Residence assessment for customers claiming Farm Household Allowance (FHA) 002-17050800

If the customer is:

• the farmer, go to Step 2
• the partner of the farmer, go to Step 3

A farmer has lodged a claim for FHA. To qualify for FHA the customer must meet all of the following requirements:

• be an Australian resident
• generally must be in Australia at the time the claim is lodged
• remain an Australian resident throughout the period of payment, and
• satisfy a 2 year (104 week) or 4 year (208 week) Newly Arrived Resident's Waiting Period (NARWP) or alternatively they may have an exemption from the NARWP in certain circumstances.

The length of the NARWP is determined by the visa subclass and grant date of the customer's first permanent residence visa.

• The customer will have a 2 year (104 week) NARWP if:
• their first permanent residence visa was granted before 1 January 2019, or
• they hold or have held a visa subclass 115, 117, 835 or 837
• Otherwise, the customer is required to serve a 4 year (208 week) NARWP

Note: there are exceptions to these requirements.

The new claim workflow will present the Immigration Enquiry (RSIMME) screen. Ensure the customer's country of birth and any travel documents are recorded. The system will automatically link to the Department of Home Affairs information and update the customer's residence and movement information. If more information is required, see Activating the Department of Home Affairs datalink and contingency procedures if datalink is unavailable.

Go to Step 4.

The partner of a farmer has lodged a claim for FHA. To qualify for FHA the customer must meet all of the following requirements:

• be an Australian resident
• generally must be in Australia at the time the claim is lodged
• remain an Australian resident throughout the period of payment, and
• the farmer partner must be residing in Australia, and
• satisfy a 2 year (104 week) or 4 year (208 week) Newly Arrived Resident's Waiting Period (NARWP) or alternatively they may have an exemption from the NARWP in certain circumstances.

The length of the NARWP is determined by the visa subclass and grant date of the customer's first permanent residence visa.

• The customer will have a 2 year (104 week) NARWP if:
• their first permanent residence visa was granted before 1 January 2019, or
• they hold or have held a visa subclass 115, 117, 835 or 837
• Otherwise, the customer is required to serve a 4 year (208 week) NARWP

Note: there are exceptions to these requirements, if the person claiming is the partner of a farmer, the farmer just needs to be residing in Australia but not necessarily an Australian resident under this qualification test.

The new claim workflow will present the Immigration Enquiry (RSIMME) screen. Ensure the customer's country of birth and any travel documents are recorded. The system will automatically link to the Department of Home Affairs information and update the customer's residence and movement information. If more information is required, see Activating the Department of Home Affairs datalink and contingency procedures if datalink is unavailable.

Check the Immigration Advised Movements (RSIM) screen if necessary to check if the customer was in Australia at the time the claim was lodged.

Check the Legal Residence Details (RSLEG) screen for citizenship and/or visa details for the customer.

If the customer is:

• in Australia as:
• an Australian resident, see Step 1 in Table 2
• a non-resident, go to Step 7
• not in Australia, go to Step 5

The customer can only lodge a legal claim for FHA while they are outside Australia if they meet an exception to the lodgement inside Australia rule.

Does the customer meet an exception to the lodgement inside Australia rule?

• Yes, and they are:
• an Australian resident, see Step 1 in Table 2
• not an Australian resident, go to Step 7
• No, go to Step 6

Advise the customer to lodge a claim if they return to Australia in the future.

Continue to assess the claim. The claim will reject for a residence related reason.

Procedure ends here.

• Code the correct citizenship and the correct visa subclass on the Legal Residence Details (RSLEG) screen
• Code the customer's country of residence on the Country of Residence (CRES) screen
• Continue to assess the claim. The claim will reject for a residence related reason

The customer may be entitled to some of the following. Offer to the customer if appropriate:

• Special Benefit (SpB), even though they may not be an Australian resident SpB may be payable to a person with certain temporary visas that qualify customers for some payments
• Parental leave payments and family assistance or the Low Income Health Care Card (LIC) if the customer has a certain temporary visas that qualify customers for some payments
• Child Care Subsidy (CCS) if the customer has any dependent children
• Assistance to look for work. To check a customer's entitlement, see Employment services for visa holders
• Payments using an international agreement. Generally this only applies to Age Pension, Disability Support Pension (DSP) in limited circumstances and Carer Payment (CP)

Procedure ends here.

Check the Periods of Australian Presence (RSPAP) screen. This screen displays the periods the customer has been physically in Australia while an Australian resident.

Has the customer been an Australian resident in Australia for at least 2 years (104 weeks) or 4 years (208 weeks)?

If the customer was granted their first permanent residence visa:

• before 1 January 2019, or they hold or have held a visa subclass 115, 117, 835 or 837, they are required to serve a 2 year (104 week) NARWP
• on or after 1 January 2019, they are required to serve a 4 year (208 week) NARWP
• Yes, they have served the NARWP and meet the residence requirements for FHA. Continue to assess their claim and if the claim rejects NIA (Not in Australia), phone Centrelink International Services. Procedure ends here
• No, go to Step 2

A customer who is an Australian citizen has an automatic exemption from the NARWP. Service Officers must:

• verify citizenship. To determine if the customer is an Australian citizen, see Proof of Australian citizenship
• code country of citizenship on the Legal Residence Details (RSLEG) screen

Is the customer an Australian citizen?

• Yes, the customer is exempt from the NARWP and they meet the residence requirements for FHA
• Ensure the details are recorded correctly on the Legal Residence Details (RSLEG) screen
• Continue to assess their claim and if the claim rejects NIA (Not in Australia), phone Centrelink International Services
• Procedure ends here
• No, go to Step 3

An automatic exemption from the NARWP applies to a customer who is a refugee or former refugee.

