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Advance payment for non-pension customers 103-05040010



This document explains the qualification requirements for non-pension advance payments and how non-pension advance payment amounts are calculated. The advance payment is also known as the standard advance or $500 advance. There is no requirement for a customer to tell Services Australia how they intend to use the advance payment.

Select: Eligibility - to determine if customer is eligible for an advance

Then select:

  • Assisted - Process Direct to use Advance Payments workflow or Manage Advances to process the advance request for the customer or change the date of the second instalment
  • Assisted - Customer First to use the Advance payment workflow to process the advance request for the customer or change the date of the second instalment

Eligibility

Eligibility for an advance payment

Step

Action

1

Customer requests an advance payment + Read more ...

2

Customers enquiring about an advance + Read more ...

Customers applying for an advance, wishing to check their eligibility (see Background page for eligibility details), current balance or next available advance date should be strongly encouraged to use digital channels unless they:

Is the customer unable to use digital channels for these reasons?

3

Customer should be strongly encouraged to use one of the following digital options + Read more ...

While customers are strongly encouraged to use digital options, some customers may have other barriers that prevent this and should be helped to claim an advance payment.

The Resources page has online tutorials to assist customers with claiming an advance using digital channels, including Online services and Express Plus mobile apps.

Procedure ends here.

4

Assessing the advance + Read more ...

Note: a partner or third party (who is not a correspondence nominee), although they may have permission to enquire, is not able to claim an advance payment on behalf of the customer.

Does the customer have a nominee/third party arrangement?

5

Customer has a nominee/third party arrangement + Read more ...

For more details on advances and nominees, see Advances.

Who has applied for the advance?

Nominee + Read more ...

  • If a correspondence nominee or involuntary nominee has applied, process the claim. Annotate the DOC at the end of the application process to indicate that the applicant was the nominee, including the name of the person and the organisation if an involuntary nominee. Go to Step 6
  • If a voluntary payment nominee only or a third party who only has Person Permitted to Enquire (PPE) has applied, tell them that only correspondence nominees can apply on behalf of the customer. See Obligations of nominees for more details. Procedure ends here
  • If the person applying on the customer's behalf is both a voluntary correspondence and payment nominee, treat them as a correspondence nominee. Go to Step 6

Customer + Read more ...

If the customer has applied and they have a:

  • Voluntary correspondence or voluntary correspondence and payment nominee arrangement - if the Service Officer has concerns about the customer's capacity to understand what an advance payment is and their ability to make regular fortnightly repayments at the set rate, contact the nominee before processing the advance payment request. Details of contact must be recorded in a DOC
  • Voluntary payment nominee only arrangement - contact with the nominee is not needed
  • Involuntary arrangement (usually will be with a state trustee organisation) - contact must be made with the organisation. The advance payment can only be approved with the nominee's permission. Details of the organisation and also personal contacted must be recorded in the DOC. In most cases, the Trustee organisation will not approve an advance payment for the customer

Go to Step 6.

6

Weekly payments + Read more ...

Is the customer on weekly payments?

7

Investigating an advance for weekly payment customers + Read more ...

Weekly payment customers need a thorough investigation of their circumstances and ability to repay without placing themselves in financial hardship. If a recipient has a gambling, alcohol, other addiction or financial issues, consider other options such as:

  • referring the customer to a social worker
  • suggesting the customer apply for a smaller advance

Is the advance payment to be granted?

  • Yes, see Step 1 in Table 1 in Assisted - Process Direct
    Note: the information currently shown in the Customer First advance workflow in relation to weekly payment customers requiring a face-to-face contact to a request an advance payment is incorrect. Weekly payment customers can make requests via Face to Face or Phone but cannot use self service channels.
  • No, tell the customer the outcome. Procedure ends here

8

Income managed customers + Read more ...

Check the benefit status line for benefit type INM.

Is the customer an income managed customer?

Note: if the customer uses Enhanced Income Management (eIM), do not refer them to the eIM hotline for Centrelink business. This line is for Smartcard Support only and not for processing Advance payment.

9

Income managed customers impacts + Read more ...

When an income managed customer applies for an advance payment, the following message will show:

'This customer's payment is subject to Income Management (IM).'

