Carer Payment (CP) (child) when caring for 2 to 4 children each with a disability or medical condition (combined care) 009-04070030

CP (child) will apply when a carer provides care for 2 to 4 children under 16 years of age who, when combined require the equivalent level of care as 1 qualifying child ('combined care').

In these cases:

• To qualify for CP (child), the carer will also need to achieve a qualifying score on the Carer Payment and/or Carer Allowance Care Needs Assessment for a child under 16 years (SA394). This must be a minimum score of 85 and can be combined across all children the customer is claiming for. The qualification will require a combination of medium and/or low ratings across any domain identified for these children in their respectively completed SA394
• All children must have attained qualifying scores from the Carer Payment Medical Report including functional assessment for a child under 16 years (SA397) and the Carer Payment and/or Carer Allowance Care Needs Assessment (SA394). One Medical Report per child is required

Note:

• A carer with 2 to 4 child care receivers who qualify the carer for CP (child) may also be covered by exchanged care arrangements
• A carer who is granted CP (child) for a single child with a severe disability or severe medical condition cannot also be part of this care arrangement

In addition to the above, to be eligible for payment of CP (child) for 2 to 4 child care receivers under the combined care provisions:

• the carer must personally provide constant care to the combined care receivers, e.g. 1 of the care receivers may not require constant care but the care receivers combined require constant care
• the care provided to the care receivers attains a qualifying rating of intense under the Disability Care Load Assessment (child) Determination (DCLAD) (2020)
• the provision of the care by the carer must severely restrict the carer's capacity to undertake paid employment
• the carer must complete the usual carer assessment process

For the 2 to 4 child care receivers to be considered under a combined care assessment, all children must have attained a qualifying score from the SA397 and SA394. One medical report per child is required.

The medical report will be completed at the point of initial application for payment.

• The carer is given a score based on the questionnaire that they fill out (the CNA) and a score based on the report completed by a Treating Health Professional (THP). The carer must attain a certain score on each of these questionnaires to obtain a qualifying rating for CP (child)

The medical qualifications are:

• each child care receiver must achieve a qualifying THP score of greater than zero, and
• each child care receiver must achieve a minimum CNA rating of 20 under the Disability Care Load Assessment (child) Determination (DCLAD) (2020)
• the combination of CNA ratings achieved for all child care receivers must meet or exceed a threshold rating of 85 which is considered to be the qualifying rating of 'intense', as assessed under the DCLAD, but
• each child care receiver does not have to individually achieve an CNA threshold rating of 85

Note: if the combination of CNA ratings achieved for all child care receivers are below 85 however there are SWO referral triggers, see Carer Specialist Assessment Team (CSAT) referrals for Carer Payment (CP) (child) prior to rejecting the claim.

• A carer claiming CP (child) for 2 to 4 child care receivers (combined care) for the first time is required to submit an online claim or complete relevant forms issued via the First Contact Service Offer (FCSO) workflow. See Claiming Carer Payment (CP) and/or Carer Allowance (CA)
• A payment reclaim can be made if the customer claims within 24 months of the current CNA and Medical Report. Severe medical conditions and/or disabilities listed from the previous health professional care load assessment or medical certificate will need to be checked whenever a subsequent re-claim is granted
• Claimants will also be asked if they require referral to support services
• Carers may lodge an early claim to test their eligibility for CP (child) for 2 to 4 care receivers up to 13 weeks before the start of the period of care

Note: care receivers can include 2 to 4 children assessed under the short term care or episodic care provisions. In this case the claim would be limited to either short term or episodic care CP (child).

CA (child) will automatically be paid to carers receiving CP (child) under combined care provisions for the same period and for each of the child care receivers, but only if the carer or another person is not already receiving CA (child) for that care receiver, or CA is not payable for another reason, e.g. cancelled due to respite bank exceeded.

Example: Francine qualifies for CP for providing care to 3 children with disabilities. Francine will automatically qualify for CA (child) for each of those children and remain qualified for CA (child) for the period Francine remains qualified for CP (child).

• The automatic eligibility for CA (child) for CP (child) carers will enable continuation of CA (child) for a CP (child) care receiver if the 63 day hospitalisation limit is exceeded, as long as CP (child) is still being paid for that care receiver
• All CA (auto) child care receivers will be eligible for a Health Care Card (HCC) in their name in addition to any Pensioner Concession Card (PCC) or HCC held by the carer. Normal concession card hierarchy rules apply

See Temporary cessation of care (respite) and hospitalisation.

If a carer who qualifies under the combined care rules has a child turning 16, they will receive a letter at 15 years and 9 months advising that the payment will cease in 3 months. They will be invited to test their eligibility for CP (child) for a disabled adult and 1 to 2 children each with a disability or medical condition, or CP (adult). This is because eligibility only applies to CP (child) for 2 to 4 child care receivers. Therefore, when a qualifying child turns 16, if there are no longer 2 to 4 child care receivers, the carer will need to test their eligibility for another income support payment.

When the care receiver turns 16 years and 3 months, if the carer is still in receipt of CP (child) for that child, payment will cancel.

Specific THP and carer care load cancellation, suspension and rejection reasons will apply. See Cancellation, suspension and rejection codes for Carer Payment (CP).

A carer claiming CP (child) for 2 to 4 care receivers (combined care) for the first time can submit an online claim or complete relevant forms issued via the First Contact Service Offer (FCSO) workflow. See Claiming Carer Payment (CP) and/or Carer Allowance (CA).

For re-claims and transfers from other income support payments the customer can submit an online claim or complete relevant forms issued via FCSO. See Transfer to Carer Payment (CP)

The carer will receive a letter with information about the new grant.

• Carers will receive a Pensioner Concession Card (PCC)
• All Carer Allowance (auto) child care receivers are eligible for a Health Care Card (HCC) in their name in addition to any PCC that the Carer is issued. Normal concession card hierarchy applies

CP (child) carers who are caring for 2 to 4 care receivers ('combined care') will be eligible for all other standard pension entitlements including advance payment.

Care of 2 to 4 care receivers information is displayed in Customer First on the Carers Summary Page.

Carers will be offered voluntary referrals to provide support for carers who choose to increase their social and economic participation and support carers who are seeking assistance with their caring role.

The service offer to carers will ensure carers are aware of the referral options offered by Services Australia and assist in connecting carers to their chosen options in a seamless manner.

The 2 referral pathways are:

• Referral to employment service providers
• Referral to government and non-government organisations who can provide assistance to carers with various aspects of their caring role. Options may include referral to child care services, respite services and organisations that provide support to carers
• See Support services for carers