Income Management customers accessing funds while travelling 103-01040050

Access the customer's record.

Select the CRN/BP hyperlink. On the Customer Summary screen, income managed customers will have INM at the beginning of their Benefit Status line. A check of the Payment Details (PD) screen will also show a deduction from the regular payment of 'IncMgmt'. This is the amount withheld from each payment and placed into the customer's Income Management account.

Is the Service Officer trained in Income Management

• Yes, go to Step 3
• No, go to Step 2

Service Officers not trained in Income Management are to complete all non-Income Management business, see Identifying and assisting income managed customers, then:

Cold transfer the customer to:

• the Income Management Line
• the Indigenous Service queue (if appropriate), or
• Multilingual Call (if appropriate)

See the Resources page for a link to the National Transfer numbers via Locator. Procedure ends here.

Refer to this Process to assist the customer with their enquiry, and where required seek assistance from:

• a specialised Service Officer (if available)
• a Service Support Officer, or
• the Technical Support Line (select Income Management option)

From the Income Management menu, select the Income Management Summary screen.

This screen shows the current and available balance in the customer's Income Management account. The available balance is the current balance less any expenses scheduled to be paid in the next 14 days. It is designed to ensure enough funds are left in the account to cover any future regular expenses.

If the available balance is less than the current balance and the customer's circumstances have changed, a reassessment of future regular expenses may free up funds and make them available.

For example, the customer may have a regular payment going to a community store that is no longer needed because they will not be accessing the store while travelling. If the regular allocation to the community store is ended or suspended, these funds will become available.

Important: a regular expense should not be cancelled to 'free up funds' where the regular expense is for a high priority need that the customer is still required to meet, unless the customer can demonstrate how that need will be met.

From the Income Management workspace menu, select the BasicsCard summary screen.

If this screen is blank the customer does not have a BasicsCard. See BasicsCard balance or transaction summary enquiry for more information.

Customers with a BasicsCard can have available funds transferred to their BasicsCard. They can also recall funds from the BasicsCard to their Income Management account.

The total amount that can be used for priority needs is the Available Balance in the customer's Income Management account plus the balance of their BasicsCard.

Funds can be recalled from the BasicsCard into the Income Management for one-off purchases.

Customer can allocate Income Management funds to their BasicsCard which can be used at approved BasicsCard merchants when travelling. There are National BasicsCard merchants across Australia where customers can use their BasicsCard.

Office Locator contains a list of BasicsCard merchants:

• Go to the Office Locator homepage
• Select Other Searches in the top row and the Third Party Organisation Search screen will be displayed
• The following two searches will provide a list of BasicsCard merchants:
• Payment: field, select BasicsCard from the drop down box. A full list of BasicsCard merchants will display (this may take a few seconds)
• Services: field, select the applicable BasicsCard Service Reason (for example, BasicsCard - Food)

Customers can also view locations of approved BasicsCard merchants via the Find a business or organisation service tool available to customers on the Services Australia website, or the 'Locator' tool on the Express Plus mobile app. The Resources page contains a link to the Services Australia website.

A list of BasicsCards merchants from Office Locator can be given to customers, but Service Officers must tell them the list is subject to change. As merchants can be approved at any time, customers should check with the agency or look for BasicsCard stickers or posters displayed.

Customers requiring assistance with their BasicsCard can call the Income Management Line. See BasicsCard balance enquiry options for customers.

Funds are transferred to a customer's BasicsCard via the Residual Payment method or the Partial Payment method.

Customers can also transfer available funds to their BasicsCard by:

• using the Express Plus mobile app
• using their Centrelink online account. See Transfer of funds between Income Management Account and BasicsCard online
• contacting the Freecall Income Management Line. This service is available 7 days a week during normal business hours. Allocations on weekends are available between 8 am and 5 pm local time
• visiting their nearest service centre

If a customer has lost or damaged their BasicsCard, they can receive a replacement card. All Centrelink Service Centres have BasicsCard stock. Customers can attend any service centre to obtain a new card. See Initial offer or replacement of BasicsCard for more information.

Check Office Locator for contracted BasicsCard and Income Management merchants in the area.

