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Disability Support Pension (DSP) customer fails to reply to correspondence 008-03090080

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This procedure does not apply to:
- Customers undergoing a risk-based medical review of eligibility, see Medical Risk Based reviews of current Disability Support Pension (DSP) recipients
- DSP new claimants required to provide medical evidence to support their claim, see Streaming a new claim for Disability Support Pension (DSP)

This document explains action when a customer receiving DSP fails to reply to correspondence.

Written requests

A DSP recipient may receive a written request to contact or provide information to Services Australia. The customer is required to reply to this request within the timeframe specified in the letter. If the customer does not respond to the request, their payments may be suspended.

A manual suspension of DSP for failing to reply to correspondence can only occur where:

  • the written request to contact or provide information has been issued prior to any suspension action being considered
  • the written request to contact or provide information includes details as to the information/action required, a reasonable timeframe for response, the consequences of non-compliance, and a reference to the relevant Act that the request has been made under
  • the timeframe specified in the written request has passed
  • 2 genuine attempts to contact by phone have been made to contact the customer first to discuss the reasons for failing to reply and to consider other options before suspending DSP. For DSP customers, failure to reply to correspondence could be a result of the customer's medical condition or other circumstances, for example an acute psychiatric condition, Acquired Brain Injury (ABI), hospitalisation or remoteness, and
  • a suspension letter is issued which clearly outlines the reason for the suspension, its date of effect, the impacted payment, the relevant section of legislation and review and appeal rights

If customer’s DSP is to be suspended, use appropriate reason code.

Suspension of Disability Support Pension (DSP)