Assessment of relationship status - processes, roles and responsibilities 106-07120000

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Forms

Customers can access online forms on the Services Australia website.

For online forms relevant to this theme, see:

Relationship Details (SS284)

Relationship Details, Separated under one roof (SS293)

Module P - Partner details (MOD P)

Module S - Separation details (MOD S)

Roles and Responsibilities for Member of a Couple (MoC) work

Table 1

Role/Title	Role Description	Role Responsibilities	Relevant Operational Blueprint (OB)
MoC Streamers	Staff who have completed the MoC Streamer training Generally, work will be received via Member of a Couple (MoC) work items	Triage returned Relationship Details (SS284/SS293) forms to confirm the need for a MoC assessment Conduct Risk Based Assessments (RBA) Refer MoC assessments that do not meet the RBA criteria to MoC Assessors for a full MoC assessment Initiate SUOR reviews Conduct Streamlined SUOR reviews Refer high risk SUOR reviews to MoC Assessors for a full SUOR review	Confirming the need for a Member of a Couple (MoC) assessment Member of a Couple (MoC) and Separated under one roof (SUOR) assessments Member of a couple reviews - Separated Under One Roof (SUOR)
MoC Assessors	Staff who have completed the full MoC Assessor training Generally, work will be received via Member of a Couple (MoC) work items	Conduct Risk Based Assessments (RBA) Conduct full MoC assessments Conduct streamlined SUOR reviews Conduct full SUOR reviews	Confirming the need for a Member of a Couple (MoC) assessment Member of a Couple (MoC) and Separated under one roof (SUOR) assessments Member of a couple reviews - Separated Under One Roof (SUOR)
Non-MoC trained staff	All staff who have not completed MoC Streamer or full MoC Assessor training	Issue relationship details forms where appropriate Confirm the need for a MoC assessment Referrals for a MoC assessment	Confirming the need for a Member of a Couple (MoC) assessment

Change in customer's circumstances and referrals to MoC skilled staff

Table 2: this table contains changes in customer's circumstances, links to relevant Operational Blueprint pages and information about when MoC Streamers/Assessors do the MoC assessment.

For more information on when a referral to the MoC Streamers/Assessors may be appropriate, see Confirming the need for a Member of a Couple (MoC) assessment.

Situation	Referral to MoC Streamers/Assessors appropriate	Appropriate reference
Customer or partner under the age of consent	No	Customer or partner under the age of consent
Customer becomes partnered where either one or both parties are YA or ABSTUDY dependant	No	Youth Allowance (YA) or ABSTUDY customer becomes partnered
Customer seeking independence for YA or ABSTUDY where they are/were married or a member of a couple	No	YA: Assessing independence when a customer is/was married or a member of a couple ABSTUDY: Assessing independence for ABSTUDY customers DSP: Assessing payment rates and independence for Disability Support Pension customers under 21 years
Compliance Reviews/Fraud Investigations. There is a retrospective undisclosed relationship	No	Report a Suspected Fraud and Corruption
Family Tax Benefit (FTB) and/or Child Care Subsidy (CCS) only customer becomes partnered	No	Family assistance customer becomes partnered
Family Tax Benefit (FTB), Parental Leave Pay (PPL) and/or Child Care Subsidy (CCS) only customer becomes separated, where no Separated under one roof (SUOR) situation exists	No	Family Tax Benefit (FTB), Parental Leave Pay (PPL) and/or Child Care Subsidy (CCS) customer separates
Family Tax Benefit (FTB) and/or Child Care Subsidy (CCS) only customer becomes separated, where SUOR situation exists	Yes	Member of a Couple (MoC) and Separated under one roof (SUOR) assessments
Customer and/or their partner is imprisoned or is in psychiatric confinement (due to criminal offence)	No	Admission process for customers entering prison or psychiatric confinement Assessment of circumstances for customers with partner in prison Payability of Disability Support Pension (DSP) for customers who are in psychiatric confinement for a criminal offence
Customer and/or their partner is in psychiatric care (no criminal offence)	No	Assessment of circumstances for a couple separated due to illness
Customer’s partner is detained in an Immigration Detention Centre	No	Treatment of a partnered person as single under Section 24 new determinations
Customer and/or their partner have separated due to illness	No	Assessment of circumstances for a couple separated due to illness
Customer and/or partner are in approved respite care	No	Customer is separated from their partner – temporarily or due to respite care
Customer and/or their partner are in approved respite care and are in receipt of Rent Assistance	No	Completing the Accommodation Details (AC) screen and Assessing Rent Assistance (RA)
Section 24 (S24) Assessment Customer is partnered however, there is a 'special reason' not to treat them as a member of a couple, OR customer declares they are in a multiple relationship therefore a Section 24 Assessment is required	No	Treatment of a partnered person as single under Section 24 new determinations
Customer and their ex-partner are living under the same roof (Separated under one roof (SUOR) assessment)	Yes	Member of a Couple (MoC) and Separated under one roof (SUOR) assessments
Separated under one roof (SUOR) reviews	Yes	Member of a couple reviews - Separated Under One Roof (SUOR)
Section 24 reviews	No	Member of a couple reviews - Section 24
MoC Assessment required after reviewing Confirming the need for a Member of a Couple (MoC) assessment	Yes	Member of a Couple (MoC) and Separated under one roof (SUOR) assessments
Customer and sharer are claiming or have a current Low Income Health Care Card (LIC) only	No	Processing Low Income Health Care Card (LIC) claims Changes in a customer's circumstances and effect on concession card entitlement
Customer and sharer are claiming or have a current Commonwealth Seniors Health Care Card (CHSC) only	No	Processing Commonwealth Seniors Health Card (CSHC) claims Changes in a customer's circumstances and effect on concession card entitlement
Customers living overseas	No	Requires a MoC/SUOR assessment, see Member of a Couple (MoC) and Separated under one roof (SUOR) assessments Requires a Section 24 assessment, see Treatment of a partnered person as single under section 24 new determinations Now partnered, see Change in relationship status from single to partnered Now separated, see Change in relationship status to single for a customer residing outside Australia

