Reassessment of Family Tax Benefit (FTB) for a current customer where an additional child enters care in the current or previous financial year 007-07030120

Separate procedures apply for PPL, adopted children, non-FTB customers, income support customers

Separate procedures apply for:

• customers claiming Parental Leave Pay (PPL)
• customers claiming for an adopted child
• non-FTB current customers claiming FTB for children in care other than a newborn or adopted child
• income support customers advising shared care (including changes to their level of care)
• claims lodged online or by FA100 for current year - see Pre-processing checks for standalone and combined claims for family assistance and/or Paid Parental Leave payments
• lump sum claims lodged online or by FA048 for past year - see Processing Family Tax Benefit (FTB) lump sum claims
• customers claiming Child Care Subsidy (CCS) and Additional Child Care Subsidy (ACCS)

FTB current customer advises in relevant financial year that a newborn child (up to 12 months old) has entered their care

• Appropriately trained Smart Centre and processing staff see Table 2, Step 8
• All other staff
• See Helping customers provide proof of a child’s birth for family assistance and Paid Parental Leave scheme claims
• If a fully completed Newborn Child Declaration (FA081) has been received, and
  online services have not been accessed, and
  the customer does not want to claim PPL (or PPL claim has been rejected), go to Step 6

FTB current customer advises verbally or by FA012 that an additional older child has entered their care in the current financial year

• Go to Step 2

Customer advises verbally or by FA012 that an additional child entered their care in the previous financial year, received FTB instalments (including zero rate) for that year, and notifies in the lodgement year

If the customer wants FTB to be assessed for both the current and previous financial years, the date of effect for the reassessment of FTB for the additional child is the date the child entered the customer's care. The Resources page contains examples of the date of effect rule.

• See Table 2, Step 8
• All other staff, go to Step 2

If an FTB current customer has lodged an online claim for FTB for an additional older child

See Pre-processing checks for standalone and combined claims for family assistance and/or Paid Parental Leave payments.

After completing pre-processing checks, see Processing standalone and combined claims for family assistance and/or Paid Parental Leave scheme payments.

Check the customer's record to determine if the care decision is being undertaken by Child Support.

If using

• Process Direct select the child from Relations Menu
• Customer First go to the Child Selection (CHS) screen and 'S'elect the relevant child

If the child is not linked to the customer's record:

• Smart Centre staff trained in 'agreed care', see Linking a child to a customer's record
• All other staff, go to Step 6

If the child is linked to the customer's record, go to Step 3.

Determine if Child Support has a care activity recorded:

• Check the Care Alignment Details (CADDS/!CADDS) screen for a commenced activity. Note: in some cases, the status of commenced is not displaying due to a system issue. If an assessment has been commenced and finalised on the Centrelink and Child Support systems, the systems will determine which was advised first and the initial assessment will apply
• Check the FTB Shared Care (FSC) screen in Customer First (or the Shared Care Assessment (SCA) screen if using Process Direct to see if Child Support have finalised a care activity - the record will display as CSP Care Decision
• Check the Document List (DL) screen for relevant DOCs

If the customer has care of a child from a previous relationship, check if maintenance action is required.

If a grandparent carer has gained care of a child and the losing carer is the partnered parent of the child and further clarification is required, see the Background page for additional questions that can be asked to help make a change of care decision. For further information on grandparents, see Eligibility for Family Tax Benefit (FTB) for grandparent carers.

Has the customer already advised Child Support of the change in care?

• Yes, go to Step 4
• No,
• Smart Centre staff who have been trained in 'agreed care' changes (both parties agree on the date the changed occurred and the level of care), go to Step 7
• All other staff, go to Step 5

No updates are required.

To view details of a completed care assessment:

• in Process Direct:
• Select the child from the Relations Menu
• Go to the Shared Care Assessment (SCA) screen
• The Families Shared Care table will display the date the new care arrangement commenced, the care percentage, assessment method (Child Support Care Decision) and carer
• in Customer First:
• Select the child from the Child Selection (CHS) screen
• Go to the FTB Shared Care (FSC) screen. This will display the date the new care arrangement commenced, the care percentage, assessment method (Child Support Care Decision) and carer

If the care assessment has been commenced by Child Support it will display on the CADDS/!CADDS screen:

• Child Support are in the process of making a care decision
• Care details will be provided electronically by Child Support and automatically update the customer's record

Record details of the contact on a Fast Note. Select Auto text, use Families > Enquiry > Cus enq Dep Changes.

Advise the customer of their new rate, or if the decision is still pending, that their FTB entitlement will be automatically reassessed when the decision is received from Child Support.

Note: when Child Support commence (pend) a care decision, the Centrelink system expects to receive a finalised decision within 21 days. When this does not occur, the commenced care line as shown on CADDS/!CADDS is meant to lapse. A known system issue is preventing this from occurring. If the CADDS/!CADDS screen shows a care decision commenced by Child Support that is more than 21 days old, disregard. Go to Step 6.

