Disbursements of child support 277-06010000

If the payee asks when they are likely to receive the child support via direct credit check the Payee Disbursement List window to confirm the amount has been sent to them. If so, the payees should receive the payment within 2 business days from the date it was sent.

The minimum amount that Cuba will disburse is $5.00. Child Support (Registration and Collection) Section 23(1) confirms that the prescribed minimum amount which will be disbursed is $5. However, Section 23(2) states where the amount is likely to be the last payment to a payee in relation to that or any other registered maintenance liability, the $5 minimum does not apply. The References page contains a link to the Regulation.

Note: payments are scheduled so the first date the payee receives funds is the eighth of the month or the first business day after the eighth if it falls on a weekend or public holiday. Some banks do make payments earlier but provide the timeframe as 2 days to ensure customer expectations are met appropriately.

Example

The Payee Disbursement List window shows $200 was sent to the payee on Thursday 12. The payee can expect to receive the payment into their nominated bank account 2 business days later that is, by 9.00 am on Monday 16.

To obtain details of their last or next payment, payees can call the 24 hour Information Service (Info Service) on 131 107. For more information on this service see Automated Child Support Information Service.

When a customer who owes debt to more than one person, pays an amount that is less than the sum of those 2 or more debts, the amount paid must be apportioned. This means each payee is paid some payment but not all, of what is owed to them. The payment has been split in proportion to the amount each of them is owed.

The debts owed could be a combination of child support (ongoing or arrears) or an overpayment.

The Resources page has examples of apportionment of payment received between multiple cases.

Note: where a payment is paid in accordance with a court order made in enforcement proceedings brought by a payee, the entire amount must be disbursed in accordance with the order to the payee who initiated the proceedings (up to the extent of the debt owed to that payee). For more information, see References for a link to the Child Support Guide 5.5.2: Entitlement to payment and disbursement cycle.

If a payee wishes to update their method of disbursement, go to Step 3.

Updating a customer’s disbursement method is considered a sensitive process. Conduct additional checks to protect the customer’s personal information.

See Authenticating a Child Support customer for information about how and why authentication is conducted.

Once the customer satisfies additional authentication checks, update the disbursement method.

To record/update the disbursement method:

• to direct credit, go to Step 4
• for a payee that resides overseas, go to Step 5

Before updating a payee’s bank account details check the Payee Disbursement List window for recent disbursements. To update a payee’s bank account details see the Disbursement Cuba Process Help.

If funds have previously disbursed by cheque, any stale cheques will disburse electronically when the payee's bank details are updated, see Step 1 in the Manage the reissue of stale cheques table.

If funds have disbursed to a closed account, the payment will be returned as a ‘rejected disbursement’. A Rejected Disbursement intray generates. Update account details so funds will re-disburse to the new account. See the Rejected disbursements or payment otherwise not received table.

Document and record any change to the payee’s bank account details, including the:

• Name of the bank
• BSB number
• Account number
• Name of the account holder.
  Note: the bank account name recorded on Cuba must include the payee’s name. If the name on the disbursement does not match the account name, some financial institutions may reject the payment

See Documenting Child Support information and the Disbursement Cuba Process Help. For more information, see the Rejected disbursements or payment otherwise not received table.

If funds have previously disbursed by cheque, any 'stale' unpresented cheques will disburse electronically when the payee's bank details are updated, Step 1 in the Manage the reissue of stale cheques table.

International disbursement to customers residing overseas are prepared by the International Disbursements team and may be made in the following manner:

• Bulk payment to an overseas authority
• To an individual customer or overseas authority by cheque
• To an individual customer by EFT to an Australian bank account or overseas bank account

International disbursement timeframes:

Disbursement to customers residing overseas occurs once per month - on/around the 10th of the month and represent collections that have occurred in the previous month. For example, payments collected in March are collated and sent as one disbursement in April.

All payments whether in bulk, by EFT or cheque are issued by the RBA on/around the 10th of the month. Cheque payments take longer to reach the recipient than electronic payments due to surface mail timeframes.

Funds are issued in either the currency of the receiving country or the currency specified, NOT in Australian dollars (AUD).

Add Overseas Bank Details:

To add or amend a customer’s overseas banking details the customer must provide their bank details in writing (Except for customers in New Zealand which can be taken verbally). Refer to Resources Tab for details of what to tell the customer to provide either in writing or verbally.

When details are received from the customer refer to International Disbursements - Master Address Register, WIRE/EFT and Country Specific Payment templates on how to refer the information to the disbursement team.

