Processing claims for Double Orphan Pension (DOP) 007-06010010

Claims referred to the DOP team for processing by International Services (CIS) under an International Agreement, will need to:

• be streamed and assessed by DOP team, and
• an eligibility decision needs to be determined

International Agreements could include:

• Australian pension claim - Social Security Agreement between Australia and Spain (AUS140ES)
• Australian pension claim - Social Security Agreement between Australia and Austria (AUS140AT)
• Australian pension claim - Social Security Agreement between Australia and Germany (AUS140GE)
• Australian pension claim - Social Security Agreement between Australia and Italy (AUS140IT)
• Australian pension claim - Social Security Agreement between Australia and Portugal (AUS140PT)
• Australian pension claim - Social Security Agreement between Australia and Switzerland (English/French) (AUS140CHF)
• Australian pension claim - Social Security Agreement between Australia and Switzerland (English/German) (AUS140CHG)

Has the customer provided any documents that need to be translated as part of their DOP claim?

• Yes, see Translation of documents. After the documents are translated, go to Step 2
• No, go to Step 2

Before DOP can be assessed, the customer must claim Family Tax Benefit (FTB) Part A for the child.

If the customer has not claimed FTB for the child, invite them to claim verbally or by sending a Q888 - DOP Invitation to claim FTB letter. See Resource page for Q888 Template.

Place the claim on hold:

• allow 22 days (14 days + 8 days to allow extra time for mail delivery) or 29 days for remote areas and overseas
• DOC the record. Use Fast Note - select Auto Text, use Families > Claims > DOP Claim Progress DOC

For eligibility for an Approved Care Organisation (ACO), see Double Orphan Pension (DOP) claims made by Approved Care Organisation (ACOs).

DOP or Families and Child Care (FCC) Smart Centre Processing staff must assess the FTB claim first.

Has an FTB claim been received or assessed for the DOP child?

• Yes, go to Step 3
• No, reject the DOP claim. See Table 2 > Step 7

When customers are separating there are key steps they should consider to keep their personal information safe. The sequence of these key steps is important and all updates need to be made separately for Centrelink, Medicare and Child Support. See Separating Safely - Protecting personal details.

Is the customer advising a change in their marital status within the DOP claim?

• Yes:
• For customer/partner in receipt of an ISP, see
  Change in relationship status from partnered to single or
  Change in relationship status from single to partnered
• If the MS update is unable to be completed by the DOP team, send a request for the update to be completed by a suitably skilled Service Officer. Use Fast Note - select Auto text, use Families > Updates > BRV ISP follow up add the keyword for the relevant ISP payment the customer/partner is receiving. E.g., customer is in receipt of Disability Support Pension (DSP), add keyword ACTDSP. See the Resources page in Creating, reviewing and deleting documents (including Fast Notes and DOA DOCs)
• Place the claim on hold for 4 days to allow the linking/unlinking to occur
• Once linking/unlinking has occurred, go to Step 4
• For customer/partner in receipt of Families only payments, see
  Family Tax Benefit (FTB), Parental Leave Pay (PPL) and/or Child Care Subsidy (CCS) customer separates
  Family assistance customer becomes partnered, then proceed to Step 4 once the linking/unlinking has occurred
• and the customer/partner is not in receipt of any payments from Services Australia, go to Step 4
• No, go to Step 4

For Double Orphan Pension (DOP) and Bereavement Smart Centre Processing staff

Customers are required to provide evidence that the child is a DOP child. If they cannot provide evidence, attempt to locate as much information as possible to help the customer meet eligibility.

Investigate both parent's records to determine if the circumstances can be verified.

If the parent is:

