Actioning Approved Care Organisation (ACO) advice of transfer, discharge or absence of a young person 102-05050030

ACOs must advise Services Australia immediately where a young person has been discharged from their care. The ACO is required to complete the ACO admission, transfer or discharge spreadsheet and email this to the ACO processing team. Payment of (FTB) and, where applicable, DOP must be cancelled from the date the young person was discharged.

Where a young person has transferred between ACOs, a check must be made to make sure that the losing ACO has recorded the discharge on their spreadsheet and the FTB payment to the losing ACO in respect of that young person has been stopped.

If the dates of admission and discharge don’t align he ACO assessing officer must make a genuine attempt to contact the ACOs by phone to confirm the dates and make sure this information is included when the record is documented.

FTB must not be made until the ACO admission, transfer or discharge spreadsheet is received and assessed by the ACO processing team.

Where there is difficulty in identifying the young person who has been discharged or transferred from an ACO, the ACO processing officer must make further inquiries

Generally, temporary absences of a young person from an ACO, such as hospital, admission, do not need to be advised, providing that the young person is still a client of the ACO.

Where a young person has absconded, or is missing from an ACO, FTB and DOP are not payable to the ACO. The Child out of care without consent (paying FTB for up to 14 weeks) - rule does not apply.

Where an ACO is receiving FTB for a young person, payments will continue to the ACO during short periods of leave that the young person spends with the parent or guardian, providing that the young person is still a client of the ACO.

The parent or guardian has no eligibility for FTB, unless the ACO officially discharges the young person into their care.

Where a young person is temporarily between ACOs, a determination needs to be made as to which ACO has care and control of the young person at that point in time and if the original ACO is still ‘coordinating the residential care’.

Where a young person is in shared care between an individual and an ACO, the ACO is not able to be paid FTB. The individual may be eligible for FTB based on their percentage of care.