Procedure ends here.

If a care assessment is not yet commenced or has a status of Lapsed, and the activity cannot be completed end to end on the date received, update (CADDS/!CADDS) to 'Commenced' using the correct DOR when applying care decisions.

Note: if using Process Direct, the Families Care Assessment Task Selector must be used to update CADDS.

If the customer is not parent/party to the child support case or it is an organisation notifying Services Australia, use the date of contact as the DOR.

Go to Step 6.

In the gaining carer's record:

• Create a DOC using Fast Note
• Select Auto Text use Families > Claims > Notification of additional child in care
• If shared care exists, include in the DOC:
• Percentage of care the customer has or how many nights the child will be in customer's care
• Is there a parenting plan/court order?
• Does the customer have care during school holidays?
• For a change of care, include the Customer Reference Number (CRN) of the other carer, child's name, and details of care being claimed. If the other carer does not have an existing record and/or documentation provided does not include the other carer’s current contact details, request their name, address and phone number from the notifying carer, if available. If the gaining carer can supply enough information to create a record for the losing carer, a record should be created, and the children linked to the new record. See Adding a customer to the system and Linking a child to a customer's record. Do not provide any details to the notifying carer
• If available, record child's Medicare number or 'S'elect 'Can provide at a later date' option
• Close the DOC
• Index an Add Child (ACH) activity in Customer First by going to the Families Task Selector (FTS) screen (if not already indexed as part of linking the child to the customer's record):
• Enter Source: 'INV'
• Date: use the correct DOR when applying care decisions, or the date of contact if the customer is not a parent/party to the child support case
• Act: 'ACH'
• Select [Enter] to go to the Child Selection (CHS) screen
• Do not take any action. Go to Activity List (AL) screen
• If shared care exists add keyword 'shared' to activity

Transfer activity to Families (Region Code FCC).

Note: customers can lodge an online claim for FTB to notify details of an additional child coming into their care.

Procedure ends here.

• Yes, see Table 2, Step 2
• No, go to Step 8

Family and domestic violence situation

If a change of care has occurred as a result of a family and domestic violence situation and there is concern that the customer or children will be placed at risk if the losing carer is contacted, evidence supplied by the gaining carer can be used to confirm the change of care.

However, the delegate must be satisfied, based on the available evidence, a change of care has occurred. For more information, see Change of care for Family Tax Benefit (FTB).

Where the other carer does not have an existing record and/or the documentation provided does not include the other carer’s current contact details, request their name, address and telephone number from the notifying carer, if available. If the gaining carer can supply enough information to create a record for the losing carer, a record should be created, and the children linked to the new record. See Adding a customer to the system and Linking a child to a customer's record. Do not provide any details to the notifying carer.

Note: an informal arrangement for a grandparent, other relative or non-parent carer who has supplied a Details of your Child's Care Arrangement (FA012) signed by a parent of the child, additional evidence is required to make a change of care determination.

Other cases

For all other cases, make 1 outbound call attempt to the other carer to confirm care arrangements.

• If the other carer confirms care details and change is agreed by both parties, see Table 2, Step 2
• If the outbound call is unsuccessful or the other carer disputes the level of care, update the Care Alignment Details (CADD/!CADDS) screen to 'Commenced' Note: if using Process Direct, the Families Care Assessment Task Selector must be used to update CADDS If shared care exists, go to Step 9
• If there is a change of care, go to Step 10

In the gaining carer's record:

• Create a DOC using Fast Note
• Select Auto Text use Families > Claims > Notification of additional child in care
• Include in the DOC:
• Percentage of care the customer has or how many nights the child will be in customer's care
• Is there a parenting plan/court order?
• Does the customer have care during school holidays?
• Include Customer Reference Number (CRN) of other carer, child's name, and details of care being claimed
• If available include child's Medicare number or 'S'elect 'Can provide at a later date' option
• Close the DOC

In the gaining and losing carer's records:

