Claiming family assistance and Parental Leave Pay (PPL) for a newborn child 007-01010100

A customer contacts about claiming PPL and/or FTB including Newborn Supplement (NBS) and Newborn Upfront Payment (NBU) after the birth of a child (or a child under 1 year of age entering their care).

Separate procedures apply for customers claiming:

• for a child entering care as part of an adoption process or surrogacy arrangement
• for a child leaving care as part of an adoption process or surrogacy arrangement
• after a stillbirth
• after the death of a child (including soon after birth)
• and their current partner is FTB/CUR

PPL/NBS choice

Customers not eligible for PPL or who do not claim PPL will have their NBS/NBU entitlement automatically assessed with FTB.

PPL and NBS cannot both be paid for the same child (for multiple births, PPL can be paid for 1 child and the higher rate of NBS/NBU for the other children). Note: in the event there is a significant delay between the births of the children from the same pregnancy, for example 5 days apart, the births may be considered separate birth events and not part of a multiple birth. In these instances, PPL may be payable for each child. Service Officers must refer these PPL claims to the Level 2 Policy Helpdesk with a letter from the attending doctor/midwife confirming the children were of the same pregnancy but born in separate birthing events.

If a customer or their partner claims or intends to claim PPL, and it is correctly coded NBS/NBU will not be paid. The 'Intent to claim PPL' indicator will show 'Yes' on the:

• Newborn Supplement Questionnaire (!NBSQ) screen in Customer First
• Newborn Supplement Questionnaire (NBSQ) screen in Process Direct

If a customer or their partner does not claim PPL or is not eligible, NBS/NBU eligibility will be automatically assessed with a customer's FTB claim.

For more information, see Claim choice for a newborn or adopted child.

FTB Current customer

Customer wants to add the newborn child to their current FTB record. For more information, see Providing proof of birth in Proof of Birth Lodgement table in Helping customers provide proof of a child's birth for family assistance, Child Care Subsidy (CCS) and Paid Parental Leave scheme claims.

Service Officers must use the correct date of receipt and the correct date of event when coding and processing claims. This date can sometimes differ from the 'capture date' used to confirm the date of a claim which has been scanned.

Staff can confirm the correct date of receipt from:

• Document Tools in Customer First
• Documents icon in Process Direct

This allows a search for all documents in the ECRM Environment and displays both the 'date of receipt' and the 'capture date'.

The customer may have made an early claim pending proof of the child's birth or confirmation of entry into care), or the customer may have to provide additional information/documentation for their claim to be assessed.

For children born or adopted before 1 July 2023:

• For Parental Leave Pay (PPL) to be paid from the date of birth or entry into care, the customer must lodge an effective claim with their child’s proof of birth/entry into care details within 28 days of the birth/entry into care
• The 28 day period commences the day after the date of birth/entry into care. If the customer lodges their claim or provides the required information after the 28 days, the earliest possible PPL period start date is the date of claim

For children born or adopted on or after 1 July 2023:

• Where a customer claims Parental Leave Pay proof or birth or entry into care must be provided within 56 days of the child’s birth or entry into care otherwise the claim will be made Not Effective
• If proof or birth or entry into care is provided, a customer can have their PPL days backdated up to 100 days in the past, but not before the child’s date of birth or entry into care

To view pre-birth/entry claims that have been assessed pending finalisation, in Customer First select Quick Links > Family Summary > Early Claim Information.

For post-birth/entry claims,

• in Customer First check the Activity List (AL) screen
• In Process Direct check the Transaction icon

For paper claims, make sure missing information is requested and the claim is not finalised until the customer has been given the required time to provide this information.

If an early claim has been assessed, this is indicated by a status of assessed or pending.

To provide help to customers who meet the definition of a family in crisis, or a family experiencing financial hardship. See Helping customer in crisis or financial hardship claim family assistance.

If the customer is requesting urgent claim processing but does not meet the definition of a family in crisis or a family experiencing financial hardship, see Progress of claim – Families claims.

Is a claim in progress?

• Yes, advise the customer what they must provide for their claim to be finalised. Go to Step 7
• No, go to Step 3

Encourage customers to complete an online claim for family assistance and/or PPL. This is the preferred service offer and provides customers with a streamlined claim experience. Note: customers can only make a correct claim on their own record, not the record of their partner.

Use the online rate estimator options to calculate their potential FTB entitlement.

