New Zealand Agreement debt reconciliation - action for International Services (CIS) 107-20091055

Each month New Zealand sends Services Australia an Excel file which lists amounts recovered from customer’s SBO accounts for Australian debts. This is:

• known as the SBO Debt Schedule
• normally received by the 15th of each month, and
• has information for each customer, including:
• Customer name
• New Zealand reference number (SWN)
• Customer Reference Number (CRN)
• the Amount withheld (in NZD)

To view the SBO Debt Schedule:

• Access the electronic liaison system
• Check for the 'NZ_Debt_Recovery_Schedule' liaison in the inbox. The SBO Debt Schedule will be included as an attachment

Has the SBO Debt Schedule been received?

• Yes, save the schedule to the local secure drive using the agreed naming conventions and complete routing in the electronic liaison system:
• Open the debt schedule liaison, scroll to the bottom
• Select 'Approve' from the drop down box
• Select 'Go'
• On the next page, in the 'Send to:' box, select 'Routing Completed'
• Select 'Send'
• Go to Step 2
• No, contact New Zealand to resolve. Escalate through normal channels if needed. Procedure ends here

The Resources page has Resources for NZ debt recovery.

Nothing can be recorded on DMIS until Zone Tas Finance has advised that the incoming payment has been received. They will notify CIS via the CIS positional mailbox. Reconciliation will then occur.

Has advice been received from Zone Tas Finance that the money has been receipted?

• Yes, save a copy of the advice to the local secure drive using the agreed naming convention. Advise Zone Tas Finance that the schedule is available. Go to Step 3
• No, contact Zone Tas Finance to resolve. Escalate through normal channels if needed. Procedure ends here

See the Resources page for:

• Resources for NZ debt recover, and
• Naming conventions and saving documents to local server

Before any debt can be finalised, the amount received needs to be checked to see if it meets the expected amount. This allows for exchange rate variations.

Investigate the variation if the amount received:

• is different to the amount requested, and
• the difference is not caused solely by exchange rate variations

For each record on the SBO Debt schedule:

• Go to the Overpayments List (OPDL) screen
• 'S'elect the relevant debt and press [Enter]
• Go to the Debt Amount (OPDA) screen and check if there have been any changes to the Calculated Amount $
• Go to the Repayment History (OPRH) screen and check if any manual repayments or withholdings have been received

Is the amount the same as what was originally requested (allowing for exchange rates)?

• Yes, go to Step 5
• No:
• If a manual payment has been received. Go to Step 4
• If an amount has been withheld from Australian income support payment. Go to Step 4
• If the debt amount has been adjusted. Escalate for resolution through normal channels
• For any other reason. Escalate for resolution through normal channels

Because the customer gets their social security entitlement from New Zealand through their SBO account, the agency can refund the manual repayment/withheld amount. This is directly to the customer’s SBO account. The entire lump sum amount received from NZ can then be used to repay the customer’s debt.

Update DMIS to show the repayment/withheld amount has been refunded:

• Go to the Overpayments List (OPDL) screen
• Take note of the Debt ID
• Go to the Debt Transfer Details (OPRTD) screen and complete:
• Or Refund: is ‘Y’ and press [Enter]
• Refund Method: is ‘OVO’
• Amount$: is the individual repayment/withheld amount
• Trnsfr Reason: is ‘Recovery to be processed via SBO’
• press [Enter]
• press [Enter] again to confirm, if needed
• On the Receipt Selection List (OPRSL) screen:
• 'S'elect the repayment
• Confirm : is ‘Y’
• press [Enter]
• On the Debt Transfer Details (OPRTD) screen:
• Confirm details are correct
• Confirm refund: is ‘Y’
• press [Enter]

Refund the repayment/withheld amount to the customer’s bank account:

• Go to the PAYMENT ADJUSTMENT WARNING SCREEN (PAWS) screen. Key 'PYAJ' in Nxt:
• Complete the screen as follows:
• Do you want to continue? (Y/N) : is ‘Y’
• press [Enter]
• On the Payment Adjustment (PYAJ) screen:
• Reason Code: is ‘OVO’
• press [Enter]
• Debt ID: is the Debt ID
• Complete Source: and DOR: fields
• press [Enter]
• Reason for Payment: is ‘Reissue to enable SBO recovery’
• press [Enter]
• On the Payment Adjustment Confirm (PYAJC) screen:
• Submit? (Y/N): is ‘Y’
• press [Enter]

Confirm the amount has reissued successfully:

• Navigate to the Payment Summary (PS) screen
• Confirm the reissued payment is scheduled

Has the payment been reissued successfully?

