Approved Care Organisations (ACO) 007-01060000

Agencies may be accepted as an ACO if they:

• assist homeless youth
• care for children with an intellectual or physical disability
• care for abused or neglected children
• accommodate young refugees (who qualify as Australian residents) in order to help them adjust to Australian society
• arrange pre-adoptive foster care (such as adoption and foster care agencies)
• provide long term or permanent care for young people with an intellectual, emotional or physical disability (except psychiatric hospitals)

Services Australia may withdraw an approval previously given to an organisation.

Organisations enquiring about approval or withdrawal must be referred to ACO Smart Centre Processing centre.

An ACO may claim:

• Family Tax Benefit (FTB) for a child in their care
• FTB is paid at the same rate per child for all ACOs, regardless of the age of the child. ACOs are eligible for base FTB Part A child rate for each FTB child and in some circumstances may be eligible to receive Energy Supplement Part A
• There is no income test for FTB for ACOs
• An ACO cannot share the care of a child and therefore cannot be paid a part rate of FTB
• Double Orphan Pension (DOP)

An ACO must lodge a claim and is obliged to notify of any changes in circumstances. FTB or DOP is not payable to an ACO for a child receiving a pension, benefit or allowance in his or her own right.

An ACO is not entitled to advance payments of FTB, bereavement payments, Carer Allowance (CA) or payments while a child is overseas.

An ACO is recorded on the system as an organisation. Children in care are linked to the ACO in the same way a child is linked to an individual customer. Payments to the ACO are made fortnightly based on their entitlement period end date.

An ACO cannot be issued a Health Care Card (HCC) for a foster child in their care.

A Low Income Health Care Card (LIC) may be granted to the child where FTB for the child is not being paid to an individual. Because ACOs are not individual persons, a child in an ACO can obtain a low income HCC where the ACO receives FTB for the child, or FTB is not paid for the child. If the child residing with the ACO is an FTB child of a person who cannot be paid FTB for the child because of the income test, the child is not entitled to a LIC. See Low Income Health Care Card (LIC).