Recall of Income Management funds from a Third Party Organisation (TPO) 103-01050070

A customer may advise that the Income Management funds sent to a TPO need to be recalled. Although Services Australia is required to assess any customer request to recall funds, the following reasons are the most common:

• funds have been sent to an incorrect TPO
• the customer is no longer able to access the TPO, for example, they have had a change of address which no longer makes the TPO accessible
• the good/services required by the customer are no longer available from the TPO
• funds have been distributed on customer's behalf incorrectly

Parents and carers are responsible for ensuring their child attends school and collects their meals at the scheduled times, particularly breakfast.

Customers contributing to a School Meals Program must notify the agency of any change in circumstances which impact on the child's ability to participate, such as transferring to another school and extended student absences.

If a child is absent from school for longer than 5 consecutive school days, it is the responsibility of the customer contributing to the program to notify the agency immediately of their change in circumstances. Once notified, the agency can suspend the payments for a period as requested by the customer.

Customers must notify the agency if their child/ren transfers to another school or community, so payments can be transferred to the new provider or stopped if there is not a program in the new location.

Customers are not entitled to a refund of any contributions made to a School Meals Program arising from a child's temporary absence from school. When calculating the cost of School Meals Programs, allowance is made for absences and public holidays to enable costs to be kept to a minimum. Customers can also arrange for meals to be collected from the school during short periods of absence.

The agency acknowledges extraordinary and unanticipated circumstances may arise where a customer may have a reasonable claim to request recovery of payments made to a School Meals Program. For example, customers may have been unable to notify the agency of an extended absence, or transfer to another school due to circumstances beyond their control.

If a customer believes they have such a claim, they should contact the agency where the same recovery process will be applied.

For more information about School Meals Programs, see Payment of School Meals Program (SMP) expenses from Income Management funds or Centrepay.

If the amount returned by a TPO is less than the amount initially requested, the customer may request an explanation or apply for a formal review of the decision.

An explanation will be provided by a Subject Matter Expert in the National Gateway Recoveries Team. A formal review will be undertaken by an Authorised Review Officer.