Marital Status field codes

Table 3: lists all Marital Status field codes that can be recorded for a customer via the Marital Status (MS) screen.

Some customers may have one of the following codes recorded:

NRE (Not Required), or
UNK (Unknown)

Service Officers must not manually record the NRE/UNK codes. When one of these codes has been recorded, Service Officers must verify the customer's correct relationship status and update the system using the appropriate code from the below table. There is no time requirement for applying these codes. For example, a customer does not need to be in a de facto relationship for a certain period before they are considered partnered. They also can be applied indefinitely until they need to be updated to record when a customer's relationship status changes.

Marital Status field code	Description	Relationship Status
DEF	De Facto	Partnered
DIV	Divorced	Single
MAR	Married	Partnered
REG	Registered	Partnered
SEP	Separated	Single
SIN	Single	Single
WID	Widowed	Single

Event Date field

Update the Event Date field on the Marital Status (MS) screen to reflect the date the change occurred. For example, if a customer is recorded as de facto (DEF) and advises they are now married, the event date when recording married (MAR) must be the date they were married, not the date they were recorded as DEF, unless the customer was incorrectly recorded as de facto instead of married and the entry needs to be corrected. The same rule applies when updating the Qualifier Code field (relationship qualifier code).

Recording relationship qualifier codes

Relationship status qualifier codes can be recorded on a customer's record via the Marital Status (MS) screen in the Qualifier Code field.

Note: due to a system limitation multiple events cannot be coded on the MS screen with the same event date. There may be instances where the event date will need to be recorded on the date prior to the event (for example, if Person Permitted to Enquire (PPE) authority is being ended because the customer is separating from their partner, the date of event for the PPE update must be the day prior to the separation date). Service Officers must follow relevant Operational Blueprint processes.

Take care when recording a relationship qualifier code. Service Officers must record the correct code based on the customer's current circumstances and update the Event Date field to reflect when the change occurred.

Historical relationship qualifier codes

Some customers may have a relationship qualifier code recorded that can no longer be applied, however they are still viewable historical codes.

There are also historical codes which the system will allow users to apply however, they must not be used.

Current relationship qualifier codes

TEB/TEC/TEP

Where couples qualify for Rent Assistance (RA) as a temporarily separated couple, the coding of the relevant temporary relationship qualifier code TEB, TEC or TEP will not adjust their income support payments to the single rate. Use the temporary relationship qualifier code where:

the customer is advising of a change of address due to separation from their partner, and
the separation is pending the return of the Mod S and/or verification

This makes sure rent and address details for the customer can be updated independently.

OVC/OVP

A OVP (Ptnr O/S Never in AUST) must be coded on the MS screen if the:

customer is partnered, and
customer’s partner lives overseas and never lived in Australia

A matching OVC (O/Seas (Never in AUST) will automatically apply to the partner’s record.

Using the OVP code when linking records will make sure address and/or accommodation details for the customer can be updated independently.

Note: an error will present if the customer’s partner is either currently in Australia or have a previous home address that was in Australia. Recording the OVP code is not appropriate in these circumstances.

Table 4: this table lists RQ codes that can be recorded on a customer's record via the MS screen in the Qualifier Code field.

