Principal carer of a dependent child 001-04030010

Customer is claiming or receiving an income support payment where a principal carer determination is needed.

Customer advises a dependent child aged under 16:

• entered customer care, go to Step 2
• permanently left customer care, go to Step 3
• care is being shared, go to Step 4

A customer may remain the principal carer of a child during a temporary absence from the child's care, including where care of the child is contested, or the child is abducted. See Child leaves customer's care/custody.

If the customer:

• has claimed a disaster/emergency payment and is not in receipt of an income support payment, a principal carer determination may need to be completed, go to Step 5
• is a member of a couple (with a child already in their care) and wishes to transfer principal carer status from/to their partner, confirmation of a change of care is not required, go to Step 6

For help with the definition of a principal carer of a dependent child, see the References page.

Has a care determination been completed and customer assessed as having care of the child/ren?

Note: check by reviewing existing coding on Child in Customer Care (CHC), FTB Shared Care (FSC), SSA Shared Care (SSC) screens/shared care table and any DOC/Notes on the file.

• Yes, and the customer:
• shares the care of the child, go to Step 4
• is not sharing care of the child, go to Step 7
• No, a care assessment must be completed first before returning here
• See Child enters customer's care/custody
• Procedure ends here

Has the child/ren already been coded out of the customers care?

Note: check by reviewing existing coding on Child in Customer Care (CHC), FTB Shared Care (FSC), SSA Shared Care (SSC) screens/shared care table and any DOC/Notes on the file.

For PPS:

• select the child from the Pension Child Summary (PNKDS) screen
• check field ‘Qualifying PP child under 14’

If ‘Y’ change of care coding has not been completed correctly for this child.

For PPP and JSP/YAL(jobseeker)/SpB:

• select the child from the Assessment explanation (AX) screen
• Check the field ‘eligible PC child’

If ‘Y’ change of care coding has not been completed correctly for this child.

Has the change of care been coded correctly?

• Yes, a principal carer check is required, go to Step 7
• No, see Child leaves customer's care/custody to complete correct coding and return here if required

• Is the customer advising a change to the shared care percentage recorded on the SSC screen/shared care table?
• Yes:
• This will need to be assessed and coded. Principal carer coding will be completed as part of this update
• See Notification and assessment of shared care arrangements for Family Tax Benefit (FTB)
• No, go to Step 7

If a customer has lodged a claim for Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment (AGDRP) for a child/ren and is not currently receiving income support or FTB payments, a principal carer determination may be required.

Check current coding on SSC screen/shared care table for the child before commencing a new principal carer determination.

Does the SSC screen/shared care table have a care percentage and principal carer status coded for the child?

• Yes:
• 55% or more, PC indicator Y, customer is the principal carer
• 46%-54% (equal care) check the PC indicator. If ‘Y’ the customer is the principal carer, see Shared care for income support payments and principal carer determination for more information
• 45% or less the customer, PC indicator N, customer is not the principal carer
• Before finalising the activity go to Step 8
• Note: if the customer disagrees with current care percentage or PC indicator coding, see below
• No or the customer disagrees with current coding, a principal carer determination will be required:
• Child entering care or care previously coded as 0% on SSC screen/shared care table, see Child enters customer's care/custody and return here once the care assessment has been completed
• Child with shared care and advised change to percentage coded see Notification and assessment of shared care arrangements for Family Tax Benefit (FTB and return here once the care assessment completed

Only one person at a time can be the principal carer.

A partnered customer may want to transfer the principal carer status to their partner. This includes JSP, YAL (jobseeker) and SpB partners with dependent children, PPP and FTB customers.

The customer and partner must agree to swap the principal carer status. A DOC must be completed on both customer and partner records detailing the discussion, including who is to be the principal carer.

In the following circumstances, the partner swap will be completed when the PP claim is assessed.

• PPP customers transferring principal carer status to their partner, the partner will need to lodge a claim for PPP
• Other customers transferring principal carer status to their partner who has lodged a claim for PPP

See Processing Parenting Payment (PP) claims.

For all other customers, staff are to:

• email the Parenting Programme team the following information:
• In the subject line – Customer and partner swapping principal carer status
• CRN and customer full name
• Details of what customer is to be the principal carer
• DOC the customer and partner records with details of discussion, including who is to be the principal carer
• If a claim has been lodged where the customer and partner are swapping the principal carer status, hold the claim

Go to Step 8.

If a customer gains or loses principal carer status, their eligibility and rate of payment, extra entitlements and mutual obligations may be impacted.

