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Rate explanation screens for family assistance and Paid Parental Leave payments 007-07100010

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PPL details for customers with children born or entering care both before and on or after 1 July 2023.

This document outlines how the rate explanation screens for family assistance and Paid Parental Leave scheme payments calculate a customer's rate. This document also shows how these screens allow easy access to other screens for further information.

Customer First

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Rate explanation screens in Customer First and Customer Record

FTB rate explanation screens in Customer First and Customer Record

PPL rate explanation screens in Customer First and Customer Record

Rate explanation screens in Customer First and Customer Record


Table 1

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Item

Description

1

FAO Assessment screens

In Customer First enquiry screens for FAO system payments are listed on the FAO/FAM Enquiry (FENQ) menu.

Enquiry screens include:

  • The FAO/FAM General Information (FGI) screen provides a summary of a customer's assessment information for FTB
  • Rate explanation (REX) screens for each service reason (payment type) provide details of how the customer's rate was calculated. REX screens allow navigation to a number of screens for further assessment details
  • Assessment Explanation (AX) screens for each service reason show child assessment and eligibility details. The MIT Explanation Summary (MNEX) screen shows maintenance income assessment details used to calculate FTB Part A
  • Adjusted taxable income details can be viewed for the relevant financial year from the FAO Income Summary (FINS) and FAO Income Summary Details (FISD) screens.
  • The Event Summary (ES) screen displays a one line summary for each activity completed on the customer's record. Lines can be selected to view further details for the activity
  • The FTB Income Support Payment Explanation (FTBISPX) screen (in Customer First only) provides information relating to:
    • if a customer is/was in receipt of an income support payment for an FTB Part A assessment
    • income used in the calculation of the secondary and/or primary earner income tests for FTB Part B
  • Maintenance screens used for FTB purposes can be accessed from the Maintenance Entitlement Group Summary (MNGS) screen.

Screen help [F1] and field help [Shift/?] (in Customer First only) provides information about the details recorded on these screens.

For a breakdown of:

  • REX screens for Family Tax Benefit (FTB), see Table 2
  • Paid Parental Leave (PPL) screens, see Table 3

FTB rate explanation screens in Customer First and Customer Record


Table 2

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Item

Description

1

Access to rate explanation (REX) screens

Outside an activity

  • In the NXT: field code 'REX' followed by the FAO service reason in the Next: field, for example, REXFTB, REXCCF

In an activity

  • In Customer First, select the relevant screen from the left hand side menu on the Assessment Results (AR) screen
  • In Customer Record:
    • On the AR screen, code 'S' next to the relevant service reason line and code 'RATS' in the Nxt: field
    • From the Period Rates Summary (RATS) screen, code 'X' in the selection field. To go to the REXFTBA or REXFTBB screens, code 'S' next to a line and complete Nxt: Field
    • From the Rate Component (RAC) screen (via RATS screen), code 'X' in the 'Go to: REX:' field

From the Event Summary (ES) screen in Customer First or Customer Record 'S'elect an activity on the ES screen and then code 'REX' screen in Nxt: field

The rate explanation (REX) screens are linked to the Period Rate Summary (RATS) and Period Rate Component (RAC) screens. For every line on the REX screens there are corresponding RATS and RAC screens.

2

Navigating from REX screen
  • Screen help: Press [F1] to view general information about the REX screen or go to the relevant page to view detailed information for a particular service reason
  • Valid PF keys: Press [F4] in Customer Record to view a list of valid function keys that can be used, for example:
    • [F7]/[F8] to scroll through pages (separate rate calculation periods)
    • [F10]/[F11] to pan left and right, for example, panning right on the REXFTB screen will display full meaning of acronyms used

Use the Go to: field in Customer First and Customer Record to quickly access related screens for further details.

Code the letter shown after the screen abbreviation to go to the screen. For example, code 'F' on the REXFTB screen to go to the REXFTBA screen.

3

Generic REX screen information

Daily/period view

The REX screens in period view show the assessment details taken into account in calculating the final fortnightly rate within the period, which may cover one or more paydays. If there have been multiple changes in income or rate during the period, only the latest details are displayed.

The REX screens in daily view show the details of each change during a period. The daily view will show the same information as the period view, but all rates are converted to daily amounts. The daily view may be shown if the REX screen is accessed via the RATS screen.