• Run the Child - Change in Care Arrangements script in Customer Record to issue Q810 to the gaining carer. Note: letters are sent to both the losing and gaining care as this gives both cares equal opportunity to provide evidence for the change of care without necessary delays. Do not issue multiple FA012 letters when 1 has been completed and returned
• If the losing carer is:
• FTB current, run the Child - Change in Care Arrangements script and issue Q810 - Shared Care Dispute - Request for information requesting evidence of care arrangements.
  Select If customer does not respond by due date FTB will be cancelled within the script. Close the request documentation DOC on the record
• Not FTB current and has a Centrelink record, issue a Q999 letter with a Details of your child's care arrangements (FA012) from their record. See the Resources page of Change of care for Family Tax Benefit (FTB) for letter text
• Not FTB current and has no Centrelink record, if the gaining carer has or can supply enough information to create a record for the losing carer, a record should be created, and the children linked to the new record. See Adding a customer to the system and Linking a child to a customer's record. Issue Q999 letter with a Details of your child's care arrangements (FA012) from the new record. See the Resources page of Change of care for Family Tax Benefit (FTB) for letter text
• Where the gaining carer cannot provide enough information to create a record for the losing carer, send a Q999 with a Details of your child's care arrangements (FA012) from the gaining carers record as a third party letter. See the Resources page of Change of care for Family Tax Benefit (FTB) for the Q999 letter text
• If documentation provided does not include the other carer’s current contact details, request their name, address, date of birth and telephone number from the notifying carer. Do not provide any details to the notifying carer
• Close the request DOCs on both records. If the losing carer has no Centrelink record, include this information on the gaining carer's DOC

All disagreed and disputed care assessments and updates are completed by appropriately skilled Child Support Smart Centre staff. For handoff procedure, see Notification and assessment of shared care arrangements for Family Tax Benefit (FTB).

See Table 2, Step 1.

In the gaining carer's record:

• Create a DOC using Fast Note.
• Select Auto Text use Families > Claims > Notification of additional child in care
• Include CRN of other carer, child's name, and details of care being claimed
• If available include child's Medicare number or select Can provide at a later date option
• Close the DOC
• Run the Child - Change in Care Arrangements script and issue Q810 - Shared Care Dispute - Request for information requesting evidence of current care arrangements
• Close the request documentation DOC on the record

In the losing carer's record:

• If the losing carer is:
• FTB current, run the Child - Change in Care Arrangements script in Customer Record and issue Q810 - Shared Care Dispute - Request for information requesting evidence of care arrangements.
  Select If customer does not respond by due date FTB will be cancelled within the script. Close the request documentation DOC on the record
• Not FTB current and has a Centrelink record, issue Q999 letter with a Details of your child's care arrangements (FA012) from their record. See the Resources page of Change of care for Family Tax Benefit (FTB) for letter text
• Not FTB current and has no Centrelink record, where the gaining carer has or can supply enough information to create a record for the losing carer, a record should be created, and the children linked to the new record. See Adding a customer to the system and Linking a child to a customer's record. Issue Q999 letter with a Details of your child's care arrangements (FA012) from the new record. See the Resources page of Change of care for Family Tax Benefit (FTB) for letter text
• Where the gaining carer cannot provide enough information to create a record for the losing carer, send a Q999 in Customer First with a Details of your child's care arrangements (FA012) from the gaining carer's record as a third party letter. See the Resources page of Change of care for Family Tax Benefit (FTB) for the Q999 letter text
• Record details on a DOC. (If there is no Centrelink record for the losing carer, DOC the gaining carer's record)

All disagreed and disputed care assessments and updates are completed by appropriately skilled Child Support Smart Centre staff. For handoff procedure, see Notification and assessment of shared care arrangements for Family Tax Benefit (FTB).

See Table 2, Step 1.

• Index an ACH activity on the Families Task Selector (FTS) screen:
• Source: 'PHO'
• Date: use the correct DOR when applying care decisions or date of contact if the customer is not a parent/party to the child support case
• Act: 'ACH'
• Select [Enter] to go to the Child Selection (CHS) screen. Do not take any action
• Go to Activity List (AL) screen
• If shared care exists add keyword SHARED' to activity
• Put activity on hold for 22 days to ensure the customer is given 14 days to return evidence, plus extra time for mail delivery
• Transfer activity to office code FCC

Procedure ends here.

To record changes in the losing carer's record, see Child leaves customer's care/custody (where applicable).

Check that a genuine change of care has occurred

If care of a child is delegated to another person, this is not considered a change of care. A child may be in the care of another person, but the customer retains the overall responsibility for the child, e.g. the child attends boarding school or stays with grandparents. See Family Tax Benefit (FTB) child of a person for more information.

For informal changes of care, the losing and gaining carers will be required to provide evidence for a change of care. See Step 10 in the Initial assessment of customer circumstances and care arrangements table.

If a genuine change of care has occurred:

• In Customer First index an Add Child (ACH) activity on FAO Task Selector (FTS) screen:
• Source: PHO
• Date: use the correct DOR when applying care decisions, or the date of contact if the customer is not a parent/party to the child support case
• Act: ACH
• If the child is not listed on the Child Selection (CHS) screen, within the ACH activity go to Link Child (LCH) screen to search for the child's record and link them. For more information, see Linking a child to a customer's record

Does a record exist for the child?

