Child Support Objections 277-09170000
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This page contains the approach to use when contacting customers about their General Objection or Part 6A Objection.
On this page:
Initial customer phone contact for all objections
Additional contact points including discretionary phone contact
Additional phone contact points for customers with presenting issues
Customer indicators
Table 1: this table describes the sensitive indicators that may impact a customer.
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Step |
Action |
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1 |
Check for sensitive indicators on customers + Read more ... Check any party to an objection for the following indicators:
Does any party have a sensitive indicator? |
Initial customer phone contact for all objections
Table 2: this table describes initial contact with all applicants and respondents regardless of whether they have any sensitive issue indicators or presenting issues.
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Step |
Action |
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1 |
Extension of Time (EOT) or special circumstances application required + Read more ... Make 3 outbound contact attempts on each of the customer’s available numbers over 2 business days. Review all sensitive issue indicators and consider the circumstances of both customers to decide if a pre-call alert SMS is appropriate before each phone attempt. Use the Objections first contact macro to take the applicant through the Objection process and possible outcomes. If the EOT is granted, this becomes the initial contact. Use a pre-call alert SMS (where appropriate) before making a contact attempt:
If contact with the applicant is unsuccessful, send an MX0-1 Unique Letter using the UQ50.02 - Request call re-Objection grounds or EOT - Applicant pre-approved text to invite the applicant to apply for an EOT within relevant timeframes. See Standard Response timeframes. Repeat the above process with the respondent if you intend to grant the EOT. This becomes your initial contact - respondent if the EOT is granted. If contact with the respondent is unsuccessful, proceed to make your EOT decision and send appropriate letters using the Objection letters macro. If the EOT is refused Send a letter advising the applicant using the Objection letters macro. If the respondent has not been told of the EOT application, no contact is needed. If the respondent has been told of the EOT application, send a letter advising them the EOT has been refused using the Objection letters macro. If:
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2 |
Initial contact – Applicant without EOT (all objections excluding Care by Phone + Read more ... Review all sensitive issue indicators and consider the circumstances of both customers to determine if a pre-call alert SMS is appropriate before each phone attempt. Use a pre-call alert SMS (where appropriate) before making a contact attempt:
Make 3 outbound contact attempts to the applicant on each of their available numbers over 2 business days to discuss the objection and process. Use the Objections first contact macro to take the applicant through the objection process and possible outcomes. If phone contact is unsuccessful, ask the applicant to provided evidence in Acknowledgement of Objection / Right of Response letters. For all letters sent requesting evidence, specify:
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3 |
Initial contact – Applicant (Care by Phone objections) + Read more ... Inbound call is received from a customer wanting to lodge a Care by Phone objection No follow up respondent contact is immediately needed and no case ownership applies:
Care Obj By Phone intray received via general allocation Make 3 outbound contact attempts, over 2 business days to discuss the objection and process. Use all applicant’s available numbers. Review all sensitive issue indicators and consider the circumstances of both customers to determine if a pre-call alert SMS is appropriate before each phone attempt. Use the Objections first contact macro to take the applicant through the objection process and possible outcomes. Use a pre-call alert SMS (where appropriate) before making a contact attempt:
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Initial contact – Respondent (all objections excluding Care by Phone) + Read more ... Make 3 outbound contact attempts on each of the customer’s available numbers over 2 business days with the respondent to discuss the Objection and process. Review all sensitive issue indicators and consider the circumstances of both customers to determine if a pre-call alert SMS is appropriate before each phone attempt. Use the Objections first contact macro to take the respondent through the objection process and possible outcomes. Evidence should be requested during initial phone contact wherever possible. Use a pre-call alert SMS (where appropriate) before making a contact attempt:
Note: to maximise customer participation in electronic open exchange of information (OEI), do not exchange the objection via surface mail whilst still attempting to contact the respondent. If phone contact is unsuccessful, requests for evidence can be made in Acknowledgement of Objection/Right of Response letters. For all letters sent requesting evidence, specify:
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5 |
Initial contact – Applicant (inbound calls for general and care objections not loaded and/or not allocated) + Read more ... An inbound call may be received with an intray present on the record indicating a General Objection is not yet loaded or loaded but not yet allocated. E.g. POTENTIAL GEN OBJECTION RCVD, POTENTIAL OBJECTION RECEIVED, OBJECTION LODGED. Staff must:
