Recording child support care determinations before 1 July 2018 (15 May 2019 for WA ex-nuptial cases) 277-18052502

Document the decision and include all conversations, calculations, information and evidence considered in making the decision:

• open and complete the Care Decision macro
• save this document in the Care window notepad

See Documenting Child Support information.

Open the pending Cuba care record and process the care decision to reflect the care determination made, see Care Cuba Process Help.

Note: more detailed actions apply to process a disputed care decision.

Before saving Eligibility, review and check the Preconfirmation Results window, see Eligibility Cuba Process Help. Ensure all the changes that will take effect once Eligibility is saved are correct. Seek technical support on the information displayed if assistance is required, see Technical support in Child Support.

If all the changes displayed in the Preconfirmation Results window are correct, save Eligibility to process the care decision.

Once eligibility is saved, the case liability rates will be re-assessed. For mutual customers, Cuba will transfer the care percentage via data exchange to be applied to the customer’s family assistance assessment.

If the agency is notified within 28 days from the date the care changed, the child support assessment will be amended from the date of event (the date the care actually changed).

If the agency is advised more than 28 days after the date of the care change and before 1 July 2018 (15 May 2019 for WA ex-nuptial cases), the child support assessment will be amended from the date of notification, unless:

• a parent's care has fallen below 14% despite the child being made available to them and the other parent notifies the agency within a reasonable time. See the Child Support Guide 2.2.3: Below regular care determinations
• a terminating event has occurred where the child is no longer in the care of any of the parties (parents and non-parent carers who have applied for child support) to the assessment, see Terminating events (Stage 2)
• care is changed to reflect a child as either a relevant dependent child or a 'Claimed For' child on a child support assessment when a case is suspended upon customers reconciling or reinstated due to separation, see Suspension of Child Support liability on reconciliation

Note: for Child Support, if a child moves from the care of one party to the assessment to another, a terminating event has not occurred. Amend the child support assessment to reflect the new care percentage from the appropriate date of effect.

Most care changes are applied to family assistance and social security assessments from the date of event regardless of when the agency is notified of the care change. If a customer requests further information about the effect of the care change on their Centrelink entitlements, cold transfer them to Centrelink at the end of the conversation.

Where the parents of a child reconcile, the children of the relationship are moved into a ‘Current Relationship Group’ for maintenance purposes. The care percentage is generally updated to 100% for the parent claiming FTB for the child.

For Cuba, letters and assessment notices that notify customers of the changed percentage of care are sent to customers. One of the following letters will generate:

• MEA1-9 Change of Care
• MEA1-4 to advise payee that a terminating event has occurred
• MEA1-5 to advise payer that a terminating event has occurred
• MAC1-3 to advise multiple decisions have been made on case but no change to the annual rate has resulted
• MAC1-4 to advise multiple decisions have been made on case which have resulted in a change to the annual rate
• NOA-01 – Letter to both parents. Sometimes the system:
• suppresses the Cuba letters, and
• issues a NOA-01 CS Notice of Assessment and covering page consolidating the decision letters. Consider when NOA-01 letters issue
• MEA1-6 to advise payer and payee that the agency has rejected an application for care arrangement of the child

Note: all care changes including disputed decisions will create letters automatically. The MEA1-9 has been updated to include new paragraphs for disputed care decisions that result in an interim period being set.

Check all letters thoroughly to ensure they reflect the correct information, see Letters Cuba Process Help.