Unrestricted Cash Payments (UCPs) 103-01050120

A UCP can be a one-off or regular payment and is available to customers on any measure of Income Management subject to appropriate approval. Customers on enhanced Income Management (enhanced IM) are not eligible for a UCP.

UCPs are assessed on an individual basis. Customers may be entitled to access a UCP in the following situations:

• to access a portion of a Social Security arrears payment where the customer has not had access to their usual amount of discretionary funds in the previous fortnight
• to access up to 50% of Family Tax Benefit (FTB) reconciliation payments
• acceptance of a 20% UCP service offer for Child Protection (CPIM) and Supporting People at Risk (SPaR) Income Managed customers, or
• when receiving ABSTUDY (with a Living Allowance or PES component) that is 100% income managed, or requested for a one-off exceptional circumstance (referred to Level 2 Income Management Helpdesk)

A UCP should not be confused with a Restricted Direct Payment (RDP). An RDP is a payment for priority needs that cannot be paid using the standard Income Management payment methods such as BasicsCard, BPay, direct credit, Scheduled Transfer or one-off payments to a Third Party Organisation. Usually, the only option for the customer is to pay for the expense by cash. For more information see, Restricted Direct Payments (RDP).

RDPs should only be granted in exceptional circumstances and are assessed and approved by the National Business Gateway (NBG).

One-off UCPs are assessed on an individual basis by authorised staff with appropriate ISP access and delegation (for example, Income Management Contact Officer (IMCO), Smart Centre Technical Peer Support (TPS).

One-off requests for exceptional circumstances will be assessed and approved only if:

• the customer's and their dependents current and reasonably foreseeable priority needs are being met, and
• income managed funds are available

Customers can request to have a regular UCP for a specified amount of their fortnightly income managed payment where it has been satisfied there is no other practical use for the customer's income managed funds, including meeting priority needs. This provides a direct payment to the customer's (or their payment nominee's) bank account. Customers requesting payments to a third party are to be via the Expense Request process.

Customers who are meeting their own, and their dependents current and reasonably foreseeable future priority needs, and do not have any other expenses to pay from their Income Management funds may be eligible for a regular UCP of the balance of their fortnightly Income Management payment.

Each request must be assessed on a case by case basis. The Level 2 Income Management Policy Help desk will refer to the Department of Social Services (DSS) if required.

A State or Territory Child Protection Authority or Supporting People at Risk (SPaR) approved referring authority can recommend a 20% UCP be offered to Child Protection Income Management (CPIM) or SPaR customers. These service offers are lodged via the Business Hub. When a 20% UCP service offer is received, an Income Management Contact Officer (IMCO) will review the suitability of the offer. If the offer is not deemed appropriate, the IMCO will liaise with the referring authority to determine if the offer should be revoked.

A 20% UCP service offer means customers can receive 20% of their regular fortnightly income managed payment as discretionary funds. The customer may accept or decline the service offer.

If a customer accepts the 20% UCP service offer, the system will calculate 20% of the customer's net entitlement each fortnight and issue a UCP, after all priority needs have been paid. This amount may vary each fortnight based on the customer's entitlement (due to employment income, etc.). If a customer declines the service offer it will remain available should the customer choose to take it up later.

The approval and coding of one-off and regular UCPs depends on the reason for the UCP and the measure of Income Management applicable to the customer.

The Income Management measure will determine how the request is escalated for processing. ABSTUDY regular UCP requests and 20% UCP service offers do not have to be referred to the Income Management Policy helpdesk.

Lump sum arrears of an Income Management customer's income support payment are subject to 100% Income Management.

Where a customer is in receipt of arrears which have been credited to their Income Management account, and hasn’t had access to their usual amount of discretionary funds in the previous fortnight, a Service Officer may grant them a UCP from their income managed funds equal to the normal amount of discretionary funds they would have received for their last fortnightly payment, less any discretionary funds already received.

This is to ensure a person in receipt of arrears has access to their regular fortnightly amount of discretionary funds and is not placed in financial hardship. Care must be taken to ensure that the customer does not access more discretionary funds than they regularly would.

Customers on any measure of Income Management can be paid up to 50% of their Family Tax Benefit reconciliation payment as an UCP if the Service Officer is satisfied the amount currently available in their Income Management account is sufficient to meet the customer's and their dependent’s current and reasonably foreseeable priority needs.

When a customer's Income Management ends, regular UCPs will automatically cease:

• Immediately when Income Management ends where the UCP has been recorded via the service offer workflow, or
• On the 15th day after Income Management ends where the UCP has been recorded via the Expense Management workflow

If Income Management is reinstated, the UCP must be recommenced, subject to the customer continuing to meet the criteria for the payment.