The following fields are common to the REX screens in the FAO system:

  • From: The start of the assessment period. A valid date can be coded to display details for a certain period, unless the REX screen was accessed from the RATS screen
  • To: The end of the assessment period (only shows if in an activity)
  • Pays: The number of paydays (period view) or the number of days (daily view) between the, from and to dates for which there has been an adjustment
  • Svc Rsn: The service reason selected
  • Benefit status: The status of the service reason selected
  • DOR: Only shows if in an activity
  • AMR: Activity Management Reference number of the activity

4

FTB Rate Explanation (REXFTB) screen

Family Tax Benefit (FTB) rate.

The REXFTB screen displays in period view if accessed directly. To view in daily view, access from the RATS screen.

Only the first 2 columns display. In Customer First select Next, or in Customer Record press [PF11]/ [PF10] to scroll right/left to view all columns.

Left column

  • The customer's maximum rate of:
    • Standard FTB Part A for all FTB children
    • Standard FTB Part B for the family
    • Large Family Supplement (LFS) Note: LFS is not payable from 1 July 2016
    • Multiple Birth Allowance (MBA) (the References page contains a link to historical rates)

Next column - CUST ENTITLEMENT VIEW:

  • FTB claim option and the adjusted rate if applicable. If the customer has chosen an adjusted rate, the customer's notional rate will be displayed. Otherwise the customer's legislative rate of FTB Part A will be displayed. If the notional rate is shown, code 'L' in the Go to: field to display the legislative rate
  • Rent Assistance (RA)
  • Energy Supplement Part A for all FTB children if the customer was grandfathered for Energy Supplement
  • Energy Supplement Part B for the family if the customer was grandfathered for Energy Supplement
  • Maximum Entitlement

Next column:

  • the status of FTB Part A and Part B assessments - assessed, zero notional rate through payment choice, rejected, cancelled or not effective
  • reason for status:
    • Part A rsn: displays if Part A was rejected or cancelled, or limited to the base rate
    • FTB(A) base rate reason: shows why Part A was limited to the base rate
    • Part B Rsn: field shows why Part B was not paid
  • FTB is paid at auto maximum rate (not income tested)

Next column:

  • Income and maintenance tested rate of FTB and each FTB component before any withholdings. This section shows the FTB rate including Part A (if eligible) and Part B supplements which are only paid after the end of the financial year

To view child eligibility details, go to the Assessment Explanation (AXFTB) screen.

5

FTB Part A Explanation (REXFTBA) screen

Payment choice: The REXFTBA screen displays the customer's notional rate by default if they have applied a payment choice. Otherwise the customer's legislative rate of FTB Part A is shown. If the notional rate is shown, code 'L' in the Go to: field to display the legislative rate.

The gross FTB Part A rate shown is after any income and maintenance income reductions have been applied, but before any withholdings.

Note: an issue (PR18793) has been identified when a child/case end for a 'Child Support Collect' customer is processed by Child Support. The FTB assessment may incorrectly read the case as being a 'Private Collect' case for periods prior to the date the case was ended. The resultant outcome is an FTB A rate reassessment (to a lower rate in most cases) on the basis of an incorrect Entitlement Method calculation. All identified cases are to be referred to the Level 2 Policy Helpdesk. The Resources page contains a link to the Helpdesk enquiry - online form.

To view child eligibility details, go to the Assessment Explanation (AXFTB) screen.

7

FTB Part B Explanation (REXFTBB) screen

Payment choice: The REXFTBA screen displays the customer's notional rate by default if they have applied a payment choice. Otherwise the customer's legislative rate of FTB Part A is shown. If the notional rate is shown, code 'L' in the Go to: field to display the legislative rate.

8

FTB Income Support Payment Explanation (FTBISPX) screen

The FTBISPX screen provides information relating to the effect of a customer’s income support payment (if applicable) on their FTB entitlement.

For FTB Part A for a particular date of effect, the FTBISPX screen will display whether the customer was/is assessed as:

  • in a fill in period
  • in a grace period
  • in an employment income nil rate period
  • exempt from the income test and if so, the reason why

For FTB Part B for a particular date of effect, the FTBISPX screen displays whether the customer and/or partner’s income is/was used in the calculation of the secondary and/or primary earner income tests and the reason why. In doing so, it displays:

  • income date of event and amount
  • primary and secondary earner income for FTB Part B

Where income is available, if it is/was used in the calculations of FTB Part A and/or FTB Part B it will be displayed.