• Yes, go to Step 5
• No, escalate through normal channels

The amount received from New Zealand will rarely equal the amount that was originally requested.

Policy deems that the agency can accept the debt as being fully repaid if the difference is caused by exchange rates.

This means the repayment amount recorded on DMIS must be adjusted so it shows the entire debt amount as being received.

This ensures:

• DMIS shows the overpayment as fully recovered, and
• The customer’s tax records accurately reflect the adjusted entitlement

Record the repayment amount:

• Go to the Overpayments List (OPDL) screen
• 'S'elect the relevant debt and press [Enter]
• Go to the Add Repayment (OPAR) screen and complete:
• Source is set to ‘POG’
• Amount $: is set to the outstanding DMIS debt amount
• Date Paid is set to the date the payment was made, per the receipt
• Reason is set to ‘NZ SBO recovery’, and
• Receipt Number is set to the SOB Debt Schedule ID (for example, D310720NZ)
• press [Enter]
• press [Enter] again, if needed
• On the Assessment Finalisation (OPAF) screen:
• Finished? is set to ‘Y’
• press [Enter]

Find the SBO recovery Request DOC on the DL screen and annotate it with the following text:

NZD[recovered amount in NZD] received as part of schedule [SBO schedule reference]. Recovery considered complete as difference in original debt amount (AUD[OPDL debt amount]) vs received amount (AUD[Converted NZD amount]) can be attributed solely to currency conversions.

Has every customer in the SBO schedule been processed?

• Yes, go to Step 7
• No, repeat the process to finalise the remaining debts

SBO recovery funds are received from New Zealand as a lump sum however the money needs to be credited to the right account.

• Open the email in that Zone Tas Finance advised that the incoming payment has been received
• Reply to that email, advising that system coding is complete

Procedure ends here.

Each month a file is generated that lists all withholdings from Australian payments in relation to debts owed to New Zealand. This is known as the outgoing Debt Schedule, it is generated by automated business reporting and is generally received on the second Monday of the month. Also received is a service reason summary, a table which summarises the withholdings by Australian payment type.

To access the Debt Schedule:

• Go to the Management Information repository
• Check that the outgoing monthly Debt Schedule has been received

Has the monthly outgoing Debt Schedule been received?

• Yes, save all documents to the local secure drive using the agreed naming conventions. Go to Step 2
• No, Escalate through normal channels. Procedure ends here

See the Resources page for:

• Resources for NZ debt recover, and
• Naming conventions and saving documents to local server

DMIS may automatically commence withholdings from FTB if a customer:

• gets both FTB and an income support payment from Australia, and
• the income support payment is suspended or cancelled

Recovery of New Zealand debt amounts from FTB payments can only occur if initial recovery action commenced before 1 July 2002. Any FTB amounts need to be examined and generally refunded to customers.

Open the monthly Debt Schedule and look in the Australian payment type column for any cases where FTB amounts have been withheld.

Were there any FTB amounts for any customer on the monthly Debt Schedule?

• Yes, go to Step 3
• No, go to Step 4

For each customer in the monthly Debt Schedule where FTB recovery has occurred:

• Go to the Overpayments List (OPDL) screen
• Select the debt
• Go to the Repayment History (OPRH) screen
• Check the date withholdings first commenced

Did recovery first commence before 1 July 2002?

• Yes, recovery is legal. When all customer records have been checked, go to Step 4
• No, go to Table 3, Step 1

The monthly Debt Schedule shows for each customer, the amount withheld for the previous month and the remaining balance, both are in Australian Dollars (AUD).

The Master list workbook gives a summary of recovery action for the financial year. It has:

• a sheet summarising all the monthly debt schedules
• a sheet summarising withholdings by service reason, and
• a copy of each schedule for the financial year to date

It is used to:

• audit the monthly Debt Schedules, and
• identify when customers start, stop and pause withholdings

To add the Debt Schedule to the Master list workbook:

• Open the Master list workbook from the local secure drive
• Copy the monthly Debt Schedule into the Master list workbook

The Resources page has the How to add monthly Debt Schedules to Master list workbook.

Go to Table 4, Step 1.

