Centrelink care determination from 1 July 2010 (3 March 2011 for WA Ex-nuptials) 277-03040040

If a customer has notified Centrelink of a care change, Centrelink will record the change in care details and make the final care decision. If the decision is in progress for a mutual customer, the following information will be sent to Child Support electronically:

• reference numbers
• child’s name and date of birth
• date of notification
• status of decision:
• preliminary see Step 3
• pending see Step 4
• accepted see Step 5

Open the Care and External Information Care windows of all associates parents/carers of the child to confirm Centrelink have commenced a care determination. Check:

• the care details have populated on the customer’s record
• the event date notified to Centrelink and Child Support is the same
• the care has applied to the assessment

If the care details appear correctly, advise the customer that the information has transferred to their Child Support record. Tell the customer that Centrelink is managing the change in care process and will make a final decision. Do not key any care changes being managed by Centrelink. Address any other child support matters.

If the care details appear correctly, but the new care is not reflected in the assessment, review and save eligibility to apply the FAO care determination.

Transfer the customer to Centrelink if they want to discuss the change in care or:

• report a care change for another FTB-eligible child in the customer's care
• amend the reported care details
• dispute the details of the care change
• provide different dates of events or levels of care
• check the FTB eligibility status of a child
• request information on FTB payments

Non-FTB child

Centrelink will not make a care change decision for a child for whom FTB is not being claimed and may not automatically notify Child Support when a customer informs them of a change in care for this child. If Centrelink makes a decision for multiple children (including FTB and non-FTB eligible), treat the date of notification for all children as the date the customer notified Centrelink. Submit a request to obtain this information, see Centrelink – Child Support information exchange.

If the customer reports a separate care change for a child in their care for whom they, or their current partner, are not claiming FTB, see Table 1, Step 4 in Notification of change in child support care levels.

Treat Centrelink decisions received with a status of ‘Preliminary’ as ‘pending’ care decisions. A Centrelink preliminary decision is made when a customer notifies Centrelink of a reduction in care for a child. Centrelink immediately applies this reduced level of care to the FTB entitlement. Once Centrelink has investigated and finalised the care decision, the status will be updated to ‘Accepted’.

Where Centrelink have finalised a care determination, the status will reflect ‘Accepted’ and the following information is sent to Child Support electronically:

• reference numbers
• child’s name and date of birth
• child’s gender
• date of notification
• date of event
• type of care
• percentage of care for the mutual customer
• additional carers indicator (if applicable)
• disputed care indicator (if applicable)
• objection/review indicator (if applicable)
• relationship of the customer

If the customer is adamant that the ‘Accepted’ care percentage transferred from Centrelink is inaccurate, ask whether their current/most recent partner, such as the child’s step-parent, recently started or ceased claiming FTB on behalf of the customer.

Note: if the care percentage disputed by the customer is a ‘FAO derived’ care decision, go to Step 4.

Has the customer’s current/most recent partner recently started or ceased claiming FTB?

• Yes, this indicates a potential data error has occurred (for example, the customer and their partner’s Centrelink records have not been matched correctly). Obtain the step-parent’s details including their full name and any recent events (for example, the customer and step-parent recently separated, or the step-parent recently started/ceased claiming FTB for the child on the customer’s behalf) and escalate the case to a SSO
• No, transfer the customer to Centrelink to discuss how they determined their decision

When the Centrelink care decision is finalised, the new care percentage will either:

• be applied by Cuba automatically, go to Step 4, or
• require manual intervention in Cuba, go to Step 5

Once the ‘Accepted’ Centrelink care decision is received in the data exchange, generally the new care percentage is automatically applied by Cuba and letters are generated to the parties.

FAO derived care decisions

When Centrelink changes the care percentage of the mutual customer, but not the other party, and they select ‘N’ in the more than two carers indicator, the mutual customer’s Centrelink care record is received in the data exchange. Upon receipt of this care data, Cuba records a ‘FAO Derived’ care outcome by applying the balance of the care percentage to the other party. For example:

• Mum and Dad have a child support case with Mum recorded as having 100% care. Centrelink determine that Mum now has 0% care. Cuba applies a FAO Derived care outcome of 100% care to Dad.