9

FTB General Explanation (FTBGENX) screen

The FTBGENX screen provides information to assist in explaining the customer's instalment component rates for a particular date of effect and includes the following details:

  • FTB general rate
  • FTB Part A rate
  • FTB Part B rate
  • Child information

10

FTB Change Explanation (FTBCHGX) screen

The FTBCHGX screen provides information to assist with identifying what has changed in a customer's FTB assessment for a particular date of effect, and the assessment date immediately prior to the rate change, including:

  • FTB overall changes
  • FTB Part A changes
  • FTB Part B changes
  • Child changes
  • Daily rate component changes

When a child/case end is transferred by Child Support for a Child Support Collect customer on the Disbursement method, the system retrospectively changes the case to Private Collect and applies the full maintenance entitlement amount.

This retrospective change in assessment results in the customer having their annualised maintenance income assessed under the Entitlement Method. In the majority of cases, this will result in a decrease in the customer's ongoing rate of FTB Part A. This change in annualised maintenance income can also invoke Mandatory Continuous Adjustment, causing a further reduction to the customer's ongoing rate of FTB.

Note: this is not caused by incorrectly entered/ended case data or a system problem, however it can lead to an unintended and unexpected reduction to the customer's ongoing rate. Occurrences of this issue must be reported to the Level 2 Policy Helpdesk for escalation to the Policy (Advice) Assessment Team for a workaround to be considered. The Resources page contains a link to the Level 2 Policy Helpdesk.


PPL rate explanation screens in Customer First and Customer Record


Table 3

Expand table

Item

Description

1

Claim level PPL Rate Explanation screens

PPL Calculation Summary (P1RCS) screen

The P1RCS screen displays the assessment result of a PPL claim, once the claim has finalised.

From the PPL Claim Summary (P1CS) screen, code 'R' against the appropriate PPL claim. The P1RCS screen lists all the Activity Management References (AMR) related to the claim, including provisionally assessed activities and a summary of the outcomes from those activities.

Use this screen to select the activity and go to the other PPL rate explanation screens: P1RCD and P1RCI.

The following fields display:

  • PPL Period Start Date: Where the assessment resulted in no PPL period, 'NA' will display
  • PPL Period End Date: Where the assessment resulted in no PPL period, 'NA' will display
  • Connected End Date: the date of the last connected Flexible PPL day
  • First Flex/PPL Date: the date of the first Flexible PPL day not connected to the PPL period
  • Last Flex/PPL Date: the date of the last Flexible PPL day not connected to the PPL period
  • Calc Date: the system day on which the assessment was performed
  • AMR: the Activity Management Reference

PPL Claim Details (P1RCD) screen

From the PPL Calculation Summary (P1RCS) screen, code 'D' against the appropriate PPL claim line The P1RCD screen displays all the claim details related the selected claim and activity.

From the P1RCS screen, code 'C' against the appropriate activity in Customer First.

For PPL claims for children born or adopted before 1 July 2023, the following fields display:

  • Ext Claim Ref ID: the External Claim Reference ID. The External Claim Reference ID is composed of 2 parts; PPL Reference ID and PPL Claim Reference ID. The 2 IDs will allow the PPL Cluster to create a unique External Claim Reference ID per PPL Claim for each customer
  • Date Claim Lodged: the DOR of the claim
  • DOB/ECD: the Date of Birth of the child. For a pre-birth claim this is the 'Expected Date of Birth', for post-birth claim this is the 'Actual Date of Birth'
  • Child Name: the name of the child. In pre-birth claims this information is not available therefore will not display
  • AMR: the activity management reference
  • Status: the PPL Benefit status and reason code. Where reason is not available, only the status will be displayed
  • Claim Type: this indicates the type of claim being assessed, Pre-Birth or Post-Birth
  • Claimant Type: this indicated the type of claimant - Primary, Secondary or Tertiary
  • Child CRN: Child Customer Reference Number
  • Nominated Start Date: this indicates the Nominated Start Date of PPL as advised in the claim by the claimant
  • Relationship Type: this indicated the relationship of the customer to the child in claim
  • AMR: the activity management reference
  • Transfer Date: for primary claimant this will be blank if there is no transfer or a transfer date if there is a full or partial transfer to secondary. For secondary claimant this will be blank if there is no transfer or if there is a full or partial transfer to tertiary. For tertiary claimant this will be blank
  • PPL Period days: the number of days in the claimant’s PPL period. If they are not eligible for the PPL period, this will be zero
  • Connected Flexible days: the number of Flexible PPL days the claimant has connected to the end of their PPL period. Note: Up to 30 Flexible PPL days are available for children that are born or adopted on or after 1 July 2020
  • Claimed Flexible days: the number of Flexible PPL days the claimant has claimed separately from the PPL period
  • Unclaimed Flexible days: the number of Flexible PPL days the claimant has remaining. If they have claimed all of their Flexible PPL days, this will be zero
  • Flexible days given to secondary/s: the number of Flexible PPL days the primary claimant has given permission for another person to claim
  • Flexible days claimed by secondary/s: the number of Flexible PPL days the primary claimant has given permission for another person to claim that have been claimed
  • Unclaimed Flexible days by secondary/s: the number of Flexible PPL days the primary claimant has given permission for another person to claim that have not yet been claimed. The primary claimant can remove permission and claim these days for themselves

2

Component level PPL Rate Explanation screens

The P1RCI screen is only available in Customer First.