• Yes, go to Step 3
• No,
• Create a DOC using Fast Note
• Select Auto Text use Families > Claims > Notification of additional child in care
• Select the Smart Auto Text button and include information as required
• Include the Customer Reference Number (CRN) of the other carer, child's name, and details of care being claimed
• If available, include the child's Medicare number or select Can provide at a later date option
• Close the DOC
• Transfer the started add child activity to Families, region code FCC
• Procedure ends here

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

A problem (P24845) has been identified where shared care is not being correctly applied when a child is in the care of a parent who has transferred their FTB to their current partner (step parent). See the P24845 Process table in Notification and assessment of shared care arrangements for Family Tax Benefit (FTB) for further details and workaround.

In the biological parent's record in Customer First:

• Go to the Child in Customer Care (CHC) screen. In the Care Status: field, code 'ICC' (in customer care) using the correct Date of Event (DOV) as follows. Date of birth will be the default date, but code:
• Date child entered customer's care/new care arrangements commenced, if the care date is different from child's date of birth
• Date of birth if the child was born overseas and is considered temporarily absent from Australia. All residency screens need to be coded for the child if the child arrives from overseas
• If the child is born overseas and has newly arrived in Australia to live with the customer for the first time, the date of the child’s arrival is to be used, see the Resources page for an example
• Code the shared care on the FTB Shared Care (FSC) table/screen (this will be 100% if there are no other carers)
• Code 'N' if both parties to the care arrangement are confirmed as either a parent or the current partner of a parent
• Code 'Y' if the person who has care or is sharing care of the child is neither a parent nor current partner of a parent, for example grandparent, foster carer, friend, relative or the relationship to the child is not known. If the care is being shared by a non-parent carer, code 'Y'
• Update the SSA Shared Care (SSC) screen (if the partner is the principal carer code the parent as 0% and PC indicator 'Y' or 'N' based on principal carer determination). For more information, see Shared care for social security payments
• On the Care Alignment Details (CADDS/!CADDS) screen:
• Care Assessment: select Finalised
• Disputed care: select 'No' as the care is agreed
• Carer: select the biological parent's name
• Recording legal residence status and Country of Residence (CHCRES) screen of dependent children if necessary

In the step parent's (claimant's) record in Customer First:

• Go to the CHC screen. In the Care Status: field, code ICC
• Date child entered customer's care/new care arrangements commenced if the care date is different from child's date of birth
• Update the SSC screen (if the step parent is the principal carer code as 100% and PC indicator 'Y' or 'N' based on principal carer determination). See Principal carer determination in shared care arrangements for further information
• On the CHOC screen code CLM (claim)
• Create a DOC using Fast Note:
  Select Auto Text, use Families > Claims > Notification of additional child in care
  Select the Smart Auto Text button and include information as required
• Birth Verification: previously supplied
• Change in care: 'Yes' if 100% change of care, or Share care: 'Yes' if shared care exists
• If error E630PN or E559NM presents, see E630PN or E559NM - Child is the dependant of another principal carer
• Complete the activity on the Assessment Results (AR) screen

Procedure ends here.

Is the child a customer? If the child is a customer, a message displays on the Child Selection (CHS) screen.

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

Code the updates in the child's record before returning to the respective claimant’s record:

• Key the Child's Customer Reference Number (CRN) to go to the child record
• On the CHS screen, 's'elect 'Self'
• Code child changes as if in carer's record:
• On the Child in Customer Care (CHC) screen, DOV: will default to date of birth, but code:
• Date child entered customer's care/new care arrangements commenced, if the care date is different from child's date of birth
• Date of birth if the child was born overseas and is considered temporarily absent from Australia. All residency screens need to be coded for the child if the child arrives from overseas
• If the child is born overseas and has newly arrived in Australia to live with the customer for the first time, the date of the child’s arrival is to be used
• Care status: ICC In Customer Care
• Code number corresponding to carer in 'Carer' field
• FTB shared care (FSC) table/screen:
• Select Add Row
• Start Date: Code date new care arrangement commenced
• In Care (nights) or In Care (%): Add shared care percentage or number of nights in care
• Assessment Method: Select appropriate entry from the dropdown menu
• Carer: Name of the carer being updated
• Apportioning indicator: Code 'Y' if there are more than 2 people caring for the child and one has less than 35% care. Otherwise code 'N'
• Preliminary indicator: if the customer advises that their care percentage has decreased and is yet to be agreed on, the preliminary indicator field is to be coded 'Y'. If the care percentage is agreed on the preliminary indicator is coded as 'N'
• More than 2 Carers: Code 'N' if both parties to the care arrangement are confirmed as parents. Code 'Y' if the person who has care or is sharing care of the child is not a parent, for example grandparent, foster carer, friend, relative or the relationship to the child is not known. If the care is being shared by more than 2 carers, code 'Y'
• Social Security Act Shared Care (SSC) screen
• Start Date: Date new care arrangements commenced
• SSA % Care: Add shared care percentage. For further information, see Shared care for social security payments and Notification and assessment of shared care arrangements for Family Tax Benefit (FTB)
• Principal Carer Child Yes/No: As required. See Shared care for income support payments and principal carer determination
• On the Care Alignment Details (CADDS/!CADDS) screen:
• Care Assessment: select Finalised from the dropdown menu
• Disputed care: select 'No' as the care has been agreed upon
• Update Child Relationship details (!CHRE)
• Update child education details if necessary
• If the child had claimed an income support payment which was rejected:
• 's'elect the self line from the Child Selection (CHS) screen and navigate to the Child General Circumstances (CHG) screen
• if present, delete the DPP line so that FTB can be granted
• Recording legal residence status and Country of Residence (CHCRES) screen of dependent children, if necessary
• When taking activity to the Assessment Results (AR) screen to finalise, when it is a Ripple Manager Consequence (RMC), change the COM coding for the ripple to STA to check the outcome of the ripple in the carer’s record. The updates will ripple to each record linked to the child. See Ripple manager consequences
• Record details on a DOC on child's record

