Letters for Child Support customers 277-01060000

Write to the customer if:

• there is a legislative requirement to provide the information in writing
• it is part of the process required by a procedure
• there is a restricted service option requiring written correspondence. See the Proposing/reviewing an MSP to include Service Channel Restrictions table in Personalised Services
• they have requested a statement of reasons
• contact by phone is unsuccessful and Child Support requires information or evidence from the customer. See Contact with Child Support Customers
• contact by phone is unsuccessful and Child Support needs to provide information to the customer. For example, to tell them about a variation to their assessment or child support liability, to advise enforcement of a child support debt, or to respond to a request for information

Note: do not send 'in-confidence', customer specific or Child Support specific information via external email.

If considering responding to a letter to a child of a child support case, see Step 1 in Table 2.

Determine which letter type to send:

• Automated letter - a letter automatically generated by Cuba. Go to Step 3
• Manually generated system letter - a letter requiring some manual input before it can be issued from Cuba. Go to Step 4
• Local letter - a letter issued external to Cuba. Only used in specific business processes, as instructed in the relevant procedural instruction. Go to Step 5.
  Note: this is not a reference to manually generated system (Cuba) letters that are printed locally

In most instances Cuba will automatically generate a letter to the customer/s when:

• eligibility is run
• a decision is recorded
• issuing notices
• the particulars of the assessment change, for example, new income received

Check a letter has generated and that it is correct. If an automated letter generates and provides the required information, no further action is required. See Letters Cuba process help, View or preview a letter.

If a customer is registered for a Child Support online account, automated letters are sent via Online Letters. See Using myGov accounts.

See the Cuba letter listing on the Resources page for all automated letters available, including Online Letters.

If available, use the appropriate macro to create the letter text. See the Macro letters section on the Separated parents letter and email templates page. If no macro is available, determine which type of manually generated system letter to send:

• Fill-in fields - system letter requiring specific fields to be completed before the letter generates in Cuba
• Pre-approved text - pre-approved text is inserted into a letter generated in Cuba
• Free text - letter content is written where no suitable pre-approved text is available. The letter generates in Cuba

Cuba will only create one letter of each type per customer per day. If more than one manually generated system letter is created only the last letter will be stored on Cuba and printed.

Fill-in fields

This is a manually generated system letter that requires some information (fill-in fields) to be manually input.

Send a manually generated system letter with fill-in fields if:

• instructed to do so in a procedure or Cuba Process Help module
• there is no suitable automated letter

Check for a suitable manually generated system letter with fill-in fields in the Letters Details Window Help.

Create a letter with fill-in fields if available. Unless specified in the procedural instruction relevant to the process, allow the customer 14 days (28 days for International customers) from the date they receive the letter to respond or provide information. See Letters Cuba process help, Create a letter using fill-in fields.

Check the content is correct and generate the letter. No further action is required.

If there is no suitable letter with fill-in fields see Pre-approved text information below.

Pre-approved text

Pre-approved text can be inserted into a manually generated system letter (previously known as a 'unique letter') where content is already approved by Services Australia.

Insert pre-approved text if:

• instructed to do so in a procedure or Cuba Process Help
• there is no suitable automated letter or manually generated letter with fill-in fields

Open the pre-approved text from the link in the relevant procedure, Cuba Process Help or pre-approved text list.

If there is no suitable pre-approved text see Free text information below.

If there is suitable pre-approved text, create a manually generated system letter using the pre-approved text. See Separated parents letters, List of pre-approved letter text and Letters Cuba process help, Create a unique letter.

Unless specified in the procedural instruction relevant to the process, allow the customer 14 days (28 days for International customers) from the date they receive the letter to respond or provide information. Follow the formatting instructions as directed on the relevant pre-approved text page.

Request SO6 approval if the pre-approved text is changed or additional information included. See Step 2 in Table 4.

If SO6 approval is not required, check the content is correct and generate the letter. No further action is required.

