Where customers are unable to provide a residential address 003-06010080

Does the customer meet Services Australia's definition of homelessness?

• Yes, go to Step 2
• No, the customer should be able to supply a residential address. See Updating address details. Procedure ends here

If appropriate, code an At Risk Display on Access DOC:

• Keyword: 'atrisk'
• DOA DOC: 'HML'
• Ext Detail: Customer is At Risk
• Suggested Text: 'Customer has various risk factors and may have difficulty meeting the activity test' or 'Customer has experienced instability of residence and may have difficulty meeting Centrelink requirements'
• Expiry date: The date chosen should depend upon the customer's circumstances. If uncertain, discuss with the customer how long they would like this information to be displayed on their record
• For help creating a DOA DOC, see Creating, reviewing and deleting documents (including Fast Notes and DOA DOCs)

If the customer is a job seeker and has relocated, check if Moving to Area of Lower Employment Prospects (MALEP) provisions apply.

Note: although not homeless, customers who are travelling may not be able to provide a residential address. See:

• Assessing caravans, boats and park homes
• Rent Assistance (RA) for travellers

Step 8 will explain the process for when customers have experienced family and domestic violence.

Does the customer currently have a postal address?

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

Is the customer's current postal address already updated?

• Yes, go to Step 8
• No, go to Step 7

• Post Office Box (PO Box). Note: there is a fee for setting up a PO Box
• 'Care of' a friend or relative - encourage customers to use an address where the residents will be happy for them to have mail delivered and they can regularly collect mail
• 'Care of' a local service provider - some service centres have arrangements where customers can have their mail delivered to the address of local agencies such as youth services or drug and alcohol services. It may be possible for customers who use these services to negotiate such arrangements on an individual basis. Service Officers may help customers to contact the local agency. The Resources page has a link to the Payment and Service Finder
• 'Care of' the correspondence nominee postal address - if the customer has a correspondence nominee they can make arrangements with the nominee to collect the mail
• Note: if the customer has an involuntary nominee arrangement, the nominee receives a copy of all correspondence sent to the customer. The customer’s copy of the letters can be supressed by updating the nominee arrangement details, see Nominee Organisation

If the above options are not available or suitable for the customer, consider the following last resort options:

• 'Care of’ Local Post Office - Australia Post provides a service called Counter Mail Delivery whereby customers can receive mail care of the address of their local Post Office. There is no charge involved, but this service may be limited to 6 months at any one Post Office. Customers can attend the Post Office with identity documents to collect mail. It is important for customers to check their mail at least fortnightly as mail is not held indefinitely
• 'Care of' the social worker or Service Centre Manager - such arrangements depend on locally agreed procedures, but do provide the option for Services Australia to have regular contact with at risk customers when they come to collect their mail

Note: for correspondence to be sent, the agency must be provided an address where a customer can receive mail.

Is the customer able to supply an appropriate postal address?

• Yes, go to Step 7
• No, if there are safety concerns for the customer consult with a social worker or Community Engagement Officer. Procedure ends here

To send correspondence, the agency must be given an address where a customer can receive mail. Update the customer's new postal address on the Address Details (AD) screen using the Rapid Addressing Mode.

Note: staff should consider using yesterday’s date. This will make sure outgoing correspondence is sent to the correct address.

Important: make sure the home address is not updated with the new postal address. This can create a range of payment and rent errors for the person whose address is being used.

• Suburb or postcode: field, code suburb or postcode and choose the correct combination from the suggestions provided
• Street address: field, 'care of' information must be placed in double quotation marks or round brackets for it to show correctly on the customer file. It must be followed by the relevant mailing address. Rapid Addressing will accept the following formats:
• "Care of [Name]" [Address]
• "C/O [Name]" [Address], and
• (C/- [Name]) [Address]

When the 'care of' information is coded correctly, Rapid Addressing will still give address suggestions based on the user address input that can be selected from the list of suggestions. For more information, see Rapid Addressing.

Australia Post Counter Mail Delivery items should be addressed as follows:

• Suburb or postcode: field, code suburb or postcode where the Post Office is located
• Street address: field, 'care of' information must be placed in double quotation marks or round brackets for it to show correctly on the customer file and must be followed by the relevant mailing address of the Post Office

Example: Coding the Street address: field for Australia Post Counter Mail Delivery

"C/O Australia Post" 261 Queen St, or

(C/O Australia Post) 261 Queen St

For information on changing a customer's address, see Updating address details.

Update the Address Details (AD) screen.

Use Rapid Addressing

• Suburb or postcode: field, code suburb or postcode and choose the correct combination from the suggestions provided. If the customer says they are unable to provide suburb and postcode details, ask them for most appropriate for their circumstances. For example, the suburb / postcode where they spent the previous night
• Street address field, code No Fixed Address or Confidential, this will show as a suggested street under -Your input- for selection. After selection, the message ‘The address combination entered could not be matched with Australia Post’ will appear

Update the Accommodation (AC) screen.

Using field help ('?') for correct coding information, update record as needed

For more details, see Updating address details and Completing the Accommodation Details (AC) screen and assessing Rent Assistance (RA).

Note: if the customer is living in a family and domestic violence refuge, only a postal address needs to be recorded, (for example, a PO Box). In these cases, the ‘home address’ should be coded as ‘no fixed address’ or ‘confidential’. This will not impact the customer's ability to receive Rent Assistance, as rent verification is not required for customers residing in a refuge.

A similar process applies to customers who have experienced family and domestic violence, and:

• are living in private accommodation, and
• cannot provide their new address details due to significant safety concerns

Update their home address details as ‘confidential’. Rent verification is needed if the customer wants to claim Rent Assistance, but the address details may be redacted.

See Temporary accommodation and Rent Assistance (RA) for updating details, including for customers in Refuge Type accommodation who have applied for a Government housing transfer.

Staff can add a password to a customer’s file, see:

• Customer password on a Display on Access DOC
• Restricted Access and eligibility

• Check telephone contact details are current. See Updating telephone details and/or paying Telephone Allowance (TAL)
• Record all details on a DOC
• Finalise the assessment via the Assessment Results (AR) screen