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Updating address details 102-03010010

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Risks to a customer's privacy have been identified. See Separating safely - protecting personal details to make sure the customer's personal details are safe before processing.

This is a Family and domestic violence interaction point. If the customer is with another person, on speaker phone, or already identified with family and domestic violence concerns, continue with the current business conversation. Otherwise, go to the Family and domestic violence procedure to conduct the risk identification and referral process.

This document outlines the procedure for customers who change their address details. For some payments, a change of address can affect a customer's rate and qualification for payment.

On this page:

Change of address notification

Temporary change of address

Rent Assistance (RA) eligibility

Updating change of address details

Change of address for a customer who is homeless or has no fixed address

Special considerations affecting a change of address

Finalising the change of address details

Updating a postal address

Change of address notification

Table 1

Expand table

Step

Action

1

Customer notifies a change in address

Before starting the address update, check the customer and/or partner's record and gather information about any other change in circumstances.

For example, a customer advising of a new address may have become separated or partnered, may have sold or purchased a home or have other changes in circumstances that can affect their rate of payment and in some circumstances their eligibility for a payment.

Staff must use Customer First to complete address updates unless the address update is one of the following:

  • Failed Online Updates: When an online Address, Accommodation and Contact Details (AAC) update cannot finalise automatically, this creates an Address & Accom - Update (ZCOC_SAARA_FAILEDUPD) or (ZCOC_SAARA) work items. When this happens, the work item allocates to staff for manual processing, see Address, Accommodation and Contact Details (AAC) work items
  • New Claims: If a customer provides new contact details in their claim
    • If the claim will be finalised and there is no need to request information, staff may update the address details within the claim
    • If a Request for Information needs to be sent the update needs to be completed in Customer First outside of the claim activity. This will prevent any requests for additional information being sent to an incorrect address. Refer to Indexing, re-indexing, and cancelling claim activities to cancel the claim activity and then update the address details provided in the claim in Customer First

Note: If the above does not apply, due to system replication issues staff must complete address updates in Customer First only.

If the change in address is due to:

  • Failed myGov updates: When a customer updates their address details via myGov Profile through 'Tell us Once' and the details do not finalise, or if you have been allocated a work item MyGov General Address (ZIAM_ADHOM_GEN), see Table 8 on the myGov website tab in Using myGov accounts
  • Separation -a customer advising of a separation (including where a customer is at risk of FDV), staff must help them at first contact. Do not tell them to update via online services. Go to Step 2
  • C/O AUTO CTAT address on a customer's record, go to Step 3
  • a job seeker notifying the employment service provider of the change, go to Step 4
  • Overseas customers – if the customer is living overseas and paid to an overseas bank account, go to Step 5
  • allocation of a Future Address - Sharer Details DOC, go to Step 6
  • a Youth Allowance (YA), ABSTUDY, Disability Support Pension (DSP), Disability Support Pension Blind (DSB) or Age Pension Blind (AGB) customer, go to Step 7
  • Corrections - if the customer's address needs update or correction, go to Step 11
  • Moving into or moving out of aged care or a retirement village, go to Step 16
  • Postal Address - if a postal address update only, go to Step 17
  • Homelessness or risk of homelessness - customers with no fixed address or at risk of homelessness, see Table 5
  • If the customer does not meet the definition of Homelessness, go to Step 8
    • Note: staff must consider the individual's own perception about the suitability of their accommodation when applying this definition
      For example:
      - Customers who advise of no fixed address but who choose to live in a motor home, caravan or boat for the purposes of travel, are not considered homeless
      - Customers may also live in a motor home, caravan or boat as a lifestyle choice
      - Customers who have limited choices for their accommodation may live in a motor home, caravan or boat and consider themselves homeless
    • See:
      Assessing caravans, boats and park homes
      Rent Assistance (RA) for travellers
  • Temporary Accommodation - the customer advising they have moved into temporary accommodation, see Table 2
  • any other change, go to Step 8

2

Change of address due to change in relationship status from partnered to single

If the customer contacts and advises a change of address due to relationship status changing from partnered to single, staff must:

Where a customer is at risk of FDV, take care when updating addresses to ensure updates do not flow to the previous partner's record. If a customer indicates they are at risk of FDV and are concerned for their safety, their relationship status can be updated immediately. Verification must then be provided within 14 days.

Change in relationship status from partnered to single contains further information. Consult the procedure at every interaction.

3

Child to Person record promotion (CTAT) and placeholder addresses – C/O AUTO CTAT address

A C/O AUTO CTAT address is applied to a customer's record when a child (CHI) record is promoted to a person (PER) record:

  • during an automated process, or
  • when staff convert a child to person record and no confirmed current contact details are available (for example, within a new claim or scanned document)

Select from the below options:

Actioning a WLM activity - Error E245ZC – Promoted CHI record – Address update

A WLM staff activity with error code E245ZC generates when failed online updates for personal and interpreter details occurs during the Child to Adult Transfer (CTAT) process and creates a Change of Circumstances Interaction.

This issue is due to the customer still having the C/O AUTO CTAT address.

To process the failed CLI/CDC activity, complete the following in Customer First:

  • Go to the Activity List (AL) screen and use the CLI/CDC (CLI/Customer Details) activity where available
  • If the customer has contact details, call the customer to obtain the correct address details and update the address as advised by the customer
  • If there are no contact details, go to the Address Summary (ADS) screen and overwrite the address line of C/O AUTO CTAT to C/O (C/O AUTO CTAT). The date of event (DOV) should remain as the CTAT date unless the customer started living at the new address after the CTAT process
  • Finalise the address update and ensure the CLI/CDC activity on AL is complete
  • Locate the failed Other Contact Details (OCD) transaction in Process Direct
  • Select the transaction and go to Other Contact Details (OCD) screen to confirm the details the customer advised in the transaction
  • Finalise the transaction
  • Procedure ends here
If the customer contacts and they have a C/O Auto CTAT address, staff must:
  • update their address as advised by the customer at first contact, do not direct the customer to online services for the address update
  • update the Other Contact Details (OCD) screen if required. If staff do not code the OCD screen, The Assisted Customer Claim (ACC) will not go past the Your Personal Details section of the Online or ACC
  • Procedure ends here

4

Job seeker tells Employment Services Provider of new address

Do not undertake any MALEP assessments. The Department of Social Services (DSS) have paused all Moving to an Area of Lower Employment Prospects (MALEP) assessments.

