Assisting Indigenous customers to claim family assistance and/or Paid Parental Leave scheme payments 007-01030110

Customer contacts Indigenous Smart Centre Call or a service centre servicing Indigenous customers from remote communities requesting help in claiming one or more of the following payments:

• Family Tax Benefit (FTB) which can include Newborn Supplement (NBS) and Newborn Upfront Payment (NBU) if the customer is not eligible for Parental Leave Pay
• Parental Leave Pay (PPL)
• Stillborn Baby Payment (SBP)

See Claiming Child Care Subsidy (CCS) and Additional Child Care Subsidy (ACCS) for information specific to CCS/ACCS.

Is the customer FTB current?

• Yes, go to Step 2
• No, go to Step 3

When an FTB current customer advises of a change in circumstances and the customer is:

• wanting to claim FTB for an additional child entering care. See Reassessment of Family Tax Benefit (FTB) for a current customer where an additional child enters care in the current or previous financial year
• advising of a change in shared care, see Notification and assessment of shared care arrangements for Family Tax Benefit (FTB)

Procedure ends here.

Search for a pending Online or Assisted Claim (ACC) in:

• Customer First using Search Online Claims under Workspace > Claims Online, or
• Process Direct using the Transactions icon after accessing the record via Customer Summary

Does the customer have a pending Families claim?

• Yes, see Progress of claim – Families claims. Procedure ends here
• No, the customer must be offered the opportunity to complete an online claim. Go to Step 4

Can the customer access and complete an online claim?

• Yes, see Online or Assisted Customer Claim (ACC) for family assistance and Parental Leave Pay (PPL). Procedure ends here
• No, go to Step 5

To be eligible, the customer must:

• reside in a remote Indigenous community whose access to Services Australia is normally via an agent, Remote Service Centre or telephone
• identify as Indigenous, and
• have language or literacy barriers

Is the customer eligible?

• Yes, go to Step 6
• No, see:
  • Claiming family assistance and Parental Leave Pay (PPL) for a newborn child
  • Claiming FTB instalments for children in care other than a newborn or adopted child
  • Initial contact after the death of a dependent child or stillbirth
  • Procedure ends here

Is the customer claiming after a stillbirth or child bereavement?

• Yes, transfer the call to the Families Bereavement and Double Orphan Pension (DOP) Processing team
• No, go to Step 7

Confirm with the customer which payment(s) they are claiming.

Before starting ACC, use the Change in Contact Details workflow to update the customer's:

• name
• address
• telephone, fax and email
• preferred contact method
• personal details

Launch ACC and read each question to the customer, entering their responses as they are provided.

Does the customer have internet access and can they submit their claim online themselves?

• Yes, advise the customer how to submit their claim. Procedure ends here
• No, before ACC can be submitted, a verbal signature declaration is required. See Review and submitting the claim ACC table in Online or Assisted Customer Claim (ACC) for family assistance and Parental Leave Pay (PPL). Procedure ends here