Principal carer status of a child will be determined by what is coded on the CHC, SSC screen/shared care table and CHOC screens.

When coding the SSC screen/shared care table principal carer indicator, staff must take into consideration all factors discussed in making a principal carer determination.

If the customer has:

• 55% or more, customer will generally be the principal carer:
• Check SSC screen/shared care table is coded with the correct percentage
• PC indicator is coded as ‘Y’
• go to Step 8
• 46%-54% (equal care) a principal carer determination will be required. See Shared care for income support payments and principal carer determination for details on how to make the determination
• Check SSC screen/shared care table is coded with the correct percentage
• PC indicator is coded with the correct indicator as per the equal care principal carer assessment and from the correct date, go to Step 8
• 45% or less the customer will generally not be the principal carer
• Check SSC screen/shared care table is coded with the correct percentage
• PC indicator is coded as ‘N’ from the correct date, go to Step 8
• In very limited circumstances, there may be more than two carers in a care arrangement therefore:
• the above rules may not apply, or
• the customer may have the majority care of the child but not be the principal carer
• see Resources page for an example

Note: from 2 March 2024 two new principal carer override codes has been created on the CHOC screen:

• PCN (principal carer NO), and
• PCY (principal carer YES)

See Child Override/Claim (CHOC) screen for when these codes need to be coded.

See Table 2 if one of the following error codes is preventing an activity from being completed:

• PEN E630PN - ‘child’s name’ is the dependant of another Principal Carer
• NSS E559NM - Another customer is Principal Carer for ‘child’s name’
• PGA E152PG - ‘child’s name’ is the dependant of another Principal Carer

Before finalising the activity, check child eligibility details are correct.

Take the activity to the AR/ELD screen before checking the screens below.

• PPS go to PNKDS screen
• Select each child aged under 16
• Customer is principal carer of child if ‘Qualifying PP child under 14’ is Y
• PPP, JSP, YA (job seeker) and SpB go to the AX screen
• Select payment from ‘Service reason selector’
• Expand for each aged under 16
• Customer is principal carer of child if ‘Eligible PC child’ is Y
• Record details on a DOC

If a current customer has gained or lost principal carer status, it may be necessary for the customer to claim an alternative income support payment.

Customers may also have changes to their concession card entitlement, income test and mutual obligations.

Discuss these changes with the customer and encourage them to lodge a claim for alternative assistance if necessary.

Note: If a customer has received Crisis Payment and a change has occurred, a manual reassessment of Crisis Payment may be required. For more information, see Reviewing and reassessing Crisis Payment (CrP).

Job Plans

If the customer is a Centrelink managed job seeker, their Job Plan may need to be updated to reflect their new mutual obligation requirements.

Centrelink managed job seekers needing to re-negotiate their Job Plan may have a new plan negotiated over the phone (if they have an Online Account) or may attend a service centre.

If referring the job seeker to a service centre, make an Enquiry appointment type for the customer. Check Office Locator for service centre appointment requirements. The Resources page contains a link to Office Locator.

Where necessary, renegotiate the customer's Job Plan and ensure the Activity and Exemption Summary (AEX) screen in Process Direct is updated accordingly.

If 2 or more people are caring for the child, if the principal carer determination is changed, each person must be advised in writing of the principal carer determination, even if they have not claimed income support payment.

Run the Child - Change in Care Arrangements script to create the appropriate letter to advise each carer of the principal carer decision. Consider relevant privacy issues when referring to the other carer in the letter.

When each member of a couple is claiming or receiving payment based on being a principal carer, ensure each person is advised in writing of the principal carer determination. The Resources page contains standard text.

PEN E630PN - ‘child’s name’ is the dependant of another Principal Carer

NSS E559NM - Another customer is Principal Carer for ‘child’s name’

PGA E152PG -‘child’s name’ is the dependant of another Principal Carer

The above error messages present when another person is already being assessed as the principal carer of a child. The error code that presents depends on what payment the customer is receiving.

Only one person at a time can be the principal carer of a particular child.

In shared carer situations generally the person with the greater degree of care and control of the child is considered the principal carer.

In equal care situations a principal carer determination is required to determine who should be the principal carer.

For further information see Shared care for income support payments and principal carer determination.

