Immunisation requirements for Family Tax Benefit (FTB) Part A from 1 July 2018 007-18043002

From 1 July 2018 onwards, a child's immunisation status affects the rate of FTB Part A payable for the child.

Immunisation for Family Tax Benefit (FTB)

For shared care purposes, FTB Part A immunisation requirements apply to each caregiver. This may affect the rate of FTB Part A for the child for all carers. Parent and non-parent carers are treated the same.

Child under 3 months of age

There are no immunisation requirements for children under 3 months of age.

The system will attempt to link the child with the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR). However, immunisation status will not be received until after the child turns 3 months of age.

A FTB Part A rate reduction will apply to children who do not meet the immunisation requirements. The rate reduction continues until requirements are met.

The Resources page contains a link to the Childhood schedule on the Department of Health and Aged Care's Website.

For information on how to meet immunisation requirements, see Immunisation for Family Tax Benefit (FTB).

For immunisation requirements before 30 June 2018, see Immunisation requirements for Family Tax Benefit Part A supplement for financial years 2012-13 to 2017-18.

Is the customer:

• receiving FTB instalments, go to Item 2
• in an FTB immunisation grace period, go to Item 3
• claiming a lump sum, go to Item 4
• FTB assessed for a deceased child, go to Item 5

Customers who receive FTB Part A as instalments will have the child's immunisation status checked each day. This includes those on zero rate, or with a payment choice in place.

Correction to a child's immunisation status

If a correction occurs when it is determined that the child did meet immunisation requirements before the end of the grace period:

• the period will re-assess, and
• repay any FTB Part A reduction amount applied incorrectly to the customer as arrears

If a child does not meet immunisation requirements, the customer has 63 days to meet immunisation requirements.

This 63 day period is referred to as the FTB immunisation grace period. During the FTB immunisation grace period the FTB Part A rate reduction is not applied. FTB immunisation grace periods apply to FTB instalment customers.

Where they do not meet the requirements, the customer will get a letter. They will have 63 days to take action. Action may include:

• attending a vaccination provider to become up to date
• providing the child’s Medicare details if there is no link with the Australian Immunisation Register, or
• confirming child details such as, date of birth and correct spelling of the child's name

Before the end of the grace period, if the child:

• meets immunisation requirements:
• the grace period will end from the date the child meets the immunisation requirements, and
• an FTB Part A rate reduction will not apply
• does not meet immunisation requirements:
• An FTB Part A rate reduction due to immunisation will start from the day after the end of the grace period, and
• At end of year FTB reconciliation, an FTB Part A rate reduction will apply to the FTB Part A rate payable for the child for the days in the grace period. This may result in an overpayment for the customer determined at reconciliation

The FTB immunisation grace period will show in Customer First in the:

• Child Immunisation Summary guided procedure, or
• the FTB Immunisation Rate Reduction Explanation (FIRRE) screen

If the child does not meet immunisation requirements because their AIR status is:

• 'No' (not met), the child must attend their vaccination provider
• unknown, their record must be linked with the AIR

Note: if a link has been attempted and is unsuccessful, a mismatch will be returned.

If a customer's FTB cancels during the immunisation grace period and is later restored, a new immunisation grace period will start.

Grace periods longer than 63 days

In some cases a child's grace period can be longer than 63 days. This could be as a result of one of the following occurrences:

• Grace period start or end date falls on a weekend or public holiday. Therefore, the grace period start or end date applies to the next business day
• The grace period did not start or end on the intended date. This caused by:
• A possible outstanding activity on the customer record, or
• The result of a user locked in the record. This causing the relevant grace period received to not mature and commence, or to end the grace period

Customers who have served a full grace period, will have the entire grace period included in reconciliation. This includes grace periods lasting longer than 63 days.

If a customer is serving a grace period on 30 June, FTB reconciliation will not occur until the child meets the immunisation requirements or the FTB immunisation grace period ends (whichever occurs first).

If a child has had more than one grace period

A child may have incurred more than one grace period during the relevant year. This can be as a result of either:

• the child not being up to date for more than one immunisation milestone (for example, catch up schedule), or
• the customer may have provided incorrect Medicare details for the child numerous times resulting in multiple awaiting (AWA) status'

If the child is not linked with the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) and/or child is currently mismatched, see Establish a Family Tax Benefit (FTB) link for a child between Centrelink and the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR).

The Resources page contains examples of FTB immunisation grace period assessments.

When determining FTB lump sum claims, the system will check the child's immunisation status.

