Customer initiated review of decision 109-06010000

If a customer does not agree with a decision, they may apply for a formal review. This may be without requesting an explanation, or after a SME explanation. A formal review will be undertaken by an Authorised Review Officer (ARO).

A customer initiated review will be recorded in the appeal (APL) system.

An explanation of a decision by Subject Matter Expert (SME) is not a customer initiated review of a decision.

There are 2 factors relevant to the date of effect:

• how quickly a customer applied for a formal review of the original decision, and
• whether or not the notice of the original decision was given to the person

The interaction of these 2 factors has significant consequences for deciding the date of effect of the favourable determination.

If notice of the original decision was:

• given to the person and the person applied for a formal review
• within 13 weeks after being given the notice, the date of effect of the favourable determination is the date of effect of the original decision
• more than 13 weeks after being given the notice, the date of effect of the favourable determination is the date the person applied for the formal review
• was not given to the person, the date of effect of the favourable determination is the date of effect of the original decision. This is regardless of when the person applied for the formal review

For the grant of a social security payment, the determination of the date of effect is subject to the start day rules.

Information on the Review of Assessment (ROA) screen will feed into this assessment process. Specifically the Notification Handler (NOHL), which helps in determining the correct date of effect for a change in entitlement.

Section 109 sets out the date of effect to be used when a favourable determination results from a formal review. That is, the date of effect for a rate increase or resumption of payment determination.

Section 110 states what date of effect should be used when a customer advises a change of circumstances.

If either section 109 or section 110 could apply to a case, the provision that gives the most beneficial outcome to the customer should be applied. See the Resources page for an example.

If a person applies for a formal review of a decision on or after 15 April 2007, they are deemed to have received notices advising increases in their rate due to indexation in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

The notice is deemed to have been given on the day on which the rate of payment was adjusted.

Generally, the date of effect of a favourable determination is the date that would give full effect to the decision if the application for a formal review was made within the time limit. See below for the time limits for applying for a review.

Payment of Family Tax Benefit (FTB) by instalment decision

If an application for a formal review of the FTB decision is made more than 52 weeks after notice of the original decision was given to the person, or a further period if Centrelink is satisfied there are special circumstances that prevented the person from making an application for review on time, the date of effect of a favourable determination is the later of:

• the date that would give full effect to the decision, or
• 1 July of the income year before the income year in which the application for the formal review was made

This date of effect limitation does not apply where the request for review is the result of:

• the person meeting reconciliation conditions and requesting a review of their annual entitlement , i.e. asking for reconciliation to occur, or
• an assessment or review of taxable income by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). This is provided the application for review is made within 13 weeks from when the person received notification of the ATO decision and the reconciliation conditions were originally met for the relevant income year
• a review of child support entitlement, provided the person makes the application for review within 13 weeks of receiving notification of the revised child support assessment

Child Care Subsidy (CCS) and Additional Child Care Subsidy (ACCS)

The date of effect of CCS and ACCS decisions cannot be earlier than the first day of the income year immediately before the income year in which the application for review was made.

This date of effect limitation does not apply where the:

• decision is a result of the person meeting reconciliation conditions, to the extent the review relates to the persons Adjusted Taxable Income, and requesting a review of their annual entitlement, i.e. asking for reconciliation to occur, or
• review is conducted because of a review of taxable income by the ATO. This is provided the application for review is made within 90 days from when the person received notification of the ATO decision and the reconciliation conditions were originally met for the relevant income year

Care decision

If a customer applies for a formal review of a care decision, the review decision may affect the Child Support assessment of the customer and all other affected parties.

The date of effect of the review decision for child support purposes is:

• the date of the original care decision, if the application for a formal review was made within 28 days of the customer being notified of the original decision
• the date the customer applied for a formal review, if the application was made more than 28 days after the customer was notified of the original decision

The time limit for applying for a formal review of an original decision relating to CCS and ACCS is generally 90 days after the person is notified of the original decision, with all other decisions generally 52 weeks after the person is notified of the original decision.

Exceptions apply to:

• A decision relating to the payment of Family Tax Benefit (FTB) by instalment
  No time limit but see above for the date of effect
• A decision to raise a debt
  No time limit
• A decision about FTB entitlement for a past period
  The time limit is the later of the end of the income year following the income year in which the past period occurred or 52 weeks after the decision was made
• A decision about FTB entitlement relating to the death of a person, or Child Care Benefit (CCB) entitlement relating to the death of a registered carer
  The time limit is the end of the income year following the income year in which death occurred
• A decision about CCB entitlement, weekly limit of hours, CCB percentage and CCB schooling percentage, or payability of special CCB
  The time limit is the end of the income year following the income year in which the decision took effect
• A decision relating to an assessment of taxable income by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO)
  There is no time limit if the tax return was lodged with the ATO by the end of the income year following the income year to which the assessment relates
• An application for a formal review due to a tax assessment reviewed by the ATO
  The time limit is the later of 90 days after being notified of the outcome of the ATO review or 52 weeks after the decision was made
• An application for a formal review due to a child support assessment reviewed by the Child Support Registrar
  The time limit is the later of 90 days of being notified of the outcome of the child support review or 52 weeks after the decision was made

The time limit may also be extended beyond the general 90 days or 52 weeks if there are special circumstances that prevented the person from applying for a formal review. Services Australia may extend the time limit to the date of the application.

If the customer is also a Child Support customer, the application for a formal review of a care decision should be made within 28 days of being notified of the decision. Otherwise, any changes that may affect the Child Support assessment may only take effect from the date the customer applied for the formal review.

If a decision is made to reject a claim for Baby Bonus (BBY) due to income, and the customer's financial situation changes, they may provide a revised income estimate and either apply for a formal review of the decision, or lodge another claim for BBY within 52 weeks of the rejection decision. BBY is only available for a child born or entrusted to care as part of an adoption process from 1 July 2007 and before 1 March 2014.

This is where the formal review of the decision is based on a change in income estimate only. If other circumstances have changed, such as relationship status, a new claim will need to be lodged within 52 weeks of the child's birth or date entered care as part of the adoption process.

Under social security law, the time taken to deliver the notice must be taken into account when deciding whether a person has applied for a formal review within 90 days of being given the notice.

Under family assistance law, the time taken to deliver the notice must be taken into account when deciding whether a person has applied for a formal review within 52 weeks of being given the notice.

If the notice is posted to the person, it is deemed to have been given at the time it would be delivered in the ordinary course of the post, unless it is proved it would have arrived at another time. The delivery timetables provide details of times from generation to posting of Centrelink letters and Australia Post published delivery standards. These times must be added to the date a notice was issued to decide when the notice was given to the person.

The customer is taken to have been given notice of a decision if it was:

• delivered to the person personally
• left at the person's last known place of residence or business, or
• sent by prepaid post to the person's last known postal address

The notice is deemed to have been given to the person even if it is known that the person did not receive it. For example, if a notice sent to the person by prepaid post is returned to Centrelink marked 'left address'.

Delivery timetables for Centrelink forms and letters depend on the actual time from letter creation to mailing, and Australia Post delivery standards.

Customers who receive their letters via myGov are considered to have received the letter on the date it becomes available for viewing. This is 2 working days after the letter has been generated. The date the letter was generated is shown on the customer's History Summary (HS) screen. See the References page for a link to the relevant section of the Electronic Transactions Act.