Changing Australian residence details for family assistance and Parental Leave Pay (PPL) customer/child 007-02080030

The portability rules are different for customers and children going overseas temporarily compared to those leaving to reside in another country. This change may impact the customer's ongoing entitlements.

A reassessment may be required for various reasons.

• If the customer advises they are now residing overseas, go to Step 7
• If the customer advises their child/ren are now residing overseas, see Table 2 > Step 2
• If the customer or their child/ren's legal right to remain in Australia has changed (e.g. the customer has lost their permanent residence status or revoked their Australian citizenship), go to Step 3
• If the customer or their child/ren left Australia and do not have a visa which allows re-entry, e.g. visa subclass 060, go to Step 3
• If the customer advises their and/or their children's absence has been recorded incorrectly, go to Step 2
• If a decision that a customer and/or their child/ren are no longer living in Australia is overturned during a review and needs to be amended, go to Step 2
• If the customer sells their home, closes bank accounts or has any other change in circumstance indicating that they have broken ties with Australia, go to Step 8

• If the customer's absence is recorded as temporary but they are living in another country, go to Step 7
• If the customer's absence should be recorded as temporary but is not, see Table 2 > Step 5
• If the child's absence is recorded as temporary but they are living in another country, see Table 2 > Step 2
• If the child's absence should be recorded as temporary, see Table 2 > Step 6

To receive family assistance and/or PPL a customer must satisfy 2 residence requirements. They must:

• have relevant legal residence status, and
• be residing in Australia, that is, have the intention to continue to live in Australia

To have legal residence status to be eligible for family assistance and/or PPL they must hold:

• Australian citizenship
• a permanent resident visa
• a Special Category visa, or
• a certain temporary visas that qualify customers for some payments

The holder of a visa subclass 403 will also satisfy the residence requirements for Family Tax Benefit (FTB), Child Care Subsidy (CCS), Double Orphan Pension (DOP) and Stillborn Baby Payment (SBP) where they have been granted under the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility stream and the person has been approved for Family Accompaniment.

If the customer is no longer one of the above, they are not entitled to FTB, CCS, or PPL from the date that status changed. For CCS, either the customer or the partner needs to continue to meet the residence requirements to maintain eligibility for CCS and other child care related payments and rates.

If a customer is the holder of a specified visa subclass, other than subclasses 309, 785, 790 or 820, their visa will cease to be in effect if they leave Australia. While these customers are no longer residentially qualified for payments from the date of departure from Australia, their legal status does not need to be updated to stop payment. Coding the departure from Australia will result in cancellation.

The legal status can also change if a person:

• decides to become a citizen of a country other than Australia and willingly renounces their Australian citizenship
• has a resident return visa which expires within a certain period (generally 5 years) and does not return to Australia within that period, or
• loses their status due to a decision made by the Department of Home Affairs to revoke or cancel their visa. Note: the end date of a permanent resident visa is regarded to be the date the entry/re-entry rights into Australia expire and does not mean that legal authority to remain in Australia has changed

A customer's legal authority may change and they may still be an Australian resident. For example, a permanent visa changes to Australian citizenship.

Has the customer's legal authority to remain in Australia changed?

• Yes, go to Step 4
• No, go to Step 5

The customer's change in status should occur from the date of the legal change. The change should be recorded on the Legal Residence Details (RSLEG) screen.

If the customer has lost their authority to remain in Australia and is receiving a payment which requires the person to remain a resident to retain qualification, the payment should stop from the date the status changed.

Ask the customer the date their legal status changed and the date they were notified of the change in this status. Update the RSLEG screen with date of change and the new citizenship or visa subclass.

Go to the Assessment Results (AR) screen but do not finalise the activity.

Will the customer's payment cancel for a residence related reason?

• Yes, finalise assessment and advise the customer. Procedure ends here
• No, go to Step 5

If the child has lost their legal authority to remain in Australia, they cease to be a dependent child unless they continue to live with an Australian resident.

If all the customer's dependent children have lost their legal residence status and are not living with the Australian resident parent or guardian, they should be coded as having left the customer's care and payment should stop from the date the status changed. The child's change in status should occur from the date of the legal change.

• Go to the Child Selection (CHS) screen
• 'S'elect the relevant child and type 'CHTS' in the Nxt: field

On the Child Task Selector (CHTS) screen, select relevant screens below, including Care Align Details option.

Complete updates in the following order:

• Update the FTB Shared Care (FSC) screen for family assistance:
  • update existing shared care percentage to nil from date left care
  • assessment method will be 'PRI' or 'CPP' depending on whether there is a court order or parenting plan
• On the Shared Care (SSC) screen for children assessed for income support payment purposes under the Social Security Act, update existing shared care percentage to nil from the date left care
• On the In Customer Care (CHC) screen, code 'LCC' (left customer care) in Care Status: field from the date the child left the customer's care. If there is more than one carer or if in child's customer record, code the carer number for the 'losing' customer in the Carer: field
• In Customer First update the Care Alignment Details page for the child with a 'Finalised' status
• When a child leaves a customer's care, details transferred between Centrelink and Child Support will advise 0% care

Repeat the above step for all affected children.

Have all the customer's children lost their residence status?

• Yes, see Table 2 > Step 4
• No, go to Step 6

If at least one child is still an Australian resident, the customer may still have an FTB child and may still qualify for family assistance payments for this child.

If the PPL child has left Australia to live overseas without the customer, it won't affect portability for the customer. However, to be eligible for a PPL day, a customer must be caring for the child. If the child is overseas without the customer, the customer is not considered to be caring for the child.

Has the customer advised that they are no longer residing in Australia, that is, they intend to live in another country?

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

Ask the customer when they decided to cease residing in Australia. As long as the customer has not deliberately misrepresented their circumstances, the change in status should be applied from the date the customer provides.

Update the Country of Residence (CRES) screen.

See Table 2 > Step 1.

Even where the customer advises that they are temporarily absent from Australia, the Service Officer can decide that the person has ceased residing in Australia according to section 7(3) of the Social Security Act 1991.

The Service Officer needs to take account of the customer's circumstances and make a decision based on the individual case.

See Deciding if a customer is residing in Australia for help making this decision.

Has the Service Officer determined that the customer has ceased residing in Australia?

• Yes, update the CRES screen, go to Table 2 > Step 1
• No:
• consider if it is necessary to review this decision at a later time and record a review if appropriate and finalise any activity if necessary
• procedure ends here