Before actioning updates to correct the error, first confirm who is the principal carer (PC) of the child:

• Identify who is currently being assessed as the principal carer
• Determine if they continue to be eligible for principal carer status for the child

The SSC Shared Care table on the Shared Care Assessment (SCA) screen in Process Direct and the SSA Shared Care (SSC) screen in Customer First for a child shows:

• the principal carer status for the child, and
• the current level of care/shared care

If there is no coding on the SSC screen/table, check the PC status of a child:

• for PPS customers on the PNKD (selected via PNKDS screen) screen, and
• for PPP and JSP/YAL (jobseeker) the AX screen

If there has been a change in care/shared care that has not be recorded, this must be updated to ensure the customer receives the correct entitlements. See Notification and assessment of shared care arrangements for Family Tax Benefit (FTB).

The CHOC screen is used to correct the above errors.

Where a customer is:

• incorrectly being assessed as a principal carer of a child, code an override line for the child on the CHOC screen to end this assessment
• the principal carer, yet another person is currently deemed as the principal carer incorrectly, check and update the CHOC screen of all linked carer’s records of the child

Note: only update the CHOC screen in Customer First unless required as part of a claim activity.

Where the record being actioned is:

• not the principal carer of the child in the error, go to Step 5
• the principal carer of the child in the error, go to Step 6

Where the error is presenting within a new claim activity in Process Direct, complete the following coding within the claim activity in Process Direct.

For all other scenarios, action the following in a separate activity in Customer First.

Select the applicable child from the Relationships Menu in Process Direct. or the Child Selection (CHS) screen in Customer First.

Check the SSC shared care table on SCA in Process Direct or the SSC screen in Customer First or.

If there:

• is current shared care coding for the customer of 45% or below, ensure 'NO' is coded in the Principal Carer field
• has been a change of care/shared care and/or principal carer status this must be updated on the SSC screen/table and FSC screen/table. See Notification and assessment of shared care arrangements for Family Tax Benefit (FTB)
• is no coding for the customer on the SSC screen/table, go to the CHOC screen and code the following:
  Note: in Process Direct select the CHOC screen from the customers record not the child’s, then select the applicable child from the drop-down box.
• Date: for claim activities this will be the date of claim. For all other activities use the earlier of the DOR of the activity being completed or today’s date
• Svc Rsn: the customer’s payment service reason
• Reason: TOP (transfer out to partner) where the child is not in the customer’s care or PCN (principal carer no) where the child is still in care, but the customer is not the principal carer

Before finalising the activity check any debts or arrears payments are correct.

Has the error preventing action now resolved and the activity finalised?

• Yes, procedure ends here
• No, go to Step 7

Select the applicable child from the Relationships Menu in Process Direct or the Child Selection (CHS) screen in Customer First.

• Check the SSC shared care table on SCA in Process Direct or the SSC screen in Customer First. Ensure that the principal carer has 'Yes' in the Principal Carer field for the customer
  Note: if a change is made to the SSC screen/table, a change must be made to the FSC screen/table.
• Go to the Child in Care (CHC) screen. The CHC screen shows details for all linked carers for the child. Note the:
• details of the customers who care for, or have cared for the child, and
• dates the changes of care occurred
• Locate and make note of the CRNs for all the linked carers from the CHC screen. The FSC screen/table can be used to locate CRNs. Note: not all carers may be listed on this screen

There is no simple way to determine what CRN is driving the principal carer error.

In Customer First complete CHOC coding on all linked customers if the child is no longer in their care or the customer is no longer the principal carer of the child where care is shared. Note: CHOC coding outside of a claim activity should not be completed in Process Direct.

If a change in care/shared care has not be recorded, this must be updated to ensure the customer receives the correct entitlements. See Notification and assessment of shared care arrangements for Family Tax Benefit (FTB).

• Go to each of the CRN’s above, select the child from the CHS screen and go to the CHOC screen and code:
• Date: for claim activities this will be the date of claim. For all other activities use the earlier of the DOR of the activity being completed or today’s date
• Svc Rsn: the payment type being claimed on the record where the activity is generating the error
• Reason: TOP (transfer out to partner) where the child is not in the customer’s care or PCN (principal carer no) where the child is still in care, but the customer is not the principal carer
• Before finalising the activity check any debts or arrears payments are correct
• Go back to the current carer’s record and attempt to finalise the activity. A short wait period may be needed for all associated ripple activities to complete before the error is no longer presented

Has the error preventing action now resolved and the activity finalised?

• Yes, procedure ends here
• No, go to Step 7

If E630PN/E559NM/E152PG still prevents completion of the activity, see Technical Support Model for escalation procedures.