This means FAO Derived care decisions are automated Child Support decisions, not Centrelink decisions.

Note:

• A FAO derived care outcome generally occurs in Cuba when Centrelink make a care decision for only one of the parents/carers and they select ‘N’ on the more than two carers indicator For example, the other party is not a mutual customer
• If a non-parent carer is involved, Centrelink should select ‘Y’ on the more than two carers indicator – this may still result in Cuba recording a FAO Derived care outcome in the ‘Care’ window, however, it will not be applied to the assessment. For example, eligibility will not be saved automatically. Instead, one of the Centrelink care intrays will generate to prompt verification of the care outcome, go to Step 6
• If it is later identified the FAO Derived care percentage outcome for the non-mutual party is incorrect, as it is an automated Child Support decision, it can be administratively amended, see Correcting errors on Child Support cases. Note: Centrelink care determinations cannot be amended by Child Support, only FAO Derived care percentages can be corrected. When correcting a FAO Derived care percentage, the care ‘Type’ should be updated so it is no longer ‘FAO Derived’; and the source should be keyed as ‘CSA’. All other elements of the care decision must remain intact. For example, the date of event and the mutual customer’s Centrelink determined care percentage and source

Where an ‘Accepted’ Centrelink care decision is received in the data exchange but automatic processing is not possible, Cuba creates a Centrelink care intray to prompt manual follow up:

When more than one piece of care information is exchanged, Cuba will not generate individual intrays for each indicator; instead Cuba looks at the data being exchanged in a hierarchical order and creates the care intray based on the first indicator identified

Where multiple children of the case each have new care records exchanged that cannot be applied automatically, only one care intray will generate for the customer regardless of how many indicators are attached to each child record

If customer cannot determine which intray to create or what action is required, the Care - Case Review Required Intray will generate and all indicators for all children must be manually checked and actioned before finalising the intray

Where a Centrelink care intray is deleted prior to all relevant indicators being actioned, new intrays will continue to generate until all indicators have been addressed

The Care intrays Cuba Process Help outlines what needs to be checked to action the following Centrelink intrays:

• Care - Data Mismatch Intray
• Care – New Child Intray
• Care - Potential Reconciliation Intray
• Care - Review of Decision Rcvd Intray
• Care - WA Ex Nuptial Intray
• Care - Additional Carers Intray
• Care - Interim Determination Intray
• Care - Child Data Mismatch Intray
• International - care changes involving children in international registrations
• Care - Case Review Required Intray Note: this intray is being incorrectly generated when new care information is received from FAO for relevant dependent children. The relevant dependent children have been applied correctly however Cuba creates the intray on an associated customer who has no relationship with the child. When this occurs, delete the intray.

Note: if a Centrelink care decision has already been applied in Cuba and the care data is received again, do not delete the associated intray. Investigate care indicators for all children. If all indicators appear to have been addressed, seek Technical Support from a Service Support Officer to determine whether there is an alignment of care issue and what action is required.

Once the correct final outcome has been determined, run eligibility to apply the Centrelink care record. A new care record may need to be manually keyed in Cuba to achieve the correct net outcome, if so the status is 'Accepted' and the source is 'FAO', see Table 1 in Care Cuba Process Help.

If the mutual customer confirms that Centrelink have finalised the care decision but there is no information on Cuba for the same event date, a data mismatch between Centrelink and Cuba may have occurred, see Care intray Cuba Process Help and Data Mismatch Intray Help to resolve the data mismatch.

When documenting the cause of the data mismatch, explain it was as a result of a Centrelink care record failing to transmit via the data exchange, see Documenting Child Support information.

If unable to identify why the Centrelink care decision has not been received, seek Technical Support from a Service Support Officer.

See Table 4 in Making a decision for a change in child support care