Principal carer of a dependent child 001-04030010

For help with the definition of a principal carer of a dependent child, see the References page.

Note: during a temporary absence from the child’s care (including where care of a child is contested, or the child is abducted) a customer may remain the principal carer. For more information, see Child leaves customer’s care/custody.

If the customer:

• advises a dependent child aged under 16:
  • entered the customer’s care, go to Step 2
  • permanently left the customer’s care, go to Step 3
  • has a shared care arrangement, go to Step 4
• has claimed a disaster/emergency payment and is not in receipt of an income support payment, a principal carer determination may need to be completed, go to Step 5
• is a member of a couple (with a child already in their care) and wishes to transfer principal carer status from/to their partner, confirmation of a change of care is not required, see Table 2 > Step 1

Has a care determination been completed and customer assessed as having care of the child/ren?
Note: check by reviewing existing coding on Child in Customer Care (CHC), FTB Shared Care (FSC), SSA Shared Care (SSC) screens/shared care table and any DOC/Notes on the file:

• Yes, and the customer:
  • shares the care of the child, go to Step 4
  • is not sharing care of the child, go to Step 7
• No, a care assessment must be completed before a principal care determination can be made:
  • See Child enters customer’s care/custody
  • Procedure ends here

Has the child/ren already been coded out of the customers care?

Note: check by reviewing the existing coding on Child in Customer Care (CHC), FTB Shared Care (FSC), SSA Shared Care (SSC) screens/shared care table and any DOC/Notes on the file.

For PPS:

• select the child from the Pension Child Summary (PNKDS) screen
• check field 'Qualifying PP child under 14'
• if Y change of care coding has not been completed correctly for this child

For PPP and JSP/YA (job seeker)/SpB:

• select the child from the Assessment explanation (AX) screen
• check the field 'eligible PC child'
• if Y change of care coding has not been completed correctly for this child

Has the change of care been coded correctly?

• Yes, a principal carer check is required, go to Step 7
• No, see Child leaves customer's care/custody to complete correct coding and return here if required

Is the customer advising a change to the shared care percentage recorded on the SSC screen/shared care table?

• Yes:
  • This will need to be assessed and coded. Principal carer coding will be completed as part of this update
  • See Notification and assessment of shared care arrangements for Family Tax Benefit (FTB)
• No, go to Step 7

If a customer has lodged a claim for Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment (AGDRP) for a child/ren and is not currently receiving income support or FTB payments, a principal carer determination may be required.

A principal carer determination will be needed if the SSC screen/ shared care table:

• does not have a care percentage and principal carer status coded for the child, or
• does have a care percentage and principal carer status coded for the child but the customer does not agree with it

Check current coding on the SSC screen/shared care table for the child. If the customer has:

• 55% or more care, PC indicator Y, customer is the principal carer
• 46%-54% (equal care) check the PC indicator. If Y the customer is the principal carer, see Shared care for income support payments and principal carer determination for more information
• 45% or less the customer, PC indicator N, customer is not the principal carer

Is there current coding on the SSC screen/ shared care table?

• Yes, and the customer:
  • agrees with the coding, before finalising the activity go to Step 8
  • does not agree with the coding, go to step 6
• No, go to Step 6

• • Where the child has:
• has entering care, or care was previously coded as 0% on SSC screen/shared care table:
  • see Child enters customer's care/custody
  • return here once the care assessment has been completed
• shared care and the customer is advising of a change to the percentage coded:
  • see Notification and assessment of shared care arrangements for Family Tax Benefit (FTB)
  • return here once the care assessment completed

If a customer gains or loses principal carer status, their eligibility and rate of payment, extra entitlements and mutual obligations may be impacted.

Principal carer status of a child will be determined by what is coded on the CHC, SSC screen/shared care table and Child Override/ Claim (CHOC) screens.

When coding the SSC screen/shared care table principal carer indicator, staff must take into consideration all factors discussed in making a principal carer determination.