Use the Objections letters macro to generate and send the following letters:
No follow up respondent contact is needed at this point. |
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6 |
Initial contact – Respondent (inbound calls for general and care objections already loaded) + Read more ... Regardless of allocation status, if an inbound call is received with an OBJECTION AWAITING ROR intray present on the record: Complete the Objections first contact macro with the respondent. Follow Steps 1 and 2 in Table 3 Gather evidence relating to Child Support objection (includes issue of Acknowledgement of Objection / Right of Response) |
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7 |
ART appeal or appeal to court in progress + Read more ... Contact the applicant to explain their objection cannot proceed at this time and is on hold until the outcome of the ART appeal/court proceedings is known. Make one outbound contact attempt on each of the customer’s available numbers. Use a pre-call alert SMS (where appropriate) before making a contact attempt:
If contact is unsuccessful, send a unique letter stating:
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Additional contact points including discretionary phone contact
Table 3: this table describes additional contact points with an applicant or respondent during the process when there are no sensitive issue indicators or presenting issues.
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Step |
Action |
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1 |
Care By Phone allocation received + Read more ... When a Care by Phone objection is allocated, check if the respondent has been contacted. If not, before finalising any decision:
Use a pre-call alert SMS (where appropriate) before making a contact attempt:
When the respondent calls in response to the Right of Response letter they received:
If:
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2 |
Requesting additional evidence + Read more ... When further evidence may be needed, outbound phone contact is discretionary. Where phone contact does not occur, a letter must be sent to ask for evidence. Make one outbound contact attempt on each of the customer’s available numbers to ask for the information verbally. Use a pre-call alert SMS (where appropriate) before making a contact attempt:
For all letters sent requesting evidence, specify:
This information must be documented in the Objection Maintenance window. |
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3 |
Further evidence received from a customer party to the objection + Read more ... Contact the relevant customer to verbally exchange the information and give them an opportunity to comment on this information, in line with procedural fairness principles. Note: if the customer asks for a copy of the information, tell them we can send this but will treat the information as exchanged for the purposes of making a decision. Make one outbound contact attempt to the relevant customer on each of the customer’s available numbers. Use a pre-call alert SMS (where appropriate) before making a contact attempt:
If contact is unsuccessful, send an MX0-1 Unique Letter with the UQ50.05 - Additional information received re-objection pre-approved letter text. Outline and/or attach the additional information and ask the customer contact us to discuss further. |
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4 |
Further evidence received via Child Support initiated searches + Read more ... Contact both customers to give them an opportunity to comment on the information in line with procedural fairness principles. Make one outbound contact attempt to the applicant and the respondent on each of the customer’s available numbers. Use a pre-call alert SMS (where appropriate) before making a contact attempt:
If contact is unsuccessful, send an MX0-1 Unique Letter with the UQ50.05 - Additional information received re-objection pre-approved letter text. Outline (do not attach) the information and ask the customer to contact us to discuss further. |
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5 |
No Right of Response or evidence received + Read more ... Before the expiry date of the right of response, the SAS National Team will send a reminder SMS. S005 - “We notified you of an objection. If you wish to respond do so by (DD.MM.YYYY) or we will use information we have. Upload your response online. Do not reply to this message.” If no requested evidence or response is given by the customer, and the due date has passed, no further follow up phone calls is needed. The objection letters that are produced using the Objection letters macro contain a consequence statement addressing what happens if no response/evidence requested is received from the customer. |
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6 |
Post outcome contact + Read more ... Outbound phone contact must be attempted the day after the Objection has been finalised for cases where:
Make one outbound contact attempt to the applicant and the respondent on each of the customer’s available numbers. Use a pre-call alert SMS (where appropriate) before making a contact attempt:
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Additional phone contact points for customers with presenting issues
Table 4: this table describes contact points with an applicant or respondent when there are sensitive issue indicators or presenting issues. Strongly consider appropriateness of sending pre-call alert SMS before doing so.