Return to the carers' record to complete coding the reassessment activity. The child updates made on the child's record will now display on the carers' records.

In the Carer’s record, update other child screens if necessary:

• Child Override/Claim (CHOC) screen for FTB as well as for the relevant income support payment (other than pensions), for example Parenting Payment Partnered (PPP)
• Child Miscellaneous Circumstances (CHM) screen from the date the child entered care. Note: coding on this screen impacts concession card entitlements and must be updated to state the Principal carer type: for example, Foster Parent (FSF or FOS), Natural (NAT), and Foster child FAO: YES field for foster carer/non biological carer records
• Newborn Supplement Questionnaire (!NBSQ) page: If the customer may be eligible for NBS/NBU, update customer responses
• Responses can be updated or corrected on this page if required. Investigate/follow up if NBS rate category cannot be determined
• For entrustment to care, a warning will present to check previous children in this relationship group to ensure correct entitlement to NBU/NBS. Check if the customer has any children who have previously been entrusted to care under the age of 1, if 'Yes' the customer will be eligible to the lower rate of NBS
• For an entrustment to care child, if a customer indicates 'No' to the question relating to child being in care for 13 continuous weeks, NBU/NBS will not be paid. If the child does remain in care, the customer would need to contact to notify that the child has remained in care and the Service Officer would need to update the response from 'No' to 'Yes' for the continuous care question on !NBSQ in order to assess NBU/NBS. If the customer indicates 'unsure', a system review will be set to recheck eligibility after 16 weeks. If the child has remained in care when the review matures, NBU/NBS will be automatically assessed
• Check maintenance grouping is correct. See How to group children on a customer's Family Tax Benefit (FTB) record

When all coding is complete:

• Go to the Activity Results (AR) screen to check result. Do not finalise at this point
• Create a DOC using Fast Note:
• Select Auto Text use Families > Claims > Notification of additional child in care. Select the Smart Auto Text button and include information as required
• Birth Verification: previously supplied
• Change in care: 'Yes' if 100% change of care, or
• Share care: 'Yes' if shared care exists
• Complete the activity on the Assessment Results (AR) screen

If there is an Assessment of Care Arrangements Referral work item, go to Step 12.

If there is not an Assessment of Care Arrangements Referral work item, the procedure ends here.

If the child and customer records are in different environments, see Inter-environment change of address (ICOA) transfer of a child record.

Once the child's record displays on the CHS screen, select the child and update as follows:

• On the Child in Customer Care (CHC) screen, DOV: will default to the date of birth, but code:
• Date child entered customer's care/new care arrangements commenced if the care date is different from child's date of birth
• Date of birth if the child was born overseas and is considered temporarily absent from Australia. All residency screens need to be coded for the child if the child arrives from overseas
• If the child is born overseas and has newly arrived in Australia to live with the customer for the first time, the date of the child’s arrival is to be used, see the Resources page for an example
• Care status: ICC In Customer Care
• FTB shared care (FSC) table/screen:
• Select Add Row
• Start Date: Code date new care arrangement commenced
• In Care (nights) or In Care (%): Add shared care percentage or number of nights in care (this will be 100% if there are no other carers)
• Assessment Method: Select appropriate entry from the dropdown menu
• Carer: Name of the carer being updated
• Apportioning indicator: Code 'Y' if there are more than 2 people caring for the child and one has less than 35% care. Otherwise code 'N'
• Preliminary indicator: if the customer advises their care percentage has decreased and is yet to be agreed on, the preliminary indicator field is to be coded ‘Y’. If the care percentage is agreed on the preliminary indicator is coded as 'N'
• More than 2 Carers:
  Code 'N' if both parties to the care arrangement are confirmed as parents
  Code 'Y' if the person who has care or is sharing care of the child is not a parent, for example grandparent, foster carer, friend, relative or the relationship to the child is not known. If the care is being shared by more than 2 carers, code 'Y'
• Social Security Act Shared Care (SSC) screen
• Start Date: Date new care arrangements commenced
• SSA % Care: Add shared care percentage (this will be 100% if there are no other carers). For further information, see Shared care for social security payments and Notification and assessment of shared care arrangements for Family Tax Benefit (FTB)
• Principal Carer Child Yes/No: As required. See Principal carer determination in shared care arrangements
• On the Care Alignment Details (CADDS/!CADDS) screen:
• Care Assessment: select Finalised from the dropdown menu
• Disputed care: select 'No' as the care has been agreed upon

