Carer Allowance (CA) and Carer Payment (CP) interaction of portability and temporary cessation of care (respite) rules 009-03100010

Both Carer Payment (CP) and Carer Allowance (CA) are portable, for up to a maximum of 42 days, subject to conditions.

Customers on CP and/or CA may have temporary absences throughout the year and still remain eligible for payment under the respite or the hospital care provisions. Under the respite provisions, the carer or the care receiver may be absent for any purpose.

While the legislation talks about temporary absences, these are often referred to as 'respite absences' or '63 days respite'. Note: a temporary cessation of care (respite) does not have to be formal or informal respite care to be counted against the allowable days. It could be things such as the carer taking a holiday without the care receiver or the care receiver going to spend a couple of days with another relative.

Add-on payments such as Rent Assistance and Carer Supplement may be paid during a temporary absence from Australia if the customer remains qualified for the payment.

Wife Pension (WP) customers who were receiving payment level Carer Allowance (CA) on 19 March 2020 were automatically transferred to Carer Payment (CP) (XWP). CP (XWP) customers remain qualified as long as payment level CA continues.

CA and CP are portable for a maximum period of 6 weeks as long as the departure is temporary. If the care receiver remains in Australia the carer can use their 63 respite days for CA without affecting payment. However, CA and CP payability is subject to the maximum portability period. When a carer remains overseas for more than 6 weeks or has exhausted their respite days first, then payment level CA is suspended or cancelled. When payment level CA is suspended or cancelled, CP (XWP) is automatically cancelled. Where a carer returns to Australia, CA is restored. However, as there has been a break in payment level CA, CP (XWP) cannot be restored as entitlement and qualification was permanently lost. For more information, see Transfer from Wife Pension (WP) to Carer Payment (CP).

The rules for temporary cessation of care and portability may differ between CP and CA depending on the situation, however both rules must be considered together in each case. There are separate procedures for coding carer absences and for coding CP portability and/or CA portability.

The Portability Script - Departures and Returns is to be used to initially assess the customer's entitlement to payment while they are outside Australia. The Portability Script will guide service centre staff and Smart Centre staff when it is necessary to refer to Centrelink International Services (CIS).

The Department of Home Affairs generally advises when a customer or child leaves or returns to Australia. The Centrelink system uses the information to assesses the portability of payments and concession cards. The assessment will happen regardless of whether the customer has told Services Australia their travel details. Note: do not cancel Department of Home Affairs datalink activities.

Where the customer gives evidence they travelled on different dates, the agency should consider using those different dates, if both the following apply:

• the new dates are logical
• the results will be a better outcome for the customer

This most often happens if a customer passes through Australian customs on one day but the flight leaves the next day.

In many cases, customers do not have to tell the agency if they are leaving Australia temporarily for less than 6 weeks, or when they have returned from a temporary absence.

When customers do need to tell us about a departure before leaving Australia or when they have returned to Australia they can use the Travelling outside of Australia service. This service is in their Centrelink online account. If the travel or portability assessment is complex the online service will ask them to contact the agency.

Services Australia website lists when customers must tell the agency they are leaving or returning to Australia. The Resources page has a link.

If a carer goes overseas and temporarily stops caring for the care receiver because the care receiver stayed in Australia, this is generally deemed a 'respite period' and as such would allow the carer to have a break from their usual caring role of up to 63 days in any calendar year without affecting payment. However, this period would be subject to the maximum portability period for the payment.

Note: there is a current system limitation which continues to count Temporary Cessation of care (TCC) after expiration of portability. Where the carer's payments will suspend after 42 days, the TCC end date should reflect only 41 days, if care is provided on the day of departure. Unless there is evidence to the contrary, accept that care was provided on the date of departure and TCC will commence from the following day. Code respite with start date equal to day after departure and end date equal to the end of the limited portability period. Therefore, the TCC period will be 41 days provided the carer has this number available. TCC does not apply if payments are suspended or cancelled.

If the carer is overseas without the care receiver, portability provisions apply to the carer. See Carer Payment (CP) customer going overseas and/or Carer Allowance (CA) customer going overseas.

If the carer is not overseas and the care receiver is, portability provisions apply for the care receiver if they are in receipt of a payment. The relevant portability provisions will be those specifically relating to the type of payment the care receiver is paid.

If the care receiver is overseas with the carer, only portability provisions apply. However, any subsequent temporary cessation in care must also be coded as an absence as the carer's payment may be affected before the portability period expires.