Determining if notification of a debt to an assurer can be delayed while the assuree seeks refuge from family and domestic violence 003-12050030

An assuree has applied for income support from Services Australia and is claiming that:

• they are escaping a situation of family and domestic violence, and
• they are fearful of the assurer's reaction to them claiming payments

It is recognised that the advice of an anticipated debt to the assurer may be dangerous in certain family and domestic violence situations.

The intention of this procedure is to delay notification of a debt to the assurer(s) while the assuree seeks refuge from family and domestic violence. These customers should be referred to a social worker.

Has the assuree already been granted income support and the 3 month review is up?

• Yes, go to Step 6
• No, go to Step 2

The social worker will:

• discuss the assuree’s circumstances before any contact with the assurer is made. During discussions with the assure ask the Family & Domestic Violence Risk Identification Question
• assess the customer's current situation and risk of a family and domestic violence incident if the assurer is contacted
• seek third party verification of the circumstances (where possible) and offer appropriate support

Does the social worker assess that contact with the assurer is reasonable?

• Yes, go to Step 3
• No, go to Step 4

• Advise the Service Officer to issue the Module AR and Q041
• To avoid disclosing the location of the assuree, any contact or correspondence must be issued from the assurer's local service centre, not the service centre where the assuree has claimed
• Assuree's claim will proceed as per normal rules

Procedure ends here.

• Record a DOC on the assuree's and assurer's records with the decision not to contact assurer at claim
• Before the claim for a recoverable payment is granted, contact the Assurance of Support helpdesk and advise it has been assessed that the assuree is affected by family and domestic violence
• Arrange with the AoS team to suppress AoS correspondence to the assurer for 3 months to give the assuree time to relocate

• Record a DOC the on the assuree's records to indicate there are family and domestic violence concerns. See Table 2 Step 13 of Family and domestic violence. Note: do not record a DOC on the assurer’s record as this may increase the risk of family and domestic violence to the assuree.
• Update the AoS record to suppress any letters to assurer for the first 3 months
• Make sure that before the end of the first 3 month interval, a social worker is consulted again to confirm whether it is now reasonable to contact the assurer
• The claim should not proceed until the AoS team has completed their initial coding

Procedure ends here.

In most cases, an initial 3 month period is enough time for the assuree to safely relocate so that they are not vulnerable or at risk of further violence to an adverse reaction from the assurer.

However, if following another assessment at the end of this initial 3 month period the social worker anticipates continued risk to the assuree should the assurer receive notification. The social worker may request the AoS team to suppress advices for up to, but no more than, a further 3 months.

Six months is the maximum period that the assurer can go without being notified of their accruing AoS debt. It is important to remember the assurer must be notified of this accruing debt, and notification delays may increase risk to the assuree.

If there are exceptional circumstances including ongoing risk of family and domestic violence, the social worker should consult with their Social Work Support Manager.

It these cases it may be appropriate to investigate waiving the right to recover the AoS debt under current legislation for extreme and unusual circumstances, by presenting the case to the relevant Area Delegate.

Note: it is not the intention of these procedures to pursue waiving assurer's debts in the majority of cases.