Note: the FSC and SSC screens must be coded for new ongoing care advice (both shared care and 100%). These screens do not need to be coded for the child/ren who are already linked to a customer or where matching FSC and SSC information is already recorded, unless there is a change of care. This is to ensure the quality of data is correct and to limit incorrect care dates.

• Code the Child Override/claim (CHOC) screen for FTB purposes:
• Date: Date of receipt
• Service Reason: FTB
• Reason: CLM
• If FTB entitlement has been previously transferred to partner (identified by a FTB Child Override (CHOC) line with reason ‘TOP’), the transfer may need to be ended to ensure the relevant child is included in the current assessment. Check the Assessment Explanation (AX) screen to see if the child is being included and code a Child Override (CHOC) ‘End of Override EOV’ line, if appropriate:
• Date: Date child entered care
• Service Reason: FTB
• Reason: EOV

Note: if the TOP line has been coded previously due to P24845 workaround being applied, refer the record to the to the Business, Process and Design Branch. The Resources page contains a link to the FCC ICT referral process.

• For PPP customers check that a claim line exists on the Child Override (CHOC) screen. If no line exists on CHOC, code:
• Date: Date child entered care/DOB
• Service Reason: PPP
• Reason: CLM
• If a TOP line exists the override will need to be ended by coding an End of Override 'EOV’ line
• PPS customers, if there is a current Child Override (CHOC) line with reason:
• ‘TOP’, ‘OTN’ or 'PCN' and the customer is now the principal carer of the child, end the override. This ensures the relevant child is included in the PPS assessment
• Check the pension child assessment (PNKDS) screen to see if the child is being included, and code a Child Override (CHOC) ‘End of Override EOV’ line, if appropriate:
  Date: Date child entered care
  Service Reason: PPS
  Reason: EOV
• Update Child Relationship details (!CHRE) screen
• Newborn Supplement Questionnaire (!NBSQ) page: If the customer may be eligible for NBS/NBU, update customer responses
• Responses can be updated or corrected on this page if required. Investigate/follow up if NBS rate category cannot be determined
• For entrustment to care, a warning will present to check previous children in this relationship group to ensure correct entitlement to NBU/NBS. Check if the customer has any children who have previously been entrusted to care under the age of 1, if 'Yes' the customer will be eligible to the lower rate of NBS
• For an entrustment to care child, if a customer indicates 'No' to the question relating to child being in care for 13 continuous weeks, NBU/NBS will not be paid. If the child does remain in care, the customer would need to contact to notify that the child has remained in care and the Service Officer would need to update the response from 'No' to 'Yes' for the continuous care question on !NBSQ in order to assess NBU/NBS. If the customer indicates 'unsure', a system review will be set to recheck eligibility after 16 weeks. If the child has remained in care when the review matures, NBU/NBS will be automatically assessed
• Update Child education details if necessary
• Update the Child Miscellaneous Circumstances (CHM) screen from the date the child entered care. Note: coding on this screen impacts concession card entitlements and must be updated to state the Principal carer type: e.g. Foster Parent (FSF or FOS), Natural (NAT), and Foster child FAO: YES field for foster carer/non-biological carer records
• Recording legal residence status and Country of Residence (CHCRES) screen of dependent children, if necessary
• Check maintenance grouping is correct. See How to group children on a customer's Family Tax Benefit (FTB) record
• Go to the Activity Results (AR) screen to check result. Do not finalise at this point
• Create a DOC using Fast Note:
  Select Auto Text use Families > Claims > Notification of additional child in care
  Select Confirm and include information as required:
• Birth Verification: previously supplied
• Change in care: 'Yes' if 100% change of care, or
• Share care: 'Yes' if shared care exists

If the customer is potentially entitled to another payment (for example, Parenting Payment Partnered or Parenting Payment Single):

• Discuss this with the customer if they are available
• Record details on a DOC. See Contact in relation to an intended claim (CLK)

Double Orphan Pension or other income support

If potentially entitled to Double Orphan Pension (DOP), issue Claim for Double Orphan Pension form (SC003). Record details on a DOC.

ABSTUDY School Term Allowance

If a potential entitlement to ABSTUDY School Term Allowance is identified, transfer the customer to ABSTUDY to make a claim over the phone (see ABSTUDY and Assistance for Isolated Children (AIC) for contact details).