If a job seeker has given their Employment Services Provider their new address details, the Employment Service Provider will tell the job seeker they must contact Services Australia to update the home address.

When the job seeker contacts Services Australia, staff must:

  • confirm the home address details
  • access the relevant Customer First Action Issue
  • check the Online Diary for scheduled appointments. If appointments need to be rescheduled due to the change of address, update the Online Diary
  • select the Change in Contact Details hyperlink

Note: the home address will only be updated on the job seeker's record, not their partner's.

Determine if there are any potential impacts on eligibility, mutual obligation requirements and/or ongoing entitlement. For more details, see Job seeker change of address. This may include the consideration of Moving to an Area of Lower Employment Prospects (MALEP) employment related exclusion period.

Tell the customer these updates can be made online.

Go to Step 8.

5

Customers living overseas who are paid to overseas bank accounts

Check if a customer is paid to an overseas bank account.

Go to the Payment Destination Overseas (PAPO) screen:

Note: the customer may be residing in one country but being paid in another. For example: customer resides in Hungary, but their Australian payment is being paid to a bank account in Germany.

If:

  • the country the customer is being paid by requires the home address to be recorded in a specific way, see Table 6 > Step 11
  • otherwise go to Step 8

6

Future Address - Sharer Details work items

Where an address change is advised within an early claim for YA, system limitations may prevent these updates being made at the time the claim is processed. Under these circumstances, a Future Address - Sharer Details DOC is created for allocation via workload manager to process the address update at the time the change will occur.

Service Officers allocated a Future Address - Sharer Details work item must action these updates in Customer First:

  • go to the Document List (DL) screen to review the Future address - Sharer details DOC sharer information
  • check the record to see if the customer has told the agency about any change to their accommodation circumstances since their claim lodgement
  • contact the customer to confirm the sharer details are still correct, before updating the record

Was contact with the customer successful?

  • Yes, update the address as advised by the customer, see Table 4
  • No:
    • update the address with the details contained on the DOC
    • ensure the DOC is complete
    • see Table 5

7

Youth Allowance (YA), ABSTUDY and Disability Support Pension (DSP) customers

Based on the information provided by the customer about their change of address, a review of the rate of their payment may be needed.

While the customer is receiving the dependent or at home rate, RA will not pay. Specific action is needed when updating address and accommodation details for customers receiving:

If the customer meets any of the above and the Service Officer:

8

Centrepay deductions

A customer may have one or more Centrepay deductions going to Centrepay businesses to pay rent and/or utilities for their existing address:

  • Check the Payment Instruction Summary (PINS) screen for any active Centrepay deductions that may be impacted by the change of address
  • Tell the customer of the potential for overpayment to Centrepay businesses if they do not cancel existing deductions relating to their previous address

If a customer requests to update their Centrepay deductions with their address update over the phone or in person in a service centre:

  • Process the request using either the Centrepay Guided Procedure or Centrepay workflow
  • Cancel the active Centrepay deductions for rent and/or utilities for their previous address from the date the customer moves to prevent any overpayment to the Centrepay business/es
  • If unable to cancel deductions immediately add an end date or target amount

For more information on Centrepay deductions, see Starting, changing and cancelling a Centrepay deduction at the request of a customer.

9

Government rent deductions via the Rent Deduction Scheme (RDS)

A customer may have one or more deductions to pay government rent to their state housing authority (HA) through the RDS.

Check the Payment Instruction Summary (PINS) screen for any active RDS deductions that may be impacted by the change of address (for example, a rent deduction type of RNT, LON, ARR, OHP or OHO).

Does the customer have a current RDS deduction?

  • Yes, and they are moving within the same state:
    • Encourage the customer to contact the relevant housing authority to discuss their circumstances before cancelling their deduction
    • If the customer insists, they want their RDS deduction ended, cancel the deduction. See Terminating a Rent Deduction Scheme (RDS) deduction
  • Yes, and they are moving interstate:
    • the RNT RDS deduction will automatically cancel
    • advise to contact their HA and make other arrangements if they still need to make rent payments to avoid falling into rental arrears

If the customer has other RDS deduction types, advise them that these will continue. Cancel if requested by the customer. See Terminating a Rent Deduction Scheme (RDS) deduction.

10

Change of address

When updating a customer's address, staff must check and update the following:

  • all current addresses, including postal address
  • telephone details, including mobile phone numbers
  • check address preferences and update as required, see Preferences for concession cards

Encourage customers to update a change of address using their online account or Express Plus App if capable of self-management. See Accessing and using Centrelink self-service. Note: if the customer declines to update via self-service channels, staff must update the customer's address details for them.

Note: where a customer advises they are separating, do not refer the customer to update their address online. See Separating safely - protecting personal details to make sure personal information is kept safe.

Is the customer able and willing to make these updates online?

11

Customer's address needs updating or correction

Note: due to system limitations, complete address updates in Customer First only.

  • If only the Date of Event, or the Date of Event and address details need correction, go to Step 12
  • If the address details only need correction (for example, misspelt or wrong street type), go to Step 13
  • For all other changes of address, go to Step 14

12

Date of Event, or the Date of Event and address details need correction

In Customer First, access the Address Summary (ADS) screen.

