Family assistance customer becomes partnered 007-03030090

Is the customer only claiming/receiving Parental Leave Pay (PPL)?

• Yes, go to Step 7
• No, go to Step 2

Has the customer partnered/re-partnered from a date before 2 July 2018?

• Yes, additional updates are required for CCB/CCR work, training, study test and income estimate for the relevant financial year/s. See Process page of Eligible hours for CCB and Updating previous financial year incomes for Family Tax Benefit (FTB), Child Care Subsidy (CCS) and Child Care Benefit (CCB)
• No, go to Step 3

Note: if the customer and new partner both have children from a previous relationship, and they both currently receive FTB, or want to claim FTB as a blended family and meet the definition of a blended family, see Blended families and Family Tax Benefit (FTB).

Check payments received

Does the customer or partner receive an income support payment as well as FTB and/or CCS?

• Yes, check the relevant procedure below:
• If their youngest child is under 6 years of age, they may be eligible for Parenting Payment Partnered (PPP). See Claiming Parenting Payment (PP)
• If either the customer or partner is currently getting Parenting Payment Single (PPS), see Transfer from Parenting Payment Single (PPS) to Parenting Payment Partnered (PPP)
• For other income support payments, see Change in relationship status from single to partnered
• No, go to Step 4

If the partner of the FTB customer contacts to advise they are partnered, tell the partner that the customer will need to contact Services Australia. It is the customer's obligation to notify the change in circumstances. Do not make any updates to the FTB/CCS customer's record.

Is the customer now partnered?

• Yes, and they:
• can provide enough information to allow the partner's record to be linked (name and date of birth), go to Step 6
• cannot provide that information, go to Step 5
• No, for a future change in relationship status, go to Step 5

If a customer advises their relationship status will change at a future date, or they have become partnered but cannot provide their partner's details, do not code the change. The customer and their partner must both be available to update their details.

Future date

• Tell the customer they need to contact the agency, with their partner, as soon as they become partnered to provide:
• the partner’s details, and
• a new combined income estimate. (The Resources page contains a link to contact details on the Services Australia Website). See FTB and CCS notification provisions

Unable to provide all the partner's details

• Tell the customer to contact the agency as soon as possible with partner's details including:
• full name and date of birth
• Tax File Number
• date became partnered
• income estimate
• CCS activity test details
• To reduce the risk of overpayment the customer may want to:
• apply an FTB payment choice in the interim period, or
• increase the percentage of CCS that is held until the end of the financial year
• Issue a Q888 using Family assistance becoming partnered letter text, requesting customer contact to provide required information within 14 days
• In Customer First, create a manual review on the Review Registration (RVR) screen and complete the fields as follows:
• Service Reason: customer's payment type
• Review Reason: select most appropriate reason
• Due Date: 22 days from today's date
• Source: INT
• Date of Receipt: today's date
• Notes: 'Q888 issued xx/xx/xxxx. Check if partner details have been provided and records linked. Return to OB 007-03030090 for action.'
• Keywords: FTBREV
• Workgroup: leave blank
• Position: leave blank
• Transfer to Region: leave blank
• The review will mature on the Due Date coded in the RVR activity. Workload Management will allocate the review for manual action
• If partner details have not been provided when review becomes due:
• cancel FTB reason FRC (failed to reply to correspondence) in Customer First
• CCS should be reduced to zero rate. Policy allows a zero rate be applied to customers in this circumstance, but current system limitations prevent this. Escalate to Level 2 Policy Helpdesk quoting 'CCS customer failed to reply to correspondence, zero rate required'. Outline what information is required to correctly assess entitlement. See the Resources page for a link

Procedure ends here.

If the customer or new partner are CCS current, Activity Test details are required for both parties.

Is the customer or partner CCS current?

