Immunisation requirements for Family Tax Benefit (FTB) Part A supplement for financial years 2012-13 to 2017-18 007-11010040

For financial years 2012-13 to 2017-18 it is a condition for payment of the FTB Part A supplement that immunisation requirements are met for each age milestone.

From 1 January 2016 to 30 June 2018, these immunisation requirements apply until the end of the calendar year that a child turns 19 years of age.

From 1 July 2012 to 31 December 2015, these immunisation requirements apply only to children in the financial year that they turned 1, 2 and 5 years of age.

From 1 July 2018 onwards, FTB immunisation requirements are linked to the rate of FTB Part A. See Immunisation requirements for Family Tax Benefit from 1 July 2018.

Immunisation requirements also apply to Child Care Subsidy (CCS) and Child Care Benefit (CCB).

Note: exceptions apply to some non-parent carers or if a customer or child is deceased.

The Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) is responsible for the assessment of a child's immunisation status.

Customers are not required to provide documentary evidence of a child's immunisation history to Centrelink.

A child meets the immunisation requirements when their FTB immunisation status on the Child Immunisation Summary guided procedure is displayed as Yes for the relevant milestone. This status is provided by the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) which is updated by the child's vaccination provider each time the child receives a vaccination.

A child meets the requirements if they:

• are up to date with vaccinations appropriate to their age, listed in the Childhood schedule on the Department of Health and Aged Care's National Immunisation Program Schedule - these vaccinations are typically given to children under 5 years of age
• are on a suitable catch-up schedule according to the current Australian Immunisation Handbook
• have an approved medical exemption from immunisation which has been recorded on the AIR, or
• have an exemption from the immunisation requirements (in extremely limited circumstances)

The Resources page contains a link to the Childhood schedule on the Department of Health and Aged Care website. Note: school age and adolescent vaccinations on the school programs schedule (such as the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine) are not included.

If a child has missed vaccinations on the Childhood schedule, they will meet the immunisation requirements if they start and remain up to date on a suitable catch-up schedule according to the current Australian Immunisation Handbook. The child's vaccination provider will update the AIR with the appropriate information, including when the next vaccination is due. The child will meet the immunisation requirements as long as they remain up to date according to this schedule.

Centrelink Service Officers must not discuss specific vaccinations or vaccination schedules with customers. If a customer has questions about specific vaccinations or concerns about vaccinations, they should be referred to their vaccination provider.

Immunisation requirements are met if one of the following medical exemptions is recorded on the AIR:

• medical exemption due to medical contraindication or natural immunity - these are recorded on the AIR by the child's general practitioner, paediatrician, public health physician, infectious disease physician or clinical immunologist
• temporary unavailability of a vaccine - these are notified by the AIR

Generally, exemptions from immunisation are managed and recorded by the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR).

Customers must be referred to their child's general practitioner if there is a medical reason why a child cannot be fully immunised.

In extremely limited cases a child may also meet the immunisation requirements if a Secretary Determination exemption from immunisation applies. These exemptions are assessed on a case-by-case basis and are recorded as an immunisation override by a Families override contact following approval from the Level 2 Policy Helpdesk.

Note: these exemptions are recorded for a prescribed timeframe and generally do not exempt a child from all vaccinations.

From 1 January 2016, vaccination objections are no longer an acceptable exemption to meeting immunisation requirements.

An FTB immunisation override may be required in limited circumstances if a child's immunisation status, or the date from which that status can be applied, is not correctly assessed by the system. Immunisation overrides can only be applied for a prescribed period of time.

Overrides can only be recorded by a Families override contact.

Child remains overseas at reconciliation override

This override can be recorded if a child has received vaccinations overseas and remains overseas at FTB reconciliation. As the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) can only be updated by Australian vaccination providers, the overseas vaccinations will not be included in the child's immunisation status.

The customer must provide written evidence of the overseas vaccinations from the child's health provider. If the child has received at least one of the vaccinations for their age milestone they are taken to meet the immunisation requirements.

This evidence must not be referred to the AIR. To update the AIR with details of vaccinations received overseas, the customer must provide this evidence to their Australian vaccination provider upon their return to Australia. The vaccination provider can then update the AIR.

A child's immunisation status is obtained by linking the child's Centrelink record with the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR). This is done by using the Medicare Information (MEI) screen to request a link with the AIR. Once the link is established the AIR will provide the child's immunisation status.

If a child's record was not linked with the AIR, the customer was asked to provide their child's Medicare number and Individual Reference Number (IRN) as part of the new claim for FTB. A reminder letter was sent before the end of financial year reconciliation if the child's record was not linked.

A manual matching process applies for children who are not enrolled or are not eligible for enrolment with Medicare. See Establish a Family Tax Benefit (FTB) link for a child between Centrelink and the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) .

In limited circumstances, customers may provide other evidence directly to Services Australia for an assessment which is not handled by the AIR (for example, Secretary Determination exemption).

If a customer wants to update the immunisation status held on the AIR they must take evidence to their vaccination provider who will update the AIR if appropriate. This includes cases where a child has received vaccinations overseas or where an immunisation history is incomplete.

Customers have until the end of the lodgement year to meet immunisation requirements for a child and for the Australian Immunisation Register to notify Services Australia.