PPL Period Calculation (P1RCI) screen

The P1RCI screen displays the details of the PPL period or a PPL claim for a child born or adopted before 1 July 2023.

From the P1RCS screen, code 'I' against the appropriate AMR.

The following fields display:

  • Entitlement: for the first row this will be 'Selected' and for the second row this will be 'Previous'
  • Start Date: the PPL period start date
  • End Date: the PPL period end date
  • Ovr: this is to indicate if the selected claim is an override claim or a normal claim
  • Days: the number of calendar days in the PPL period
  • Week days: the number of weekdays in the PPL period
  • Amount ($): the total entitlement amount for that particular period
  • Status: the current benefit status and service reason code
  • Date Paid To: the date when the last payment is/was issued (only populated if the End date of the selected activity is today's date or a date in the future)
  • Difference: the difference in number of calendar days, weekdays and the amount from the selected activity outcome compared with the previous activity outcome

Connected PPL Calculation (P1RCC) screen

The P1RCC screen displays the details of the claimant’s connected Flexible PPL days for a PPL claim for a child born or adopted before 1 July 2023. The claimant is required to nominate how many Flexible PPL days they want connected to the end of their PPL period.

From the P1RCS screen, code 'C' against the appropriate AMR.

The following fields display:

  • Entitlement: for the first row this will be 'Selected' and for the second row this will be 'Previous'
  • Start Date: the start date of the connected Flexible PPL days
  • End Date: the end date of the connected Flexible PPL days
  • Week days: the number of weekdays. Note: Connected Flexible PPL days are only paid on weekdays
  • Amount ($): the total entitlement amount for these Flexible PPL days
  • Status: the current benefit status and service reason code
  • Difference: the difference in number of calendar days, weekdays and the amount from the selected activity outcome compared with the previous activity outcome

Flexible PPL Calculation (P1RCF) screen

The P1RCF screen displays the overall details of the Flexible PPL assessment for a PPL claim for a child born or adopted before 1 July 2023.

From the P1RCS screen, code 'Y' in the Display Flexible PPL field.

The following fields display:

  • Assessed Flexible days:
  • Total Amount: the total entitlement amount for the assessed Flexible PPL days
  • Date of Effect: the date for the nominated Flexible PPL day
  • RSN: the reason code for the assessed Flexible PPL day
  • SRC: the source of the assessed Flexible PPL day
  • Amount: the entitlement amount for the Flexible PPL day
  • Status: the current benefit status and service reason code
  • AMR: the activity management reference

PPL Days Calculation (P1RCE) screen

The P1RCE screen will display the PPL Days Calculation, the assessment outcomes of these days and the paymaster for each day(s) for a PPL claim for a child born or adopted on or after 1 July 2023.

The following fields display:

  • Total Assessed PPL Days: This is the total assessed PPL Days
  • Total Amount ($): This is the total entitlement amount for all PPL day/s with status of current
  • Display All: This will provide an option to display all PPL days including rejected PPL days
  • PPL Start Date: This is the start date of effect of assessed PPL days
  • PPL End Date: This is the end date of effect of assessed PPL days
  • Rsn: This is the reason code of assessed PPL day. (e.g.: NOM = Date nominated, CWD = Customer withdrawal of PLP day)
  • Src: This is the source code of assessed PPL day. (e.g.: CUS = Customer, EMP = Employer, CSO = Service Officer)
  • Pymstr: This is the paymaster code. (e.g.: EMP = Employer paymaster, FAO = Services Australia paymaster)
  • Amount ($): This is the total entitlement amount for that assessed PPL days
  • Status: This is the claim status and reason code (e.g., ASS - PCB, ASS - ASD)
  • Day Count: This is the number of days between the PPL Start Date and the PPL End Date
  • AMR: This is the Activity Management Reference

3

Period Rate Explanation (REXPPL) screen

The REXPPL screen shows the customer's Parental Leave Pay (PPL) calculations.

Basic Rate: The total amount of PPL the customer is entitled to.

Withholding: The total amount of withholdings the customer has requested.

For more information, see: