Activate and/or retain a Child Support departure prohibition order (DPO) 277-04130020

The Services Australia (Child Support – Centrelink) Border Alert Guidelines document outlines the arrangements to observe by both organisations to ensure mutual operational effectiveness.

As part of these arrangements, where a departure authorisation certificate (DAC) is not in place, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) will contact a designated 1800 number, which is managed by a DPO Contact Officer 24 hours each day of the year.

In all other situations (including outward activations where AFP have been notified that a DAC has been granted) notification is via an email from the AFP to the Child Support DPO mailbox.

The Child Support DPO mailbox is managed by:

• Debt Enforcement Gateway Officer
• DPO Program Support Manager (PSM), and
• DPO Contact Officers

If a customer who is subject to a DPO, attempts to depart Australia, the AFP/Australian Customs Service will prevent them from doing so.

Upon receiving the call from the AFP, the DPO Contact Officer will:

• confirm the name and date of birth of the customer, and
• the relevant AFP Confirmation number or Passenger Analysis Clearance Evaluation (PACE) Alert number

If satisfied a DPO remains in place and no DAC has been issued, the Contact Officer will:

• advise the AFP officer the passenger is not permitted to travel, and
• ask the AFP to inform the customer to contact Child Support during business hours

Recorded the contact with the AFP in the both the:

• Collection window as:
• Category: Level 1
• Action: Information Gathering
• Method: Phone
• Outcome: Other
• Communication window of the customer, create a communication document:
• Date: Type, Case - as appropriate
• Reason: DPO Enforced
• With: External Agency
• Category: Enforcement
• Issue: Process

The DPO Contact Officer must also inform the managing DPO Service Officer and/or the owning DPO team’s Team Leader to ensure they are prepared for a call from the customer.

Note: DPO Contact Officer must only use the DPO Enforced reason code in the Communication window when recording a decision to enforce a DPO, that is stop a customer from departing. The purpose of this recording is to enable statistical reporting about enforced DPOs when required.

All other communications or actions relating to the enforcement of a DPO for example contact with the customer following the activation, must be recorded in the Collection window.

The AFP will advise of an inward activation of a DPO via an email to the Child Support DPO mailbox. The DPO Gateway Officer, DPO Program Support Manager or DPO Team Leader will forward the email outlining the activation to the relevant DPO Service Officer who must copy the email into the notepad on the Departure Prohibition Submission window.

Note: if the customer was outside Australia when the DPO was placed, the DPO Service Officer must contact the customer to discuss the DPO and negotiate payment. A copy of the customer’s passenger arrival (PAX) card, obtainable from Department of Home Affairs, may provide contact information. To conduct a Department of Home Affairs search, see the External searches guide.

The AFP requires the monitoring of all DPOs and request they are reviewed/retained in 2 circumstances:

• every 360 days after the DPO is issued, go to Step 2
• within 3 days of activation, in the event of:
• an attempted departure
• an inward arrival, or
• a DAC departure or arrival
• go to Step 5

An Expiring DPO intray is automatically created in Cuba at the time the DPO is approved.

If the DPO has been issued and had not been ‘activated’ on an ongoing basis, an Expiring DPO intray will generate with an effective date 30 days before the recorded DPO Retention date. Review the case to determine if the DPO should remain in place.

Go to Step 4.

When a DPO is activated, either by a customer attempting to depart or enter Australia, Child Support may be notified by an email to the Child Support DPO mailbox.

The DPO Gateway Officer manages the Child Support DPO mailbox, with help from the

• DPO PSM, and
• DPO Team Leaders

The DPO Program Support Manager and DPO Team Leaders are responsible for the ensuring retentions of DPOs are actioned.

When email advice is received from the AFP, the DPO Gateway Officer/PSM/Team Leader must forward the email to the DPO Service Officer. The DPO Service Officer copies the content of the email into the customer’s DPO submission notepad.

Go to Step 4.

The DPO retention process is undertaken regularly to;

• make sure regular contact occurs with customers who are subject to a DPO
• seek any new collection avenues
• make sure it remains appropriate for the DPO to remain in place

To help with this process the following is needed:

Case review

• Review the case to ensure the DPO remains appropriate
• Check the account and payment history
• Consider whether any of the conditions to revoke the DPO have been met at any time since the DPO was placed, see Revoke a Child Support departure prohibition order (DPO)
• Discuss with a Team Leader or DPO PSM when needed

Customer Contact

Undertake contact attempts with the customer subject to the DPO (if not undertaken within the last month) and the other party of the case/s (if not undertaken within the last 3 months), see Contact with Child Support customers.