  • Select the appropriate line, then select Continue
  • Update the Is RA being claimed on this address: field to Yes or No depending on whether the customer is claiming Rent Assistance (RA). If rent is or was being paid, see Completing the Accommodation Details (AC) screen and assessing Rent Assistance (RA)
  • Correct the date of event and address details if necessary
  • Complete Source: and Receipt Date: fields
  • Select Continue until the activity is placed on the Activity List (AL) screen
  • Select the activity from the AL screen and finalise

Note: if the customer is claiming RA, update the Accommodation Details (AC) screen. Customers only in receipt of a LIC, CSHC or CCS, cannot access RA. These customer's rent details (that is, the AC screen) do not need to be coded.

Finalise the change, see Table 7.

13

Address details only need correction (date of event is correct)
  • In Customer First, run the Change in Contact Details workflow or access the Address Summary (ADS) screen in Customer First
  • Select the appropriate line, then select Continue
  • Select 'No' as the response to the question 'Is RA being claimed on this Address?'
  • Overstrike/correct the incorrect address details
  • Complete Source: and DOR: fields
  • Select Continue
  • Finalise the change, see Table 7

14

Address type

If only updating a postal address, go to Step 17.

If the address change is not just for a postal address, go to Step 15.

15

Moving to a different environment

The Centrelink computer system divides Australia into a series of geographically based environments. When a customer changes their address from one environment to another, their computer file record must also be transferred.

Staff can check if an environment transfer is required by checking the environment of the customers closest Service Centre in Office Locator.

Where the customer is moving to a different environment, update the address details before starting the transfer.

Go to Step 16.

16

Moving into or moving out of aged care or a retirement village

Is the change of address to or from an aged care home or retirement village?

17

Updating postal address only

If the change in address is due to separation, see

If the customer needs to change the postal address only, see Table 8.


Temporary change of address

Table 2

Expand table

Step

Action

1

Temporary or permanent

Service Officers must discuss whether the change of address is temporary or permanent.

An address could be considered temporary if the customer:

  • is going into respite care
  • intends to return to their current principal home
  • has sold their principal home and will be using the proceeds to build, renovate or buy another
  • is living temporarily in 'refuge type' accommodation; that is, a refuge, crisis or emergency accommodation which is short term and not more than 3 months
  • other reasons - to provide care to another person, to attend training or education, to enable a child to attend school, because the principal home is uninhabitable
  • is living away from home for study. This should be coded as a term (TER) address

A customer whose address is only temporary may be incorrectly profiled for Income Management (IM) or enhanced IM if:

  • the address type is recorded as HOM or TER, and
  • the location is within a declared IM area or enhanced IM location

Is the change of address temporary or permanent?

2

Change of address is temporary, respite care

Is the customer going into respite care?

3

Change of address is temporary, carer or care receiver

Is the customer a carer or care receiver?

4

Change of address is temporary, not in respite

Is the customer partnered?

5

Change of address is temporary and customer is partnered

Will the customer be living apart from their partner temporarily?

6

Temporary change of address, customer living apart from their partner

Is the customer receiving a payment eligible for Rent Assistance (RA) and the temporary accommodation reason will entitle them to receive RA?


Rent Assistance (RA) eligibility

Table 3

Expand table

Step

Action

1

Customer is living apart from their partner and is eligible for RA because of a temporary change of address

This will allow everyone's RA to be paid, if applicable. See Temporary accommodation and Rent Assistance (RA).

See Table 4.

2

Customer is living apart from their partner and is not eligible for RA because of a temporary change of address

See Temporary accommodation and Rent Assistance (RA).


Updating change of address details

Table 4

Expand table

Step

Action

1

Customer's address to be updated

Staff must use Customer First to complete address updates unless the address update is one of the following:

  • Failed Online Updates: When an online Address, Accommodation and Contact Details (AAC) update cannot finalise automatically, this creates an Address & Accom - Update (ZCOC_SAARA_FAILEDUPD) work item. When this happens, the work item allocates to staff for manual processing, see Address, Accommodation and Contact Details (AAC) work items
  • New Claims: If a customer provides new contact details in their claim
    • If the claim will be finalised and there is no need to request information, staff may update the address details within the claim
    • If a Request for Information needs to be sent the update needs to be completed in Customer First outside of the claim activity. This will prevent any requests for additional information being sent to an incorrect address. Refer to Indexing, re-indexing, and cancelling claim activities to cancel the claim activity and then update the address details provided in the claim in Customer

Note: if the above does not apply, due to system replication issues staff MUST complete address updates in Customer First only.

Before updating the address, consider the following:

Check the current Marital Status (MS) and if it has changed.

Has the MS screen been updated with a relationship qualifier or should a previously coded qualifier be ended before coding Accommodation Details (AC) screen?

This must be done if a customer is:

  • Partnered and separating temporarily (that is, going into temporary accommodation)
  • Partnered and separating permanently (that is, relationship has broken down)
    Note: where a customer advises they are separating, see Separating safely - protecting personal details to make sure personal information is kept safe

Where a customer indicates that their partner is not moving with them, this is considered a family and domestic violence interaction point. See Family and domestic violence.