• Complete the activity on the Assessment Results (AR) screen

If an Assessment of Care Arrangements Referral work item was allocated for action, go to Step 12.

If an Assessment of Care Arrangements Referral work item was not allocated for action, procedure ends here.

If verification of the change in care arrangement has not been requested already, and/or the 'notification of additional child in care' Fast Note has not been completed, see Table 1, Step 8.

Ensure all required documentation has been lodged. See Receipt of claims, forms and documentation for family assistance.

If the Newborn Child Declaration (FA081) has been received, ensure that it has been completed in full.

Determine whether the child has entered the customer's care using available evidence to support the actual care arrangements.

Note: for informal care arrangements, where care is not shared between 2 customers with legal responsibility (e.g. parents) if the customers are providing a FA012, further evidence of the change in care is required to support a care determination.

Is there enough information to reassess the customer's entitlement for the additional child entering care (including newborn)?

• Yes, go to Step 9
• No, go to Step 11

If the customer has:

• lodged an online claim, see Pre-processing checks for standalone and combined claims for family assistance and/or Paid Parental Leave payments
• lodged a lump sum claim, see Processing Family Tax Benefit (FTB) lump sum claims
• advised verbally that an older child has entered care (Notification of an additional child in care Fast Note on customer record), go to Step 10
• lodged a Newborn Child Declaration (FA081) or other acceptable proof of birth and the customer
• is claiming PPL, or the FA081 is incomplete, see Processing child's proof of birth
• does not intend to claim PPL (or the customer's PPL claim was rejected), go to Step 10

If there is a started 'Add Child' activity on the Activity List (AL) screen, check all coding has been completed and finalise the activity on the Assessment Results (AR) screen, once satisfied with the outcome.

If there is no started activity:

• Index an Add Child (ACH) activity by going to the Families Task Selector (FTS) screen on the customer record. Code the following fields:
• Source: choose relevant option
• Date: date of customer contact if there is no child support case for the child, otherwise use the correct DOR when applying care decisions. Where the customer is not parent/party to the child support case or it is an organisation notifying Services Australia, use the date of contact as the DOR
• Act: ACH
• Select [Enter] to go to the Child Selection (CHS) screen. Do not take any action
• Go to the AL screen and S'elect the Add Child activity

If the child is not listed on the Child Selection (CHS) screen, go to Link Child (LCH) screen within the ACH activity to search for the child's record and link them. See also: Linking a child to a customer's record.

• On the Child in Customer Care (CHC) screen, DOV will default to the date of birth, but code:
• date the child entered customer's care/new arrangements commenced if the care date is different from child's date of birth
• date of birth if the child was born overseas and is considered temporarily absent from Australia. All residency screens need to be coded for the child if the child arrives from overseas
• if the child is born overseas and has newly arrived in Australia to live with the customer for the first time, the date of the child's arrival to be used
• Care Status: ICC - In Customer Care
• Code the Change Child (CCH) screen:
• Birth Registered: Yes/No (for Newborn children up to 12 months old)
• Serial Number: The serial number must be entered on the Change Child (CCH) screen if a FA081/FA008 has been provided. (Where there is a problem with the serial number provided, see Validation of serial numbers in Processing standalone and combined claims for family assistance and/or Paid Parental Leave scheme payments, for required action.)
• Code 'FTB CLM' line on the CHOC screen from date of receipt
  Note: For PPP, check that a claim line exists on the Child Override (CHOC) screen. See Child Override/ Claim (CHOC) screen.
• If necessary, code the Child Miscellaneous Circumstances (CHM) screen from the date the child entered care. Note: coding on this screen impacts concession card entitlements and must be updated to state the Principal carer type:. For example, Foster Parent (FSF or FOS), Natural (NAT), and Foster child FAO: Yes field for foster carer/non biological carer records
• If provided, record the child's Medicare number on the MEI screen. Note: if a link to the AIR has already been established this coding is not required
• FTB shared care (FSC) table/screen:
• Select Add Row
• Start Date: Code date new care arrangement commenced
• In Care (nights) or In Care (%): Add shared care percentage or number of nights in care
• Assessment Method: Select appropriate entry from the dropdown menu
• Carer: Name of the carer being updated
• Note: for assistance in coding the Apportioning Indicator, Preliminary Indicator and More than 2 Carers fields on the FSC screen, see FTB shared care (FSC) table/screen
• Social Security Act Shared Care (SSC) screen
• Start Date: Date new care arrangements commenced
• SSA % Care: Add shared care percentage. For further information, see Shared care for social security payments and Notification and assessment of shared care arrangements for Family Tax Benefit (FTB)
• Principal Carer Child Yes/No: As required, see Principal carer determination in shared care arrangements
• On the Care Alignment (CADDS/!CADDS) screen:
• Care Assessment: select Finalised from the dropdown menu
• Disputed care: select 'No' as the care has been agreed upon
• Update Child Relationship details (!CHRE) screen
• Newborn Supplement Questionnaire (!NBSQ) page:
• !NBSQ must be updated in all instances for Newborn children up to 12 months old, and where the customer may be eligible for NBS/NBU
• Responses can be updated or corrected on this page if required. Investigate/follow up if NBS rate category cannot be determined
• For entrustment to care, a warning will present to check previous children in this relationship group to ensure correct entitlement to NBU/NBS. Check if the customer has any children who have previously been entrusted to care under the age, if 'Yes' the customer will be eligible to the lower rate of NBS
• For an entrustment to care child, if a customer indicates 'No' to the question relating to child being in care for 13 continuous weeks, NBU/NBS will not be paid. If the child does remain in care, the customer would need to contact to notify that the child has remained in care and the Service Officer would need to update the response from 'No' to 'Yes' for the continuous care question on !NBSQ in order to assess NBU/NBS. If the customer indicates 'unsure', a system review will be set to recheck eligibility after 16 weeks. If the child has remained in care when the review matures, NBU/NBS will be automatically assessed
• Recording legal residence status and Country of Residence (CHCRES) screen of dependent children, if necessary
• Check maintenance grouping is correct. See How to group children on a customer's Family Tax Benefit (FTB) record
• Check the Maintenance Action Test (MAT) is correctly applied for child/ren from a previous relationship. If a customer meets the fifth criteria of the 13 week (91 day) timeframe, a manual workaround must be applied to ensure the Deciding Maintenance Action (DMA) period commences from the correct (DMA) event date. See Maintenance Action Test (MAT) for Family Tax Benefit (FTB) customers for further details
• Go to the Assessment Results (AR) screen to check result. Do not finalise at this point
• Create a DOC using Fast Note:
  Select Auto Text use Families > Claims > Notification of additional child in care
  Select the Smart Auto Text button and include information as required
• Birth Verification: previously supplied
• Change in care: 'Yes' if 100% change of care, or
• Share care: 'Yes' if shared care exists
• Finalise the activity on the AR screen