If the customer has:

• 55% or more care, the customer will generally be the principal carer:
  • check SSC screen/shared care table is coded with the correct percentage
  • PC indicator is coded as Y
  • go to Step 8
• 46%-54% (equal care) a principal carer determination will be required. See Shared care for income support payments and principal carer determination for details on how to make the determination:
  • Check SSC screen/shared care table is coded with the correct percentage
  • PC indicator is coded with the correct indicator as per the equal care principal carer assessment and from the correct date, go to Step 8
• 45% or less care the customer will generally not be considered the principal carer:
  • Check SSC screen/shared care table is coded with the correct percentage
  • PC indicator is coded as N from the correct date, go to Step 8
• In very limited circumstances, there may be more than 2 carers in a care arrangement therefore:
  • the above rules may not apply, or
  • the customer may have the majority care of the child but not be the principal carer
  • see Resources page for an example

See Table 3 if one of the following error codes is preventing an activity from being completed:

• PEN E630PN - 'child's name' is the dependant of another Principal Carer
• NSS E559NM - Another customer is Principal Carer for 'child's name'
• PGA E152PG - 'child's name' is the dependant of another Principal Carer

Before finalising the activity, check child eligibility details are correct.

Take the activity to the Assessment Results/ Entitlement (AR/ELD) screen before checking the screens below.

• PPS, go to Pensions child summary (PNKDS) screen
• Select each child aged under 16
• Customer is principal carer of child if Qualifying PP child under 14 is Y
• PPP, JSP, YA (job seeker) and SpB go to the Assessment explanation details (AX/ASDT) screen
• Select payment from Service reason selector
• Expand for each aged under 16
• Customer is principal carer of child if Eligible PC child is Y
• Record details on a DOC

If a current customer has gained or lost principal carer status, it may be necessary for the customer to claim an alternative income support payment.

Customers may also have changes to their concession card entitlement, income test and mutual obligations.

Discuss these changes with the customer and encourage them to lodge a claim for alternative assistance if necessary.

Note: if a customer has received Crisis Payment and a change has occurred, a manual reassessment of Crisis Payment may be required. For more information, see Reviewing and reassessing Crisis Payment (CrP).

Job Plans

If the customer is a Centrelink managed job seeker, their Job Plan may need to be updated to reflect their new mutual obligation requirements.

Centrelink managed job seekers needing to re-negotiate their Job Plan may have a new plan negotiated over the phone (if they have an Online Account) or may attend a service centre.

If referring the job seeker to a service centre, make an Enquiry appointment type for the customer. Check Office Locator for service centre appointment requirements. The Resources page contains a link to Office Locator.

Where necessary, renegotiate the customer's Job Plan and ensure the Activity and Exemption Summary (AEX) screen in Process Direct is updated accordingly.

If 2 or more people are caring for the child, if the principal carer determination is changed, each person must be advised in writing of the principal carer determination, even if they have not claimed income support payment.

If there are family and domestic violence concerns staff must advise the customer, Services Australia is legally required to send a letter to the other person/ex-partner to advise of the outcome of the principal care determination.

• Make a genuine attempt to contact the customer to advise a letter will be sent to each person caring for the child about the principal care determination
• If contact is successful and the customer is concerned about a letter being issued to the other carer, offer a referral to social worker services for support if this has not already occurred, see Referral to a social worker
• DOC the record with details of whether the contact to the customer to advise that a letter must be sent to each person caring for the child, was successful or not.

To issue the required letter, staff must run the Child - Change in Care Arrangements script:

• Select letter type: Q807 – SSA Shared Care Principal Carer Determination
• Complete details around the % Care for each child
• In the Free text section for SSA Shared Care Principal Care Determination Letter refer to SSA Shared Care Principal Determination for required text to include in the Mandatory Paragraph
• Consider relevant privacy issues when referring to the other carer in the letter.
• Repeat this process for each person caring for the child

Procedure ends here