Free text

This is a manually generated system letter (previously known as a 'unique letter') that requires the content to be composed before the letter is generated.

Use free text when:

• instructed to do so in a procedure or Cuba Process Help
• there is no suitable automated letter, manually generated system letter with fill-in fields or pre-approved text available
• the customer is seeking reasons why a decision was made, that is, a statement of reasons
• attempts to contact the customer by phone have been unsuccessful. See Contact with Child Support Customers
• there is a legislative or administrative requirement to respond to the customer in writing
• the customer is seeking further clarification about a change of assessment or objection decision. See Change of assessment in special circumstances (CS) or Child Support objections

Note: if repeatedly creating the same type of letter using free text for different customers, consider whether that letter should be available as pre-approved text or an automated letter. Discuss the frequency of the approvals requested with your Team Leader and provide feedback through the Forms, Letters and Electronic Messaging Feedback webform.

See Step 1 in Table 3.

Local letters:

• contain pre-approved text
• are only used in specific processes
• are not sent through Cuba

Copy and paste the letter into a notepad on the Communication window for recording purposes. See Documentation Cuba process help.

See the Resources page for how and when to print or fax letters.

The letter or notice must be:

• issued using the individual letter instructions when using pre-approved text
• generated in Cuba
• printed centrally, see the How and when to print and/or fax letters table on the Resources page
• delivered by the agency's external mail contractor, or online if the customer has selected this as their preferred channel

Service Officers are not required to provide their name (including surname) or contact details unless instructed by a procedure, Cuba Process Help or instructions for pre-approved text. This is to ensure that calls or enquiries from customers are appropriately routed, recorded and reported.

Do not physically sign a letter (unless this is part of an approved business process). Letters issued through Cuba will automatically have the appropriate signature block.

Once the letter has been approved by a SO6, print it centrally unless the relevant procedural instruction instructs it to be printed locally. See Letters Cuba process help.

Note: if the letter is printed locally it must be printed on the approved Services Australia - Child Support letterhead paper to ensure it looks the same as centrally printed letters.

In limited circumstances, a letter may be issued outside Cuba. See the Resources page for how and when to print or fax letters.

If the customer asks to get a letter by fax, obtain Team Leader approval before sending. See the Resources page for how and when to fax letters.

Do not send 'in-confidence', customer specific or Child Support specific information via external email.

If sending a letter using free text or pre-approved text to the customer's representative create the letter in the representative's Letter Details window to ensure the appropriate address and salutations are used.

The representative's record may be as an organisation or employer, for example, Legal Aid. Access the correct record by searching for the representative's CSID in the List Customer window, not the Organisation List window. See Customer records Cuba process help, Find Customer.

Preview the letter for accuracy.

Note: if the representative is also a customer and an assessment notice is issued with the letter, check that it is the intended customer's assessment details and not the representative's assessment details.

For more information, see Child Support representative with ordinary authority and Authenticating a Child Support customer.

If the child has raised concerns about their own welfare, or the welfare of other children in the household (or if the contents of the letter indicate there is a risk to the child's welfare), the letter must be escalated to an SO6 or above, to manage in line with the Security incident reporting guidelines. See Intranet links on the Resources page for a link to the guidelines.

The SO6 will consider the letter in the context of the criteria set out in the Security incident reporting guidelines; complete a security incident report and alert their manager to the case.

The SO6 will consider a range of appropriate responses including:

• contacting the police where appropriate.
  Note: where the matter is referred to police, no written response will need to be sent to the child.
• providing information on appropriate support services for the child in the written response to the child's letter, go to Step 2

The SO6 should seek assistance from their manager or the Protective Security Team if they are unsure of the appropriate response. See Resources for a link to the Protective Security intranet page for contact details.

They may also seek Technical Support in Child Support if unsure of the appropriate support service or follow up action that should be considered.

Send a written response to the child if the child is under 18 and the letter is about their parents' child support case requesting an action to be taken, or if providing evidence in relation to the case or agency process.