Withholdings related to recovery of a NZ debt can only be taken from an income support payment. If the customer is not on any form of income support, the withheld amount needs to be refunded.

Is the customer on any form of income support?

• Yes, go to Step 2
• No, go to Step 5

If the customer has any debt(s) owed to the Commonwealth, the withheld amount can be transferred to that other debt. If the customer has no other debt, the withheld amount needs to be refunded.

Does the customer have any debt(s) owed to the Commonwealth?

• Yes, go to Step 3
• No, go to Step 5

• Go to the Overpayments List (OPDL) screen
• Take note of the ID of the debt to which the withheld amount is to be transferred, the ‘target’ debt
• 'S'elect the FTB debt from where the withholdings were taken, the ‘source’ debt, and press [Enter]
• Go to the Debt Transfer Details (OPRTD) screen and complete:
• To DMIS Debt: is ‘Y’ and press [Enter]
• To Debt: is the Debt ID of the ‘target’ debt
• Trnsfr Reason: is 'Incorrect recovery under NZ Agreement'
• Amount$: is the withheld amount
• press [Enter]
• press [Enter] again to confirm, if necessary
• On the Receipt Selection List (OPRSL) screen:
• 'S'elect the repayment
• Confirm: is ‘Y’
• press [Enter]
• On the Debt Transfer Details (OPRTD) screen:
• Confirm details are correct
• Confirm transfer: is ‘Y’
• press [Enter]

Go to Step 4.

To make sure no more withholdings are taken from family assistance debts, update the withholdings instructions.

• Navigate to the Overpayments List (OPDL) screen
• 'S'elect the ‘source’ debt and press [Enter]
• Go to the Payment Arrangement List (OPAL) screen
• 'S'elect the active arrangement, go to the Withholding Instruction (OPWH) screen and take note of anything in the Non Standard Amount $: and Non Standard %: fields. Complete the screen:
• Cease Date: is today
• Press [Enter]
• Press [Enter] again to confirm, if necessary
• Return to the Payment Arrangement List (OPAL) screen
• Set Create new arrangement type: to ‘WHS’ and hit [Enter]
• Code the Withholding Instruction (OPWH) screen:
• Withholding Type: is the applicable system (for example, NSS, PEN). Income support only
• Non Standard Amount $: set to value on ceased recovery arrangement, if previously coded
• Non Standard %: set to value on ceased recovery arrangement, if previously coded
• Press [Enter]
• On the Assessment Finalisation (OPAF) screen:
• Finished?: is ‘Y’
• Press [Enter]

Go to Step 9.

Refund the family assistance amounts.

• Go to the Overpayments List (OPDL) screen
• 'S'elect the relevant debt and press [Enter]
• Go to the Debt Transfer Details (OPRTD) screen and complete:
• Or Refund: is ‘Y’ and press [Enter]
• Refund Method: is 'RFM'
• Trnsfr Reason: is 'Incorrect recovery under NZ Agreement'
• Amount$: is the withheld amount
• Press [Enter]
• Press [Enter] again to confirm, if necessary
• On the Receipt Selection List (OPRSL) screen:
• 'S'elect the repayment
• Confirm: is ‘Y’
• Press [Enter]
• On the Debt Transfer Details (OPRTD) screen:
• Confirm details are correct
• Confirm refund: is ‘Y’
• Press [Enter]
• Return to the Repayment History (OPRH) screen
• Print the Repayment History (OPRH) screen.
• Complete the Notice to prepare a Refund Account (SF030), and complete the following fields:
• Amount
• Method (direct credit)
• Name of customer
• Address of customer
• Centrelink Reference Number
• Bank/Financial Institution
• Account Number
• BSB Number
• Reason for refund is: ‘other’ with an explanation of: ‘Refund on NZ debt withheld from FTB. Should be Income Support.’
• Name
• Date
• Print the SF030
• Sign the SF030. Note: form can be digitally signed before printing
• Attach the Repayment History (OPRH) screen print taken earlier and pass to a Team Leader to:
• verify the amounts, and
• authorise the SF030 as a Spending Delegate
• Scan the signed SF030 and save to the same location as the monthly Debt Schedule
• Give the original documents including the SF030 and Repayment History (OPRH) screen prints to Zone Tas Finance

Future withholdings from the customer’s family assistance payment need to be stopped, either temporarily or permanently depending on the customer’s circumstances.

