Immunisation reviews and reminders for Family Tax Benefit (FTB) 007-13010060

From 1 July 2018, customers who claim FTB as fortnightly instalments (including those current on zero rate, or who have chosen to receive all or part of their FTB at reconciliation), will have 63 days to take the necessary action if a child does not meet immunisation requirements. This 63 day period is referred to as the FTB immunisation grace period. If at the end of the grace period the child still does not meet immunisation requirements, then an FTB Part A rate reduction will be applied.

The customer will receive a letter at the beginning of the FTB grace period outlining what they need to do and by when. A reminder letter is sent at day 35 if the child still does not meet immunisation requirements.

Note: If a customer is claiming both FTB and Child Care Subsidy (CCS) for a child that does not meet immunisation requirements, FTB and CCS immunisation grace period start and end dates may vary. Information about a customer’s CCS immunisation grace period is displayed in Process Direct.

The action required may include:

• attending a vaccination provider, if the child is recorded on the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) as not meeting the immunisation requirements
• providing the child’s Medicare details to establish a link with the AIR, if the child’s record has not been previously linked with the AIR, or if an incorrect link was severed
• contacting Centrelink to provide additional information to establish a link with the AIR, if the child’s record has not been linked with the AIR because the child is not eligible for Medicare or because a link has been attempted and a mismatch has been returned

The FTB immunisation grace period reminder letter will include the appropriate action based on the customer’s circumstances on the day the notice was generated.

The Child Immunisation Summary guided procedure displays the child’s FTB immunisation and AIR link status, see:

• View and update a child's immunisation status and assess or update immunisation exemptions for Family Tax Benefit (FTB)
• Establish a Family Tax Benefit (FTB) link for a child between Centrelink and the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR)

See also: Immunisation requirements for Family Tax Benefit Part A from 1 July 2018.

FTB immunisation grace periods do not apply when FTB is claimed for past periods only (including lump sum claims). See Immunisation requirements for FTB from 1 July 2018

When an FTB instalment customer’s rate of FTB changes (including upon grant) the customer will receive an FTB payment reassessment notice. This notice outlines their current and on-going rate of FTB.

Text about the immunisation requirements and FTB Part A rate reduction is included on this notice when the customer has an FTB child that does not meet immunisation requirements, including when they are within an FTB immunisation grace period.

When an FTB Part A rate reduction commences, an FTB payment reassessment notice is issued notifying the customer of the change in rate (including customers whose rate does not change due to payment choice or zero rate).

There are no immunisation reminders for FTB customers who claim FTB as a lump sum claim at the end of the financial year.

If a child’s record is not linked to the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR), the FTB lump sum claim will remain pending until the link is attempted. This can take up to 14 days but usually occurs within 48 hours.

See also: Immunisation requirements for Family Tax Benefit Part A from 1 July 2018.

For financial years 2012-13 to 2017-18, an annual mail-out occurred in May for customers who were at risk of not receiving the FTB Part A supplement due to the child not meeting the immunisation requirements.

This included customers whose child’s immunisation status was unknown.

The final May mail out occurred in May 2018.

For financial years between 2012-13 and 2017-18, reminders about immunisation requirements were included in the FTB reconciliation letter and annual non-lodger mail-out, if the FTB Part A supplement was excluded from reconciliation.

This information was not included in reconciliation letters issued after the end of the relevant lodgement year as the allowable timeframe had passed.

A reminder will display on the Customer Issues page advising Service Officers to collect a child's Medicare number, including their Individual Reference Number (IRN).

This reminder will target:

• FTB current customers (or their partner), with a child in their care, greater than 35% of the time, who is:
• less than 20 years of age with no Medicare number on record, or
• with a Medicare number on record where a link has not been established (mismatch)

A customer will be excluded from the above if either the customer or child has died.

If a Medicare number and IRN is provided 'S'elect the reminder on the issues page and code details as required. See Respond to child AIR link enquiries table

If a child is ineligible for Medicare a manual process can be used to attempt a link.

If a link is not attempted do not complete the reminder on the Customer Issues page. Advise the customer to provide their child's Medicare number and IRN for matching with the AIR.

A reminder will display on the Customer Issues page advising Service Officers where a customer has not met the immunisation requirements for FTB Part A supplement prior to 1 July 2018, for the previous financial year and the supplement was excluded at reconciliation.

The reconciliation assessment process will check if a child is subject to immunisation requirements for the relevant financial year and the FTB Part A supplement will be excluded for any children who do not meet the immunisation requirements.

Where this issue is displayed, Service Officers should advise the customer that:

• the immunisation requirements have not been met for a particular child, and
• they have until the end of the lodgement year for the child to meet the immunisation requirements

Customers are selected for this issue if their FTB has been reconciled and the FTB Part A supplement has been excluded because a child has not met the immunisation requirements.

This issue will no longer display once the child meets the immunisation requirements or after the end of the relevant lodgement year.

If the customer is also receiving FTB as instalments (including zero rate), advise the customer that from 1 July 2018 their rate of FTB Part A will be impacted if the child does not meet immunisation requirements.

An Issue will display if the date of birth transmitted from the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) does not match the one on the child’s record. See Establish a Family Tax Benefit (FTB) link for a child between Centrelink and the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) for more information

This issue will display for an FTB current customer (including zero rate) when:

• a child does not meet the immunisation requirements, and
• the customer is serving an FTB immunisation grace period

Advise the customer that:

• they have until the end of the 63 day grace period to meet the immunisation requirements
• if they do not take action an FTB Part A rate reduction will be applied to the customer’s rate of FTB Part A after the FTB immunisation grace period ends
• arrears will generally not be paid for any rate reduction period once immunisation requirements are subsequently met
• the FTB Part A rate reduction will be retrospectively applied for the 63 day grace period at reconciliation, if immunisation requirements were not met before the grace period expired

This issue will display for an FTB CUR customer (including zero rate) when an FTB immunisation grace period has ended and an FTB Part A rate reduction has been applied because the child does not meet immunisation requirements.

The issue will link to the Child Immunisation Summary guided procedure, to allow the Service Officer to discuss the reason that the child doesn’t meet the immunisation requirements and the impact on the customer’s rate of FTB Part A.

The Immunisation Requirements reminder will present in a customer's My Profile when a customer is receiving FTB Part A for a child who does not meet the immunisation requirements because:

• they are not linked with the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) and their immunisation status is unknown, or
• their immunisation status on the AIR indicates that they are not up to date with their immunisations

In the Express Plus Centrelink App, this reminder will present under Tasks.

Customers will be presented with a workflow to make their update. The reminder will remain until the child meets the immunisation requirements.

If the customer selects the reminder, they will be taken through the relevant workflow:

• Update Medicare Details reminder will display if the child is not linked with the AIR. The customer can enter a Medicare number and individual reference number for their child or provide a reason for their child not having a Medicare number (for example residency status or birth registration status). An error will display if the Medicare number provided is invalid. The customer must read and accept a privacy declaration prior to submitting the details.

The Medicare details the customer provides will then be used to attempt to link the child's record with the AIR. This is usually resolved overnight, but may take up to 14 days

• Immunisation Requirements reminder will display if the child is not linked with the AIR and the child's immunisation status is 'Not Met'. The service tells the customer that their payment will be affected and that they need to contact their vaccination provider. The task will remain until the child's AIR record shows that the child is up to date with their vaccinations