Add or Amend Disbursement Method

To add or amend a disbursement/refund options and/or address for a payee who resides overseas, refer to International Disbursements - Master Address Register, WIRE/EFT and Country Specific Payment templates.

Cheques will not issue to an International customer with an overseas address.

If ‘cheque’ has been selected as the disbursement method in the Bank details window:

• check notepads, and
• seek SSO assistance

Manual disbursements are payments made to a payee (by request) outside the usual disbursement cycle and are only made via direct credit. Only consider a manual disbursement if the payment includes an amount for arrears or in an emergency situation.

Note: a manual disbursement is considered a sensitive action, ask additional PORO questions. See Authenticating a Child Support customer for more details.

In most instances when a payee contacts about their child support payment it will:

• have already disbursed but is not yet in their own account or
• be due to disburse shortly

Check the Funds to be disbursed field in the Payee Account Summary window:

• If no funds are available, a manual disbursement cannot be made at this time. Explain the automatic disbursement system to the payee. No more action is required at this time
• If a payment has been received by Child Support in the first few days of the month disbursement will begin up to 2 business days before the eighth of the month

Generally it is better to allow the automatic disbursement cycle to continue without interruption. Manual disbursement may occasionally speed up the receipt of payment by a few days but can also cause other issues.

Note: it may be appropriate to manually disburse a child support payment. Make the decision with due consideration on a case by case basis.

Manual disbursement request on sixth day of the month

For funds to be available in the payee’s nominated bank account on Friday 8 the automatic disbursement process commences overnight on Wednesday 6. Do not request manual disbursement on Wednesday 6 because there is a risk the payee will be paid twice. Being paid twice results in an overpayment which must be repaid.

Manual disbursement request 2 business days before the eighth day of the month

For funds to be available in the payee’s nominated bank account on Monday 8 the automatic disbursement process commences overnight on Thursday 4. Do not request manual disbursement on Thursday 4 because there is a risk the payee will be paid twice. Being paid twice results in an overpayment which must be repaid.

Disbursement/refund options changed on day of the batch run

The disbursement processing batch runs overnight from Sunday to Thursday. If a parent updates their disbursement/refund options, for example bank details, on the day the batch run is scheduled, the customer’s payment will not disburse with that night’s batch run. There will be a delay and the customer may not receive their disbursement by the eighth day of the month.

If funds are available, explain the disbursement cycle to the payee. Suggest they wait until the money is credited directly to their bank account via the automatic disbursement cycle.

Does the payee agree to wait for the funds to disburse automatically?

• Yes, document the discussion, see Documenting Child Support information. Procedure ends here
• No, go to Step 3

• If the payee is owed arrears by the payer, go to Step 4
• If the payment is only for the previous month's liability, explain that disbursement can only be made outside of the normal cycle in emergency situations. These include but are not limited to:
• disconnection notice received
• being evicted
• require medical treatment
• unexpected costs arisen
• vehicle costs
• hardship
• housing bond
• work expenses, or
• unexpected medical costs

If an emergency situation:

• is applicable, go to Step 4
• is not applicable, advise that manual disbursement is not available. The funds will be disbursed in accordance with the automatic cycle. Document the discussion. Procedure ends here

Confirm with the payee that their bank account details recorded in the Bank details window are correct. Updating these details is considered a sensitive process. If the payee provides new bank account details conduct additional authentication checks to protect the customer’s personal information. See Authenticating a Child Support customer for information about how and why authentication is conducted.

Once the customer satisfies additional authentication checks, update the bank account details document and record them, including:

• Name of the bank
• BSB number
• Account number
• Name of the account holder

See the Disbursement Cuba Process Help.

Check all outstanding issues and intrays that may affect the accuracy of either customer's account. Tell the payee that to disburse the funds Child Support need to ensure the account is as accurate as possible. This reduces the chance of them receiving a payment to which they are not entitled.

Tell the customer that if an outstanding issue cannot be resolved before disbursing the money they may be overpaid child support. Overpayments must be paid back.

Complete any action that will finalise an outstanding issue on that day before proceeding with the manual disbursement request. Run eligibility to give effect to any changes, see the Eligibility Cuba Process Help.

Manual disbursements are keyed by a Service Officer (SO3) or above. Cuba will not allow an officer who has keyed a payment to also authorise the payment. This reduces the risk of fraud and ensures compliance with financial procedures.

