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

From 1 January 2016 to 30 June 2018, FTB Part A supplement immunisation requirements apply to all children until the end of the calendar year they turn 19 years of age

Note: from 1 July 2012 to 31 December 2015, FTB Part A supplement immunisation requirements applied to children in the financial year they turned 1, 2 and 5 years of age.

For financial years 2012-13 to 2017-18, a child meets the immunisation 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

If a child meets the immunisation requirements their FTB immunisation status is Yes in the Child Immunisation Summary guided procedure.

In extremely limited cases a Secretary determination exemption from immunisation can be granted which will exempt the child from meeting the immunisation requirements for a prescribed period. These exemptions are recorded as an override and generally do not exempt a child from all vaccinations.

For financial years 2012-13 to 2017-18, the child's immunisation status is checked when FTB Part A is reconciled after the end of the financial year. If the child does not meet the immunisation requirements at this time the FTB Part A supplement is not paid. 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

Note: if a customer has a Centrelink online account and a child who is linked to the AIR and that child does not meet the immunisation requirements, a message will advise the customer that they need to contact their vaccination provider. The customer cannot make any updates within the online service in response to the message.

To check:

• that a child's record is linked with the AIR or to view a child's immunisation status, go to Step 4
• immunisation requirements when the child is deceased, go to Step 2
• immunisation requirements when the customer is deceased, go to Step 3

Immunisation requirements and inclusion of FTB Part A supplement at reconciliation differ for a child who has died since birth.

If a child dies:

• in the relevant FTB financial year, FTB Part A supplement for the relevant child is included in reconciliation, no immunisation requirements apply
• before the end of the lodgement year
• FTB Part A supplement for the relevant child is included in reconciliation, no immunisation requirements apply
• if reconciliation has occurred for the relevant financial year and the customer was not paid due to immunisation requirements not being met, 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 immunisation requirements were not met for the child for the relevant financial year
• no re-reconciliation will occur as it is after the end of the lodgement year
• if FTB is claimed as a lump sum and a special circumstances extension exists, the FTB Part A supplement is included if the child dies before the special circumstances extension end date
• 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 and FTB Part A supplement for the relevant child is included in the reconciliation

Note: there is no requirement to notify the death before the special circumstances extension end date.

FTB bereavement payment may be impacted if the child dies on or after 1 July 2018. See Immunisation requirements for Family Tax Benefit Part A from 1 July 2018

Procedure ends here.

If an FTB customer dies:

• in the relevant FTB financial year, FTB Part A supplement for the relevant child is included in reconciliation, no immunisation requirements will be applied
• before the end of the lodgement year
• FTB Part A supplement for the relevant child is included in reconciliation (no immunisation requirements are applied)
• if reconciliation has occurred for the relevant financial year and the customer was not paid due to immunisation requirements not being met, 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 immunisation requirements have not been met for the child for the relevant financial year, and no re-reconciliation will occur as it is after the end of the lodgement year

Note: there is no requirement to notify the death before the end of the lodgement year.

If the customer dies during the year the child turned 1 year of age, or any subsequent year up to the end of the calendar year the child turned 19 years of age, this would not prevent a new carer from being subject to immunisation requirements for the child.

If the customer is not the child's parent or partner of the child's parent (such as a grandparent, other relative or short-term foster carer) of the child, the immunisation requirements only apply for financial years 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

Periods of care includes periods of shared care and periods when the child was in the care of the customer's partner.

If the customer was partnered with the child's parent on 30 June of the relevant financial year, they will not be assessed as a non-parent carer for the purposes of determining whether immunisation requirements apply for FTB Part A supplement.

Note: If the period of care is unknown (such as where an FTB claim has only be lodged for part of the financial year and the Child Relationship Details (!CHRE) page was not coded for the entire financial year), immunisation requirements will apply.

Non-parent carer rules do not apply for FTB Part A immunisation requirements from 1 July 2018.

Procedure ends here.

The Child Immunisation Summary guided procedure is used to check whether a child's record is linked with the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR), view a child's immunisation status and to view any evidence that the customer has lodged with Centrelink.

If the child's record is not linked with the AIR, see Establish a Family Tax Benefit (FTB) link for a child between Centrelink and the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR).

If the customer is providing immunisation evidence or requesting information about progress see Management of immunisation evidence.

If the customer has already had their FTB reconcile for the relevant financial year. See also: Step 1 in Table 3.

If the customer does not agree with the child's immunisation status, they can check the information held on the AIR on the child's immunisation history statement. The AIR is updated by vaccination providers.