Check if the customer is currently assessed as Separated Under One Roof (SUOR)

Homeless Indicator: see Homelessness Indicators

  • Staff must record a homeless indicator if the customer no longer has a home address, or their accommodation is temporary or unstable
  • If the customer already has a homelessness indicator on their record, review and update the homelessness indicator to reflect the change in circumstances
  • Before updating a customer's residential address to no fixed address, the customer must have an alternate postal address. See Table 5

Future address updates

  • can be made to a customer's record if the change is occurring within the next 14 days, and they are not a sharer
  • can be made outside of 14 days to a customer’s record for a future Term address
  • Tell the customer mail cannot be sent to the new address until the future date has been reached. For example, if a Rent Certificate is issued, it will be sent to their current address, with the future address details included for verification
  • Tell the customer they can provide an alternative mailing address to ensure their information is kept secure

Temporary (TEM) address:

  • TEM addresses require an expected end date to be coded
  • TEM end date would not be more than 3 months in the future, if it is required to be coded for than 3 months - staff must record the details in a DOC
  • When coding TEM addresses for customers, staff must tell them that if they do not supply a further update before the TEM address end date, mail may be sent to their previous address
  • If a customer has a Temporary address and wish their mail be sent to that (Temp or Term) address the Temporary address must have the ‘Send all mail here’ indicator set on the AD screen, there is no need to have a separate postal address unless it is different from the Temporary or Term address

Term (TER) addresses:

  • are where students are living away from home to study and these addresses are expected to have an end date that aligns with their study end date
  • if a customer has a Term address and wish their mail be sent to that address the Term address must have the ‘Send all mail here’ indicator set on the AD screen, there is no need to have a separate postal address unless it is different from the Term Address
  • can be update outside of 14ays for a Term address

Postal Addresses and end dating:

  • When updating the address, check if there is a current postal address as this may need to be end dated if no longer required
  • A postal address is only required when a customer does not want their mail sent to their home address
  • Note: use yesterday's date as the end date to ensure outgoing mail is sent to the correct address. If there is a new future postal address, mail may be sent to the customers home (HOM) address

Remote Area Allowance:

Prison release customers:

  • to correctly receive surface mail to their new address, the postal address on record must be end dated the day before any pre-release claims are processed or payments are restored

Nominees:

  • If the customer acts as a nominee for another person, update their nominee details
  • Do not change the customer's address (for example, postal address) to that of the nominee's, unless the customer and the nominee reside at the same address
  • If it is a court appointed arrangement and the nominee does not want the customer to receive their correspondence, suppress the customer's copy without changing the postal address

Centrepay deductions for rent/utilities:

  • If the customer has an existing deduction to a Centrepay business for an expense for their previous address such as rent and/or utilities
  • Tell them of the importance to cancel these deductions and they can use self-service to manage the cancellation of their Centrepay deduction. Service Officers can code the cancellation or change, see Starting, changing and cancelling a Centrepay deduction at the request of a customer

RDS deductions for government rent:

If the customer is the applicant for an ABSTUDY student (for example, for Schooling A payments)

Phone contact: Typically done by Smart Centre staff. Staff may complete this step if they are trained.Note: if the customer is in receipt of ABSTUDY as a secondary school student with living away from home entitlements, do not code any change of circumstances on the customer's file. For the correct hand off process, see Cessation of the ABSTUDY Away from Home rate. Procedure ends here for these customers.

Is the address update due to allocation of an ABSTUDY Boarder action request DOC?

  • Yes, see Table 1 > Step 8 in Payment of Remote Area Allowance (RAA) when term address changes, before continuing with this procedure
  • No, go to Step 2

2

Update address details and preferred service centre by using the Change in Contact Details workflow

Note: if the workflow is unavailable, manually navigate to the appropriate screens.

Phone contact: Typically done by Smart Centre staff. Staff may complete this step if they are trained.

Points to consider when answering questions in the workflow:

On the Overview screen in the Change in Contact Details workflow, review all current address/es recorded for the customer.

Postal Address

  • If the customer has an existing postal address, staff MUST confirm with the customer if the postal address is still current
  • If the customer wants their mail delivered to a different address to their home address a postal address must be updated

No Fixed Address

  • If the customer has no fixed address as a home address, then the customer must have a postal address recorded, see Table 5 for more information

Other Contact Details

  • Review the customer's other contact information such as telephone and email addresses to ensure they are still current

Accommodation Details

  • Review the Accommodation section on the Overview screen as this will give an overview of whether the customer is a homeowner or non-homeowner. It will also display (if applicable) any rent paid and rent verification recorded

On the Change in Contact details Setup page in the workflow:

  • update the activity details with the appropriate fields

Update Options

  • Select the appropriate check box/es (address, accommodation, telephone etc.)
    • or select all to go through each
  • Select Continue

Address Summary

  • On the address summary page select the address types that need to be updated and select Continue

Address Details (AD) screen

  • On the Address Details (AD) screen, update all current addresses (including postal address), ensuring the correct start date is recorded
  • The start date/Date of Event (DOV) is the date of change
  • Make sure Is RA being claimed on this Address? field is coded with 'Y' so the system will assess if the customer is eligible for Rent Assistance (RA)
  • Check the Make Partner the same: field is coded accordingly
  • Make sure the screen is correctly coded for when an ABSTUDY or Youth Allowance (YA) customer leaves home
  • If the update is for an ABSTUDY customer living away from home as a secondary boarding student, see Table 1 > Step 8 in Payment of Remote Area Allowance (RAA) when term address changes, before continuing with this procedure

Single name address with no street type

If the address is a single name address with no street type (for example, 286 Broadway, RESERVOIR, VIC, 3073) this will present with the following error E945CU - Address lines 1 & 2 have failed validation

Complete the following workaround to have the correct address update on the system

  • Add a Street, Road etc. to the address being added, and select Continue, this will navigate back to the Address Summary (ADS) screen with the provisional address displayed.
  • Select the provisional address, select Continue
  • turn the Rapid Addressing mode off by selecting the Enter non-Australian address button on the Address Details (AD) screen
  • Remove the street, road as required
  • Select yes for the question 'Should this address be recorded as an exceptional address?'
  • Select yes for the question Are you sure this address needs to be recorded as an exception address?
  • What is the reason for recording this address as an exception address? Select the option 'Address lines 1 & 2 will not validate' from the drop-down list
  • Select Continue, check the address is displaying correctly on the Address Summary (ADS) screen and select Continue
  • Make sure Is RA being claimed on this Address? field is coded with 'Y' so the system will assess if the customer is eligible for Rent Assistance (RA)
  • Check the Make Partner the same: field is coded accordingly
  • Make sure the screen is correctly coded for when an ABSTUDY or Youth Allowance (YA) customer leaves home