If no contracted merchants are available, other payment methods to uncontracted Third Party Organisations (TPO) can be used to meet the customer's priority needs. If the TPO has been using one of the current payment methods, Service Officers can find the TPO using Office Locator. Approved payment methods can be found in the TPO's record. TPOs not paid previously will be contacted by the Income Management Payment and Contact Team (IMPACT) to discuss payment options. If available or agreed by the TPO, they can be paid via:

• Scheduled Transfer: Payments to third parties made by transferring funds into an organisation or individual's bank account
• BPAY®: Payments made to an organisation using their BPAY biller code and the customer's billing reference number
• Credit card: The Income Management Payment and Contact Team (IMPACT) can make one-off payments to Third Party Organisations via credit card. Credit card payments are typically only made when Scheduled Transfer or BPAY payments are not appropriate, such as urgent and immediate requests for expenses like food and travel

Income Management continues when a customer travels anywhere within Australia or overseas.

During the period of travel, particularly when travelling overseas, it may be necessary for a portion of the customer's income managed funds to be paid directly to them by way of a Restricted Direct Payment (RDP). When determining if this is the most appropriate option, Service Officers must consider:

• the reason for travel
• whether the customer's dependants are travelling with them
• if dependants are not travelling with the customer, how are the priority needs of their dependants going to be met while the customer is travelling, and
• how the customer's priority needs are being met, including any ongoing payments that need to be made while they are travelling (for example, rent, utilities)

RDPs are assessed by the Income Management helpdesk on a case by case basis. Service Officers must familiarise themselves with the process to request a RDP.

Note: RDPs differ to Unrestricted Cash Payments (UCP). RDPs should only be used by customers to pay for priority needs. There are no restrictions on what can be purchased with UCP funds.

Service Officers should always consider the full range of options available to help any customer in hardship or urgent need. These include but are not limited to:

• Referral to specialist officers including Indigenous Service Officers (ISO), Multicultural Service Officers (MSO) and social workers
• Referral to external support services, and/or
• urgent payment

When an urgent payment is made to an income managed customer, a percentage of that payment will be income managed (50%-90% depending on the customer's Income Management percentage). Any request by an income managed customer for an urgent payment must be referred to a specialised Service Officer or the Income Management Line. See Urgent payment requests from Income Management customers.

No third parties available

In very limited circumstances, where it is not possible for payments to be made directly to a third party, a Restricted Direct Payment can be made directly to the customer to meet a priority need. All other options must first be explored and exhausted. Only IMPACT are able to make these payments.

• Local Peer Support (LPS) (for Service Officers not trained in Income Management)
• Customer 13 and 1800 numbers and national transfer numbers in Locator
• Income Management Payment and Contact Team (IMPACT)
• Income Management Policy helpdesk webform
• See Income Management Payment and Contact Team (IMPACT) and Income Management Policy helpdesk

The Resources page contains links to Locator, IMPACT, Technical Support Line and the helpdesk webform.

The Resources page contains a link to Office Locator.

• Select Other Searches in the top row and the Third Party Organisation Search screen will be displayed
• The following 2 searches will provide a list of BasicsCard merchants:
• Payment: field, select BasicsCard from the dropdown box. A full list of BasicsCard merchants will display (this may take a few seconds)
• Services: field, select the applicable BasicsCard Service Reason (for example, BasicsCard - Food)

Customers can also view locations of approved BasicsCard merchants via the Find a business or organisation service tool available on the Services Australia website, or the 'Locator' tool on the Mobile Express Plus app.

The following search options are available:

• Name/ID of TPO: field, allows free text
• Region: field, allows free text or drop down box selection
• Town: field, allows free text or drop down box selection
• Local Government Area: field, allows free text or drop down box selection
• Payment: field, this has a dropdown box only
• Status: field, this has a dropdown box only
• Service: field, allows free text or dropdown box selection. If looking for BasicsCard only TPO, select the applicable BasicsCard Service Reason (for example, BasicsCard - Food)

If unsure of the name of the TPO or there is a need to see all available TPOs, the View All TPOs button can be selected. This will display an alphabetical listing of all TPOs.