If the customer’s income support has cancelled, the debt will need to be finalised. No further recovery action undertaken.

If the customer’s income support has suspended there is a chance it will resume, so a temporary waiver is applied.

If the customers income support payment is:

• Suspended, go to Step 7
• Cancelled, go to Step 8

Recovery from family assistance payments will automatically occur as long as the customer gets family assistance payments while their income support is suspended. To prevent this put the debt on hold.

The debt cannot be put on hold indefinitely so use a temporary write off.

• Go to the Overpayments List (OPDL) screen
• 'S'elect the relevant debt and press [Enter]
• Go to the Debt Amount (OPWOA) screen and complete it as follows:
• Reason: is ‘OSA’
• End Date: is four months’ time
• Comments: are ‘NZ debt temporarily written off to prevent recovery from family payments. If ISP resumes, temporary write off will be ended’
• Hit [Enter]
• On the Assessment Finalisation (OPAF) screen:
• Finished?: is ‘Y’
• Hit [Enter]

Go to Step 9.

New Zealand will be responsible for any further recovery from this customer. The amount needs to be adjusted to prevent any more attempts at recovery.

• Go to the Overpayments List (OPDL) screen
• 'S'elect the relevant debt and press [Enter]
• Navigate to the Debt Amount (OPDA) screen and complete it as follows:
• Reason Changed is ‘TPD’
• Calculated Amount $ is the amount recovered in total to date (the total debt less the outstanding balance)
• Hit [Enter]
• On the Assessment Finalisation (OPAF) screen:
• Finished?: is ‘Y’
• Hit [Enter]
• Record the details in a DOC, including any refund details, if appropriate. See Resources tab for suggested text
• Send a liaison to New Zealand advising them that no further recovery from this customer’s Australian payments is possible

Having reissued the FTB amount to the customer, adjust the monthly Debt Schedule to reflect that agency will be sending less money to New Zealand.

Delete the entire row relating to the customer from the monthly Debt Schedule.

Go to Table 4, Step 1.

There are various reasons why discrepancies occur between the Master list workbook and the monthly Debt Schedule, such as:

• timing of payments, withholdings or report generation
• recovery commencing, re-commencing, pausing or finishing for a customer

The latest monthly Debt Schedule has now been added to the Master list workbook, making it easier to check for any mismatches/issues. Before the monthly Debt Schedule can be finalised and sent to New Zealand:

• compare the names on the latest monthly Debt Schedule to those already on the Master list workbook
• compare the opening balance of the current month with the closing balance of the previous month
• confirm that the closing balance of the current month equals the opening balance of the current month less the withheld amount
• check if anything in the notes column of the Master list workbook (column E) needs any manual processing

What inconsistency was found?

• Customer is on the monthly Debt Schedule but new to the Master list workbook (new recovery) - ignore and check next customer
• Customer is on the monthly Debt Schedule and the Master list workbook but was not on the previous monthly Debt Schedule (resumption in recovery) - ignore and check next customer
• Customer is on the Master list workbook but not on the monthly Debt Schedule (pause in recovery) - go to Step 2
• Opening balance of current month doesn’t match closing balance of previous month - go to Step 7
• Other - escalate through normal channels
• No inconsistencies found - go to Table 5, Step 1

Customers will not show on the monthly Debt Schedule if no recovery has occurred in the previous month. This may be because the overpayment has been fully recovered or because recovery has been interrupted.

• When recovery is complete, inform the New Zealand authorities
• When recovery is interrupted, it can only be suspended for three months, after which responsibility reverts to the New Zealand authorities. They will need to be informed if this is the case

Does the Master list workbook indicate that recovery is complete?

• Yes, go to Step 3
• No, go to Step 5

If New Zealand have been made aware that recovery is complete there will be a note in Column E of the Master list workbook.

Have New Zealand been informed that recovery is complete?

• Yes, go to back to Step 1 to look for the next inconsistency
• No, go to Step 4

• Send a liaison to New Zealand advising them that recovery is complete
• Add a note to Column E of the Master list workbook noting that recovery is complete

Go back to Step 1 to look for the next inconsistency.

If recovery has occurred in the last three months, the case is still regarded as ‘active’. If not, recovery is to cease permanently.

Was the customer on either of the two previous monthly Debt Schedules?

• Yes, go to back to Step 1 to look for the next inconsistency
• No, go to Step 6

New Zealand will be responsible for any further recovery from this customer. Adjust the debt amount to prevent any future attempts at recovery.