If the customer believes that the AIR needs to be updated they will need to speak to their vaccination provider. If the child was vaccinated overseas, the information must be provided to their vaccination provider who can update the AIR. For more information, see View and update a child's immunisation status and assess or update immunisation exemptions for Family Tax Benefit (FTB).

The FTB Immunisation Status in the Child Immunisation Summary guided procedure displays the FTB Part A supplement immunisation status for financial years prior to 1 July 2018.

If the child's FTB Part A supplement immunisation status for a financial year is:

• Yes, go to Step 2
• Partial (2015-16 FTB milestone only), go to Step 3
• No, go to Step 4
• blank go to Step 5

Advise the customer that their child has met the immunisation requirements for the relevant year. FTB Part A supplement will be assessed at reconciliation.

Customers can view the information held on the AIR for a child on the child's immunisation history statement.

Record details on a DOC.

Procedure ends here.

Advise the customer that if a child does not meet the immunisation requirements for their 2015-16 FTB age milestone, they may be eligible for a partial payment for the period 1 July to31 December 2015 as previous immunisation requirements had been met or did not apply because:

• the child did not turn 1, 2 or 5 years of age during the 2015-16 financial year and was not subject to immunisation requirements before 1 January 2016, or
• the child turned 1, 2 or 5 years of age and was exempt from immunisation requirements before 1 January 2016 because a parent/carer had registered a vaccination objection

This means that the supplement can only be included for the child for days on or before 31 December 2015. It will not be included for any days after 1 January 2016 to 30 June 2018.

If the child meets the FTB Part A supplement immunisation requirements and Services Australia is notified before the end of the allowable timeframe, the FTB Part A supplement can be included in the reconciliation.

Go to Step 6

Advise the customer that the child does not meet the FTB Part A supplement immunisation requirements for the relevant financial year. The FTB Part A supplement will not be included in the reconciliation calculation.

An alert will appear in the customer's online account and express plus mobile app. Information about immunisation will be also included on reconciliation letters.

If the child subsequently meets the FTB Part A supplement immunisation requirements and Services Australia is notified:

• before the end of the lodgement year, FTB Part A will re-reconcile and the FTB Part A supplement will be included
• after the end of the lodgement year, FTB Part A will re-reconcile and the FTB Part A supplement will not be included

Go to Step 6.

A child's FTB Part A supplement immunisation status will be blank if the child is not linked or the milestone for the relevant year is in the future. The FTB Part A supplement will not pay for the relevant financial year because the child's immunisation status is unknown.

Investigate if the child may have been incorrectly linked to the wrong record on the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR).

Refer to a Families override contact to correct a link established in error.

In extremely limited cases, an immunisation override may be required.

This includes when:

• a child (who has been vaccinated outside of Australia) remains overseas at reconciliation
• a child is up to date with their vaccinations, but the immunisation status is not received from the AIR until after the end of the lodgement year, or
• a Secretary determination exemption from immunisation has been granted

Is an immunisation override required to update the child's immunisation status?

• Yes, see View and update a child's immunisation status and assess or update immunisation exemptions for Family Tax Benefit (FTB)
• No:
• Advise the customer the child does not currently meet the immunisation requirements
• Record details on a DOC

If a customer has had their FTB reconcile for the previous financial year, Service Officers can use the FTB and CCB Reconciliation workflow to confirm whether FTB Part A supplement has been impacted by immunisation requirements.

Note: the workflow can only be used for 2010-11 onwards. See also: Enquiries about Family Tax Benefit (FTB) reconciliation or lump sum claim.

Select:

• Workspace Families Benefits
• FTB and CCB Reconciliation
• the financial year to view

The twisty next to AMR field expands to provide key events information.

Select the AMR field to go to the FTB Reconciliation Summary page

This page contains Supplement Information for Part A and Part B supplements.

If the child's eligibility for the FTB Part A supplement has been impacted due to not meeting immunisation requirements, 'Immunisation Requirements not met' will display under Reduction Factors.

Select FTB Calculation Result for a detailed breakdown.

The Resources page contains screen shot to locate the FTB Calculation Result.

This page gives a detailed breakdown of the individual reconciliation periods.

Select FTB Child Eligibility Summary. This will display for that reconciliation period:

• whether a child is subject to immunisation requirements
• if Immunisation Requirements Met, and
• Immunisation Reason

The Resources page contains a screen shot of the summary.

If the customer believes their child's immunisation status is incorrect, see View and update a child's immunisation status and assess or update immunisation exemptions for Family Tax Benefit (FTB).