• Deceased, check if the death has been notified/recorded with supporting evidence
• Notification may have been by a third party or as part of a Registrar-General's Office (RGO) deaths matching reviews
• If the record has not been updated, see Centrelink - Notification, confirming and recording a death
• If the customer can only provide details of the hospital or funeral director, contact may be made with the relevant organisation to confirm the death of the parent or parents
• Imprisoned, check for imprisonment details including name of prison and length of sentence:
• If the customer has only provided the name of the Corrective Services Centre, refer the record directly to a Service Support Officer. See Tier 0 technical support - self sufficiency
• Update the parent's record with the information obtained. Use Fast Note - select Auto text, use Families > Enquiry > DOP Prison Contact
• If sentencing has not occurred, confirm the maximum penalty for the offence by contacting the remand centre, refer the case to Families and Child Care Level 2 Policy Helpdesk. See Resources page for contact details
• Hospitalised indefinitely and the customer has provided the name of the hospital (or it is noted on the parent's record), contact the hospital to confirm details. Update the parent's record with the information obtained
• Whereabouts unknown, although the birth certificate clearly lists both parent's names, the new carer may not know who the surviving parent is or where to locate them
• Check for any previous information about parentage (such as Child Support assessments, birth certificate or maintenance action exemptions)
• If the customer has provided details of a third party who can verify further information to support their claim, contact the third party to confirm the details
• Parentage unknown, the birth certificate lists the deceased parent’s name while the other parent is listed as ‘parentage unknown’
• The birth certificate alone is not considered sufficient evidence to determine if parentage of a child is unknown. There may be other factors such as violence, which influenced the mother’s decision of who to list on the birth certificate at the time
• Before determining the parentage is unknown, staff must check existing system records for any previous information about parentage (such as Child Support assessments or Social Worker contacts) to be satisfied that the identity of the surviving parent is ‘unknown’ for the purposes of DOP eligibility

Where the delegate is not satisfied sufficient information is available to make a determination, issue the QSS32 - DOP - New claim follow up questions for claimant letter with the relevant questions to establish entitlement.

Place the claim on hold. Allow 22days days (14 days + 8 days to allow extra time for mail delivery) or 29 days for remote areas and overseas.

See the Resources page for scenarios of both whereabouts unknown and parentage unknown and letter template for QSS32.

• Uncontactable and the customer has provided details of a third party who can verify, contact the third party to confirm the details
• If no information is available and a determination cannot be made, escalate the issue to Helpdesk Level 2

If the child has refugee status or was admitted into Australia under an approved special humanitarian program, check the child's residency details on the Residence and Portability screens.

Has sufficient evidence that the child is a DOP child been provided?

• Yes, go to Step 5
• No, see Table 2 > Step 3

For Double Orphan Pension (DOP) and Bereavement Smart Centre Processing staff

Does the customer have the care of a FTB DOP child?

• Yes, go to Step 6
• No, customer does not qualify for DOP for the child. Reject the claim. See Table 2 > Step 3

For Double Orphan Pension (DOP) and Bereavement Smart Centre Processing staff

Is the customer residing in Australia and one of the following:

• an Australian resident
• a special category visa holder
• holder of a visa subclass 403
• the holder of a certain temporary visa that qualify customers for some payments?
• Yes:
• Holder of visa subclass 403, go to Step 7
• Otherwise, see Table 2 > Step 1
• No, the customer does not qualify for DOP for the child. Code new claim activity to allow DOP to auto reject reason NRQ (not residentially qualified). See Table 2 > Step 3

Visa subclass 403 only qualifies a customer for DOP if they were granted under the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) stream and they have been approved for Family Accompaniment.

Check the RSLEG screen. A person approved for Family Accompaniment will have the value of FAA in the Visa qualifier code field.

Is the customer approved for family accompaniment?

• Yes, see Table 2 > Step 1
• No, the customer does not qualify for DOP for the child. Code new claim activity to allow DOP to auto reject reason NRQ (not residentially qualified). See Table 2 > Step 3

Check customers entitlement to the additional component of DOP.

DOP is not income or means tested, so a customer's entitlement to the DOP additional component is not dependent on the customer receiving FTB Part A.

The DOP additional component is the difference between:

• the legislative rate of Family Tax Benefit (FTB) Part A the previous carer was receiving immediately before the child became a double orphan, and
• the current carer's legislative rate of FTB Part A

Customers have no entitlement to the DOP additional component if:

• the child's previous carer was not receiving FTB for the child on the day prior to the child becoming a double orphan, the legislative rate of FTB is nil
• the current carer receives the maximum legislative rate of FTB Part A
• the child receives Youth Allowance (YA) or a Disability Support Pension (DSP)

Check the current carer's legislative rate of FTB Part A.

See Calculating the additional Double Orphan Pension (DOP) component. Go to Step 3 once the additional rate component has been completed.

If the customer is not eligible for FTB Part A due to the income test, explain to customers who are granted the additional component that this component will be reassessed if their legislative rate of FTB Part A changes.

Generally, the start date for DOP is the date the customer lodges their claim. However, some customers may be eligible to have their DOP start from an earlier date.

Does the customer have a DOC on their record indicating the customer was vulnerable?

• Yes, see Process page > Table 2 in Intent to claim for vulnerable customers to establish the start date
• No, was claim lodged within 13 weeks of birth of the DOP child being cared for or the death or the child’s previous DOP carer?
• Yes, start date is the first qualification date
• No, the DOP start date equals date claim lodgement

Go to Step 3.

