Nominee arrangements under Income Management and enhanced Income Management 103-01010020

Service Officers must complete a review of the payment nominee arrangement for customers who have been referred to or become eligible for any measure of welfare quarantining, regardless of whether the nominee is an excluded payment nominee.

Note: termination of a payment nominee arrangement may result in a customer becoming eligible for welfare quarantining again where that payment nominee was an excluded payment nominee.

Customers who are currently on welfare quarantining under these measures that appoint a payment nominee OR customers who are referred to, or become eligible for, these measures and have (or appoint) a payment nominee that is:

• an excluded payment nominee for Income Management or enhanced Income Management purposes, will not remain on or commence welfare quarantining.
• Income Management Contact Officers (IMCO) are responsible for ineligibility coding – see Nominee Income Management and enhanced Income Management.
• not an excluded payment nominee will remain on their current program or will commence on the enhanced IM program (IM was closed to new customers from 4 September 2023)

Where a customer has been referred for a measure and is not eligible (or becomes ineligible) due to an excluded payment nominee, it is at the discretion of the referring authority if they choose to revoke the current Notice.

Customers who are currently on welfare quarantining under these measures that appoint a payment nominee OR customers who are referred to, or become eligible for, these measures and have (or appoint) a payment nominee that is:

• An excluded payment nominee for Income Management or enhanced Income Management purposes, will not commence on welfare quarantining.
• Income Management Contact Officers (IMCO) are responsible for ineligibility coding – see Nominee Income Management and enhanced Income Management.
• If the payment nominee is not an excluded payment nominee, the customer will be welfare quarantined under the same measure as their payment nominee, unless they qualify for a welfare quarantining measure that is higher in the welfare quarantining hierarchy. For more information see Nominee Income Management (NIM) and Nominee enhanced Income Management (NeIM)

Where a customer has been referred for a measure, and is not eligible (or becomes ineligible) due to an excluded payment nominee, it is at the discretion of the referring authority if they choose to revoke the current Notice.

A principal who has an excluded payment nominee for Income Management or enhanced Income Management purposes, is not eligible to enter a Voluntary Agreement for welfare quarantining.

For more information about terminating a Voluntary Agreement as the principal is no longer eligible, see Nominee Income Management and Nominee enhanced Income Management (NeIM)

However, if the payment nominee is welfare quarantined themselves, a Voluntary Agreement can be entered into for enhanced Income Management.

The system identifies that a customer has a payment nominee and will bring up an assign card screen at the end of the authentication screen. Here the payment nominee can choose to have the BasicsCard issued in the customer’s name rather than their own.

For more information, see Initial offer or replacement of BasicsCard.

Where there is a payment nominee, both the customer and the payment nominee can request one off and regular allocations.

SmartCards are issued to the payment nominee and has the payment nominee’s name printed on it. The enhanced IM account that is linked to the SmartCard is also managed by the payment nominee.

The payment nominee has access to online services, and can lodge transfer and payment requests, make account enquiries and give account instructions.

The customer has no access to a SmartCard and will have their online services disabled, cannot lodge transfer and/or payment requests or give account instructions. They may only make enquiries on their account.

Payment nominees can access temporary SmartCards at selected service centres, participating Agent sites, or Traditional Credit Union (TCU) branches (TCU customers only), or from a visiting Remote Servicing Team (RST).

A payment nominee can authorise the transfer of the SmartCard over to a customer. This can only occur when the payment nominee arrangement is voluntary. Only Services Officers on the SmartCard eIM hotline who are trained in financial procedures are able to action a request from a payment nominee to transfer the SmartCard over to a customer.

More information about actions that customers and payment nominees can take on the enhanced IM account is available for SmartCard eIM hotline in the Payment Nominee financial procedure.

A payment nominee does not have the authority to request other actions on behalf of their principal (the customer), including:

• entering an enhanced IM Agreement (VeIM) or exiting a VIM or VeIM Agreement or
• request an exemption or exclusion or
• sign relevant forms and statements on behalf of the customer.

Only correspondence nominees are able to make these types of requests.

Where a payment nominee is a welfare quarantining customer, they will hold a card and manage an account for both themselves and their principal.

A payment nominee and their principal do not need to be on the same welfare quarantining program.

This means that a Payment Nominee may hold either two BasicsCards, two SmartCards or a BasicsCard and a SmartCard depending upon which program they and their principal are on.

The correspondence nominee cannot be issued with the BasicsCard.

If the principal wants a correspondence nominee to be issued a BasicsCard, they must request appointment of a nominee using online accounts or complete the Authorising a person or organisation to enquire or act on your behalf (SS313) to appoint the correspondence nominee as a payment nominee as well.

Expense allocations from the IM account

If the principal does not have a payment nominee, a correspondence nominee can act as if they were the customer (principal for Income Management and enhanced Income Management purposes) when deciding on expense allocations. In all circumstances the Service Officer should have regard to the best interests of the customer and their dependants.

A correspondence nominee may request certain actions on behalf of their principal (the customer):

• exit a Voluntary IM Agreement or
• request an exemption or exclusion

For more information about correspondence nominees and what they can do, see Nominees,

The correspondence nominee cannot be issued with a SmartCard and cannot act or enquire in relation to the enhanced IM account, which includes making transfer requests and account balance enquiries.

A correspondence nominee can be told how much of the customer’s income support payment was paid in to the enhanced IM account.

If the customer wants a correspondence nominee to be issued a SmartCard or be able to enquire or act in relation to the enhanced IM account, they must appoint the correspondence nominee as a payment nominee.

To request the appointment of a nominee, and appoint them as a payment nominee the customer must:

• use online accounts, or
• complete the Authorising a person or organisation to enquire or act on your behalf (SS313)

If a correspondence nominee makes any program requests on behalf of the customer (that is, requests that do not relate to the enhanced IM account or SmartCard, such as requests to move the customer from IM to enhanced IM, or to enter into Voluntary enhanced IM Agreement, the details of the request must be escalated to the enhanced IM Helpdesk for advice, with as much information as possible.

For more information about correspondence nominees and what they can do, see Nominees,