Principal carer of dependent children Service Updates 102-01130000

Principal carers, foster carer, home schooling, distance education or carer non-parent exemption review (Service Components: 239, 240, 257, 258, 286 and 287)

• SC 239 - Foster Carer Exemption Update
• SC 257 - Foster Carer Exemption Update (remote)
• SC 240 - Home School or Distance Education Exemption Update
• SC 258 - Home School or Distance Education Exemption Update (remote)
• SC 286 - Relative Carer Exemption Update - Principal Carer Non-parent Exemption Review
• SC 287 - Relative Carer Exemption Update (remote)

These service updates will occur prior to the exemption period ceasing and prompts the Service Officer to reassess the job seeker's circumstances to determine whether they are now able to participate or if the exemption needs to be re-applied. Job seekers who are not principal carers can also be granted foster carer, home schooling and distance education exemptions, and will also be reviewed via this service update.

Principal Carer Social Worker Exemption Service Update for review of Domestic Violence or Relationship Breakdown exemptions (Service Component 211)

• SC 211 - Social Worker Exemption Review -The service update will occur prior to the exemption period ceasing and prompts the Service Officer to consider whether a social worker appointment is required to reassess the customer's circumstances and whether the customer is now able to participate, or the exemption needs to be re-applied

Compulsory Participation Interview Service Update for JobSeeker Payment (JSP) and Youth Allowance (YA) principal carers when youngest child turns 16 years (Service Components: 203, 238, 253 and 256)

• SC 203 - Participation Exemption Interview 15 years and 9 months of age - Large Family - this service update is to review ongoing eligibility of the large family exemption from mutual obligation requirements, and to inform the customer of changing mutual obligation requirements, if the exemption cannot be extended
• SC 238 - Large Family Exemption Update - an interview is to be conducted with principal carers who have a large family exemption in place, if they have a qualifying child turning 16 years of age, and they will no longer have at least 4 other qualifying children aged under 16
• SC 253 - Participation Exemption Interview 15 years and 9 months of age - Large Family (remote) - the interview is to review ongoing eligibility of the large family exemption from mutual obligation requirements and to inform the customer of changing mutual obligation requirements, if the exemption cannot be extended
• SC 256 - Large Family Exemption Update (remote) - an interview is to be conducted with principal carers who have a large family exemption in place, if they have a qualifying child turning 16 years of age, and they will no longer have at least 4 other qualifying children aged under 16

Parenting exceptional circumstances review (Service Component 212 and 255)

• SC 212 - Exceptional Circumstances Exemption Update - this service update will occur prior to the exemption period ceasing and prompts the Service Officer to reassess the customer's circumstances and whether the customer is now able to participate or the exemption needs to be re-applied
• SC 255 - The Parenting Exceptional Circumstances Exemption Review - this service update will occur prior to the exemption period ceasing and prompts the Service Officer to reassess the customer's circumstances and whether the customer is now able to participate or the exemption needs to be re-applied

These interviews are considered compulsory, if the customer does not contact Services Australia to advise they are unable to attend, or to reschedule, their payment will be suspended. If the customer:

• did not attend a scheduled briefing interview without rescheduling, their payment should be suspended for not attending an interview (FAI)
• did not contact to arrange an appointment for a briefing interview after a letter was sent to them to do so, their payment should be suspended for not responding to correspondence (FRC)

Compulsory Participation Interview Service Update for JobSeeker Payment (JSP) and Youth Allowance (YA) principal carers when youngest child turns 16 years (Service Component 226, 207 and 254, remote)

• SC 226 - Compulsory Participation Interview - Child turns 16 - Centrelink managed job seekers will be expected to negotiate a Job Plan which reflects their new full-time mutual obligation requirements. This interview is not an annual event as it only occurs at the time the relevant child turns 16
• SC 207 - Compulsory Participation Interview - Principal Carer PPS - when the PPS customer's youngest child turns 6 years of age it is compulsory for the PPS customer to agree to a Job Plan and undertake activities to meet their mutual obligation requirements
• SC254 - Principal Carer PPS - remote - when the PPS customer's youngest child turns 6 years of age it is compulsory for the PPS customer to agree to a Job Plan and undertake activities to meet their mutual obligation requirements

If the customer lives in a remote area, special conditions may apply, go to Step 5.

The following briefing interviews are conducted for Parenting Payment customers:

• SC 199 (SC 243 remote) - PPS briefing appointment - conducted when youngest child is aged 5 years 9 months. The interview is to tell the customer they will have compulsory mutual obligation requirements when their youngest child turns 6 years of age
• SC 200 (SC244 remote) - PPP briefing appointment - conducted when youngest child is aged 5 years 9 months. The interview is to tell the customer eligibility for PPP will cease once their youngest child turns 6 years of age and the requirement to claim online for JobSeeker Payment (JSP)

The briefing interviews may be rescheduled at the customer's request.

If the customer contacts and indicates they do not wish to attend a scheduled briefing interview, inform them of the changes, check their details are up to date, including any children's records linked to them and finalise the service component.

If a customer does not attend a scheduled briefing interview (without rescheduling), their payment should be suspended for not attending an interview (FAI).

If the customer did not contact to arrange an appointment for a briefing interview after a letter was sent to them to do so, their payment should be suspended for not responding to correspondence (FRC).

If the contact is a briefing interview and the customer did not contact to arrange the appointment after a letter has been sent to them, their payment should be suspended for not responding to correspondence.

Check that the Principal Carer Circumstances Details (PCCD) screen has been end dated if the youngest child is now 16 years of age.

The following contacts are not considered compulsory and may be rescheduled at the customer's request:

(Service Component: 202 and 252)

• SC 202 - the interview will inform the customer of the change in mutual obligation requirements when their youngest child turns 16 years of age
• SC 252 - JSP/YA Participation Interview 15 years 9 months - remote - the interview will inform the customer of the change in mutual obligation requirements when their youngest child turns 16 years of age

If a customer does not attend a scheduled briefing interview (without rescheduling), their payment should be suspended for not attending an interview (FAI).

If the customer did not contact to arrange an appointment for a briefing interview after a letter was sent to them to do so, their payment should be suspended for not responding to correspondence (FRC).

Check customer's record to ensure that they are living in remote area. Prior to booking a face to face interview, the Service Officer must also consider the following reasonable requirements:

• Travelling time for the customer to get to a service centre, for example, within 60 minutes for principal carers and customers assessed as having a Partial Capacity to Work (PCW) or within 90 minutes for all other job seekers
• Travel costs for principal carers and people with a PCW should also be considered

If the customer lives within 90 minutes or 60 minutes (as per conditions stated above), phone the customer and manually book the appointment. If unable to contact the customer by phone after 2 attempts over 2 separate days, send a letter to the customer asking them to contact Services Australia to discuss the interview and book the appointment.

Remote customers do not require a face to face appointment for this service update. A phone appointment is suitable. The phone conversation with the customer needs to be clearly documented and any documents requiring the customer's signature as the result of the phone interview, including the Job Plan, should be posted to the customer for their return within 14 days.

If the customer has an online account, the Job Plan can be negotiated over the phone. The customer can then agree to their Job Plan in their online account, removing the need to post the document to the customer.