Tell the customer:

  • any advance payment is 100% income managed (except for Special Employment Advance which is not subject to IM)
  • the total amount of the advance will be paid to their Income Management account and not their nominated bank account
  • payment of expenses or transfers to BasicsCard can be made once the advance payment has been credited to the customer’s Income Management account
  • their fortnightly income managed funds will be reduced due to the compulsory advance repayments. This may cause an over allocation of funds resulting in undelivered expenses

Advance repayments reduce the amount of funds credited into a customer's Income Management account. Service Officers are to check there are sufficient funds available to meet ongoing regular expenses.

Go to the Expense Management Summary screen and view the percentage of the fortnightly unallocated funds available. If more than 100% is allocated, regular expenses will need to be reviewed and updated. For more details, see Determining a person's priority needs for Income Management.

Note: when running the Advance Payments service for Income Managed customers, check the advance payment on the Payment Summary (PS) screen before finalising the activity. The Advance is identified as being income managed by the $0.00 amount in the $Net payment column.

Funds will be credited with the nightly payment strip and available in the Income Management account the next day. This means customers who are granted an advance on a Friday can access these funds on the weekend using self service options to transfer to their BasicsCard. For more details see, Coding Income Management expenses and Transfer of funds between Income Management Account and BasicsCard online.

10

Payment by instalment + Read more ...

If the customer chooses to have the advance payment paid by instalments:

  • The repayments will be calculated on the full amount of the advance and not just the instalment that is being paid first
  • When coding the date for the second instalment, for non-pension customers, the date coded needs to be 1 working day before the date the customer requires the funds. The payment is issued as per normal payment delivery timeframes
  • The second instalment must be paid within 6 months of the original grant

A future activity will be created on the FAL screen for the issuing of the second instalment. This activity must not be cancelled as it is required to ensure the payment is issued.

11

Is the advance payment to be granted? + Read more ...

Assisted - Process Direct

On this tab:

Advance payment workflow

Changing the second instalment date using Advance Payment workflow

Coding the advance request using Manage Advance

Changing instalment date using Manage Advance

Advance payment workflow

Table 1

Step

Action

1

Accessing the workflow + Read more ...

Tell the customer how often they can be paid an advance, so they have a chance to change the amount before any advance being finalised.

Note: customers who are paid in 'Env I' because they are permanently living overseas, are eligible to apply for an advance payment when visiting Australia. These customers cannot use self service options, so staff will need to process the request for them. Claims for advance payment can be processed in 'Env I'. This may take extra days to be received by the customer because of processing arrangements for international customers. International Services staff should process these requests only.

Access Advance Payments workflow:

  • Select Advance Payments workflow from the Task Selector
  • Advance payment type: select Standard Advance Payment
  • Select Next
  • Via which contact channel is the customer requesting this advance? select the appropriate option

Does a warning show?

2

Income managed customers + Read more ...

When an income managed customer applies for an advance payment, the following message will show:

'This customer’s payment is subject to Income Management (IM).'

Tell the customer:

  • any advance payment is 100% income managed (except for Special Employment Advance which is not subject to IM)
  • the total amount of the advance will be paid to their Income Management account and not their nominated bank account
  • payment of expenses or transfers to BasicsCard can be made once the advance payment has been credited to the customer’s Income Management account
  • their fortnightly income managed funds will be reduced due to the compulsory advance repayments. This may cause an over allocation of funds resulting in undelivered expenses

If the customer wants to:

  • continue with the application, and Work Item 'I064Q1-More than 100% of the Income Management fund is allocated' generates because of this activity, refer the customer to either:
    • an IM trained staff member
    • the Income Management line
  • withdraw the application, reject the claim by selecting Claim Withdrawn

See the Resources page for a link to Welfare Quarantining Team.

Procedure ends here.

3

Automatic rejection and overriding the rejection + Read more ...

A warning message shows advising the customer's circumstances have been checked and automatic rejection reasons have been identified.

A rejection can only be overridden for the following rejection reason and circumstances.

  • Rejection reason: POD - Person has an overpayment/debt

Can be overridden when:

  • the debt has been repaid and is not yet updated on the system (and there is evidence the payment has been made such as an official receipt)
  • the debt is less than 5 cents, or
  • there is no debt
  • Note: rejection reason APY - Advance paid in previous 12 months can only be overridden when the customer has either:
    • been granted the previous advance in error and the advance has been repaid in full
    • applied for a Parenting Payment Single advance within 28 days of becoming single

In Override rejection?: select Yes or No

If:

  • Yes is selected, complete the following fields:
    • Override rejection reason? :Select the appropriate option
    • Go to Step 4
  • No is selected, complete the following fields:
    • Reject/Withdraw claim? Select the appropriate option
    • Select Next
    • Advance payment application result will show
    • Tell the customer the outcome of the Advance
    • Select Next
    • Select Assess and address any errors/warnings
    • Select Assess again, then select Finish
    • Add additional notes if required
    • Select Finalise
    • Procedure ends here

4

Check for nominees + Read more ...