• Yes, to add Activity Test details, see the CCS customer becomes partnered table in Coding Activity Test details for Child Care Subsidy (CCS), then go to Step 7
• No, go to Step 7

If Parenting Payment Single (PPS) is suspended, do not update the Marital Status (MS) screen and link partner. PPS must be cancelled or PPP granted (during transfer to PPP) before linking partner. To reduce the risk of an overpayment the customer may wish to apply an FTB payment choice in the interim period.

In all other situations, including for CCS only customers, on MS screen code:

• Event Date: date became partnered
• Marital Status: relationship status, see Marital Status field codes for coding assistance
• PPE: partner permitted to enquire. Code 'N' unless written or verbal permission has been given for the partner to enquire
• Press [Enter]. For PPS, ignore warning 'W941CU - To do AUTO PARENTING TRSFR go to IN and do BTR activity'. Benefit transfer (BTR) activities are processed by service centres only

On the Link Partner (LP) screen, enter partner's name and date of birth. Press [Enter] to search for partner record.

If the customer is being linked to a partner they have previously been linked to, the partner's existing Customer Reference Number (CRN) must be used to make sure any existing links to other departments are correctly maintained, e.g. Australian Taxation Office (ATO).

Complete a thorough search to make sure the correct partner record is located or that no record exists. If multiple records exist, see Centrelink customer has multiple Customer Reference Numbers (CRN).

• If the partner's CRN is unknown, ask questions and use search techniques to find out if they do have a record. For help, see Searching for a customer on the system
• If the partner has a child record, add child as a person
• If further information is required, tell the customer the information can be provided verbally when known. In Customer First, create a manual review on the Review Registration (RVR) screen and complete the fields as follows:
• Service Reason: customer's payment type
• Review Reason: select most appropriate reason
• Due Date: 14 days from today's date
• Source: INT
• Date of Receipt: today's date
• Notes: 'Review set to follow up partner details, action as per OB 007-03030090.'
• Keywords: FTBREV
• Workgroup: leave blank
• Position: leave blank
• Transfer To Region: leave blank
• The review will mature on the Due Date coded in the RVR activity. Workload Management will allocate the review for manual action. Procedure ends here

Is the partner record found?

• Yes, go to Step 9
• No, add partner record via Add Person (AP) screen. Go to Step 11

If the new partner is linked to another person on the system, separate the records using the date of separation. If a separation date cannot be provided, use the day before the customer became partnered to the new partner.

If either the new partner or the person they are linked to is currently in receipt of payment, contact them to confirm separation details before making further updates

Determine the customer and partner’s environment. The environment ID will be in the ENV: field on the Start InterEnvironment transfer (ITST) screen. If the partner’s record is in:

• a different environment, do not link. Go to Step 10
• the same environment, 'S'elect partner record on Name List (IL) screen and confirm selection (key Y in the Confirmation box) to link partner's record. Go to Step 11

Process interstate transfer before linking partner.

DOC all details on the customer's record so the partner's record can be linked when the interstate transfer completes. Include:

• name and date of birth of partner
• date they became partnered
• an income estimate for the partner (and for the customer if they were receiving a single income support payment or if they need to revise their current estimate)

Do not include the partner's TFN on the DOC.

The DOC and any STA activities on the customer and/or new partner's record must be completed or the transfer will not complete. In Customer First, create a manual review on the Review Registration (RVR) screen and complete the fields as follows:

• Service Reason: customer's payment type
• Review Reason: select most appropriate reason
• Due Date: 2 days from today's date
• Source: INT
• Date of Receipt: today's date
• Notes: 'Customer become partnered xx/xx/xxxx. Interstate transfer requested for partner. Check outcome and return to OB 007-03030090 to action.'
• Keywords: FTBREV
• Workgroup: leave blank
• Position: leave blank
• Transfer To Region: leave blank

The review will mature on the Due Date coded in the RVR activity. Workload Management will allocate the review for manual action.

When interstate transfer is completed, go to Step 11.