Key the direct credit payment request, see the Disbursement Cuba Process Help. Funds are transferred directly to the payee’s bank account 1 to 2 business days after the manual payment has been authorised on Cuba. If a warning message notifies that a consolidated revenue debt will be created, check the amount entered for manual disbursement. This amount must not exceed the total amount of funds available to disburse in the Payee Account Summary window.

Do not create a consolidated revenue debt. Contact a Service Support Officer (SSO) if the disbursement amount has been entered correctly and a consolidated revenue debt warning displays.

A Man Disbrsmnt Authorise Require intray will automatically create and route to a National Mainstream position for allocation to a Service Officer in a Manual Disbursement Team for approval. See Customer referral guidelines for Child Support staff.

Only a SO3 or above in a Manual Disbursement Team can authorise a manual disbursement.

Note: a disbursement must be authorised and processed on Cuba the same day it is keyed. If this is not done and ‘daily disbursement’ commences, Cuba will overlook a ‘keyed’ entry and will disburse the funds as normal. If the manual disbursement is then authorised a day or 2 later the funds will be disbursed twice which results in the customer being overpaid.

The authorising officer must ensure that:

• the daily or normal disbursement period has not commenced, or is not due to commence on the evening on which the manual disbursement is processed that is, 2 business days before the eighth or any day thereafter until the end of the month. (See Step 2 for examples)
• the manual disbursement has been correctly keyed
• funds are available
• the account balance is correct that is, all outstanding issues have been resolved or if not, they are satisfied it is appropriate to proceed
• the manual disbursement has not been keyed to reissue a rejected disbursement. This can result in the payment being disbursed twice. All available monies will be disbursed when a customer's disbursement details have been updated
• a payment arrangement is in place for any payee consolidated revenue debt
• the reasons for the decision to issue a manual disbursement are documented

Do not authorise the disbursement if a Cuba warning notifies consolidated revenue debt is being created. Seek Technical support in Child Support and for information about creating consolidated revenue debts see Child support overpayments and other payee debt.

Authorise the manual payment if all the above conditions are met and a consolidated revenue debt will not be created, see the Disbursement Cuba Process Help.

If the payment cannot be approved, go to Step 8.

Cancel the manual disbursement if it cannot be approved, see manual disbursement request.

Document the reasons for cancelling the manual disbursement. Contact the customer to advise why the payment cannot be approved and discuss appropriate options, see Contact with Child Support customers.

Decisions to suspend disbursements of child support are usually related to the following legislation:

• under section 79A, due to a s107 disputed parentage application or
• under 79B where a person lodges a dispute (objection, Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) or court application) in relation to the validity of the child support assessment on grounds other than disputed parentage

Is there a requirement to suspend disbursements?

• Yes, go to Suspending disbursement of child support
• No or unsure, go to step 2

Generally, if funds are received by the Registrar to satisfy a child support liability that is due and payable by the payer, the payee is entitled to be paid those amounts.

In some limited cases it may be appropriate to either apply a hold on payments or to suspend disbursement.

Examples of when it may be appropriate to hold or suspend

• Customer lodges a financial hardship application after a garnishee (section 72A notice) or Tax Refund Intercept Process (TRIP) has been actioned and the funds are expected to become available to Child Support. A hold on the expected funds may be requested to enable the payer the opportunity to state their case before the money is received and credited to the payee’s account. Financial hardship applications will not be considered once this has occurred
• The Australian Taxation Office advises a TRIP has been taken from the wrong payer. For example, due to the incorrect Tax File Number being used
• A Stay order is in force that affects the operation of the Child Support (Assessment) Act 1989 (CSA Act) or the Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988 (CSRC Act) in a manner that affects the amounts a payee is entitled to receive
• A third party/employer advises Child Support that funds paid to Services Australia have been remitted to the wrong customer account, and the disputed payment has not yet been disbursed to the payee. See Reassign or transfer a missing or incorrectly receipted child support payment
• An ‘error correction’ is in progress to rectify a system or processing issue that will affect payee’s entitlements to be paid child support. A temporary hold may be placed on the payment, pending corrective action

A pending decision versus an eligibility error

• A pending decision, for example change in care or estimate reconciliation which may result in a change to the amount payable is not an error
• It is generally not appropriate to hold payments/suspend disbursements, even if the final decision may lead to an overpayment
• If a system issue or an eligibility error is preventing the finalised decision from being processed in Cuba and the decision will reduce the amount the payee is entitled to, it may be appropriate to apply a temporary hold

After due consideration, if a decision to hold payments:

• may be appropriate but some questions remain, seek technical advice from a Service Support Officer (SSO) see Technical support in Child Support
• is not appropriate, the funds will be disbursed in accordance with the payee’s entitlement. Procedure ends here
• is appropriate, go to Step 3

For Service Officers 5 or above only

• If satisfied holding the payments is an appropriate decision, key the hold credit
• Follow the process in Accounting Cuba Process Help

Depending on the timing of the request, it may not always be possible to stop a payment that has been disbursed being received by a payee.

