Recording an Income Management (IM) Exemption Service Offer for customers with dependent children 103-01080080

Customers who are identified for, or are currently being income managed under the Disengaged Youth (DEY) or the Long Term Welfare Payment Recipient (LTWPR) measures are able to apply for an exemption from Income Management.

Work Item I551Q1- Customer is eligible for CIM Exemption Service Offer will appear on the Income Management Summary screen, and be generated every 8 weeks for customers with children, providing the following criteria continue to be met:

• Customer is on Compulsory Income Management (CIM)
• Is not currently exempt
• Was not rejected for a CIM exemption within the last 8 weeks
• Has a dependent child/ren
• Does not have a CIM exemption application in progress
• Has not had a child's bereavement recorded in the last 14 weeks
• Has not had a CIM Exemption Service Offer discussion in the last 8 weeks, and
• Is living in a CIM declared area (Northern Territory), or
• Is living outside a CIM declared area during the 13 week portability period

The Work Item cannot be manually completed, but will be automatically removed once the outcome of the discussion with the customer has been recorded on the IM Service Offer screen.

Access Service Officers are required to have a broad understanding of the eligibility criteria and assessment process for Income Management exemptions to answer initial enquiries and outline the Eligibility for Exemption requirements prior to warm transferring the customer to the Income Management Exemption and Assessment Team (IMEAT). However they do not conduct the assessment and cannot make decisions regarding exemptions.

IMEAT conduct all exemption assessments for customers to ensure consistency of decision making. Only staff in IMEAT are authorised to complete the Compulsory IM exemption workflow to grant an exemption.

For customers with dependent children wishing to test their eligibility for an exemption, Service Officers are to discuss and complete the IM Service Offer workflow before transferring to IMEAT. The discussion should include the below points. See the Process page for more information.

Financial Vulnerability Test - If the assessment determines there have been no signs of financial vulnerability in the last 12 months, the customer is then required to provide evidence they are undertaking responsible parenting.

For all evidence requirements, see Determining an exemption from Compulsory enhanced Income Management (CeIM) or Income Management for customers with dependent children.

Customer's income managed under the Disengaged Youth (DEY) or Long Term Welfare Payment Recipient (LTWPR) measures will continue to have their payments income managed for 13 weeks from the date they move out of the Northern Territory.

The customer is entitled to apply for an exemption from Income Management during this period.