'surrogate' (this applies for both adopted and surrogate children). Go to Step 12

Before processing the claim, search for a previous Customer Reference Number (CRN) for the child. The commissioning parent/adoptive parent may already have claimed for the child. See Searching for a customer on the system.

When there is a previous record for the child, do not update or link the existing child CRN to the birth mother’s record.

Do not use the same child CRN linked to the other carers. This would be a privacy issue. A new child record is required to protect the identity of the child, birth parents and other carers. If unsure about creating an additional record, contact Service Delivery Support Team - Families & Child Care Portfolio. For:

• PPL and FTB/PPL combined claims go to Step 11
• FTB claims only go to Step 12 .

Any PPL days that are rejected or withdrawn after the customer has worked are returned to the customer’s balance of unclaimed PPL days. These can be claimed on another eligible date within their allowable payment period, following the child’s birth.

See Claiming and managing Paid Parental Leave (PPL) days for children born or entering care on or after 1 July 2023.

Is the customer advising that they have worked on a PPL day since giving birth to the child?

• Yes, they may not be eligible for the PPL day they are working on. See Claiming and managing Paid Parental Leave (PPL) days for children born or entering care on or after 1 July 2023. Procedure ends here
• No, go to Step 12

For general claim processing requirements, see:

• Pre-processing checks for standalone and combined claims for family assistance and/or Paid Parental Leave payments
• Processing standalone and combined claims for family assistance and/or Paid Parental Leave scheme payments

Once completed, return to this step.

With the birth mothers record in context, ensure the correct coding in Process Direct, on:

• PPL claim Details (P1CLM) screen: check Relationship to Child: is Birth Mother
• PPL Relinquishing Child Care Details (P1RKC) screen, check:
• the Relinquishing child care reason (Surrogacy, Adoption or Child removed by State/Territory)
• the Date of event. If updates are required select Edit
• Child Miscellaneous circumstance (CHM) screen (post-birth claims only):
• Event Date: code the child’s date of birth
• Adopted: N
• Principal Carer Type: Natural/artificial conception/legal surrogacy
• Child Relationship (CHRE) screen (post birth claims only): check the Relationship: Parent
• Child in Customer Care (CHC) screen (post birth claims only): Check the in Care Status is In Customer Care

Where the outcome of the claim results in a rejection for a birth mother relinquishing care (e.g. rejected due to not meeting the work test, income test or not effective due to information not provided), PPL will need to be manually rejected or made not effective (if all coding is correct and this is the expected outcome) by:

• within the claim, navigate to the PPL Claim Action (P1CA) screen by entering P1CA in the Super Key
• Select Add to insert a new line
• Code:
• Action: Use 'REJect' or ‘NEF not effective’
• Reason: 'OTHer'
• Effect date: Use the date of receipt of the claim
• Select Save

Note: when a claim for the customer is processed on a date after the allowable payment period following the child’s birth, the claim will grant and cancel in the same activity. Due to this an automatic advice will not issue to the customer. Once claim has been finalised, issue a Q999 letter to advise the customer of the outcome. See Creating a Q999 or Q888 letter.

Surrogacy arrangements

A surrogacy arrangement includes the formal surrogacy agreement or supporting evidence of a surrogacy agreement. If unable to make a determination using the information provided, access technical support who may determine that a referral to the Level 2 Policy Helpdesk via the Online Form is required. See the Resources page for a link to the form.

Once the claim has been assessed for the child, refer the child's Customer Reference Number (CRN) on the birth mother's record to Service Delivery Support Team - Families & Child Care Portfolio.

Insert 'New adopted/surrogate child record' in the subject line.

Include in the referral:

• the child's name and CRN and previous child CRN (if other carers have claimed)
• any reference to surrogacy papers/adoption papers or documents stored on the record

The CRN will be promoted to a 'PER'son record (if it was a 'CHI'ld record) and will remain visible. Action by Service Delivery Support Team - Families & Child Care Portfolio will prevent any future use of that CRN.

Referral for other issues:

Other CRN issues to refer to the Families and Child Care helpdesk include:

• pre-adoptive care
• child names
• aliases
• privacy issues