Cancel the FA081 scan activity if on AL (ensure the Medicare Newborn Manual Enrolment (MAENROL) DOC remains open).

If the customer is being assessed for NBU/NBS and where AWE warning 'No NBS/NBU Assessment can be made for child XXXX' presents, to ensure correct entitlement, refer these cases direct to a Service Support Officer (SSO) using the Direct Referral to SSO webform. The Resources page contains a link to the form.

Note: if the customer's arrears are being used to recover overpayments, see Debt offsetting during family assistance reassessment, reconciliation and claim processing.

Procedure ends here.

If there is not enough available evidence or verification to reassess the customer's FTB entitlement in Customer First:

• Cancel the Add Child activity or Fast Note. If there is a New Claim:
• update the dependent child or shared care details guided procedures to 'not required'
• continue to process the claim
• Record details on a DOC with the reason the FTB is unable to be reassessed for the additional child
• If no response has been received from the request to verify the change from either carer, cancel the FTB for the losing carer:
• Reason: FRC (Failed to Reply to Correspondence)
• Benefits Action (BA) screen - from date paid to, plus 1
• record details on a DOC
• For newborn children (up to 12 months old): issue a Q776 letter using the FA081 Customer to claim guided procedure. Cancel the families scan activity (ensure the MAENROL DOC remains open)
• For children other than newborns: Issue a Free Text (Q999) letter to advise the customer that payments for the additional child/ren cannot be assessed but that this decision does not affect the rate of FTB for other children. Note: as this Q999 is advising of a decision, staff must select to include the appeal paragraph when drafting the letter. The correct service reason must be selected when creating the Q999. When prompted for timeframe for review in Q999, select 52 weeks for a Family Assistance review. The Resources page contains example text for the Q999 letter

If the customer subsequently supplies all required information to reassess their FTB entitlement, see Customer initiated review of decision.

• Once care has been updated and the !CHRE and CHM screens recorded the Assessment of Care Arrangements Referral (ZCRF AOCA REFERRAL) work item must be finalised in Customer first by completing the following:
• In Workspace, select Online Interaction Summary (Customer online Account)
• Insert the Work Item ID into Activity ID field or the Customer Reference Number (CRN) and select Search
• Identify Customer Referral activity under Activity Type and select the customer hyperlink under Description
• On the Referral Details page, select the Referral Type tab
• Select Edit
• Change Status to Completed
• Select Save

A DOC must be recorded in all cases, as this is used by income support payment, Low Income Health Care Card (LIC), Commonwealth Seniors Health Card (CSHC) or Foster Child Health Care Card (FST) processing staff to progress the claim. This includes when a care assessment is not required as the information provided by the customer is the same as what is already coded on the customer’s record.