Accommodation Details (AC) screen

Telephone Details (TD) screen

Office Code (OC) screen

  • Code if changed

Updating the Regional Location Details (RLD) screen when the parental home changes

  • YA and ABSTUDY customers who are full-time students in an approved scholarship course may also be eligible to receive Relocation Scholarship. For details on coding the RLD screen, see Relocation Scholarship (RS) payment and coding

YA and ABSTUDY customers leaving the parental home

Sharing accommodation

  • If a person is sharing accommodation with another person who is not a family member, staff must ask the Living Arrangements question set
    Note: change of address details for dates in the future are unable to be coded for sharers. Tell these customers to re-contact once they have physically moved address

Go to Step 3.

3

Other points to consider

Possible overpayments

Future Appointments booked

  • Check if the customer has any future appointments booked at the service centre. If yes, update or rebook the appointment at the customer's new local service centre

Updating Child Support and Medicare

  • Tell the customer they may need to contact Child Support and Medicare separately to update their address details

If the customer has moved into a declared Income Management (IM) area:

  • they may be identified for IM if they meet the criteria for the measure/s available in that location
  • tell the customer they may be identified for IM if they meet automatic criteria, are referred, or volunteer for IM
  • record details of discussion on a DOC

If a customer has moved to an enhanced IM location

  • they may become eligible for enhanced IM if they meet other eligibility criteria

Centrepay Deductions

Moving due to work

If the customer's relationship status is changing, see (whichever is appropriate):

If the customer is blind

If the customer is going or returning from overseas, see:

If the customer is selling or purchasing their home:

Rent Deduction Scheme (RDS)

Changes in assets and/or income from real estate

Family assistance customers

  • check the following:
  • who are renting, tell them:
    • to provide verification even if their income estimate is currently too high to receive RA
    • that verification will make sure that, after the Family Tax Benefit (FTB) reconciliation process occurs at the end of the financial year, they receive arrears of any possible RA entitlement they may have in their top-up payment

Concession Card preferences:

  • If the customer has previously chosen an address preference for their concession card, this may need to be updated as well, see Preferences for concession cards
  • Concession cards will normally be mailed to a customer's postal address and show their home address. Where a customer has more than one address recorded on the Centrelink computer system (for example, term address), they can:
    • nominate a preference as to which address should be shown on the concession card, and
    • choose to have the card mailed to an address other than the default postal address

Note: the home address on the system will not be changed just to issue a Health Care Card (HCC) or Low-Income Health Care Card (LIC) with a different address (for example, term address for students). Customers can nominate a preference as to which address should be displayed on the HCC or LIC. For more details, see Preferences for concession cards.

See Table 6.


Change of address for a customer who is homeless or has no fixed address

Table 5

Expand table

Step

Action

1

Customer advises they have no residential address

Services Australia defines 'homelessness' as someone:

  • without conventional accommodation (for example, sleeping rough, squatting, living in a car), or
  • who lives in, or moves frequently between, temporary accommodation arrangements. For example, with friends or extended family, emergency accommodation, youth refuges
  • For Indigenous customers, see Indigenous homelessness

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

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

2

Customer meets the Services Australia definition of homelessness

This is a Family and domestic violence interaction point. If the customer is with another person, on speaker phone, or already identified with family and domestic violence concerns, continue with the current business conversation. Otherwise, go to the Family and domestic violence procedure to conduct the risk identification and referral process.

Has the customer indicated that they have experienced family and domestic violence?

3

Customers who have experienced family and domestic violence and/or significant safety concerns

If the customer is living in:

  • a family and domestic violence refuge, the 'home address' should be coded as 'no fixed address' or 'confidential'. This does not affect the customer's ability to get Rent Assistance, as rent verification is not required for customers residing in a refuge, or
  • private accommodation and cannot give their new address details because of 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 can be redacted

Update the Address Details (AD) screen

Use Rapid Addressing:

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

Update the Accommodation (AC) screen, see Completing the Accommodation Details (AC) screen and assessing Rent Assistance (RA).

See Temporary accommodation and Rent Assistance (RA) for how to update, 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:

To talk to the customer about their Postal Address options, go to Step 5.

4

Customers who have not experienced family and domestic violence

If the customer cannot give a residential address, they may be homeless. In these cases, staff must code the 'home address' as 'no fixed address'.

Staff must code a Postal Address for the customer so that mail is not returned to the agency.

Update the Address Details (AD) screen

Use Rapid Addressing:

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

Update the Accommodation (AC) screen, see Completing the Accommodation Details (AC) screen and assessing Rent Assistance (RA).

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

To talk to the customer about their Postal Address options, go to Step 5.

5

Discuss possible postal address options

The customer must supply a postal address, even if No Fixed Address or Confidential is coded as the home address.