To recall a disbursement via:

• direct credit, go to Step 2
• cheque, go to Step 3
• international disbursements, email the International Disbursement team

Once the disbursement process has commenced it can take up to 2 business days to arrive in the payee’s bank account. If it is necessary to recall a payment this request must be made before 2.00 pm (Canberra time) the day after the disbursement process has commenced.

To recall a disbursement, send an email with the subject heading ‘Disbursement Recall’ to the SSO, Team Leader or Program Support Manager (PSM) for approval with the following information:

• CSRN
• Customer name
• Disbursement date
• Disbursement amount
• BSB / Account Number
• Brief outline for recall
• Contact Officer details

The SSO, Team Leader or PSM will:

• add their approval to the recall request
• email the request to the Child Support Cash Management Team

The Cash Management Team will advise if they are able to recall this disbursement.

If a customer advises they have not received their cheque payment:

• obtain their bank account details and update them in Cuba
• commence action to stop the cheque by sending an email to the Child Support Cash Management Team

When a cheque is stopped, the money is returned to the customer’s Cuba account. The payment will automatically be issued to the customer’s nominated bank account at the next available disbursement.

If a cheque has been presented:

• someone has banked the cheque
• if the original cheque was posted to the correct address a replacement cheque will not be issued

For example, if the cheque was stolen from the customer’s letter box or presented after they received the cheque, recovery is a matter between the customer, the financial institution and the person who negotiated the cheque.

However, the customer will be provided with information about the presentation. For presentation details of a cheque, email the Child Support Cash Management Team with the customer and disbursement details.

The most common reasons for a disbursement being rejected by the Reserve Bank are:

• Incorrect account number
• Incorrect BSB number
• Account closed
• Account belongs to a child on the case, or
• Customer deceased, see Deceased Child Support customer management

If a disbursement is rejected a Rejected Disbursement intray and a ‘Hold EFT’ will automatically be created. The 'Hold EFT' will remain on the case until the disbursement details are updated.

Contact the customer, see Contact with Child Support customers. Update the account details, see Step 3 in the Entitlement payments and recording preferred disbursement method table.

If all phone attempts have been unsuccessful, check the customer benefit status to determine if the customer has been in receipt of a benefit over the past 3 months. If confirmed, get bank account details from the PAS screen in Customer First.

Note: When updating bank account details from Customer First, ensure the account is in the customer’s name. Do not update the account to a joint account held with the other party of any Child Support cases or a nominee’s account.

Changing payment destination has further information about how to identify the bank account a customer’s benefit is paid into. Seek SSO support if needed.

The Resources page also contains a link to the information exchange macro to request bank information, if needed.

When bank account details are obtained, send a please contact letter (CAL) to the customer with a reply date of 14 days.

Do not include the full account number over the phone or in letters, only the last 3 digits of the customer’s account.

Add the following letter text to the CAL using the customer’s last 3 account digits.

We will deposit your payments into your bank account ending in 123:

We no longer use cheques to make child support payments. Instead, we deposit payments directly into your bank account. This makes getting your payments quicker and easier.

You need to check your bank account details.

If the bank account details are wrong. You can:

• Update them in your Child Support online account. If you do not have an online account, create one at servicesaustralia.gov.au/individuals/services/child-support/child-support-online-accounts
• Phone us on 131 272

If your bank account details are right, you do not need to do anything else. We will deposit your child support payment as usual, straight into your bank account.

Customer does not respond to CAL

If the customer does not respond to the CAL, update the Bank details window in Cuba to reflect the latest bank account details obtained from Centrelink.
Note: do not process a manual disbursement as there is a risk the customer will be paid twice.

When the customer’s disbursement details have been updated, all available monies will be disbursed at the next available opportunity.

If unable to contact the customer more searches will be required. See Step 1 in the Unable to contact customer table in Stale and unpresented cheques.

A SAP error occurs when a disbursement is rejected due to system identified invalid banking details. In this instance, a Disbursement SAP Error intray will be created.

