Centrelink Confirmation eServices 101-09010000

CCeS is a secure online service that provides an efficient and effective method for businesses to confirm customer information with Services Australia. For example, a business can check a customer’s concession card type and status in CCeS, or their payment type and status.

Details from CCeS allows the business to make a determination as to whether the customer is entitled to a concession, rebate or service it offers under their policy requirements and rules. Services Australia is not responsible for deciding if a customer is entitled to a concession, rebate or service.

If a business uses the service to check customer information, it generally means the customer will not have to give them the details. In most cases, the business can tell the customer immediately if they are eligible for a concession, rebate or service.

Businesses interested in applying to use CCeS, or who want to discuss how the service may benefit them, can have their contact details referred to the Third Party Program Team for follow up.

Businesses already approved for CCeS should contact the National Business Gateway - Confirmation Services Helpdesk for technical support.

Businesses can find out more information about the service on the Services Australia website. They can download the CCeS policy, terms and procedural guide documents and the CCeS business application form (SA391).

Businesses need to apply and Services Australia must approve them to access and use the service.

Before applying, a business must read the:

• CCeS policy
• CCeS terms
• CCeS procedural guide

This is to make sure they understand and agree to the terms and obligations of the contract.

To apply, businesses must complete the Services Australia Business Application - Centrelink Confirmation eServices form (SA391). An authorised officer of the business must sign the form. An authorised officer is a person with the legal authority to act on behalf of the business and enter into a contract with the agency.

The form must be:

• signed in writing (digital or electronic signatures are not acceptable)
• emailed or faxed, see the contact details on the Resources page

The agency will assess the form under the requirements in the CCeS policy to determine if they can approve it. A business may be approved with additional conditions if necessary.

Businesses access CCeS through Centrelink Business Online Services (CBOS).

Businesses must complete and submit a Business Online Services - User details form (SA445) for each individual employee requiring CBOS access and who will use CCeS. An authorised officer of the business and the individual employee must sign the SA445 form.

The SA445 form is also used to update and remove users’ access to CCeS.

Businesses must offer a concession, rebate or service to customers in one of the business categories in the CCeS policy to be approved to use CCeS.

The types of businesses that use CCeS include:

• councils
• transport authorities
• water authorities
• education authorities
• banks
• financial counsellors/planners
• legal aid services
• health services
• housing and welfare agencies
• energy authorities
• telecommunications authorities, and
• utilities (water and energy service providers combined)

Concessions offered by these businesses can include:

• reductions in rates
• transport costs (for public bus, rail and ferry services)
• car registrations, and
• the supply of electricity, gas and water

Note: pharmacies, chemists, General Practitioners (GPs) and medical centres do not use CCeS to check customer’s Medicare or concession card information and entitlements. They generally use the Health Professional Online Services (HPOS) to confirm this type of information. See Health Professional Online Services (HPOS) for more details.

A business will get customer information within CCeS based on their ‘characteristic set’ and the business category they are approved for. Characteristic sets are usually standard sets of customer information that a business typically needs to confirm a customer’s eligibility for a concession, rebate or service.

This can include (but is not limited to) the following:

• name
• address
• concession card type and status
• payment type and status
• income and asset details
• deduction details

See:

• Resources page in Add or remove characteristics for CCeS businesses for a list and descriptions of the CCeS characteristics
• CCeS procedural guide for businesses for more details about business categories and what customer information is available in CCeS

In accordance with the Privacy Act 1988, it is mandatory for a business to obtain consent from the customer before the business can verify and confirm a customer’s details and concession entitlement with the agency.

Businesses must also ensure that the customer’s information they obtain through CCeS is protected and secure at all times.

Privacy and Security information is available via the Centrelink Confirmation eServices (CCeS) for businesses page on the Services Australia website. See the Resources page for a link to this information.

There are several confirmation eServices available to businesses in CCeS. The service a business will use depends on the information they need to confirm customer concessions.

Customer confirmation

Confirms a customer's details such as:

• name
• address
• payment type
• concession card status

This helps businesses confirm if a customer is entitled to their concession, service or rebate without requiring the customer to collect and provide evidence from the agency.

A 'yes' or 'no' answer is provided to the business to verify customer details.

It can be used for Centrelink and Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) customers through single, batch and webservice enquiries.

Income confirmation

This service provides a business with a customer's income, asset and payment details, similar to the Income Statement or Details Income and Assets Statement that a customer can request.

This service can only be used for Centrelink customers through single, batch and webservice enquiries. It cannot be used for DVA customers.

Holiday processing

The Income Confirmation Service may, under certain circumstances, inaccurately report earned income. This is due to a system limitation over holiday processing periods where multiple days of Public Holidays occur, such as Easter and Christmas, and a customer reports their earnings early.

To mitigate this, businesses can consider the following remediation steps:

• if possible, delay any Income Confirmation transactions until after holiday processing periods (for example, for at least 14 days)
• in cases where a delay is not possible, businesses should consider obtaining alternative evidence from customers to confirm their earned income. This may include payslips, bank statements, or any other relevant documentation

Refer businesses who contact regarding this issue to the National Business Gateway - Confirmation Services Helpdesk.

