Processing Dad and Partner Pay (DAP) claims 007-05020010

When an individual submits a claim online, a new claim Work Item is created on their record so the claim can be allocated for processing.

DAP claims are processed in Process Direct.

The Assisted Customer Claims (ACC) workflow is used to enter information collected from a customer over the phone or face-to-face.

Some remote Indigenous customers or families in crisis may have completed a claim with a Service Officer using ACC. The customer will need to accept the Verbal Signature Declaration or sign and return the Families Declaration Form (FDF) issued via ACC so their claim can be submitted.

Service Officers will:

• check all required information and documents is available to allow the claim to be finalised
• request extra information/documents from the customer if required (the extra information can often be obtained by phone), see Requesting information (CLK) for more information

When a Claim for Dad and Partner Pay (FA080) is scanned to the customer's record, 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 the receipt date (date of claim).

• Claim information needs to be manually updated within the Work Item using information from the scanned claim and associated documentation
• Where a paper claim did not create a new claim activity, a SOA shell must be manually created via the Process Direct Landing page

Claims must be coded and processed using the correct date of receipt (DOR). The DOR is the first date the customer's claim was received. The DOR can sometimes differ from the 'capture date'. Staff can confirm the correct date in Documents in Process Direct. This screen displays the 'date of receipt' and 'capture date'.

If a DAP pre-birth claim has been assessed (DAP/PND-POB), proof of the child's birth is required for the claim to be finalised.

If the customer's partner or another person provides proof of the child's birth (FA081) and is claiming PPL and/or Family Tax Benefit (FTB), the DAP claim should be finalised at the same time.

When proof of birth is provided, the child needs to be linked to the DAP pre-birth claim via a reassessment activity (where the DAP claim is not automatically finalised as part of their partner's post-birth PPL claim finalisation). Ensure that an exhaustive search has been done to find any existing child record. This will minimise the risk of creating multiple records.

If the customer has lodged an incomplete FA081 or only the back page of the FA081 and has not lodged an online or paper claim, the customer must be contacted to collect the missing information. The incomplete FA081 can be printed by the Service Officer and sent to the customer to complete. If their details and their newborn child's details have been provided on the FA081 it may be appropriate to collect the missing information verbally from the customer. This will ensure the correct child details are applied to their record.

Customers in receipt of an income support payment (ISP) may incur an overpayment if their DAP nominated start date is in the past. DAP is treated as income when calculating the rate of payment for ISP.

If the customer submitted a DAP pre-birth claim for a child whose expected date of birth or adoption was before 1 July 2023 and the child's actual date of birth or adoption is on or after 1 July 2023, the DAP claim will be rejected once proof of birth/entry to care is provided. The rejection letter will invite the customer to claim PPL. See Eligibility for Parental Leave for children born or entering care on or after 1 July 2023.

If the customer is overseas or departing to go overseas within 21 days of lodging the claims, transfer the claim to Families International Claims (FIC) to be finalised.

A DAP customer must be an eligible father or partner to receive DAP. Birth mothers are not eligible for DAP.

If the DAP customer's relationship to the child cannot be established from the claim details, the Service Officer will need to contact the customer to determine what relationship the customer has to the child, for example surrogacy arrangement or commissioning parent.