If the customer has a nominee, a warning message and details of the nominee arrangement show.

Does the customer have a nominee or has the nominee contacted?

5

Involuntary nominee arrangement + Read more ...

With an Involuntary Nominee Arrangement, the nominee must be contacted and give approval before any advance being granted. See Customer has a nominee or third party arrangement.

Has the nominee been contacted and approved the advance?

  • Yes:
  • No:
    • A warning message will show advising the customer is unable to apply for advance
    • Reject/Withdraw claim? Automatically defaults to Claim Withdrawn
    • Select Next
    • Tell the customer the outcome of the Advance
    • Select Next and address any errors/warnings
    • Select Assess, review outcome
    • Select Finish
    • Record details of the update
    • Select Finalise
    • Procedure ends here

6

Voluntary Nominee Arrangement + Read more ...

Customers who have voluntary nominee arrangements are not prevented from applying for an advance payment but if the staff member considers the customer does not understand how having an advance will reduce their fortnightly payment, then contact nominee (if possible) before granting the advance. See Customer has a nominee or third party arrangement.

If the customer is in receipt of payments via a group schedule, the customer should have authority from the organisation to be issued the advance.

Does the customer understand the impact on their payment of having the advance?

  • Yes, go to Step 8
  • No, is selected:
    • A warning message will show prompting Service Officers to consider contacting the nominee. Go to Step 7

7

Contact nominee + Read more ...

Has the nominee been contacted and approved the advance?

  • Yes, complete the question set to continue with the workflow. Go to Step 8
  • No, a warning message will show advising the customer is unable to apply for advance:
    • Reject/Withdraw claim? Automatically defaults to Claim Withdrawn
    • Select Next
    • Tell the customer the outcome of the Advance
    • Select Next and address any warnings or errors
    • Select Assess, review result
    • Select Finish
    • Record details of the update
    • Select Finalise
    • Procedure ends here

8

Advance application: Affordability assessment + Read more ...

The first assessment question determines if the customer can afford to repay the advance without being placed in financial hardship.

Ask the customer to think about their current expenses to determine how much they can afford to repay for the next 13 fortnights (6 months).

If the customer cannot afford to repay the minimum amount the claim will be rejected.

Update the following fields on the Standard Advance Payment screen:

'Thinking about your current fortnightly income and expenses; how much do you have left to repay your advance at the end of every fortnight?:' enter the amount in the text field

  • If the customer advises of an amount that would not allow repayments for the minimum advance amount, the following pop-up will show:
    • 'Based on your current circumstances, you are not eligible for the minimum advance allowed, therefore the Advance will be rejected'
    • The Reject/Withdraw claim?: field will show Cannot afford repayments as the rejection reason
    • Tell the customer they are not eligible for an advance payment as they cannot afford to meet the repayments
    • Go to Step 11
  • If the customer advises of an amount that would meet at least the minimum repayment amount the following pop up will show:
    • 'Based on your current circumstances, you may apply for between $xxx.xx and $xxx.xx'
    • 'How much do you want to apply for?' enter the advance payment amount the customer wants to apply for
    • Go to Step 9

9

Advance application paid in instalments + Read more ...

The next questions will ask if the customer wishes to have the advance paid in one amount or two instalments.

Payment by instalment:

  • If the customer chooses to have the advance payment paid by instalments, the repayments will be calculated on the full amount of the advance and not just the instalment that is being paid first
  • When coding the date for the second instalment, for non-pension customers, the date coded needs to be one working day before the date the customer needs the funds. The payment is issued as per normal payment delivery timeframes
  • The second instalment must be paid within 6 months of the original grant
  • A future activity will be created on the FAL screen for the issuing of the second instalment. This activity must not be cancelled as it is needed to ensure the payment is issued

Ask the customer 'Do you wish to have the advance paid in instalments?'

  • If 'Yes':
    • Amount of first instalment: enter the applicable amount
    • Second instalment amount: the calculated amount will show based on the first instalment amount entered
    • Date of second instalment (dd/mm/yyyy): a date will automatically default, update if necessary
    • A pop-up message will show, tell the customer: 'Your second instalment amount will be paid one or two business days after the second instalment date, allowing for processing'
    • Go to Step 10
  • If 'No', go to Step 10

10

Continue task: customer declaration + Read more ...