To determine if the customer is a refugee or former refugee, go the Legal Residence Details (RSLEG) screen.

If the customer's visa subclass (either now or previously) was a refugee visa, it should have been automatically recorded on this screen from the immigration datalink. Refugee visas can be determined using:

• Chapter 9 of the Guide to Social Security Law, or
• Refugee and special humanitarian visa sub-classes

If the customer advises they were or currently are a refugee and this is not evident on the RSLEG screen or from their passport, contact the Centrelink International Services (CIS) - contact details for staff or refer to CIS via the Immigration Match Questionnaire (IMQ).

Is the customer a refugee or former refugee?

• Yes, they are exempt from the NARWP and meet the residence requirements for FHA.
• Ensure the visa details are recorded correctly on the RSLEG screen
• Continue to assess their claim and if the claim rejects NIA (Not in Australia), phone Centrelink International Services
• Procedure ends here
• No, go to Step 4

A customer who holds, or has held, visa subclass 852 is exempt from the NARWP.

Check the RSLEG screen for a current or previous visa subclass 852. This can also generally be found in the customer’s passport.

Is the customer the holder (or former holder) of a visa subclass 852?

• Yes, they are exempt from the NARWP and meet the residence requirements for FHA
• Ensure the visa details are recorded correctly on the RSLEG screen
• Continue to assess their claim and if the claim rejects NIA (Not in Australia), phone Centrelink International Services
• Procedure ends here
• No, go to Step 5

For this purpose, family members include the following:

• a partner of the person
• a dependent child of the person
• another person who, in the opinion of the Secretary, should be treated for the purposes of this definition as a partner or dependent child of the person. Note: to check if a customer meets this provision, see Newly Arrived Resident's Waiting Period (NARWP) and Qualifying Residence Exemptions

To be eligible for an exemption as the family member of a refugee or former refugee, a person must have been a family member both:

• at the time the refugee or former refugee arrived in Australia, and
• currently or when the refugee or former refugee died

Was the customer a family member of a refugee or former refugee at the time that the refugee or former refugee arrived in Australia?

• Yes, go to Step 6
• No, go to Step 8

Note: the customer must also have been the family member of that person at the time the refugee first arrived in Australia. If the family member is now an Australian citizen, they are no longer considered to be a refugee (they are a former refugee) but the customer can still be covered by this exemption provision.

Is the customer currently the family member of a refugee or former refugee?

• Yes, they are exempt from the NARWP
• Once the claim is fully assessed, refer case to CIS for exemption coding
• Once response has been returned from CIS, continue to assess the claim and if the claim rejects NIA (not in Australia), phone Centrelink International Services
• Procedure ends here
• No, go to Step 7

Note: the customer must also have been the family member of that person at the time the refugee first arrived in Australia.

Was the customer the family member of a refugee or former refugee when the refugee or former refugee died?

• Yes, they are exempt from the NARWP
• Once the claim is fully assessed, refer case to CIS for exemption coding
• Once response has been returned from CIS, continue to assess the claim and if the claim rejects NIA (Not in Australia), phone Centrelink International Services
• Procedure ends here
• No, go to Step 8

Is the customer claiming a payment as a Principal carer, not a member of a couple and did they become a lone parent during their current period as an Australian resident?

Note: if this exemption from the NARWP applies, the customer will also be entitled to a NARWP exemption for Family Tax Benefit (FTB), Parental Leave Pay (PPL), Dad and Partner Pay (DAP) or Carer Allowance (CA).

• Yes, they are exempt from the NARWP and meet the residence requirements for FHA
• Record the reason for the exemption in a DOC
• Continue to assess the claim
• If the claim rejects NIA (Not in Australia), phone Centrelink International Services
• Procedure ends here
• No, go to Step 9

The end date of the NARWP (assuming that they remain in Australia) is calculated and displayed on the Periods of Australian Presence (RSPAP) screen. This can be used to advise the customer of future entitlement.

If the system calculates that the NARWP has not yet been served and the customer was an Australian resident prior to 1 September 1994, past periods of residence should be recorded on the Country of Residence (CRES) screen.

If they have not yet served the NARWP, the claim should be rejected.

If the claim is granting with a start date more than 13 weeks in the future, manually reject the claim reason 'NRQ' on the Benefit Action (BA) screen. An automatic letter will be issued.

If the claim is incorrectly granting when the customer has not served or is not exempt from the NARWP, check the Family Member/Refugee Code on the Residence Savings (RSS) screen. If FMC, FME or PRE is coded, refer case to CIS for exemption coding to be ended.

The customer may still be entitled to some of the following. Offer to the customer where appropriate:

• If the customer who is not a resident of Australia (e.g. temporary student visa holder) has any dependent children, they may still be entitled to Child Care Subsidy (CCS)
• If the customer has an FTB child in their care, they may be entitled to a Low Income Health Care Card (LIC)
• Depending on the type of visa held and their circumstances the customer may also have entitlement to some assistance looking for work. See Employment services for visa holders
• Payments using an international agreement. Generally this only applies to Age Pension, Disability Support Pension (DSP) in limited circumstances and Carer Payment (CP)
• Special Benefit (SpB) in a number of circumstances, including:
• if the customer is in hardship and has suffered an unexpected and significant change in circumstances since being in Australia as the holder of certain temporary visas that qualify customers for some payments even though they may not be an Australian resident. Invite the customer to test their eligibility by lodging a claim online or downloading and completing the Claim for Special Benefit form (SU004)
• if a person is not residentially qualified for any social security payments because they do not hold the required legal residence (for example they are a non-protected SCV holder) but they have a child who is an Australian citizen or permanent visa holder, they may be eligible to claim SpB for the child. See Special Benefit (SpB) for Australian Citizen Child (ACC) and Australian permanent resident children