Note: contact attempts with the other party are only required for domestic Child Support cases or international cases where the other party, not the overseas Central Authority, has requested collection of the child support liability. If the case has been transmitted for collection from New Zealand Inland Revenue (NZIR), consider whether an updated certificate of debt should be requested.

General (Level 1) searches

Use the External searches guide to complete the following minimum Australian Taxation Office (ATO) searches, if not completed within the last 3 months:

• Transaction Searching Facility (TSF)
• Integrated Core Processing (ICP)
• Corporate Applications (TR)

Specialised (Level 2) searches

Use the External searches guide to complete the following minimum level 2 searches, if not completed within the last 6 months:

• Equifax
• Australian Transaction Reports & Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC)
• Department of Home Affairs (incoming and outgoing passenger card)

Supplementary searches

Use the External searches guide to complete the following supplementary searches, where appropriate:

• refresh the External information exchange with Centrelink or ATO window for new information
• a Customer First search if the customer has been in receipt of benefits since the DPO was placed or last retained (whichever is later)
• White Pages, where no valid contact details are held or can be located for the customer
• property/RP data, where it has been identified the customer may own property
• MASCOT, where the customer is considered to have links to a company
• Unclaimed Money (ASIC), where this has not been completed within the last 24 months
• vehicle registrations and licences - watercraft and aircraft, where reliable information been located and may assist in locating an asset/collection source
• incoming passenger (PAX) card, where this has not already been requested, from the customer’s most recent arrival into Australia

If the customer, subject to the DPO, has been overseas for 12 months or more, the minimum searches/actions required are:

• Department of Home Affairs search
• AUSTRAC search
• refresh/check External Information window and/or undertake a Customer First search
• call the customer and other party (document all contact attempts)
• an internet ‘Google’ search
• check residency, if no decision is recorded, consider a residency referral
• check transmittal, if no decision is recorded, consider a referral for transmittal

Review any new administrative collection or contact opportunities and act on the new information appropriately.

Suspicious Matters Report (SMR) from AUSTRAC

SMRs from AUSTRAC must never be disclosed. This means they must not be included when making a submission, they cannot be disclosed to any court or tribunal and are not admissible as evidence.

Review AUSTRAC search results to ensure they do not contain an SMR or Suspect Transaction Report (SUSTR), these must not be recorded in the system. If a record needs to be removed, take immediate action by sending an email National Intensive Collection Services. See the Resources page for more information about AUSTRAC disclosure of information.

Record contact, including attempts, and search results in the Collection window. See Documenting Child Support information

Note: if the customer is being managed by PS, DCM or Debt Enforcement, speak to the case manager about the appropriateness of the DPO remaining and determine how to manage customer contact.

Consider the provisions where it would be appropriate to revoke the DPO. Discuss with a Team Leader or DPO PSM when needed

Is the recommendation to retain the DPO?

• Yes, go to Step 5
• No, see Revoke a Child Support departure prohibition order (DPO)

In all instances, the DPO Service Officer will conduct the necessary steps to determine whether to retain a DPO.

Use the Child Support retention email template to notify the AFP when a DPO is to be retained.

Copy all emails sent to and/or received from the AFP onto Cuba in the departure prohibition notepad. Failure to record all AFP communication raises risks relating to the defensibility of a DPO decision and the integrity of the DPO management.

Go to Step 6

Update the DPO expiry date

In the DPO submission window:

• update the Retention date
• record a mandatory notepad, Subject DPO Retained
• copy and paste the email advice received from the AFP confirming the DPO has been retained

Expiring DPO intray

An Expiring DPO intray automatically generates with an Effective Date 30 days before the Retention date provided by the AFP and recorded in the Retention Date field in the Departure Prohibition Order window.

Document the DPO Retention

When the DPO retention process has been completed, use the DPO Retention macro to document an overview of the relevant information. Paste the document created by the macro in notepad in the customer’s communication window, with the following:

• Type: Written Com Out
• Reason: Account Enquiry
• With: Other
• Category: Enforcement
• Issue: Process