Talk to the customer about the following options:

Post Office Box (PO Box)

  • There is a fee for setting up a PO Box, see the Resources page for a link to costs
  • Customer’s impacted by family domestic violence may be eligible for a free PO Box for 12 months at a participating Post Office
    • The customer may be eligible if they are impacted by family and domestic violence. The customer can apply for a free PO BOX for up to 23 months
    • Individuals impacted by family and domestic violence can apply for up to 12 months of free mail direction. The customer can apply in person at any Post Office in Australia and complete the mail redirection form with their proof of identity
  • Customer’s experiencing homelessness or disadvantage in Sydney, may be eligible for a free PO Box for 12 months at a participating Post Office, see the Resources page for further information on PO Boxes and Private bags - Australia Post

'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. For example, youth services or drug and alcohol services
  • It may be possible for customers who use these services to negotiate arrangements on an individual basis. Service Officers can 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
  • 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 last resort options:

'Care of' the social worker or Service Centre Manager

  • these 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

'Care of' Local Post Office

  • Australia Post provides a service called Counter Mail Delivery where 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 and mail returned to the agency may result in payment suspensions/cancellations

Note: to send correspondence, the agency must have an address coded where a customer can receive mail.

Is the customer able to supply an appropriate postal address?

  • Yes:
    • Customer has elected a care of friend/relative/local service provider or care of correspondence nominee address, go to Step 6
    • Customer has as PO Box, go to Step 7
    • Customer has elected a Care of Post Office option, go to Step 8
  • No:
    • tell the customer they must have a postal address recorded and revisit the above options. If the customers mail is returned to the agency their payment may be suspended
    • if there are safety concerns for the customer consult with a social worker or Community Engagement Officer

6

Coding 'Care of' friend, relative, Social Worker or Service Centre Manager address

Run the Change in Contact Details workflow or go to the Address Summary (ADS) screen in Customer First:

  • Select the postal address line, then select Continue
  • Start Date: use the date from which the address started or will start to be applicable. For more details, select the '?' next to the Start Date
  • End Date: leave this blank unless the customer has indicated a temporary postal address arrangement
  • Suburb or postcode: add the suburb or postcode of the address, select the correct suburb from the drop-down list
  • Street address: add the street address of the friend/relative/SWO/Centrelink Office that the customer wishes to collect their mail from, select Continue
  • Address line 1:
    • Code the care of details in double quotation marks or round brackets for it to show correctly on the customer file. The relevant mailing address must follow the 'care of' coding
    • Add 'Care of [friend/relative/social worker/centre manager name]'
    • select Continue
  • Make partner's address the same as the customer's: Select Yes or No depending on customers circumstances, select Continue
  • On the Address Summary review the updates to make sure the address update is correct, select Continue
  • Office Code: update the customers Office code if needed, select Continue
  • Consequential Actions: check for any warning and take note of any consequential actions
  • Select Finalise and OK

Finalise the activity on the Assessment Results (AR) screen, checking for any overpayments or arrears.

Go to Step 9.

7

Customer has as PO Box

Run the Change in Contact Details workflow or go to the Address Summary (ADS) screen in Customer First:

  • Select the postal address line, then select Continue
  • Start Date: use the date from which the address started or will start to be applicable. For more details, select the '?' next to the Start Date
  • End Date: leave this blank unless the customer has indicated a temporary postal address arrangement
  • Suburb or postcode: add the suburb or postcode of the address, select the correct suburb from the dropdown list
  • Street address: add PO Box and number, select Continue
  • Address line 1: extra address details, for example, a property, building name or 'care of' information is entered on Address line 1. When information is needed on address line 1, staff must code this in round brackets or double quotations. Select Continue
  • Make partner's address the same as the customer's: use this field to record whether the partner's/former partner's address should be updated to the same as the customers. Staff must make sure when updating this field, the customer's circumstances and safety are considered when making the partner's/former partner's address the same. If the customer is updating a change of address because of separation, including where the customer is affected by family and domestic violence, see Change in relationship status from partnered to single for the coding process
  • On the Address Summary review the updates to make sure the address update is correct, select Continue
  • Office Code: update the customers Office code if needed, select Continue
  • Consequential Actions: check for any warning and take note of any consequential actions
  • Select Finalise and OK
  • Finalise the activity on the Assessment Results (AR) screen

Go to Step 9.

8

Coding 'Care of' Post Office

Ask the customer the location of the Post Office they wish to collect their mail from.

See Find a location or Service - Australia Post to find the street address of the Post Office for the update.

Tell the customer the street address of the Post Office they will collect their mail from and tell the customer the following:

Please check your mail at least fortnightly. Australia post will not hold your mail indefinitely and they will return it to Services Australia. This can result in your payment being suspended.

To add a 'Care of' Post Office postal address

Run the Change in Contact Details workflow or go to the Address Summary (ADS) screen in Customer First:

  • Select the postal address line, then select Continue
  • Start Date: use the date from which the address started or will start to be applicable
  • End Date: leave this blank unless the customer has advised of when they will provide a new postal address
  • Suburb or postcode: add the suburb or postcode of the post office and choose the correct combination from the suggestions provided
  • Street address: add the street address of the located post office that the customer wishes to collect their mail from, See Find a location or Service - Australia Post to find the street address of the Post Office. select Continue
  • Address line 1: add 'Care PO' to address line 1, select Continue
  • Make partner's address the same as the customer's: Select Yes or No depending on customers circumstances, select Continue
  • On the Address Summary review the updates to make sure the address update is correct, select Continue
  • Office Code: update the customers Office code if needed, select Continue
  • Consequential Actions: check for any warning and take note of any consequential actions
  • Select Finalise and OK

Finalise the activity on the Assessment Results (AR) screen, checking for any overpayments or arrears.

Go to Step 9.

9

Centrelink letters online and Electronic Messaging

The myGov Inbox allows customers to get their mail as messages online in an easy to use, integrated and secure environment. Customers can get messages online from participating member services including Centrelink, Child Support, Medicare and the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).

Check if the customer is registered for Centrelink letters online letters and Electronic Messaging.

Is the customer already subscribed to online letters and electronic messaging?