Choose the appropriate option below:

• Update partner's TFN if known. Note: do not record the TFN on a DOC
• If the partner's TFN is not known, the record should still be linked. The FTB customer will receive an automatic grace period of 28 days to provide the TFN, applied from the date of advice. The TFS will display a code of GRA under the exemption column
• FTB: If the system is not allowing the grace period of 28 days, e.g. the record is cancelling NTP, refer the case to the Families and Childcare Level 2 Policy Helpdesk via the online enquiry form. See Resources page for a link. The Helpdesk will determine if an override needs to be coded on the FTB TFN Compliance Override (FYTFNCO) screen. Once approval has been received from the Helpdesk, forward it to the zone/cluster Families override contacts
• CCS: There is currently no immediate impact if the partner’s TFN is not provided within 28 days. However, if no TFN is provided before reconciliation, CCS payments cannot be reconciled
  Note: a temporary exemption for providing a partner’s TFN can be granted in some circumstances. For more information, see Exemption from providing Tax File Numbers when claiming Child Care Subsidy (CCS)
• PPL only customer: Their PPL payment will not be impacted by the absence of the partners TFN

• Update address, rent and phone details and any other changes advised from the Customer Details Task Selector (CDTS) screen
  Note: take care to update the correct record
• On the Address Detail (AD) screen, use date became partnered for both customer and partner to make sure address details match for that date (unless the correct current address has already been recorded)
• Update Accommodation (AC) screen from date became partnered for both customer and partner. If the date is not the same as used on the AD screen, the activity cannot be finalised. In the Accommodation details for: field, select customer and partner
• If there have been no changes to the rent details, update the Rent Verification: field with the same code that existed before Link of two customers - LNK. An exception to this is when the codes are UPL, RVL or VEE. Code:
• Change of Address - COA where UPL was previously coded
• Not Verified - NVE where RVL was previously coded
• Verified (Rent Declaration) - VED where VEE was previously coded
• If rent was not previously verified but the MS update means the customer may now have RA eligibility (e.g. MAT now met) see Determine proof of rent for the Verification field on the Accommodation Details screen. In all other circumstances, re-verify the customer's rent details. For PPL only customers, procedure ends here
• Confirm sharer status is correctly recorded as not a sharer as the customer is now partnered. See Sharers' rate of Rent Assistance (RA) for information

FTB and CCS customers

• Update income estimates for the current financial year within same activity:
• If the customer needs help with this, see Helping families provide a reasonable annual income estimate for family assistance payments
• When linking the customer and partner the estimate needs to be updated manually via the FITS screen. See Updating income estimates for the current financial year
• If the customer cannot provide their partner’s income details:
• Tell the customer they have 28 days to call back on the Family assistance line or attend a service centre with the information, and that FTB will be cancelled until estimated income for their partner is provided. The Resources page contains a link to 'Phone us' contact details
• If receiving CCS only, the partner's income details must be provided within 28 days using their Centrelink online account, the Express Plus Centrelink mobile app or by contacting the Family assistance line
• If the estimate is not updated from within the activity, FTB will cancel and an overpayment generated. If an estimate is not recorded for the current year for both the customer and partner, FTB will cancel automatically INP (Income Not Provided) when the activity is finalised
• Record details on a DOC
• CCS: CCS cannot be cancelled if partner’s income is not provided, however the partner’s income will be assessed as nil. Tell the customer this may result in an overpayment of CCS, which will be raised as a debt when their payments are reconciled. Therefore, the customer should update the partner’s estimated income as soon as possible. If any overpayment is identified when partner income is advised, the customer can choose to increase their CCS withholdings to reduce the likelihood of an overpayment at reconciliation
• If the customer can provide their partner's income details:
• Manually code the partner's income estimate. Code the partner's estimate from the date partnered or 1 July of the current financial year, whichever is later
• Note: if the customer also updates their own estimate, the Date of Event (DOV) of their income estimate is the date of notification
• If they became partnered in the previous financial year, in addition to coding the partner’s estimate for the current financial year, code an estimate for the partner on the FIPY screen for that year to reassess FTB. The system will use the estimate from the date partnered. This will generate a reassessment for the partnered period:
• If FTB reconciliation has already occurred for the previous financial year, the reassessment may generate a reconciliation debt (due to INP). The debt is to be raised and will be reassessed once the partner’s actual income details are received
  Note: during periods where a debt pause is in place the debt will stop for MIV, see Manual intervention into family assistance reconciliation
• If FTB reconciliation has not yet occurred for the previous financial year and the activity is generating a debt, set it to INV for investigation by the debt team
• If the partner is required to lodge a tax return for that year, FTB will be reassessed once actual income details are transferred from the ATO. If the partner is not required to lodge, make a non-lodgement update in a separate activity