Code	Description	Applicable Relationship Status	More Information on when to code
DEP	Dependent Female	Single	Only where required under some International Agreements.
GAC	In Gaol	Partnered	When it has been established the customer is in prison. Note: when GAC is coded on the customer’s record, a GAP code will be automatically applied to the partner's record.
GAP	Partner In Gaol	Partnered	When it has been established the customer’s partner is in prison. Note: when GAP is coded on the customer’s record, a GAC code will be automatically applied to the partner's record.
ILB	Ill Sep/Both Left Home	Partnered	Where both the customer and partner have left home due to illness. Note: when ILB is coded on the customer’s record, an ILB code will be automatically applied to the partner's record.
ILC	Ill Sep/Left Home	Partnered	Where only the customer left home due to illness. Note: when ILC is coded on the customer’s record, an ILP code will be automatically applied to the partner's record.
ILP	Ill Sep/Ptnr Left Home	Partnered	Where only the partner left home due to illness. Note: when ILP is coded on the customer’s record, an ILC code will be automatically applied to the partner's record.
OVC	Overseas (Never In Aus)	Partnered	Where the customer is overseas and never lived in Australia. Note: when OVC is coded on the customer’s record (because they have never lived in Australia), an OVP code will be automatically applied to the partner's record.
OVP	Partner O/S (Never In Aus)	Partnered	Where the customer’s partner is overseas and never lived in Australia. Note: when OVP is coded on customer’s record (because their partner has never lived in Australia), an OVC code will be automatically applied to the partner’s record.
PSB	Psych Care/Both Left Home	Partnered	Where both the customer and partner have left home due to entering psychiatric care facility (no criminal offence). Note: when PSB is coded on the customer’s record, a PSB code will be automatically applied to the partner's record.
PSC	Psych Care/Left Home	Partnered	Where only the customer has left home due to entering psychiatric care facility (no criminal offence). Note: when PSC is coded on the customer’s record, a PSP code will be automatically applied to the partner's record.
PSP	Partner In Psych Care	Partnered	Where only the partner has left home due to entering psychiatric care facility (no criminal offence). Note: when PSP is coded on the customer’s record, a PSC code will be automatically applied to the partner's record.
REC	In Respite Care	Partnered	Where the customer has temporarily entered respite care. Note: when REC is coded on the customer’s record, a REP code will be automatically applied to the partner's record.
REP	Partner In Respite Care	Partnered	Where the customer’s partner has temporarily entered respite care. Note: when REP is coded on the customer’s record, a REC code will be automatically applied to the partner's record.
SUR	Separated Under One Roof	Single	Where an SUOR assessment is completed and customer assessed as separated under one roof. Note: should only be coded on ex-partner record where they are also a current customer.
S24	S24 Provisions Apply	Single	Where the customer is partnered, but have been assessed as having a 'special reason' to be considered single under Section 24 provisions. Note: where the partner has a Centrelink record, the RQ code should also be coded on the partner.
TEB	Tmp Sep/Both Left Home	Partnered	Where both the customer and partner have been assessed as having temporarily left home. Note: when TEB is coded on the customer’s record, a TEB code will be automatically applied to the partner's record.
TEC	Tmp Sep/Left Home	Partnered	Where only the customer has temporarily left home. Note: when TEC is coded on the customer’s record, a TEP code will be automatically applied to the partner's record.
TEP	Tmp Sep/Ptnr Left Home	Partnered	Where only the customer’s partner has temporarily left home. Note: when TEP is coded on the customer’s record, a TEC code will be automatically applied to the partner's record.
WDD	De facto Partner Died	Single	Only where required under some International Agreements.
WID	Widow	Single	Only where required under some International Agreements.
Relationship codes no longer used
PIJ (Do not use)	Partner In Gaol	Single	Do not use this code. If PIJ has been incorrectly recorded, Service Officers must update the code to the appropriate equivalent code from the above table.
PMH (Do not use)	Partner In Mental Hospital	Single	Do not use this code. If PMH has been incorrectly recorded, Service Officers must update the code to the appropriate equivalent code from the above table.
DES (Do not use)	Deserted Wife	Single	Do not use this code. There is no appropriate equivalent RQ code as this is a redundant code. Where it’s identified this code has been recorded, Service Officers must update the record to remove it. Code the date of event as the date the Service Officer identified the code on MS.
Historical relationship qualifier codes
GAO	Partner In Gaol	Partnered	Historical code, can no longer be applied but still a viewable code.
ILS	Separated Due To Illness	Partnered	Historical code, can no longer be applied but still a viewable code.
PSY	Partner In Psych Care	Partnered	Historical code, can no longer be applied but still a viewable code.
RES	Partner In Respite Care	Partnered	Historical code, can no longer be applied but still a viewable code.
TEM	Tmp Separated	Partnered	Historical code, can no longer be applied but still a viewable code.

Relationship Qualifier codes incorrectly automatically applied

Some Relationship Qualifier codes are being incorrectly, automatically applied to the Marital Status (MS) screen, when a customer indicates in their claim, they are unable to live with their partner due to:

illness,
respite care, or
their partner being in gaol

This issue is impacting online and Assisted Customer Claims (ACC).

As the application of an RQ code may result in a higher rate of payment, an assessment to establish eligibility must be completed before applying the code to a customer’s and their partner’s record. This includes where Service Officers are coding a claim from a scanned paper form (i.e. do not just apply the RQ code without undertaking the required formal assessment).

This issue impacts the following RQ codes:

ILC – Illness Separated Left Home
ILP – Illness Separated, Partner Left Home
ILB – Illness Separated, Both Customer and Parter Left Home
REC – In Respite Care
REP – Partner in Respite Care
GAP – Partner in Gaol