  • Yes, tell the customer they will get some letters by post. These are letters that include a brochure or insert not available online (for example, a reply paid envelope or a form that must be completed and returned)
  • No, ask the customer if they would like to register, see Centrelink letters online and Electronic messaging
  • An address where the customer can physically receive mail is still required as not all mail will be sent via online letters

Go to Step 10.

10

Nominee details

Does the customer act as a nominee for another person?

  • Yes, update their nominee details:
    • Do not change the customer's postal address to that of the nominee's, unless the customer and the nominee reside at the same address
    • If it is a court appointed arrangement and the nominee does not want the customer to receive their correspondence, suppress the customer's copy without changing the postal address
  • No, go to Step 11

11

Concession Card preferences

Concession cards will normally be mailed to a customer's postal address and show their home address.

  • If the customer has previously chosen an address preference for their concession card, this may need updating, see Preferences for concession cards
  • Where a customer has more than one address recorded on the Centrelink computer system (for example, term address), they can:
    • nominate a preference for which address should show on the concession card, and
    • choose to have the card mailed to an address other than the default postal address

Note: the home address on the system will not change just to issue a Health Care Card (HCC) or Low-Income Health Care Card (LIC) with a different address (for example, term address for students). Customers can nominate a preference for which address is shown on the HCC or LIC. For more details, see Preferences for concession cards.

Go to Step 12.

12

Homeless Indicator and other Referral options

Check if the customer:

  • Consents to having a Homeless Indicator recorded on their record, see Homelessness Indicators
  • Consider Internal Supports

Internal supports

External referrals

External services available include:

  • Community or welfare agencies, for example Salvation Army
  • Local government or state government services

For more details on other external referral programs and services, see the Resources page.

Update other contact details

See Table 6.


Special considerations affecting a change of address

Table 6

Expand table

Step

Action

1

Income Management (IM) and Enhanced Income Management (enhanced IM) checks

Check if the customer is identified for IM or enhanced IM:

  • Current IM customers will show as INM at the beginning of the Benefit Status line
  • Current enhanced IM customers will show as EIM at the beginning of the Benefit Status line

Is the customer currently on or identified for IM or enhanced IM and relocating out of a declared IM or enhanced IM area?

2

Not trained in IM

Phone contact: Typically done by Smart Centre staff. Staff may complete this step if they are trained.Service Officers are to:

  • complete all non-IM/enhanced IM business related with the customer's contact
  • ensure all relevant advice regarding the change of address has been given
  • transfer the customer unannounced to the IM line or the SmartCard eIM hotline. The Resources page has a link to the National Transfer numbers

Face-to-face contact: Typically done by service centre staff. Staff may complete this step if they are trained.

  • Service Officers are to seek assistance from a:
    • specialised Service Officer (if available)
    • Service Support Officer (SSO)
    • Income Management Line, or
    • Enhanced IM Technical Support Line (select enhanced IM option 6)
    • contact Technical Support Line (select Income Management option 7)
  • Specialised staff will assist Service Officers to provide correct advice to the customer

Go to Step 6.

3

Enhanced Income Management (enhanced IM) - customers identified for, or current on IM/enhanced IM who move out of a declared IM area

Current IM/enhanced IM customers

Customers whose payments are income managed and who move permanently outside of a declared IM/enhanced area will continue to have their payments income managed. The duration of Income Management will depend on the measure applicable to the customer. See Customer moves out of an Income Management (IM) or enhanced IM area.

Income Management customers must have their priority needs reassessed to ensure they meet their current requirements. See:

Customers profiled but not current on enhanced IM

Customers who have been identified for but have not yet commenced enhanced IM may still have their payments quarantined if they move out of a declared IM area during their enhanced IM initial waiting period. See Customer moves out of an Income Management (IM) or enhanced IM area.

Go to Step 6.

4

Enhanced Income Management location

Check if the customer has moved to an enhanced IM location. for enhanced IM locations, see the Resources page.

Has the customer moved to an enhanced IM location?

5

Customers updating their address to an enhanced Income Management location

When updating a customer's address to an enhanced IM location, make sure the correct address type is being recorded:

  • temporary, or
  • permanent

Customers who move permanently to an enhanced IM location may result in the customer becoming eligible for enhanced IM if they meet other eligibility criteria. Service Officers must tell the customer:

  • their new address is within an enhanced IM location, and
  • they may be identified for enhanced IM if they meet other eligibility criteria

If the customer would like to discuss enhanced IM eligibility, refer them to the SmartCard eIM Hotline.

Note: updating or deleting a home or term address for the purposes of avoiding enhanced IM will not automatically end a customer's participation on enhanced IM.

Go to Step 6.

6

ABSTUDY, Youth Allowance (YA), students, carers, Disability Support Pension (DSP), Parenting Payment (PP), Special Benefit (SpB)

7

Extra points to consider for ABSTUDY and YA customers

When updating a YA or ABSTUDY customer's change of address update the following:

  • The Accommodation (AC) screen
  • Where appropriate, the Independent/Homeless/Away from Home Details (NIH) screen. This is essential to make sure the customer receives the correct rate of payment

Check the following to make sure the customer is receiving the correct rate of pay. For example, at home or the away from home rate.

Note: customers who are independent under State Care, unreasonable to live at home and disadvantaged will lose qualification to independent status if they move to the home of a parent.

YA and ABSTUDY customers who are full-time students in an approved scholarship course may also be receiving Relocation Scholarship.

Finalise the change, see Table 7.

8

Extra points to consider for carers
  • A review must be conducted if either the carer or care receiver notifies of a change of address. This is to make sure the constant care or supervision criteria are still being met. For more details, see Change of address for Carer Payment (CP) and Carer Allowance (CA)
  • For CP, consider the following if the carer and care receiver are living in different homes:
    • The time involved for the carer in travelling between the 2 homes
    • The level of care provided
    • The accessibility of the carer to the care receiver
  • For CA, in general, the carer and care receiver must reside together, unless certain exceptions are met. Check if the specific qualification criteria are still met
  • CP customers participating in Parent Pathways who have moved to a Community Development Program (CDP) area will no longer be eligible for Parent Pathways

Finalise the change, see Table 7.