Read the following information and confirm the customer understands the details:

  • 'While you receive this payment, you will not be entitled to another Advance Payment of this type for 12 months:'
    • Select the box to confirm the customer understood
  • 'Your future payment will be reduced for the next 13 fortnights by:'
    • The applicable amount will show
  • 'This will be ongoing until the advance amount is fully repaid:'
    • Select the box to confirm the customer understood
  • 'If your payment stops before you have repaid the advance, you will have to repay the amount of the advance payment still owing:'
    • Select the box to confirm the customer understood

11

Finalising the advance request + Read more ...

Complete the following fields:

  • Select Next to continue
  • Advance payment application result will show. Tell the customer the outcome of the advance
  • Select Next to continue
  • The Errors (SWE) screen will show. Address any errors/warnings
  • Select Assess
  • On the Entitlements (ELD) screen, key PS in the Super Key, select Enter
  • The Payment Summary (PS) screen will show
  • Select Execute to view and confirm the advance payment will be paid
  • Select Finish
  • Add additional notes if required
  • Select Finalise

If the customer is in immediate need of the advance and any delay in accessing funds would severely disadvantage the customer, see Urgent payments due to exceptional and unforeseen or extraordinary circumstances,

Procedure ends here.

Changing the second instalment date using Advance Payment workflow

Table 2

Step

Action

1

Customer requests change to instalment date + Read more ...

  • Select the Advance Payments workflow from the Task Selector

From the Current advances table:

  • Find the correct advance
  • Check the second instalment date and amount from the advance details
  • Select Modify
  • Update the following fields:
    • Via which contact channel is the customer requesting the Advance?: select the appropriate option
    • Change action: select Move instalment date
    • Date of second instalment (dd/mm/yyyy): enter the applicable date – this date needs to be 1 working day before the day the customer wants the payment
    • Note: a warning message shows, discuss with the customer
    • Select Save
    • Select Next and address any errors/warnings
    • Select Assess
    • Go to the Payment Summary (PS) screen
    • Select Execute to view and confirm the Advance payment will be paid
    • Select Finish
    • Add additional notes if required
    • Select Finalise

Procedure ends here.

Coding the advance request using Manage Advance

Table 3

Step

Action

1

Customer is unable to apply for an advance payment via self service options + Read more ...

Tell the customers how often they can be paid an advance, so they have a chance to change the amount before any advance being finalised.

Note: customers who are paid in 'Env I' because they are permanently living overseas, are eligible to apply for an advance payment when visiting Australia. These customers cannot use self service options, so staff will need to process the request for them. Claims for advance payment can be processed in 'Env I'. This may take extra days to be received by the customer because of processing arrangements for international customers. International Services staff should process these requests only.

  • Run the Manage Advances action in Process Direct
  • From the Customer Summary screen, select > Manage Advances.

Manages Advances will open with the Overview screen.

The Overview screen will give the following options:

  • Customer information
  • Advance payment overview (this shows the next possible advance date)
  • Current advances
  • Previous advances
  • Recent lump sum payments

Note: when an income managed customer applies for an advance payment, the following message will show:

'As your payments are income managed your Advance Payment will be paid into your income management account. Do you want to continue?'

Service Officers are to read the relevant information to the customer, before proceeding with the workflow.

There is also a Claims tab.

The application will automatically reject if the person is not qualified. Note: this may happen at the beginning of the assessment or during progress through the questions.

Does the customer wish to proceed with applying for an advance payment?

  • Yes, go to Step 2
  • No, reject claim for advance (claim withdrawn - WDR). Procedure ends here

2

Applying for an advance + Read more ...

Under the Claims tab:

  • Select Apply for Advance
  • Select the correct advance type

The Advance Details screen will show.

Does the customer have a nominee?

3

Customer has a nominee + Read more ...

If the customer has a nominee, the following questions (A, B and C) will show:

  • A. Have you checked if there are any restrictions preventing the issue of an advance before continuing?
    • Yes, question B will show
    • No, reject claim - reason HAR. Tell the customer the advance cannot be granted. Procedure ends here
  • B. If nominee is involuntary, has the nominee approved the advance?
    • Yes, question C will show
    • No, reject claim - HAR. Tell the customer the advance cannot be granted. Procedure ends here
  • C. Name and phone number of person contacted. (Note: this screen also appears for voluntary nominees)
    • If involuntary nominee arrangement - enter the name of organisation and contact person and their phone number
    • If voluntary nominee arrangement - if nominee has been contacted, enter details. If contact with nominee is not needed, code 'not required'

Go to Step 4.