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Step |
Action |
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1 |
Applicant contact - Objection received (all objections excluding Care by Phone) + Read more ... Make 3 outbound contact attempts to the applicant on each of the customer’s available numbers over 2 business days. Review all sensitive issue indicators and consider the circumstances of both customers to determine if a pre-call alert SMS is appropriate before each phone attempt. Use a pre-call alert SMS (where appropriate) before making a contact attempt:
If contact is unsuccessful, send an MX0-1 Unique Letter with UQ50.15 - Objection OEI contact pre-approved letter text. After this letter expires or the applicant calls back and chooses to proceed, proceed to contact the respondent. If:
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Respondent contact - Objection received (all objections including Care by Phone) + Read more ... Make 3 outbound contact attempts to the respondent on each of the customer’s available numbers over 2 business days. Review all sensitive issue indicators and consider the circumstances of both customers to determine if a pre-call alert SMS is appropriate before each phone attempt. Use a pre-call alert SMS (where appropriate) before making a contact attempt:
If contact is unsuccessful, proceed to completion of Acknowledgement of Objection / Right of Response letters generated by the Objection letters macro. Determine if the objection requires additional discretionary redaction before the exchange of information |
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3 |
Written response to the Objection received + Read more ... Make 3 outbound contact attempts to the applicant on each of the customer’s available numbers over 2 business days to verbally exchange the information. Review all sensitive issue indicators and consider the circumstances of both customers to determine if a pre-call alert SMS is appropriate before each phone attempt. Determine if the response requires redaction before the exchange of information. Use a pre-call alert SMS (where appropriate) before making a contact attempt:
If contact is unsuccessful, send an MX0-1 Unique Letter with the UQ50.05 - Additional information received re-objection pre-approved letter text. Outline and/or attach the additional information and ask the applicant contact us to discuss further. |
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4 |
Verbal response to objection received + Read more ... Make 3 outbound contact attempts to the applicant on each of the customer’s available numbers over 2 business days to verbally exchange the information. Review all sensitive issue indicators and consider the circumstances of both customers to determine if a pre-call alert SMS is appropriate before each phone attempt. Determine if the response requires redaction before the exchange of information. Use a pre-call alert SMS (where appropriate) before making a contact attempt:
If contact is unsuccessful, send an MX0-1 Unique Letter with the UQ50.05 - Additional information received re-objection pre-approved letter text. Outline the additional information provided and ask the applicant contact us to discuss further. |
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5 |
No response or evidence received + Read more ... Before the expiry date of the right of response the SAS National Team will send a reminder SMS 005 – ‘We notified you of an objection. If you wish to respond do so by (DD.MM.YYYY) or we will use information we have. Upload your response online. Do not reply to this message.’ If no requested evidence or response is given by the customer, and the due date has passed:
Use a pre-call alert SMS (where appropriate) before making a contact attempt:
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Further evidence received from a customer party to the objection + Read more ... Contact the relevant customer to give them an opportunity to comment on the information in line with procedural fairness principles, and to determine if they wish to have a copy sent to them. Make 3 outbound contact attempts to the customer on each of the customer’s available numbers. Use a pre-call alert SMS (where appropriate) before making a contact attempt:
If contact is unsuccessful, send an MX0-1 Unique Letter with the UQ50.05 - Additional information received re-objection pre-approved letter text. Outline and/or attach the additional information and ask the customer contact us to discuss further. |
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7 |
Further evidence received via Child Support initiated searches + Read more ... Contact both customers to give them an opportunity to comment on the information in line with procedural fairness principles. Make 3 outbound contact attempts to the applicant and the respondent on each of the customer’s available numbers. Use a pre-call alert SMS (where appropriate) before making a contact attempt:
If contact is unsuccessful, send an MX0-1 Unique Letter with the UQ50.05 - Additional information received re-objection pre-approved letter text. Outline the information and ask the customer to contact us to discuss further. |
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8 |
Decision outcome + Read more ... If the objection outcome is unlikely to be a contrary decision:
If a contrary decision is likely:
Use a pre-call alert SMS (where appropriate) before making a contact attempt:
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