Income and assets tests for blind customers 108-03010080

Customers who are assessed as permanently blind are not affected by the application of the income test and assets test for Age Pension (AGE) and Disability Support Pension (DSP). They are not required to give their income and asset details, unless:

• they are claiming Rent Assistance (RA) with their pension payment
• their partner is getting or claiming an income support payment and must disclose income and assets to calculate their partner's rate of payment, or
• they or their partner are subject to an Aged Care means assessment for Support at Home or residential aged care purposes

If income and asset details are not already known and are either required or the customer wishes to advise the details, issue a Module IA Income and Assets (Mod IA). See the Resources page for a link to the Mod IA.

If the blind customer is:

• claiming RA with their pension, go to Step 2
• not claiming RA or RA paid with Family Tax Benefit (FTB), go to Step 3

If a blind customer wishes to test their eligibility for RA, their rate is calculated in accordance with the pension income test and assets test. The customer must provide full details of the rent they pay (and their partner's if applicable) and their income and assets to determine the rate payable. Their income and assets will then need to be coded on their record.

The rate of pension payable is the greater of:

• the rate (including RA) that would be payable after applying both the income test and assets test (if eligible, the transitional rules for pension customers may also apply), or
• the rate calculated under their normal entitlement (free of the income test and assets test) without RA

For assistance with calculating the rates payable, see the below procedures and examples on the Resources page.

Single customers

• Income test procedures:
  • Income Test for single pension customers
  • Income Test for Disability Support Pension customer who is under 21 years, with no dependent children and with affecting income at 19 September 2009
  • Income Test for Disability Support Pension customer who is under 21 years with no dependent children
• Assets test procedure:
  • Assets Test for single pension customers

Partnered customers

• Income test procedures:
  • Income Test for partnered pension customers
  • Income Test for illness separated or partner in prison customers
  • Income test for pension customers with partners on allowance
• Assets test procedure:
  • Assets Test for partnered pension customers

Note: DSP customers under 21 years of age with no dependent children are not entitled to the Pension Supplement.

Once the greater rate payable is determined, go to Step 5.

Does the customer have a partner who is either:

Claiming or receiving an income support payment that is subject to the income test and assets test, or

Means tested (or has applied) for Support at Home or residential aged care?

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

The customer's income and assets must be disclosed to determine the partner's income support entitlement and fees payable for Support at Home or aged care. Even though the customer is required to disclose the details, they are still eligible to be paid a rate of payment not subject to the income and assets tests.

If income and assets are not already known, issue Module IA - Income and Assets (Mod IA). See the Resources page for a link to Mod IA.

Go to Step 5.

The customer’s income and assets must be disclosed to determine the fees payable for Support at Home or residential aged care.

See Aged care means assessment for further information.

Go to Step 6

Has the customer been in receipt of one of the following payments on or prior to 20 March 1995 as well as being in receipt of Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) War Widows and Widowers Pension since 20 March 1995:

• Age Pension
• Carer Payment
• Disability Support Pension, or
• Wife Pension?
  • Yes, for single or partnered customers, see Completing Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) clearances and income coding. Procedure ends here
  • No, go to Step 7

Go to the Pension Disability Information (PDI) screen to update the blind status. Code the following:

CITW/Blind Residence

• This field is used to display whether the continuing inability to work or permanent blindness occurred while the customer was an Australian resident
• This field should be coded when processing a new claim for DSP or when transferring to assessment under the terms of an international agreement
• Available options are:
  • 'AUS' - Permanent blindness occurred while the customer was a resident of Australia
  • 'OVE' - Permanent blindness occurred while the customer was a resident of another country (Australia)
  • ‘NOT’ - Continuing inability has not yet been assessed

Note: NOT cannot be coded where the customer is manifestly eligible for reasons BLI if where CITW occurred was not assessed, because customer has 10 years AU residence or a QRE, code this field as AUS.

Event Date

• Date when the customer’s circumstances changed

Event Date

• For new claims, this must match the date on the PNA screen
• For a change of circumstance for a customer in:
  • receipt of Age Pension or DSP use the date the customer contacted about being assessed under the permanent blindness rules as long as verification of blindness was provided within a reasonable time
  • already in receipt of Age Pension (Blind) or DSP (Blind), for example, claiming RA, this is the date customer contacted about claiming RA as long as income and asset information was provided within a reasonable time

Blind Indicator

• 'Y' - Satisfies the guidelines for permanent blindness
• ‘N’ - Does not satisfy the guidelines for permanent blindness

Blind - Income & Assets Exempt

This field is used to indicate if the customer is required to disclose income and assets.

• 'Y' - Customer is not required to declare income and asset details. This code is used where the customer either:
  • Is not claiming RA (or RA is paid with their Family Tax Benefit), or
  • Is claiming RA but their rate without RA would be higher (as per Step 2) due to non-variable income or assets, for example has 2 million dollars' worth of real estate
  • Does not have a partner who is subject to means testing and where the customer has not voluntarily disclosed income and asset details, or
  • The customer or their partner are not subject to an Aged Care means assessment for Support at Home or residential aged care
• 'N' - Customer is required to declare income and asset details. This code is used where the customer either:
  • Is claiming RA with their income support payment and their rate with RA would be higher (as per Step 2) or it was lower, but the source was variable for example the customer or partner has fluctuating earnings, or
  • Has a partner who receives or wishes to claim a means tested income support payment in their own right, or
  • The customer or their partner are subject to an Aged Care means assessment for Support at Home or residential aged care

Severely Disabled Code

• Key/Select 'Yes'

Finalise activity and record details on a Note/DOC.

Go to Step 8.

Select relevant option:

All Age Pension (Blind) and DSP (Blind) customers are notification reporters and exempt from two-weekly statement reporting unless they:

• are claiming Rent Assistance (RA) with their pension, and
• receive employment income

See Reporting overview.

Where the customer is not exempt from the income and assets test and they receive employment income, they must be manually placed on two weekly reporting on the Reporting Regime Details (RPRD) screen. See Reporting screens.

The customer and/or their partner can report their income through the different reporting channels.

For more information, see Reporting overview.