A child's immunisation status may be unknown if there is no link to the AIR. The claim will remain pending for 14 days while the system re-attempts to link.

If the child does not meet immunisation requirements on this date, the FTB Part A rate reduction will apply to each day in the lump sum claim period.

If the customer has already claimed or received FTB for the same period and the claim is not adding children, see Not effective claims or withdrawal of claim for Family Tax Benefit or Stillborn Baby Payment.

Correcting a child's immunisation status

If a correction occurs that results in the child meeting the requirements on the day of the lump sum determination:

• the period will re-assess, and
• repay any FTB Part A arrears to the customer

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

The Resources page contains examples of how to assess immunisation requirements for lump sum claims from 2018.

For financial years before 2018-19, immunisation requirements linked to payment of the end of year FTB Part A supplement. See Immunisation requirements for Family Tax Benefit Part A supplement for financial years 2012-13 to 2017-18.

There are no FTB immunisation grace periods for FTB lump sum or past periods.

A deceased child meets the immunisation requirements from the date of death. Any FTB Part A reduction occurring after the date of death will be reassessed:

• when the child's death is recorded, and
• the FTB bereavement payment is calculated

If the FTB customer dies, the child's new carer will be subject to immunisation requirements for the child.

The Immunisation Status in the Child Immunisation Summary guided procedure in Customer First displays the FTB immunisation status.

Obtaining a child's immunisation status

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.

If a child's record is not linked with the AIR, the customer must provide their child's Medicare number and Individual Reference Number (IRN) as part of the new claim for FTB. A manual matching process applies for children not enrolled or ineligible for enrolment with Medicare.

To link a child's record with the AIR, see Establish a Family Tax Benefit (FTB) link for a child between Centrelink and the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR).

The customer does not need to provide evidence of immunisation with Services Australia due to the link between Centrelink and the AIR.

If the customer is providing immunisation evidence or requesting information about progress, see Management of immunisation evidence. In limited circumstances, customers may provide other evidence directly to the agency for an assessment not handled by the AIR (for example, Secretary determination exemption).

The customer must speak with their vaccination provider:

• to update the AIR:
• if they believe the AIR status is incorrect, or
• if the child was vaccinated overseas
• if they have questions or concerns about specific vaccinations

Overrides

There may be a need for a FTB immunisation override. This may occur where the system has not correctly assessed the:

• child's immunisation status, or
• date from which that status can apply

Overrides can only be recorded by a Families override contact.

For more information, see View and update a child's immunisation status and assess or update immunisation exemptions for Family Tax Benefit (FTB).

Use the Child Immunisation Summary guided procedure in Customer First to:

• check if a child's record links with the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR)
• view a child's immunisation status, and
• view any evidence the customer has lodged with Centrelink

Open the Child Immunisation Summary guided procedure via Workspace > Families Benefits > Child Immunisation Summary

Children's records link with the AIR to confirm whether a child meets the immunisation requirements.

FTB Part A rate reduction is applied to the rate of FTB Part A that can be paid for a child that does not meet immunisation requirements.

The FTB Part A rate reduction for:

• Instalment customers - continues until the child meets immunisation requirements
• FTB lump sum claims is applied to all of the days in the FTB lump sum claim if the child does not meet immunisation requirements within the 14 day pending period
• Past period - is applied to all of the days in the FTB past period if the child did not meet immunisation requirements on the date the past period is being assessed. FTB immunisation grace periods do not apply when FTB past periods are being assessed

FTB Part A rate reduction displays on the FTB Assessment Explanation (AXFTB) screen. See Viewing child eligibility details on the Assessment Explanation (AX) and Assessment Details (ASDT) screens.

The FTB Immunisation Rate Reduction Explanation (FIRRE) screen in Customer First displays information about a child's immunisation status, including:

• whether they are serving an FTB immunisation grace period
• the start and end date of their FTB immunisation grace period
• the start date of any FTB Part A reductions that may be in place

To access this screen, enter 'FIRRE' in Nxt and select the relevant child to display the information.

If a child is non-compliant for both immunisation and Healthy Start for School on a day, 1 rate reduction applies. In these cases the FTB Part A rate reduction will appear as 'HSFS Redn applies' on the assessment status.

FTB will not cancel if a customer's rate of FTB reduces to zero because of an FTB Part A rate reduction. This could be due to not meeting immunisation requirements. The customer’s FTB status will be Current Zero Rate – Income Nil Rate (CZR-INR).

See Cancellation, rejection and Current Zero Rate codes for Family Tax Benefit (FTB).