Reporting requirements for customers receiving a payment with mutual obligation requirements 001-18120536

Exemption/Activity code

Exemption literal

Payment type

Variable reporting reason code

Variable reporting coding (auto or manual)

Lodgement frequency

Maximum manual instance of variable reporting

AME

Adult migrant education

JSP, PPS, YAL (Oth)

SPM - Service Profile Manager

Auto only

4WE

ASR

Newly Released NVH (First 13wks)

SPL

DIS - Discretionary

Manual

12WE

84 days**

DSP

Claiming DSP

JSP, PPS, YAL (Oth)

SPM Service Profile Manager

Auto only

4WE

ISI

Serious Illness

JSP, PPS, YAL (Oth)

DIS - Discretionary

Manual

4WE

84 days**

REF

Refugee - first thirteen weeks

JSP, PPS, YAL (Oth)

SPM Service Profile Manager

Auto only

12WE

R6M

Refugee - first six months

JSP, PPS, YAL (Oth)

SPM Service Profile Manager

Auto only

12WE

Any of the above (override only)

JSP, PPS, YAL (Oth)

DIS - Discretionary

Manual

4WE

84 days**

Any of the above (override only)

All

N/A

N/A

2WE

Item

Description

1

Debt calculation - reporting after cancellation (CAN/DNL or CAN/FRP)

When a customer is required to report at the end of an extended lodgement period and fails to do so, the customer's record:

• will cancel (14 days after the due to lodge date) with the reason code CAN/DNL (did not lodge) or CAN/FRP (failed to report) back to the day after the end of the previous reporting period in which a report was received, and
• a debt shell will be created for the amounts automatically paid since the date of effect of the cancellation

If the customer subsequently contacts about the cancellation and/or debt, within 13 weeks of the notification of the cancellation being received and the customer:

• was entitled to payment during that period, and
• has a good reason for not lodging the report that resulted in the cancellation, and
• still has an ongoing entitlement
• restore the customer (from the cancellation date) and process any outstanding reports

2

Customer only entitled during extended reporting period but no ongoing entitlement

If the customer queries or appeals the cancellation within 13 weeks of the notification decision, and the customer:

• was entitled to payment during part or all of the period, but
• has no ongoing qualification/entitlement beyond the period of reporting
• restore the customer
• process the outstanding reporting periods, and
• cancel from date qualification/entitlement was lost

Decisions to cancel or restore must be made under the relevant section of the Social Security Act and appropriately recorded.

The service or smart centre is responsible for assessing and processing the late lodged report.

The applicable Debt Raising Team is responsible for making adjustments to the debt.

If the arrears produced at restoration equal the debt amount produced at cancellation, the undetermined debt will automatically be Finalised - No Debt (FND) with reason code of Payment Restored - Automatic (PRA).

When the restoration is done, the arrears generated will automatically reduce to zero and appear on the Assessment Results (AR) screen with new code A, (not M, as with manual adjustment of arrears). When the restoration is coded on the Benefit Action (BA) screen, a message will also appear 'arrears of $$$$.cc have been offset against Debt ID xxxxxxxx.'

Note: code the restoration first, rather than manually Finalising - No Debt (FND) the debt or the customer's benefit history will be incorrect.

3

Debt already raised and customer reports

This processing will only Finalise - No Debt (FND) an undetermined debt.

If the debt has already been raised, and then the customer is restored and reports, the Debt Management and Information system (DMIS) debt will not be automatically Finalised - No Debt (FND) even if the payment is restored. In this case, the debt will need to be Finalised - No Debt (FND) manually.

The applicable Debt Raising Team is responsible for making adjustments to the debt.

If the arrears amount produced by the restoration is less than the debt amount calculated by the cancellation (for example, due to an employment income update within the restoration activity) the system will adjust any working credit and the arrears will be used to reduce the undetermined (or waived) debt balance.

If there are insufficient arrears to Finalise - No Debt (FND) the debt, the remaining amount should be raised as per normal debt raising guidelines.

4

Customer has commenced reporting

If the customer has returned to work (RTW) when the record is restored:

• code the employment income and the system will:
• adjust any working credit, and
• cancel the customer from the appropriate date with the appropriate reason

A historical report cannot be coded if the customer's record was cancelled, did not lodge (CAN/DNL), and later regranted. The past reporting period can only be coded if the record was restored. In this case, if the customer was entitled during the period of the report, the debt will need to be manually Finalised - No Debt (FND).

Item

Description

1

Question: Can a customer remain on variable reporting if the lodgement day is changed?

Answer: Yes. A customer can remain on variable reporting.

2

Question: Can customers remain on variable reporting during a holiday processing period?

Answer: Yes. Customers who are on variable reporting during a holiday processing period (Christmas, New Year, Easter, or Anzac Day public holidays) are eligible for holiday processing payments subject to the processing rules at that time.

3

Question: If a customer returns to full-time work during a variable reporting cycle, do they still have to report?

Answer: Yes. If a customer returns to full-time work during a variable reporting cycle, tell them to still report to avoid a debt being raised for the period already paid. This ensures payment is made for any eligible period within that fortnight. The customer can continue to report employment income 2 weekly after commencing full-time employment until any accrued working credit is depleted to zero.

4

Question: If a customer has a change in circumstances during a variable reporting cycle, do they still have to report?

Answer: Yes. Customers on a variable reporting cycle are required to report changes in their circumstances by the end of the fortnight entitlement period when the change occurred, and not wait until the variable report due date. Failure to report in a timely manner may result in a debt.

In addition, the change in circumstances may result in a change in the variable reporting frequency being reverted to 2 weekly. For example, a customer commencing employment or declaring employment income will result in their reporting frequency changing manually or automatically to 2 weekly.