If immunisation requirements are met after the end of the lodgement year, the FTB Part A supplement will not be payable.

Note: if a Secretary initiated review:

• takes place more than 52 weeks after the date of decision, and
• results in a retrospective change of the immunisation requirements from a No to a Yes, then
• the DOE can be no earlier than 1 July of the financial year prior to the date of the determination

This limiting provision does not apply to reassessments where there is change to the income details from either:

• the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), or
• Child Support

Notification that a child meets the immunisation requirements should be lodged by the recognised vaccination provider. Where the vaccination provider is unable to provide an update before the end of the lodgement period, notification may be lodged by the claimant, or another carer with Services Australia. Notification may be verbal and is separate to evidence of immunisation.

Shared care

Where the care of an FTB child is shared during the financial year in which the child is subject to FTB Part A supplement immunisation requirements, the requirements apply to each care-giver and may affect the FTB Part A supplement relating to the child for all carers.

If there is a shared care arrangement in place during a financial year, and the child:

• does not meet FTB Part A supplement immunisation requirements for the financial year milestone, none of their carers will be eligible to receive the FTB Part A supplement during the relevant financial year (unless the bereavement or non-parent carer conditions apply)
• meets FTB Part A supplement immunisation requirements for the financial year milestone, all claimants will have the FTB Part A supplement included in their reconciliation calculation, not just the carer who obtained the medical exemption or provided immunisation evidence

Non-parent carers

If the FTB customer is a non-parent carer (such as a grandparent, other relative or short-term foster carer) of the child, the immunisation requirements only apply for a financial year if the child was in their care:

• on 30 June of the relevant year, and
• for at least 182 days (not necessarily consecutive) in the relevant year

If a child dies:

• during the relevant FTB financial year, immunisation requirements do not apply. FTB Part A supplement for the relevant child is included in the reconciliation
• during the lodgement year, immunisation requirements do not apply to the relevant financial year. If reconciliation had already completed, re-reconciliation would occur when the death is reported and FTB Part A supplement will be included as immunisation requirements no longer apply
• after the end of the lodgement year, FTB Part A supplement for the child will remain excluded if the immunisation requirements for the relevant financial year have not been met
• and the FTB bereavement period extends into the subsequent FTB financial year, immunisation requirements do not apply to the year of death or the subsequent year. FTB Part A supplement for the relevant child is included in the reconciliation

There is no requirement to notify Services Australia of the death before the end of the lodgement year.

If an FTB customer dies before the end of the lodgement year, FTB Part A immunisation requirements do not apply to the relevant year or lodgement year for that customer.

New carers are subject to the immunisation requirements for the child.

Customers can view the information held on the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) for a child on their Immunisation history statement. Customers will receive FTB immunisation reviews and reminder letters if their child does not meet immunisation requirements. See Immunisation reviews and reminders for Family Tax Benefit (FTB).

Complaints or feedback about immunisation requirements must only be recorded as a request for a review of a decision if related to the delivery of a Centrelink payment.

Customers can request a review of a decision that has been made about their payments such as non-payment of Family Tax Benefit (FTB) Part A supplement. The customer's letter will include 'If you do not agree with a decision we have made' on the reverse if it contains information about a decision that can be reviewed. Note: FTB May mail-out immunisation reminder cannot be reviewed.

Reviews should not be recorded for:

• decisions that have not yet been made, such as FTB Part A supplement non-payment when reconciliation has not yet occurred
• general complaints regarding the legislation, or
• customers only seeking an explanation of a decision or the legislation

Customers should contact their vaccination provider if they have a complaint or feedback about their child's immunisation status on the AIR.

Addressing legislative complaints

If the customer has a complaint or feedback about legislation that is not related to the delivery of their payment, they should be directed to the Australian Government Department of Social Services website.

Addressing a decision a customer believes is incorrect

For the FTB Part A supplement, customers have until the end of the lodgement year to meet the immunisation requirements and still be eligible for the supplement.

If the child's immunisation status is not up-to-date, as they are not currently linked to the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR), the link should be established so the child's immunisation status can be checked.

For more information on linking - see Establish a Family Tax Benefit (FTB) link for a child between Centrelink and the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR)

The Resources page contains a link to helpful responses to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).

Record customer complaints in Customer Feedback Tool

So that complaints about immunisation requirements can be tracked, record them in the Customer Feedback Tool via Customer First, using the following codes:

Service Detail 2: Families

Service Detail 3: Immunisation status

For more information about recording complaints in the Customer Feedback Tool, see Recording complaints and feedback in the Customer Feedback Tool.

On 1 January 2016, immunisation requirements were extended and some exemptions removed. This means that two sets of rules were applied during the 2015-16 financial year.

Pre-1 January 2016 rules will be applied when reconciling the FTB Part A supplement for the period 1 July - 31 December 2015 and extended immunisation requirements will be applied for the period 1 January - 30 June 2016.

If a child's 2015-16 FTB immunisation status on the Child Immunisation Summary guided procedure displays as Partial, the child is not currently up to date and does not meet the immunisation requirements from 1 January 2016. This means they will only be eligible for a partial supplement (for days on or before 31 December 2015). They will not be eligible for the supplement for any days after 1 January 2016 unless requirements are met by the end of the lodgement year.