Streaming and processing a new claim for Farm Household Allowance (FHA) 002-17040300

The time limit of FHA has been extended to 4 years (1,460 days) in each specified 10 year period. The first specified 10 year period is from 1 July 2014 to 30 June 2024. The second specified 10 year period will commence on 1 July 2024.

Customers who have received their full 4 years (1,460 days) of FHA before 30 June 2024 will be able to lodge early claims for the next 10 year period from 2 April 2024. Customers who are current on payment even if they have received less than 1,460 days on 1 July 2024 will have their FHA clock days reset to 1460 for the second specified 10 year period.

If a customer applies for FHA, their claim is streamed to make an early decision about whether the claim can be granted, rejected or requires a referral. Making these decisions early in the process leads to better outcomes for customers and better manages their expectations, including if a decision is made they are not eligible.

A new claim includes where a customer has previously applied for FHA but withdrew their claim before it was accepted or rejected.

At streaming, a Service Officer reviews the customer's personal circumstances, claim and associated documents to make sure all appropriate action relevant to progressing the claim is taken at the earliest possible opportunity.

When initially streaming the claim, contact is needed when:

• the customer is partnered and the partner has not lodged a claim, confirmation is required to determine if the partner intends to claim. See Claiming Farm Household Allowance (FHA)
• there are complex issues
• there are incomplete forms
• extra information needed including additional evidence to support the farm enterprise has significant commercial purpose and character
• customers experiencing vulnerability or at risk customers who need support to manage the claim process. If there are family and domestic violence indicators, see Family and domestic violence.
  Note: if the customer is partnered, the requested documentation may have been provided on the customer record. If the partner intends to lodge an online or Assisted Customer Claim (ACC). See, Circumstance Change Monitor (CCM), for the management of claim tasks

All instances of customer contact:

• Must be verbal first. Make a minimum of one genuine attempt to contact before sending a written request for information. If the customer is subscribed for Electronic Messaging (EM), send a desktop message before calling
• Check the customer's preferred time of contact in the FHA new claim, or on FHA Customer Summary (FCS) screen in Process Direct.
  Note: where a Service Officer is required to contact a customer, however, is unable during customers preferred times, contact must still be attempted
• Update the customer's file by recording all successful and unsuccessful contact attempts (verbal and written requests for information) and what was discussed/agreed
• Offer a referral to the Rural Financial Counselling Service (RFCS)

Claims that can be finalised at streaming are to be processed to finalisation immediately.

Where specific criteria are met, a farmer may be eligible to lodge a claim on behalf of their partner when claiming FHA online.

Partners of farmers who want, and are eligible, to lodge a FHA combined partner online claim must meet the below criteria:

• currently linked as a couple on the system
• both be subscribed to Electronic Messaging
• have at least 1 bank account recorded in joint names
• claim is not being submitted by a nominee
• customer does not indicate they are in crisis
• relationship status is not changing in the claim
• partner is not already receiving an Income Support Payment or have a draft claim for Farm Household Allowance
• has answered yes to the question 'Can you provided accurate information regarding your partner's circumstances to support your claim?'

The FHA combined partner claim will send a notification to the partner asking them to log into their own online account to complete the task for FHA combined partner claim. Once the partner has completed and confirmed this task and the farmer or partner has lodged all required documentation, the claim can only then be submitted as a FHA combined partner claim.

Note: the partner task must be completed and confirmed within 3 days of being notified of the task or it will disappear, and the claim will revert to an individual FHA claim for the farmer only. If the partner still wants to claim, they must submit their own claim within 14 days to make sure the same start date of payment if eligible.

Notifications will be sent to the customer and partner to advise of the claim's progress. These notifications are sent before the claim is submitted to assist with the completion of the required combined claim tasks and again once the claim is submitted. For a full list of the notifications that the customer and partner will receive during the combined partner online claim process refer to the CCM Notifications Matrix in  Circumstance Change Monitor (CCM).

Nominees acting on behalf of their principals cannot submit a FHA combined partner online claim. However, nominees:

• can submit a FHA claim for their principal as a single claim, or
• where they are appointed correspondence nominee for both members of a couple, submit individual claims separately, or
• where they are appointed correspondence nominee for both members of a couple and the couple is eligible to lodge a FHA combined partner claim:
• staff can run an ACC for a FHA combined partner claim
• however, the nominee cannot submit the claim online
• the online claim will expire after 13 weeks if not submitted

Farmers and their partners who are unable or unsuitable to lodge an online claim can submit a combined partner paper claim. The combined claim will be offered at question 3 on the claim form.

Customers should first be assessed to see if they meet farmer eligibility criteria. If eligible, both members of the couple should be granted FHA as farmers. Otherwise, one member of the couple can be granted as a farmer and the other as the partner of a farmer.

FHA claims are processed in Process Direct by completing an FHA claim Social Application (SOA) to record the information needed to assess the claim. When the SOA is assessed in Process Direct, a Social Service Plan (SSP) displays. The SSP:

• determines FHA entitlement
• generates FHA payments, and
• finalises the claim

If a combined partner claim is submitted:

• Online, one SOA will be used to record the information needed to assess the claim for each member of the couple. A SSP will be created on each customer record in Process Direct
• Via paper Claim for Farm Household Allowance (SU694) form, a SOA is generated for the primary claimant. A SOA shell must be created for the partner via the SOA shell application in Process Direct

The FHA claim SOA:

• is used to check and record claim progress
• contains details provided by the customer
• lists the documents the customer has been asked to provide
• uploads claim data into an FHA claim activity
• includes staff tasks that must be completed before the claim can be finalised

When finalising the SOA in Process Direct, an SSP generates. Check this to make sure the determination of the customer's FHA entitlement and entitlement dates are correct. The SOA and linked SSP must be finalised to either grant or reject FHA payments. See the Resources page for the ESSentials roles required for FHA new claim processing and Quality Management in Process Direct.