If there is no return address on the child letter, a response cannot be provided. A note should be added to the child's Details notepad to record that a letter was received from the child, but no reply could be sent because no return address was provided.

If the child has communicated by email, their personal email address can be used as the return address. A reply can be sent to that personal email address. If no email is provided, no response is required.

Usually there will not be any postal address details recorded in Cuba for a child. If satisfied that the child who has sent the letter has been correctly identified, use the return address from the child's letter to add/update their postal address in Cuba.

All letters sent to a child must be sent as a Manually generated system unique letter (locally printed) - prepared from the child's Cuba record, not from a parent's Cuba record.

Working from the child's Cuba record, Pend a MX0-1 Unique letter and specify locally printed, not centrally printed.

See Letters Cuba process help for more information.

See Separated parents letters, List of pre-approved letter text > Other for the Pre-approved text to be used in the body of the letter.

All letters to a child must be approved by an SO6 or above before they are sent.

Note: when issuing an MX0-1 Unique letter (or MX0-2 Unique letter with assessment) always check to see if 1 has already been generated on that day, and if so, do not issue any further unique letters on the same day. The second unique letter must be held over until the next business day or it will automatically overwrite the first.

If the letter writer is an SO6 or above, further approval is not required. Go to Step 7.

Service Officers

Team Leader/SO6 approval is required for the unique letter to the child, even if only pre-approved text has been used.

Create a Pending Approval intray with a due date of 48 hours and route it to your Team Leader or approving SO6 or above, asking them to approve the pended letter. See Intray management Cuba process help.

Check the Pended unique letter to the child to confirm:

• the Service Officer has applied the formatting rules
• the content of the letter is appropriate
• the child raised concerns about their welfare, the letter contains additional support information, as described in Step 1 above

If the letter:

• requires minor changes, update the unique letter, document the approval in the letter notepad and route the intray back to the owning Service Officer
• is approved, document the approval in the letter notepad and route the intray back to the owning Service Officer. See Documentation Cuba process help.
• is not approved, advise the Service Officer of changes required before the letter can be approved

The letter to the child must be printed locally (not centrally).

Once the final version of the response to the child is approved by the SO6, print the unique letter locally.

Note: if printing the letter locally, it must be printed on the approved Services Australia - Child Support letterhead paper. This ensures it looks the same as a centrally printed letter.

An SO6 must check the locally printed letter before it is sent. If the Service Officer and the SO6 are not in the same office, the SO6 should complete this process and let the Service Officer know they have done this.

Post the letter locally after an SO6 has checked the letter.

A full copy of the unique letter can be viewed in the child's Letter Details window. Also refer to the letter being sent in a notepad on the Communication window for recording purposes (the child's Communication window, not a parent's Communication window). See Documentation Cuba process help.

Conduct a review of the case to confirm all information prior to drafting a letter using free text. Review Cuba records to source information for content, including:

• Activity Summary window
• Case Events window
• Payer Collection/Capacity to Pay window
• Case Liability Rates window
• Communication window entries and notepads
• CSAonline window
• any other relevant function window history records and notepad entries
• letters previously sent to the customer

To prepare a thorough and logically structured letter consider:

• purpose of the letter
• action that has occurred
• outcome of any action
• reasons behind the outcome
• next steps for the customer
• next steps for Child Support

See the Resources page for links to the Digital messaging and letter mandatory standards and better practice guidelines and the Writing Guide for information about the writing style principles to apply. In particular:

• consider the tone
• write in plain English
• keep sentences to an average length of less than two lines
• write sentences in an active voice. For example, 'We credited a $50.00 private payment to your account' not 'A $50.00 private payment was credited to your account'
• make the text more personal by using first/second person language (for example, we, us, you, your)
• avoid using jargon and system abbreviations. For example, use private payments not non-agency payment or NAP, use payment arrangement for arrears not EWA
• use correct grammar
• use the present tense where possible
• include customer's rights where applicable
• comply with the agency's privacy obligations
• use Arial or Times New Roman with font size 12

Draft the body of the letter in a Microsoft Word document (Cuba inserts the address, date, salutation and signature block when it generates the letter).