Check if partner or customer’s Activity Test details need to be updated, See the CCS customer becomes partnered table in Coding Activity Test details for Child Care Subsidy (CCS).

• Update Office Code (OC) screen details
• Explain and offer payment choices for Family Tax Benefit (FTB)
• For each child in care, from the Child Task Selector (CHTS) screen, select Child Relationship (!CHRE) and update the relationship to the new partner
• Update Residence screens for new partner, if required
• Check the Future Activity List (FAL) screen. Cancel any future Separated Under One Roof (SUOR) review activities

Note: if the customer became partnered for a period they have already received payment in the current financial year or a non-reconciled period in a previous financial year, a qualification debt may be generated from this activity. During periods where a debt pause is in place this won’t be raised immediately, see Qualification debt identified in FTB reconciliation result or when completing activity that triggers FTB reconciliation.

Was the customer or partner CCS current since date of partnering?

• Yes, go to Step 12
• No, go to Step 13

Check partner's CCS. In Process Direct

• Locate the partner record
• Go to the child care Entitlement table (CCP/CCS), from date of becoming partnered. Determine if the partner is/was CCS current for the same child/ren customer is CCS current

Is the partner CCS Current for the same children?

• Yes, go to Step 13
• No, and has not been CCS current for the same child/ren from date of becoming partnered, go to Step 14

Staff must establish the most beneficial arrangement for ongoing CCS entitlement, including transfer of entitlement dates, before contacting the customer.

If CCS attendance sessions are:

• recorded on the partner's record, the partner is CCS current and there are no attendance sessions on the customer's record:
• If customer is to have ongoing CCS entitlement, the partner's CCS will need to cancel from a CCS Sunday
• The customers CCS entitlement should be granted from the following CCS Monday. Check the Sunday is not a CCS mid-fortnight Sunday
• recorded on the customer's record and the partner is CCS current, though no further attendance sessions have been lodged on the partners record from a certain date:
• confirm the customer is to be the ongoing CCS customer
• cancel their partner's CCS from the CCS Sunday after the final attendance sessions have been lodged on the partners’ record
• lodged on both customer and partner's record from partnered or claim start date, for example, both have attendance lodged on their records for the same child in the same period:
• One member of the couple will need to cancel their CCS. If contact is successful with the customer/partner, CCS cancellation will need to occur on a CCS Sunday
• The customer may need to discuss entitlement for specific CCS fortnights with their provider if both customer and partner have attendance lodged. The provider may transfer attendance, if requested, though is not legally obliged to fulfil this request

Contact the customer and/or partner to discuss (check PPE before discussing specifics) the option of customer or partner cancelling their CCS, see Cancellation of Child Care Subsidy (CCS).

Note: the party who is to become/remain CCS current will need to contact their service provider(s) to make sure the child's enrolment and session reports are under their CRN. That is, the enrolment has both the child CRN and the correct parent CRN from the right date.