• 'S'elect the DOP/NCL from the Activity List (AL) screen and go to the Customer Details Task (CDTS) screen
• On the CDTS screen, some screens will be selected, including the Child Selection (CHS) and FAO Task Selector (FTS) screens. 'S'elect other screens to update if required
• The date of claim lodgement is the start date for DOP. Note: for customers in vulnerable circumstances, see Intent to claim for vulnerable customers as this may affect the start date
• Where a claim is lodged within 13 weeks of the birth of the child being cared for, the start date may be backdated to the first qualification date
• Where a customer that is claiming DOP after another person receiving it has died, the start date may be backdated to the first qualification date, if the claim is lodged within 13 weeks of the first person’s death
• When the CHS screen displays, 'S'elect the child/ren being assessed for DOP
• On the Child Task Selector (CHTS) screen, certain screens will be preselected, including the Child Double Orphan Pension (CHDP) screen, called DOP Circs on the CHTS screen

Children can be assessed as eligible or ineligible using this screen.

To insert information, code the child's DOP details onto the first available blank line. Valid values are:

• Event Date: field - for the first DOP claim, code the date the child became a DOP child. If the claim will not grant on subsequent claims, use the date of claim
• Reason: field - code the applicable reason code to assess the child as eligible or ineligible
• Eligibility Codes:
• 'BDE' (Both parents deceased)
• 'MEN' (Surviving parent in Psychiatric hospital indefinitely)
• 'NUR' (Surviving parent in nursing home indefinitely)
• 'PRI' (Surviving parent in prison) - sentence over 10 years
• 'PWU' (Surviving parent whereabouts unknown)
• 'REF' (Refugee)
• 'CNV' (Conversion) - auto updated by system - cannot be updated by user
• Ineligibility Codes:
• 'DME' (Surviving parent not in Psychiatric hospital)
• 'DNU' (Surviving parent not in nursing home)
• 'DPR' (Surviving parent not in prison)
• 'NRF' (Not a Refugee)
• 'PND' (Parent(s) not deceased)
• 'WKN' (Surviving parent whereabouts known)
• 'ADO' (Child adopted) - the Child Miscellaneous Screen must also be coded with adoption details when a child is adopted

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

Complete other screens as necessary.

Check result on the Assessment Results (AR) screen before finalising activity.

Record details on a DOC. Use Fast Note - select Auto text, use Families > Claims > Grant/Reject DOP NCL DOV.

DOP eligibility is manually reviewed every two years that the customer receives a DOP payment for a DOP child.

In Customer First, create a manual review on the Review Registration (RVR) screen and complete the fields as follows:

• Service Reason: DOP
• Review Reason: DOP (Double Orphan Pension)
• Due Date: 24 months from today's date
• Source: INT
• Date of Receipt: today's date
• Notes: 'DOP review type: Standard 2 year. DOP CIRCS: (include relevant info e.g. QSS32 sent, refer to DOC).'
• Keywords: @DOP
• 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.

For further information on when a review is required, see Double Orphan Pension (DOP) reassessments and reviews.

If the claim was referred to the DOP team for processing by International Services (CIS) under an International Agreement, advise CIS of the claim outcome. Use Fast Note - select Auto Text, use Centrelink International Services > New Claims > DOP Agreement liaison referral to CIS.

Procedure ends here.

Complete all screens as necessary.

DOP claims can be rejected automatically or manually. For auto rejections, the reason cannot be manually recorded. For manual rejections, the reason can be recorded on the Benefit Action (BA) screen. See Cancellation and rejection codes for Double Orphan Pension (DOP).

The system will reject DOP automatically based on details recorded. For example, due to no child linked to the customer, child not in actual care for at least 35% of the time or a specific ineligibility code recorded on the Child Double Orphan Pension (CHDP) screen.

Check result on the Assessment Results (AR) screen before finalising activity.

Contact the customer to advise why their claim was rejected and their rights of review and appeal.

Record details on a DOC. Use Fast Note - select Auto text, use Families > Claims > Grant/Reject DOP NCL DOV.

Customers who share the care of a DOP child for at least 14% but less than 35% will not be eligible for DOP but will be assessed for entitlement to ancillary benefits.

If the claim was referred to the DOP team for processing by International Services (CIS) under an International Agreement, advise CIS of the claim outcome. Use Fast Note - select Auto Text, use Centrelink International Services > New Claims > DOP Agreement liaison referral to CIS.