Issue a Save time - claim online (11593). Offer On-site Self Services.

Promote online accounts, but note that for some customers, it may be unreasonable to claim online.

Customers with language difficulties may need help with completing their online or paper claim.

Extra assistance is available to help remote Indigenous customers claiming family assistance and PPL.

Note: nominees do not have access to lodge online claims (with the exception of Child Care Subsidy (CCS) claims). Therefore, correspondence nominees are to be offered an Assisted Customer Claim (ACC) if available when they want to apply for a families payment on behalf of their principal. If they decline ACC or it is not available, then a paper-based claim form will need to be issued.

If the customer is not already registered for online services, see How users create a myGov account and link services.

Is it reasonable for the customer to claim online?

• Yes, make sure the customer has 'active' online account access before directing them to claim online. Advise the customer that when they submit the online claim, they may be requested to provide further information or documentation
• No,
• a Claim for Parental Leave Pay and Family Tax Benefit (FA100) can be issued to the customer
• use the Mail Forms workflow in Customer First to issue FA100

For a customer's claim to be finalised, proof of the child's birth is required unless it has already been provided.

Customers can provide proof of birth online when completing an online claim or by uploading the document after lodging a claim. If the customer is accessing the ‘Add newborn child’ service to finalise their pre-birth claim, proof of birth must be provided as part of Next Steps unless an approved claim submission exception reason is met.

For a newborn child, the easiest way to provide proof of birth is to go online and upload the Doctor/Midwife Proof of birth declaration on the back page of the Newborn Child Declaration (FA081) issued by the hospital/midwife. Parents who have lost the FA081 must provide other acceptable proof of the child's birth and must lodge a separate Medicare enrolment application.

Note: customers who have participated in the Newborn Enrolment Trial may not be required to upload the FA081. To finalise their claim however, these customers must complete the Add Newborn or Add Child service to confirm the Electronic Proof of Birth details are correct.

See Helping customers provide proof of a child's birth for family assistance, Child Care Subsidy (CCS) and Paid Parental Leave scheme claims.

When claiming, customers must indicate which payments they wish to claim.

If the customer is claiming PPL, it is important they are aware:

• of the time limits for claiming the maximum PPL period
• PPL is treated as income for calculating the rate of income support payments

Information/ documents required

PPL claims:

• date of birth
• proof of birth/ entry into care
• notification of birth registration
• Australian residence details (documents may be required)
• employer details, where relevant (customers should discuss with their employer and obtain correct Australian Business Number (ABN) and contact details to use for their PPL claim). See Role of the employer in Parental Leave Pay (PPL)
• PPL work test details (evidence to support the PPL work test may be required)
• PPL income test details (evidence to support the PPL income test may be required)
• Tax file numbers
• payment destination details
• For children born or adopted before 1 July 2023:
• primary care details
• Nominated start date for Parental Leave Pay
• For children born or adopted on or after 1 July 2023:

For birth mothers - approval to claim and approval to share days will be required for the:

• partner of the birth mother
• other parent
• partner of the other parent

For adoption, where there is:

• one adoptive parent, they must give approval to claim and approval to share PPL days to any other claimant (that is, partner of the adoptive parent)
• 2 adoptive parents, the first adoptive parent to claim must give approval to share PPL days to the other adoptive parent. They do not need to give approval to claim
• PPL work test details from the birth mother or first adoptive parent is required for the:
• partner of the birth mother
• other parent, or
• the partner of the other parent

Family assistance claims:

• date of birth and primary care details
• proof of birth/ entry into care
• information about previous children (to determine the correct rate for NBS)
• proof of Australian residence
• income details
• Tax File Number
• payment destination details
• lease agreement or Rent Certificate
• notification of birth registration by parents for NBS
• Medicare details (if the child is not being enrolled in Medicare as part of this claim) or the reason Medicare details have not been provided. This information is used to establish a link with the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) to receive the child’s immunisation status

Customers claiming FTB for a child from a previous relationship must be advised of the requirement to take initial action to obtain child support. Customers can claim for a newborn who has not yet been named. However, this may indicate the customer has not yet applied to register the child's birth. The child's first name is to be listed as 'Newborn' and the chosen name followed up. See Linking a child to a customer's record.

See:

• Receipt of claims, forms and documentation for family assistance
• Pre-processing checks for standalone and combined claims for family assistance and/or Paid Parental Leave payments
• Processing proof of a child's birth