If unable to contact customer or partner:

• issue a Q164 to both parties, and
• record a DOC on their record with the following text:
  'Customer and partner are CCS current for the same child, [list child's name]. Customer/Partner has attendance lodged, therefore require confirmation to cancel customer/partner's CCS entitlement for [child's name] from XX.XX.XXXX [CCS Sunday before the CCS Monday grant date].’
• place claim on hold for 22 days

If the Martial status update is being actioned in Process Direct the error message SR906 Error will present where:

• the partner is CCS current for a child that the customer is also already current for or is claiming for, or
• an ex-partner was CCS current for a child that the customer is claiming for. For example, where the customers separation date is after their CCS claim DDOR

Where the SR906 error presents and the customer or partner have been unable to be contacted, complete the update in Customer First.

• the SR906 error will not present in Process Direct again unless the customer or partner lodges a CCS claim, or a SOA is assessed on the customer or partner record
• go to Step 14

If the customer has contacted about the Q164, see Processing Child Care Subsidy (CCS) claims.

Check if customer has advised of any changes in care arrangements.

Is a new care, shared care, or blended family assessment required?

• Yes, see Table 2 > Step 1
• No:
• Go to the Assessment Results (AR) screen
• Finalise the activity. Use Fast Note - select Auto text, use Generic > Updates > Became PARTNERED DOV and record action taken
• Return to Process Direct and select on the customer’s record to refresh
• If updating a PPL customer and W038P1 - Partner Income data missing appeared on the Assessment Warning and Error (AWE) screen, go to Step 15. Otherwise, procedure ends here

If the customer’s income for the relevant financial year exceeds the individual PPL income test, the family income test limit is automatically applied.

When current or assessed single PPL customers with the family income test applied, advise they were partnered from a date on or before the date their PPL claim was lodged, their partner’s income will also be required.

Warning W038P1 - Partner Income data missing displays to advise when partner’s income is required for PPL due to a retrospective change to the marital status (MS).

When a MS update is completed that displays this warning on the AWE screen in Customer First, this automatically creates a PPL ZCoC activity with keyword W038P1 in Process Direct to update the partner’s income.

See Process page, Process Direct tab, Table 2, Step 9 - Update partner income details in Customer notifies a change of circumstances for Parental Leave Pay (PPL) for information to action the PPL ZCoC activity.

Is any child in the customer's or partner's care from this current relationship (has the customer reconciled with the other parent of their mutual child/ren)?

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

• If the customer has reconciled with an ex-partner and both parents received FTB for their mutual child/ren while separated, they must decide who will continue to receive FTB now they have reconciled (usually the primary carer). A couple who reconcile may only share FTB if they are a blended family. If the customer wishes to receive FTB for the children, the Service Officer must confirm this with the partner before cancelling the partner's FTB. Attempt to contact the partner before finalising the update. If the partner is cannot be contacted, go to Step 8
• If the decision has been made as to who will be receiving FTB for the child/ren:
• record the child as left care of the member of the couple who is not going to continue to receive FTB (this automatically updates their shared care percentage to zero)
• update the primary carer's shared care percentage on the FTB Shared Carer (FSC) screen
• If the customer has reconciled with an ex-partner and only one parent received FTB, even though both parties shared care, for their mutual child/ren while separated, confirm the current FTB customer is updated to reflect the partner’s care of the children from the date they reconciled. This should be 100% care for child(ren) of the current relationship, who are not also in the care of any other party. The Resources page has examples
• Upon linking the customer and partner the relevant child/ren should automatically be moved to a current relationship group on the Maintenance Entitlement Group Summary (MNGS) screen
• If not, it must be manually coded - see How to group children on an FTB record
• If private voluntary, actual or capitalised maintenance income was received for the child, update private maintenance income details if needed
• For children of same-sex relationships, check that any previous non-biological child exemption is assessed correctly
• If child support was assessed or collected for the child/ren of the relationship by Child Support:
• complete updates and transfer the customer to Child Support to suspend the assessment/collection, or
• if customer declines transfer, tell them they will need to contact Child Support to suspend the assessment/collection separately. The Resources page contains a link to 'Phone us' contact details
• Go to the Assessment Results (AR) screen
• Finalise activity
• Use Fast Note - select Auto text, use Generic > Updates > Became PARTNERED DOV and record action taken
• Return to Process Direct and select on the customer’s record to refresh
• If updating a PPL customer and W038P1 – Partner Income data missing appeared on the Assessment Warning and Error (AWE) screen, see Table 1 > Step 15

Does the customer or their new partner have in their care any child/ren from another relationship?

