Assessing Dad and Partner Pay (DAP) claims 007-05020000

Customers can claim DAP for a child born or adopted on or after 1 January 2013 and before 1 July 2023. For a child born or adopted on or after 1 July 2023, the 2 weeks (10 payable days) will be rolled into PPL. Fathers and partners will need to claim Paid Parental Leave (PPL).

For DAP to be paid the customer must:

• meet the DAP eligibility requirements
• submit an online claim or lodge a paper claim before the child's first birthday or anniversary of the date the child entered care if adopted (early claims may be lodged up to 3 months (97 days) before the child's expected birth or entry into care)
• provide all information and documentation required to assess the claim

Proof of the child's birth is required for the customer's claim to be finalised.

Proof of the child's birth provided by the DAP claimant or their partner can be used as verification of birth for DAP.

If the person lodging proof of birth is a biological parent of the child, they will need to register or apply to register the child's birth as required by the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registry.

If there is an adoption or surrogacy arrangement and the customer is not a biological parent, they will need to provide evidence of the arrangement.

If a child is stillborn or dies, the Claim for Bereavement Payment form (FA008) including a completed proof of birth page will be used as verification.

In some cases, the customer may be required to provide:

• evidence to support the DAP income test
• evidence to support the DAP work test
• evidence of meeting Australian residence requirements

Customers can provide these documents in person or they can fax or post copies of their evidence (for example, payslips) as originals do not need to be provided.

Customers can lodge a claim for DAP up to 3 months (97 days) before their child's expected date of birth or entry into care.

Claims must be lodged within 52 weeks of the child's birth or entry into care. DAP is not payable after the child's first birthday or the first anniversary of their entrustment into care (for adoptions) or entry into care (for surrogacy arrangements).

This is the date nominated by the customer for their Dad and Partner Pay (DAP) period to start. It can be the date of the child's birth or entry into care, or another date they have nominated.

The nominated start date:

• cannot be before the birth of the child or the entry into care
• must be before 12 months (52 weeks) from the child's date of birth or entry into care date, and
• can be a date in the past

Note: to be paid the full 2 weeks entitlement of DAP, the customer needs to nominate a start date 14 days before the child's first birthday or anniversary of entry into care date.

Customers will still be able to submit a claim for DAP if their child’s expected date of birth or adoption is on or after 1 July 2023. However customers will be advised they may prefer to claim PPL after their child is born or comes into care instead.

Straight through processing is where a claim or service is assessed using criteria to identify if it is suitable for an automated grant outcome.

The system may process pre-birth claims for Dad and Partner Pay (DAP) automatically if they meet certain criteria.

If a claim meets the criteria for an automated assessment, DOCs or Display Notes on the customer's record will show that ROXY has created these.

If it does not meet the business rules for an automatic assessment it will be allocated to staff to manually process.

Customer contact

If a customer asks for an explanation or applies for a formal review of the decision, the Service Officer must enter their own logon as the Decision Maker and the customer's local service centre when running the script.

If the claim was incorrectly granted, give feedback via ROXY.

DAP claims are processed in Process Direct.

Select the Transactions icon to check the status of claim submitted online or using Assisted Customer Claim (ACC). When a Claim for Dad and Partner Pay (FA080) is scanned to the customer's record (viewable in the Documents icon), a Social Application (SOA) shell Work Item is generated. This new claim activity contains no claim information apart from the Customer Reference Number (CRN), personal details and receipt date (date of claim).

• Update claim information manually within the Work Item using information from the FA080 and associated documentation
• Where a paper claim did not create a new claim activity, create a manual SOA shell via the Process Direct Landing page. See Process Direct navigation, common screens and functions for help with SOA shells

For customers overseas, claims are to be transferred to Families International Claims (FIC) to be finalised.

Income support payment customers with a DAP nominated start date in the past may incur an overpayment for any period they were receiving both an income support payment and DAP. Processing staff should contact affected customers and advise they can prevent an overpayment by choosing to delay their nominated start date to date paid to + 1 of their income support payment or another date in the future. Customers need to consider their individual situation and should be advised that any changes of circumstances, such as return to work or receiving paid leave, may impact on their eligibility for DAP.

If it can be determined that continued eligibility for the income support payment has been maintained, the customer will not need to reapply for their income support payment following the end of the DAP period.

DAP is paid at the national minimum wage rate for up to 2 weeks from the customer's nominated start date, after the claim has been granted. For more information, see Rate of Parental Leave Pay (PPL) and Dad and Partner Pay (DAP).

DAP is not subject to income management.

Tax deductions will be applied at a default rate of 15%. Customers may choose to vary the tax rate between the rates of 0-50%. Tax is the only allowable deduction from DAP.

For information about DAP interaction with PPL and other payments, see Eligibility for Dad and Partner Pay (DAP).

Customers could not receive JobKeeper Payment for the same period they receive DAP. Customers needed to provide their start and end date for their DAP period to their employer. Direct the customer to their employer for any enquiries about JobKeeper Payment.

Customers cannot receive a COVID-19 Disaster Payment, Pandemic Leave Disaster Payment or a Disaster Recovery Allowance, if they receive DAP. Some customers may be able to change their DAP start date to another period if they can meet eligibility in a different period. DAP customers have the option of moving their DAP period, see Change of circumstances for Dad and Partner Pay (DAP).