Include in the letter:

• standard paragraphs where relevant - go to Step 5
• any manual calculations - go to Step 6
• accurate technical content - go to Step 7
• include a statement of reasons if requested by the customer - go to Step 8
• an objection paragraph if the letter relates to a decision to which the customer can object or appeal - go to Step 9
• the period for response. Unless specified in the procedural instruction relevant to the process, allow the customer time to respond. See Standard response times
• a standard contact paragraph at the end - go to Step 5

If a letter is created in Cuba with incorrect formatting, the letter batch run may fail. This delays issuing letters to all customers.

Follow the formatting rules below:

• Only use size 12 font
• Only use Arial or Times New Roman fonts
• Do not copy any formatting into the letter, including:
• bullets and dot points
• bolding
• italics
• underlining
• numbering
• hyperlinks
• tables for either Excel or Word
• images
• fractions
• symbols

Do not add additional returns in the letter to make it fit to the page. Cuba will apply these. Adding returns results in extra white space in the customer's letter.

Do not add the office address block or signature block. Cuba adds these to all letters.

See Step 1 in Table 4.

Use standard paragraphs for letters using free text to meet the following requirements:

• Standard objection paragraph - domestic and non-reciprocating jurisdictions (to payee and payer)
• International objection paragraph - where applicant is a resident of a reciprocating jurisdiction (to payee and payer)
• ART paragraph - for objection decision letters (payee and payer)
• Payments received sentence (payee)
• Overpay information to the payer or payee
• Arrears paragraph - where case is collect (payer)
• Change in child support amount for current period - (payee and payer)

Contact paragraph:

• For customers in Australia
• For customers in New Zealand
• To a customer in another overseas country

See Separated parents letters, Standard paragraphs for manually generated system letters.

Check accounting screens to ensure manual calculations are accurate, including:

• non agency payments
• discharge amounts
• consolidated revenue debts
• overpayments
• penalties and fines

Clearly and simply explain the calculations.

Technical content must be:

• accurate and comprehensive
• written in a style that is easy for the customer to understand

Check relevant procedural instructions and appropriate chapters in the Child Support Guide to ensure the letter content is accurate. See References for links to the Guide. If a customer advises they are familiar with the Child Support Guide consider including a reference to the relevant section of the Child Support Guide. If using text from the Child Support Guide reference the source location. Check with a Service Support Officer (SSO) if uncertain about the content or reference. See Technical support in Child support.

When inserting text from the Child Support Guide or other resource, use the 'paste special' function.

When providing technical content:

• avoid using legal jargon
• when referencing legislation try to translate into plain English
• use standard paragraphs if they are appropriate, see Separated parents letters, Standard paragraphs for manually generated system letters
• make reference to particular provisions within the legislation

Note: remove all formatting if copying legislative references into a manually generated system letter.

Reasons for a decision are usually explained over the phone. Sometimes a customer or representative may request the reason for a decision (or a statement of reasons) in writing.

A request may be:

• Informal - either verbal or in writing
• Formal - a written request which the customer specifies is being made under section13 of the Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act 1977 (ADJR Act). The ADJR Act provides that persons as described in s13 are entitled to apply to the decision maker for a statement of reasons
• Requests made under the ADJR Act must be made by the customer within 28 days of receipt of the decision. A written statement of reasons must be provided within 28 days of receiving the request. If Child Support does not respond to the request in this time the customer may seek redress through the courts or lodge a complaint with the Commonwealth Ombudsman. If the request is made by the customer more than 28 days after receiving the decision, Child Support may, depending on the circumstances, still elect to provide a written statement of reasons

Refer ADJR requests to Program Advice for guidance.

