Eligibility and coding claims for Double Orphan Pension (DOP) 007-06010010

For claim requirements, see Initial contact by customers claiming Double Orphan Pension (DOP).

Documents to be translated may include confirmation of identity, proof of residence, medical certificates and any document required for Services Australia business.

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

If the customer has not claimed Family Tax Benefit (FTB) for the child, invite them to claim FTB for child verbally or by sending a Q999 letter. See the Resources page for Q999 letter text. Process the FTB claim before the DOP claim. If the customer does not submit the FTB claim, the child FTB eligibility will be undetermined and the DOP claim will be rejected, see Table 2, Step 4.

For initial processing upon lodgement, see Receipt of claims, forms and documentation for family assistance.

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

A customer may be eligible for DOP if:

• They have the care and control of a DOP child, and
• The child is an FTB child of the customer (or would be except prescribed education scheme payments are paid to or for the child). FTB child criteria include:
• the child must be in the customer's care at least 35% of the time (shared care)
• a child aged 16-19 years must meet study/training requirements

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

Is the customer advising a change in their marital status?

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.

• Yes:
• and there is sufficient evidence to update the marital status, go to Step 3. Otherwise:
• For a customer /partner in receipt of an ISP, see
  Change in relationship status from partnered to single and/or
  Change in relationship status from single to partnered
• For a 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
• If required, place the claim on hold for 22 days to allow extra time for mail delivery and for customers to respond
• Go to Step 3 after allowable time, or if unable to link/unlink within the claim
• No, go to Step 4

Has the evidence been provided?

• Evidence not provided, see Table 2, Step 8
• Evidence not required, go to Step 4
• Evidence provided:
• Actioned, go to Step 4
• Not Actioned, use Fast Note - select Auto text, use Families > Updates > BRV ISP follow up to send a request for the Marital status to be updated. Staff will need to add the keyword for the relevant ISP payment the customer/partner is receiving. For example, customer is in receipt of Disability Support Pension (DSP), add keyword ACTDSP. See the Resources page in Creating documents (Fast Note, Callbacks and ACTDOCs)
• 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 Double Orphan Pension (DOP) and Bereavement Smart Centre Processing staff only.

If possible, 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.

Has the customer provided enough evidence that the child is a DOP child?

• Yes, go to Step 6
• No, go to Step 5

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

Investigate the relevant parent's record to determine if the circumstance has been 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, contact to confirm the details
• If sentencing has not occurred, confirm the maximum penalty for the offence by contacting the remand centre, relevant state Corrective Services, legal profession or Services Australia Prison Servicing contacts. See Confirming prison admission and release dates
• 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 the parentage of a child is unknown. There may have been 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 satisfy themselves 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 letter with the relevant questions to establish whether the parentage is unknown or the parents’ whereabouts are unknown

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

• 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.

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

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

• Yes, go to Step 7
• No, customer does not qualify for DOP for the child. Code claim activity to reject DOP. See Table 2, Step 3

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

Is the customer an Australian resident, or a special category visa holder, the holder of a visa subclass 403 or the holder of a certain temporary visa that qualify customers for some payments and either in Australia or temporarily absent from Australia?

• Yes:
• Holder of visa subclass 403, go to Step 8
• Otherwise, see Table 2, Step 1
• No, the customer does not qualify for Double Orphan Pension (DOP) for the child. Code new claim activity to allow DOP to auto reject reason NRQ (not residentially qualified). See Table 2, Step 3 table

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 Double Orphan Pension (DOP) for the child. Code new claim activity to allow DOP to auto reject reason NRQ (not residentially qualified). See Table 2, Step 3

If customer has lodged a claim for Family Tax Benefit (FTB), process the FTB claim first.

If the customer has not lodged a claim for FTB, contact the customer to advise an FTB claim is needed.

If the customer is FTB current for other children, a verbal claim can be processed.

If the customer:

• Does not qualify for DOP, code claim activity to reject DOP. Go to Step 3
• Otherwise, go to Step 2

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

Note: if no link can be drawn to the previous carer, the prior fortnightly rate of FTB is the maximum fortnightly rate of FTB that could be attracted by the child on the date they became a double orphan.

Customers have no entitlement to the DOP additional component if:

• the child's previous carer was not receiving FTB in regards to 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 claims Youth Allowance (YA) or a Disability Support Pension (DSP)

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

Use the correct procedures calculate the legislative rate. 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 Intent to claim and vulnerable circumstances, Process, Table 2 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 4.

• '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 and 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 7
• No, go to Step 8

Complete other screens as necessary.

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

Record details on a DOC including:

• child's parents' names and the date of death, imprisonment, charge date or last contact if whereabouts unknown, or date they entered nursing home/psychiatric institution
• details of evidence and information gathering to support the customer's eligibility
• if the child is a refugee, the date the child entered Australia and their Visa number
• entitlement to additional component and previous legislative rate of Family Tax Benefit (FTB) Part A
• Act reference for grant

From the Guided Procedure in Customer First, generate and issue a manual DOP Grant letter (Q999) to the customer, with the system generated FAOGRA.

For Surviving parents whereabouts unknown (PWU) cases - where the eligibility for DOP is due to surviving parents whereabouts unknown, issue a manual Q999 letter (not the GP letter).

Note: the following letters must be checked and the DOP monetary amounts manually updated to reflect the current DOP fortnightly rate:

• DOP - GRA INCL ADD COMP
• DOP - GRA INCL ADD COMP and Arrears

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 other screens as necessary.

DOP claims can be rejected automatically or manually rejected. 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.

Issue DOP Rejection Letter to customer advising outcome of claim through the Guided Procedure.

Record details on a DOC.

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.