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

Note: a problem (P24845) has been identified where shared care is not being correctly applied. This can occur when a child is in the care of a parent who has transferred their FTB to their current partner (step-parent).

• If child support details have not already been advised, obtain details verbally
• Check if action to obtain child support is required and advise of the action necessary to receive more than the base rate of Family Tax Benefit (FTB) Part A for the child. See Maintenance Action Test (MAT) for Family Tax Benefit (FTB) customers
  Note: in some cases, action to obtain child support is not applicable for a child
• Child from a same-sex relationship: a customer's previous same-sex partner may be recognised as the other parent from 1 July 2009. The customer may be required to take reasonable action to obtain child support
• If child support is received direct from the paying parent, record private maintenance income unless it will be advised by Child Support
• If the claimant is a step parent and the P24845 - Step parent workaround needs to be applied

Does the customer or their new partner share the care of a child with another person or are they a blended family?

Note: if all children are from the current relationship, they cannot be treated as a blended family.

• Yes, go to Step 6
• No, go to Step 7

• If a blended family, the customer and partner may nominate the proportion of the total Family Tax Benefit (FTB) rate payable each receives. See Blended families and Family Tax Benefit (FTB)
• If shared care details have not been advised for FTB, issue the Details of your shared care arrangements (FA012) form. See Notification and assessment of shared care arrangements for Family Tax Benefit (FTB)

Identify if the customer or their partner are potentially eligible for income support and other products and services and advise of claiming options.

• Go to the Assessment Results (AR) screen
• Finalise activity
• Use Fast Note - select Auto text, use Generic > Updates > Became PARTNERED DOV and record action taken
• Return to Process Direct and select on the customer’s record to refresh
• If updating a PPL customer and W038P1 – Partner Income data missing appeared on the Assessment Warning and Error (AWE) screen, see Table 1 > Step 15

If the customer was PPS/CUR, PPS will automatically cancel once activity is finalised.

If the customer wishes to claim FTB, confirmation with the partner is required before cancelling their FTB payments. If the partner is not able to be contacted to confirm:

• Ask the customer to have their partner contact Services Australia as soon as possible, as the update cannot be finalised until confirmation is received from the partner
• Issue a Q164 to the partner requesting them to contact the agency
• In Customer First, create a manual review on the Review Registration (RVR) screen and complete the fields as follows:
• Service Reason: FTB
• Review Reason: select most appropriate reason
• Due Date: 22 days from today's date
• Source: INT
• Date of Receipt: today's date
• Notes: 'Q164 issued xx/xx/xxxx. Check if the partner has contacted. Return to OB 007-03030090 to action.'
• Keywords: FTBREV
• Workgroup: leave blank
• Position: leave blank
• Transfer to Region: leave blank
• The review will mature on the Due Date coded in the RVR activity. Workload Management will allocate the review for manual action
• Leave a DOC on customer and partner records with details of:
• partner's name and date of birth
• date became partnered
• income estimates for customer and partner if available
• the partner’s activity test details, where the customer receives CCS
• why update could not be completed. For example - 'Update has not been completed as both members of a couple cannot receive FTB where they are not a blended family. Confirmation with the partner is required before cancelling their FTB payments.'
• If partner has not yet contacted when the review becomes due, attempt to contact by phone again, if unable to contact cancel their FTB reason FRC (failed to reply to correspondence)
• Note: check their partner has given permission to enquire before giving out the partner's information. See Resources for information on what to discuss when one or both members of the couple have a PPE of No.