Contact the customer and update the account details.
Note: do not process a manual disbursement as there is a risk the customer will be paid twice.

Administered Treasury will process an EFT direct credit to the customer’s Cuba account. The amount will display in Excess Cash in the Payee Account Summary window in 2 working days. Issue a refund to the customer, see the Refunds Cuba Process Help.

If a cheque is returned due to an incorrect address, a Returned Disbursement intray will be created. Set the customer’s address to ‘Invalid’, otherwise the cheque will re-disburse again to the same address. See Customer record Cuba Process Help.

If an international cheque is stopped, the funds are returned to the customer’s excess cash and will not automatically disburse. To issue a new cheque to disburse the returned funds, email International Disbursement Team with the international mailing address for the replacement cheque.

Where a customer advises they have not received the payment, confirm which bank account they checked and compare this with the details on Cuba.

Tell the customer:

• If the accounts are different, Child Support have made the payment to another account. If the customer was the person who provided the account details, supply the details they provided. If there is reason to suspect the account the payment went into is not connected to the customer, only provide ‘general’ details, for example, same financial institution but different account
• If the account details are the same, the customer should contact the financial institution to find out where the payment went. The payment would have been sent to the financial institution either 1 or 2 days after the disbursement date (as shown in Cuba)

If the customer has been told by their financial institution that the payment did not arrive, request a copy of the customer’s bank statement covering 10 days of the disbursement period. A statement is not required where the customer’s bank account is different.

Once the statement is received, email Cash Management Team to manage. Administered Treasury action the request immediately, however it can take up to 6 weeks for a response to be received from the bank.

Document the following details:

• payee
• financial institution
• the date of the payment
• the amount of the payment

See Documenting Child Support information.

Note: if the payment has been returned follow the process detailed at Step 1 of this table.

Before the introduction of Cuba on 1 March 2002, disbursements were made via the Legacy system. These payments were loaded onto Cuba as a cheque payment even if the customer received their disbursement via direct credit. If providing a customer with pre-Cuba disbursement information, a search of the Legacy system must be made to determine the method of disbursement.

Note: do not tell the customer that they had been paid by cheque until the search is completed.

Email the Legacy search request to the Staff Facing Products (SFP) Cuba and Pluto team. Include the following information:

• customer name
• customer tax file number
• information required

Stale and unpresented cheques are re-disbursed to the customer via electronic funds when the payee's disbursement/refund options and bank details are updated in Cuba.

Re-disbursed funds may have an impact on the customer's current Family Tax Benefit (FTB) payment however the impact will not be known until the financial year is reconciled.

If a customer contacts:

• regarding a payment they received but were not expecting, go to Step 3
• in response to a letter requesting their bank details, go to Step 4

If the payee is querying a payment received:

• go to the Accounting screen
• select the Payee Disbursement List
• in the Payee Funds Disbursed box a stale cheque will appear as Disbursement Returns Reissued

If the customer wants to know which cheques were re-issued:

• expanded the search in the Payee Disbursement List to commence from June 2008
• the relevant cheques will have a Rejection Date of or later than 17 April 2015

If the customer contacts in response to a letter issued requesting their bank details do not re-issue a cheque. Update the customer’s disbursement/refund options and bank details. To update the customer’s bank details, see Step 4 in Table 2.

If the customer queries the amount to be re-disbursed, refer to the notepad on the Stale Cheque Disbursement intray.

The Stale Cheque Disbursement intray will automatically delete.

See Authenticating a Child Support customer for information about how and why authentication is conducted.

Check for a Rejected Disbursement intray.

Check the Bank details window (is there a ‘Hold Credit’ flag?)

If the disbursement has been rejected, see the Rejected disbursements or payment otherwise not received table.

Check the Payment Arrangement - Client window to see if there is a payment arrangement in place for 100% of the disbursement.

Check the Disbursement Details window - is the amount zeroed out? If it is, no payment has been disbursed.

Check the Hold Credit window.

Check the Payee Account Summary window for a ‘hold’ indicator.

Check the Disbursement Details window. Is there a rejected date identified?

Check the disbursement detail notepad.

Check the Disbursement Detail window for processed notepads.

Check the Reallocate Cash window. Is there any history recorded to identify fund reallocation?

Check the Individual Customer Details window.

Funds will not be released if:

• a Tracing indicator is identified and the customers disbursement method is cheque
• the address details are checked as ‘invalid’