• Go to the Overpayments List (OPDL) screen
• 'S'elect the relevant debt and press [Enter]
• Go to the Debt Amount (OPDA) screen and complete as follows:
• Reason Changed is ‘TPD’
• Calculated Amount $ is the total amount recovered to date (original debt amount less outstanding balance)
• Hit [Enter]
• On the Assessment Finalisation (OPAF) screen:
• Finished?: is ‘Y’
• Hit [Enter]
• Record the details in a DOC. See Resources tab for suggested text
• Add a note to Column E of the Master list workbook to indicate no further recovery will be possible
• Send a liaison to New Zealand advising them that no further recovery from the customer’s Australian payments will be possible.

Go back to Step 1 to look for the next inconsistency.

Generally a mismatch in balances occurs due to:

• the timing of a manual payment, and/or
• the timing of the generation of the monthly Debt Schedule

They usually resolve themselves the following month, but sometimes a little more investigation is required.

Navigate to the Overpayments List (OPDL) screen and check the outstanding balance as the end of the previous month.

Does the DMIS outstanding balance match the closing balance on the monthly Debt Schedule?

• Yes, the mismatch from last month is now resolved. Delete any note in Column E of the Master list workbook then go back to Step 1 to look for the next inconsistency
• No, go to Step 8

There will be a note in Column E of the Master list workbook if the closing balance on the previous monthly Debt Schedule did not match the outstanding DMIS balance.

If the current monthly Debt Schedule still does not match it indicates a likely issue with the report.

Does a ‘mismatch’ note exist in column E of the Master list workbook?

• Yes, escalate through normal channels
• No, put a note in Column E indicating a mismatch occurred and go back to Step 1 to look for the next inconsistency

There may be a monthly total at the bottom of the deduction amount column in the Debt Schedule. This is calculated when the Schedule is created and will be wrong if changes have been made in earlier steps of the process. For example, if incorrectly recovered FTB payments have been reissued.

If this value exists in the monthly Debt Schedule, and changes have been made (e.g FTB payments have been reissued), correct the amount (use the SUM function).

If there is no value in this column, calculate the total of the column showing the withheld amounts (use the SUM function).

Save the file.

See Excel hints and tips on the Resources page.

Before a Request to Pay can be completed, the agency needs to know how much money in total is being sent to New Zealand.

• Switch into the Master list workbook
• Switch into the worksheet that was copied from the monthly Debt Schedule at Table 2, Step 4
• Calculate the total of the column showing the withheld amounts (use the SUM function)
• Ensure this total is included at the bottom of the column which shows the withheld amounts

For compliance purposes, the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Division needs to be alerted to the transmission of funds in relation to NZ debt recovery.

The Master list includes a worksheet called ‘Payment type tables’, which shows the individual totals for each Australian payment type. These amounts are automatically calculated by the Master spreadsheet.

Before the information can be emailed to the CFO Division, the totals need to be confirmed.

• Switch into the Master list workbook
• Switch into to ‘Payment type tables’ worksheet

Does the ‘Total:’ value on the payment type table match the total amount from Step 2?

• Yes, go to Step 4
• No, escalate through normal channels

The Request to Pay document is used to authorise payment to New Zealand.

• Open a blank ‘RTP – NZ Debt Schedule’ form
• Complete the MONTH: and YEAR: and TOTAL: amount (sum of Deduction Amount column from the monthly Debt Schedule paid in the Master list workbook) to be paid to New Zealand
• Save a copy of the form to the local secure folder, using the agreed naming convention
• Print and sign the form
• Give the original Request to Pay document to Zone Tas Finance

The Resources page has Resources for NZ debt recovery.

• Access the electronic liaison system with New Zealand
• Attach the monthly Debt Schedule (not the Master List workbook) to an 'Australian Debt Recovery Schedule' liaison form
• Complete the liaison and send it to the New Zealand router

This is done via email:

• Send the payment type table (from Step 4) to the CFO mailbox via email:
• Addressee: centrelink.administered.reporting
• Summary line: Debt recovery under Article 19 of the NZ Social Security Agreement
• Text: ‘Outgoing Debt Schedule DyymmddAU has been finalised today. Details as per below’
• Paste into the body of the email the “payment type” table copied above
• Include as an attachment a copy of the “Request to Pay” document

Procedure ends here.