Cancellation or suspension of Carer Payment (CP) and Carer Allowance (CA) 009-03110010

Third parties, including the care receiver, may disclose information regarding a change in circumstances, which may affect the carer’s eligibility for CP and/or CA.

Make sure information relating to the carer is not disclosed to any party who does not have permission. See Accepting and disclosing information.

CP and CA must not be suspended or cancelled if:

• it is just suspected that a carer is no longer eligible for payment or
• Services Australia have received unverified information (for example, tip-off) which suggests the carer may not be eligible

See Accepting information from and disclosing information to a care receiver or third party.

CP and CA can be automatically or manually cancelled if:

• a carer is no longer entitled because of changes in their circumstances, or
• they have failed to comply with the requirements for payment

For more details on automatic or manual cancellation reasons, see:

• Cancellation, suspension and rejection codes for Carer Allowance (CA), and/or
• Cancellation, suspension and rejection codes for Carer Payment (CP)

Do not cancel CP and/or CA unless it is established the carer has lost entitlement. Key the changes in the carer’s circumstances on their record so it accurately reflects the current circumstances of the carer and the care receiver. This will allow the system to auto-cancel the carer's CP and/or CA following reassessments where no continuing entitlements exist.

A decision to manually cancel or suspend CP and/or CA could potentially have a great impact on the carer and must be made in accordance with legislation and the relevant process. Cancellations or suspensions on carers’ records that do not follow the correct process may cause financial hardship, incorrect letter advices and distress.

The carer cancellation and suspension workflow will allow staff to:

• cancel or suspend CP and/or CA at carer level or care receiver level in a single activity
• choose action on CP and not CA or vice versa. In some cases the workflow will auto-populate the reason field where it is appropriate to cancel or suspend both CP and CA
• perform different actions at the same time. For example, cancel CA if care requirements are not met and cancel CP if the carer's activities exceed 25 hours per week within the same activity

The cancellation or suspension code 'OTH' should only be used as a last resort where:

• no alternative cancellation, suspension or change in circumstance coding is appropriate, or
• an Operational Blueprint process specifically instructs for OTH to the used

The cancellation code CLR is only to be used where the carer has requested cancellation of CP and/or CA and does not want to provide more information about why.

If the carer provides information about a change in care, a change in circumstances or they are no longer providing care, the details must be recorded as per the relevant process to ensure their payment is assessed correctly, to either suspend, cancel or continue.

'At carer level' is where the change in circumstances applies to the carer and all payments the carer receives, for all care receivers are to be cancelled or suspended.

For example, where the carer has not provided confirmation of identity for themselves.

Note: Carer level is sometimes referred to as ‘at payment level’.

‘At care receiver level’ is where the change in circumstances applies to the care receiver. For example, when confirmation of identity was not provided for the care receiver.

When CA payment is cancelled at the care receiver level, the payment will only cancel for the chosen care receiver(s) only. If there are other qualifying care receivers, CA will remain current for those care receivers.

Note: it is not possible to suspend payment at the care receiver level.

If a carer's CP (child) is cancelled, the related CA (auto) payment also cancels. See Eligibility for Carer Allowance (CA) (auto) when a carer is also receiving Carer Payment (CP) (child).

CA CPI activity can result in cancellation of the customer’s payments. If a CA CPI activity presents, see Change of circumstances for Carer Allowance (CA).

CP and/or CA may be suspended if a carer is temporarily not qualified for payment or the payment is not payable because of:

• changes in either the carer or care receiver’s circumstances
• failure to comply with the requirements for CP, or
• information is required to make sure that CP is directed correctly (such as a valid address or bank account details)

Before suspending CP, an appropriate request for information must be issued. See Requesting information (CLK).

Suspension does not necessarily indicate a loss of qualification. Full arrears may be issued if CP and/or CA is subsequently restored.

CP (XWP) is not subject to Temporary Cessation of Care (TCC) for Carer Payment, constant care, the 25 hour rule or care receiver assessments. Therefore, some cancellation reason codes cannot be used to cancel CP (XWP). These include 25H, CAB, CAS, CDE, CIH, CNP, CNQ, HBE, MCQ, NMQ, NRQ or RBE.

CP (XWP) is still subject to carer payability rules such as the pension's income and asset tests and portability. CA continues to be subject to all the normal rules. See Transfer from Wife Pension (WP) to Carer Payment.

If the carer’s only or last payment level CA is suspended or cancelled for any reason, or changed to CA HCC only or nil rate due to Education, Training and Treatment (ETT), CP (XWP) will auto-cancel. However, CP (XWP) will be auto-restored if payment level CA is restored or reinstated without a gap within 13 weeks.

A Manual Follow-up (MFU) and work item will be produced to assess eligibility for CP (XWP) restoration manually, where payment level CA is restored or reinstated without a gap more than 13 weeks later. See Transfer from Wife Pension (WP) to Carer Payment.

Parental Leave Pay (PPL) for children born or entering care:

• on or after 1 October 2016, PPL granted to the carer (and/or their partner) are treated as ordinary income for calculating the rate of payment for CP
• before 1 October 2016, PPL is not treated as assessable income for CP

PPL alone is not enough income to reduce CP to nil rate. The carer would need to have other forms of income for their rate to be reduced to nil (and therefore cancelled). If CP cancels, it can be reinstated after the PPL period ends.

Carers in receipt of CP who receive loan payments under the Home Equity Access Scheme are eligible to continue receiving their loan payments if CP suspends for certain reasons. In these circumstances, the CP status is set to Current Zero Rate (CZR) for reason PLS to enable the loan payments to continue being paid. During periods of CZR-PLS, the customer is not eligible to receive any other rate components until the CP suspension is lifted. See Home Equity Access Scheme cancellations and rejections.

A vulnerable and at risk carer without an income support payment for a minimum of 6 weeks due to an automatic suspension or cancellation, may be eligible for manual intervention. See Manual review after automatic payment suspension and cancellation of vulnerable customers.