9

Extra points to consider for DSP customers

Finalise the change, see Table 7.

10

PP customers

PP customers participating in Parent Pathways who have moved to a Community Development Program (CDP) area will no longer be eligible for Parent Pathways.

Finalise the change, see Table 7.

11

Payments made to an overseas bank account

For Australian payments to be made to certain countries, the home address needs to be formatted to accommodate the banking requirements for the country.

Refer to the 'Country Specific factor' section in Overseas Bank Account Details (OBAD) for the country the customer is being paid to:

  • Record information as instructed in the country task card in OBAD as Address Type: HOM
  • Set the 'Send all mail' indicator to No
  • Annotate the Display on Access (DOA) DOC with the updated address changes

Note: if there is no DOA DOC on the record, create one.

Does the customer have a home and different postal address?

  • Yes:
    • Record the home address as Address type: TEM
    • Record the postal address as Address Type: POS
    • See Table 7
  • No, customer's home address is the same as their postal address:
    • Record their home address as Address Type: POS
    • See Table 7

12

SpB customers

SpB customers participating in Parent Pathways who have moved to a Community Development Program (CDP) area will no longer be eligible for Parent Pathways.

Finalise the change, see Table 7.


Finalising the change of address details

Table 7

Expand table

Step

Action

1

Finalise activity
  • Record the details on a DOC
  • Finalise the activity on Assessment Results (AR) screen
  • Start Inter-environment change of address (ICoA) if required
    Note: SMS or email reminders are not issued to customers who are registered in the incorrect environment, even if they are registered for electronic messaging
  • If a new claim activity had to be cancelled for the update, staff must reindex the claim

Is the customer a job seeker?

2

Check if the Job Seeker Snapshot score needs to be updated

Update the Job Seeker Snapshot if the customer has changed address due to a change in circumstances that may affect the Job Seeker Snapshot result. That is, if they:

  • change who they are living with
  • have moved to an area that is/is not near a large town/city
  • are no longer homeless or living in unstable accommodation

For more details, see Conducting a Job Seeker Snapshot interview.

Is a Job Seeker Snapshot required?


Updating a postal address

Table 8

Expand table

Step

Action

1

Customer notifies change in postal address only

If the address change is a change of postal address only, entitlement will not be affected. All mail will go to the postal address.

A postal address is only required if the customer does not want their mail sent to their current home address.

Only update the customers postal address to Care of Post Office as a last resort. For other 'Care of' addresses and coding, see Table 5.

Where a Care of Post Office postal address must be used, tell the customer of their obligations below:

Please check your mail at least fortnightly. Australia post will not hold your mail indefinitely and they will return it to Services Australia. This can result in your payment being suspended.

Has the customer indicated that they are updating their postal address due to a change in their relationship status?

2

Nominee details

Does the customer act as a nominee for another person?

  • Yes, update their nominee details
    • Do not change the customer's postal address to that of the nominee's, unless the customer and the nominee reside at the same address
    • If it is a court appointed arrangement and the nominee does not want the customer to receive their correspondence, suppress the customer's copy without changing the postal address. Go to Step 3
  • No, go to Step 3

3

Further checks

Check if the customer:

  • is the applicant for an ABSTUDY student, for example, for Schooling A payments. If so, staff must change the address details on that customer's record as well
  • is providing a postal address in a different location to their residential address. Investigate if:
    • additional assistance is needed
    • the customer is averting the impacts associated with a change in residential address. For example: change in Workforce Australia Employment Services provider, MALEP, change in marital status, Income Management eligibility
  • has advised of a date from which the postal address applies
  • is end dating a postal address - using yesterday's date - make sure any future outgoing correspondence is sent to the correct address

Is the customer wanting to make their Term or Temporary address also their mailing/postal address?

4

Postal address update

To add a new postal address

  • Run the Change in Contact Details workflow or access the Address Summary (ADS) screen in Customer First
  • Select the postal address line, then select Continue
  • Start Date: use the date from which the address started or will start to be applicable. For more details, select the '?' next to the Start Date
  • End Date: leave this blank unless the customer has advised they no longer have a postal address. In that case, end-date a postal address using yesterday's date to make sure any future outgoing mail is sent to the correct address
  • Select 'No' as the response to the question 'Make partner's address the same as the customer's?'
  • Update the postal address using Rapid Addressing Mode
  • Complete Source: and DOR: fields
  • Select Continue
  • Finalise the activity on the Assessment Results (AR) screen. Procedure ends here

To end date an existing postal address where the customer no longer has a postal address

  • Run the Change in Contact Details workflow or access the Address Summary (ADS) screen in Customer First
  • Select the postal address line, then select Continue
  • End Date: end-date using yesterday's date to make sure any future outgoing mail is sent to the correct address
  • Select 'No' as the response to the question 'Make partner's address the same as the customer's?'
  • Update the postal address using Rapid Addressing Mode
  • Complete Source: and DOR: fields
  • Select Continue
  • Finalise the activity on the Assessment Results (AR) screen. Procedure ends here

5

Term or Temporary address types

Customers who have a temporary or term address and want their mail sent to the Temporary or Term address do not require as separate postal address.

If the customer wants their mail sent to their Term or Temporary address:

  • Navigate to the Address Details (AD) screen and select the existing Term or Temporary address entry
  • Ensure that the ‘Send all mail here’ indicator is set to Yes
  • If it’s not set, select the ‘Send all mail here’ indicator and change it to Yes
  • Finalise the activity on the Assessment Results (AR) screen. Procedure ends here