When customer contact is needed, if the customer is registered for Electronic Messaging, Service Officers must use the DEMC to generate a pre-call SMS to improve the chances of a successful call. The message prepares the customer for a call from Services Australia about their claim.

These messages can be viewed using the Communication History tab in Customer First. For more details, see Centrelink letters online and Electronic Messaging.

FHA is subject to the same provisions as JobSeeker Payment (JSP):

• If the claim is lodged within 14 days after the cessation date of another benefit or pension, the transfer date will be the start date for FHA. If the claim is not lodged within 14 days after the cessation date, the start date will be the customer's date of claim for FHA
• If the claim is lodged within 14 days of the date of the partner's claim, the claim can be backdated to that date if the customer is eligible. Separate backdating provisions apply for incapacitated customers
• FHA claimants may be subject to an Income Maintenance Period, Newly Arrived Residence Waiting Period, Seasonal Work Preclusion Period and Compensation Preclusion Period
• FHA claimants are not subject to the Ordinary Waiting Period or Liquid Asset Waiting Period
• Customers who had exhausted their 1460 days of FHA and who lodged an early claim for the next 4 in 10 period, will have a start date of 1 July 2024

Where the customer is transferring to FHA from another payment, cancellation of the income support payment must be completed before commencement of claim in Process Direct.

Eligible customers receive payments or concession cards from the date they submit a claim for Farm Household Allowance. Early claim provisions do not apply to FHA.

Customers in severe financial hardship may be eligible for a Hardship Advance when FHA is granted.

Note: different processes apply for customers experiencing vulnerability, see Intent to claim and vulnerable customers. If there are family and domestic violence indicators, see Family and domestic violence.

When an FHA claim has been granted and a Farm Household Case Officer (FHCO) allocated, the customer will be asked to supply a Farm Financial Assessment (FFA).

The FHCO will request the FFA and is responsible for:

• determining the due date
• tracking its progress
• accepting the completed FFA
• confirming the financial assessor meets the criteria to conduct the FFA when the FFA supplement voucher is submitted

To be eligible for FHA, customers must indicate on their claim they are willing to undertake compulsory activities. If granted FHA, the customer must enter into a Financial Improvement Agreement (FIA). The FIA is negotiated with the FHCO and lists the activities the customer agrees to undertake.

If the customer does not meet their mutual obligations, FHA payments may be stopped or not granted.

At the time of having their FHA claim assessed, customers must be offered a referral to the RFCS.

The RFCS:

• provides free, independent, and confidential assistance to farming families
• provides a range of services and information to support farming families to better understand their financial situation and plan for the future
• is authorised to sight, certify, and copy original documents for the purpose of completing linkage as part of the Identity Confirmation process for FHA claims. See Identity Confirmation for more details
• from 11 June 2020 may meet the criteria as a financial assessor and be able to complete the FFA.
  If the RFC completes the FFA, the customer will not be charged for this service

A customer does not need to be in receipt of FHA to access the RFCS.

The Resources page includes links to the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry website for Farm Household Allowance information and Rural Financial Counselling Service.

1 July 2024

The Farm Household Support Secretary’s Rule 2024 introduced a new gross income threshold of $60,000 to use when assessing the commercial viability of the farm enterprise.

The gross income must generate from Primary Production activities (gross revenue from sales).

Service Officers must:

• exclude related sources of business income under Farm Business Loss rules when considering if the farm enterprise has met the $60,000 gross turnover
• consider if:
• the average gross revenue of the farm enterprise has been over $60,000 for the past 3 financial years
• it is a reasonable expectation that the farm enterprise can achieve gross revenue of more than $60,000 per financial year

11 June 2020

The Farm Household Support Amendment (Relief Measures) Act (No.2) 2019 provides the following changes that affect an FHA claim:

• a single asset test that combines farm and non-farm assets with an asset threshold of $5.5 million
• changes to the FFA that remove the prescribed adviser requirements. The change allows a person with appropriate qualifications or expertise (financial assessor) to complete the FFA. An RFC may meet the criteria of a financial assessor

16 December 2019

The Farm Household Support Amendment (Relief Measures) Act (no.1) 2019 covers 3 changes that came into effect on 16 December 2019:

• FHA Relief Payment
• Farm business losses, replacing the off-farm income offset and the maximum offset amount increased to $100,000
• Changes to the eligibility period from 4 years to 4 years in every specified 10 year period. The 4 year eligibility period does not need to be continuous: if FHA payments stop, the count of days towards their 4 years of assistance will stop
• the first 10 year period is from 1 July 2014 to 30 June 2024, and
• the second 10 year period will commence on 1 July 2024

For more details on the Act, see the Resources page for a link to the Parliament of Australia website status update of the Act.

1 July 2019

The Farm Household Support (Forced Disposal of Livestock) Minister’s Rules 2019 (the Rules) amends the Social Security Act 1991 to exclude amounts received from a forced disposal of livestock from being assessed as income for the purposes of FHA. Specific conditions stipulate that all or some of the amount derived from a forced disposal of livestock is deposited, or is intended to be deposited, into a Farm Management Deposit account (FMD).

For more details, see Assessing assets for Farm Household Allowance (FHA) and Assessing income for Farm Household Allowance (FHA).

For details, including FAQs, see Farm Household Allowance (FHA).