Superannuation confirmation

Administrators and trustees of super funds can use this service to help determine a customer's eligibility for the Early Release of Superannuation on financial hardship grounds. The service will provide a 'yes' or 'no' response if the customer meets one of the income support requirements:

• Customer is below preservation age plus 39 weeks, and had a continuous payment period of 26 weeks immediately before the application, or
• Customer meets preservation age plus 39 weeks or more, and has a cumulative payment period total of 39 weeks after reaching their preservation age

This service can only be used for Centrelink customers via a single enquiry.

When applying to use CCeS the business must indicate how it wishes to use CCeS. Businesses can use the service to confirm customer data through a:

• Single enquiry - which allows a business to submit an enquiry for one customer. It provides an immediate response
• Batch enquiry - can be used for large volume requests for multiple customers. Also provides historical income statements (including quarterly and financial year). A response is returned within 72 hours
• System to system (webservice) - this provides a direct connection between a business’s ICT system and Services Australia’s database. It provides an immediate response. A Secret Key is provided to the business which is used to authenticate the business for the use of the web service. The Secret Key must be protected from disclosure and a Secret Key Manager must be appointed by the business who is responsible for the management and use of the key

Businesses using CCeS must:

• only access and use CCeS for the purpose of providing a concession, rebate or service to their customer
• confirm the identity of the customer before getting consent and using CCeS. Do not use CCes to authenticate or establish the identity of a customer
• not make any enquiry about a customer without first getting their consent
• confirm and be able to prove the authority of a customer representative
• make sure customer information is protected and secure at all times
• immediately tell Services Australia when staff no longer need access to CCeS
• notify Services Australia of any changes to its business arrangements including:
• if the customer information that the business receives is no longer required
• any security breaches that occur in respect of customer information
• continue to meet the approval criteria while approved to use the service
• comply with all laws that regulate the business’s activities such as consumer protection, registration, financial and privacy laws and confidentiality provisions in relevant acts
• behave ethically, lawfully and fairly in their dealing with customers

It is the businesses' responsibility to make sure that their staff are aware of their obligations under the CCeS policy, terms, procedural guide, user guide and any additional conditions the business may have. The business must make sure their staff do not:

• look up their own or family, friends or business associates records
• share password details with any other person
• leave their computer unattended whilst logged into the service

Reviews are undertaken by the agency to make sure that businesses continue to:

• satisfy the criteria for approval
• comply with the CCeS policy, CCeS terms, the CCeS procedural guide and any additional conditions

The agency may suspend access or withdraw its approval for a business to use CCeS at any time. This is to ensure compliance or if the business is no longer suitable for approval to use CCeS.

See Review process for Third Party Organisations (TPO) for more details.

See Customer consent for Centrelink Confirmation eService (CCeS).

The business must verify the identity of the customer before getting consent and using CCeS.

Customers can give their consent to businesses in writing, online or verbally. An example of the standard consent wording and requirements is available in the CCeS procedural guide.

Customers can contact the agency to request to block a business from accessing their personal information through the service.

Businesses must collect consent from each individual customer before they access their personal information. If eligibility for a concession, rebate or service is based on the confirmed information of multiple customers (for example, all household members listed on a housing application) each customer must provide their own informed consent for the business to use CCeS.

There may be situations where a business must provide customer information from CCeS to a third party. For example, where they provide a concession on behalf of a second business and are being audited. This secondary disclosure is only permitted if the customer provides their consent (in the consent record) to have their information disclosed to the third party for the secondary purpose. See the CCeS Procedural Guide for the extra wording that must be included in the consent record when disclosing information to a third party.

CCeS is a free service and there are no costs to customers or businesses to use CCeS.

If a business chooses to use the batch enquiry or system to system (webservice) enquiry, testing is required and fees apply.

If a business asks for extra customer information that is not available through CCeS, this may incur a fee to cover the agency’s costs. Requests for changes to the CCeS service should be referred to the Deduction and Confirmation Branch - CCeS team.

Enquiries about testing fees, processes and timeframes can be made through the National Business Gateway > Confirmation Services Helpdesk.

If a business makes an enquiry in CCeS for a customer with a Restricted Access record, customer information will still be provided to the business except for address information. A value of Unable to Confirm is returned to the business instead for address information. For example, if the business is wanting to confirm the customer’s name, date of birth, address, and pension card status; the service will confirm ‘Yes’ for name, date of birth and pension card but will return an ‘Unable to Confirm’ for the address. It is up to the business how it responds to this result.

Businesses determine and apply their own policy and rules around what information and evidence they need in order to confirm a customer’s eligibility for a concession, rebate or service. Where CCeS cannot be used by a business to confirm eligibility to a concession or rebate, the customer will need to provide alternative evidence as determined acceptable by the business (such as an income statement). The agency cannot compel a business to provide any concession, rebate or service for any reason.

The Contact Address Verification (CAV) service enables approved housing providers to obtain the current address and telephone details held by Services Australia for a customer, and historical address details for up to 2 years in the past. This information can help housing providers with the assessment of housing applications for Centrelink customers who are suffering from recurring homelessness, require supported housing and/or have special housing needs.

Customers must give their consent for the housing provider to get their details from Services Australia. Consent wording for CAV can be included in the CCeS consent record.

If a housing provider is interested in using the CAV service please refer the details to the Deduction and Confirmation branch - CCeS team.

See Centrelink Business Online Services (CBOS) access for Deduction and Confirmation Programmes for details on CAV user access processes.