See References for a link to Child Support Guide: 4.3.7: The Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act 1977.

The statement of reasons must include:

• findings on all material facts - a material fact is one that can affect the outcome of the decision, for example, 'John does have care of Adam for 100 nights'. See Resources for a link to Findings of Fact
• legislation relevant to the facts or issues in the case
• evidence upon which each material finding of fact is based that is, detail the evidence that was considered relevant, credible and significant for example, a diary of care or statements from third parties
• the actual reasons relied upon by the decision maker at the time of making the decision. Explain the steps in the reasoning process that led to the final decision that is, 'I preferred the evidence of parent A because'
• the decision that was made

Child Support advises customers in writing of the outcome of a change of assessment or objection. If the customer requests further clarification provide this by phone wherever possible.

When further written clarification is required for example, the customer has a restricted service option, the letter:

• must be consistent with the statement of reasons already provided to both parties
• must not include issues or make suggestions that are outside the scope of the decision
• if the letter is about a decision that affects both parties, the letter must be provided to both parties without breaching the privacy of either party. See Open exchange of information for Child Support customers

Customers with a Child Support online services can view the content of unique letters that have been printed locally, in their myGov Inbox.

To prevent a customer seeing a local print unique letter , complete the following steps:

• Create the letter and change the status to Pending before selecting Save
• Select Save, change the status of the letter to Deleted and again select Save
• View a preview of the letter and Print the letter from the preview
• Add a notepad to the letter detail to explain that the letter has been sent

If the above process is not followed when creating a unique letter with a status of Print Local, the customer will be able to view these letters in their myGov Inbox. After a letter has a status of Printed, it cannot be deleted.

Conduct a final review of the draft letter content:

• Check the content to ensure all information has been included and the information, calculations and figures are correct
• Correct any spelling and grammar errors
• Confirm adherence to the agency's privacy obligations
• Check letter writing guide
• Check the layout and logical flow of the letter
• Confirm the use of preferred terms and appropriate language

Consider the following questions:

• Is the letter clear and written in plain English?
• Does this letter clarify the customer's query and/or assist them to understand what has happened?
• Does it clearly inform them of their options or what action they need to take?
• Does the letter inform them of their rights?
• How would you feel if you received this letter?
• Ask another staff member to peer review the letter for content, style and accuracy

Team Leader/SO6 approval is required for:

• letters using free text
• letters using pre-approved text where the pre-approved content is changed or additional information included

Note: if the letter writer is a SO6 or above further approval is not required. See Step 6 in Table 1.

Create and pend the free text in the letter body of:

• an MX0-1 Unique letter
• an MX0-2 Unique letter with assessment
• the relevant letter code as instructed by the procedural instruction

See Letters Cuba process help, Create a unique letter.

Create a Pending Approval intray with a due date of 48 hours and route it to the Team Leader (SO6) asking them to approve the pended letter. See Intray management Cuba process help. If the Team Leader is not available, find another Team Leader or SO6.

Once Team Leader/SO6 approval is received, see Step 6 in Table 1.

Note: when issuing a MX0-1 or MX0-2 Unique letter, always check to see if one has already been generated on that day. If so, do not issue any further unique letters on the same day. Hold over the second unique letter until the next business day or it will automatically overwrite the first.

Check the pended free text unique letter to confirm:

• a letter using free text is required - are there automated letters or manually generated system letters with pre-approved text available for this message which could be sent instead
• the dates provide the customer with enough time to respond to the letter (taking into account the approval timeframe)
• the Service Officer has applied the formatting rules. See Step 4 in Table 3

If minor changes are required update the letter, document the approval in the letter notepad and route the intray back to the owning Service Officer.

If the letter is approved, document the approval in the letter notepad and route the intray back to the owning Service Officer. See Documentation Cuba process help.

If the letter is not approved advise the Service Officer of changes required before the letter can be approved.

See Step 6 in Table 1.