4

Eligibility for advance payment + Read more ...

Is customer eligible for an advance payment?

5

Advance Details screen - Automatic rejection + Read more ...

If customer is ineligible the following information will show:

  • Advance type (this will populate from advance type selected on previous screen)
  • Channel
  • Rejection reason (this will populate by the system)

Overriding the rejection

A rejection can only be overridden for the following rejection reason and circumstances.

  • Rejection reason: POD - Person has an overpayment/debt

Can be overridden when:

  • the debt has been repaid and is not yet updated on the system (and there is evidence the payment has been made such as an official receipt)
  • the debt is less than 5 cents, or
  • there is no debt

Is rejection to be overridden?

  • Yes,
  • No,
    • answer No to the override question
    • select Submit to finalise the rejection
    • customer is not eligible for advance payment
    • procedure ends here

6

Continue workflow: Affordability assessment + Read more ...

The first assessment question will determine if the customer can afford to repay the advance without being placed in financial hardship.

Ask the customer to think about their current expenses to determine how much they can afford to repay for the next 13 fortnights (6 months).

If the customer cannot afford the repayments for the minimum advance amount, the claim will be rejected.

By answering the affordability question, the system will advise the minimum and maximum amount available. The customer then needs to advise the amount they wish to apply for.

7

Continue workflow: payment by instalment + Read more ...

The Manage Advances action will also show the payment options available (that is, one-off payment or via instalments).

Payment by instalment

  • If the customer chooses to have the advance payment paid by instalments, the repayments will be calculated on the full amount of the advance and not just the instalment that is being paid first
  • When coding the date for the second instalment, for non-pension customers, the date coded needs to be one working day before the date the customer needs the funds. The payment is issued as per normal payment delivery timeframes
  • The second instalment must be paid within 6 months of the original grant

8

Continue workflow: customer declaration + Read more ...

Read the following information and confirm the customer understands:

  • 'While you receive this payment, you will not be entitled to another Income Support advance for another 12 months, do you understand'?
  • 'If your payment stops before you have repaid the Advance, you will have to repay the amount still owing, do you understand'?
  • 'Your future payment will be reduced for the following 13 fortnights by XXX'
  • 'This will continue until the advance amount is fully recovered, do you understand this arrangement'?

If the customer answers 'Yes' to all the above statements, select Submit.

9

Workflow ends: Record Note and advise customer of outcome + Read more ...

Tell the customer the decision and the details of their advance payment.

If the customer requests a receipt number, this will need to be issued via Customer First, see Issuing and viewing receipt numbers.

Grant letters are no longer sent to customers with the exception of customers with a nominee, under 18 years of age or who is income managed.

Payment should be issued to the customer’s payment destination on the next business/working day. Payments are not credit to accounts on weekends and public holidays.

A Note must be manually recorded to provide details of the grant.

If nominee arrangements are in place, include in the Note:

  • if a correspondence nominee has applied on behalf of the customer, indicate that the applicant was the nominee, or
  • if the customer has applied, record details of contact or attempted contacts made with the nominee

If the customer is in immediate need of the advance and any delay in accessing funds would severely disadvantage the customer, see Urgent payments due to exceptional and unforeseen or extraordinary circumstances.

Are the customer's payments income managed?

10

Income managed customer impacts + Read more ...

Advance repayments reduce the amount of funds credited into a customer's Income Management account. Service Officers are to check there are sufficient funds available to meet ongoing regular expenses.

Go to the Expense Management Summary screen and view the percentage of the fortnightly unallocated funds available. If more than 100% is allocated, regular expenses will need to be reviewed and updated. For more details, see Determining a person's priority needs for Income Management.

Note: after running the Manage Advances action for Income Management customers, check the advance payment on the Payment Summary (PS) screen. The Advance is identified as being income managed by the $0.00 amount in the $Net payment column.

Funds will be credited with the nightly payment strip and available in the Income Management account the next day. This means, customers who are granted an advance on a Friday can access these funds on the weekend, using self-service options to transfer to their BasicsCard. For more details, see, Coding Income Management expenses and Transfer of funds between Income Management Account and BasicsCard online.

Changing instalment date using Manage Advance

Table 4

Step

Action

1

Customer requests change to instalment date + Read more ...

Run the Manage Advances action in Process Direct:

  • From the Customer Summary screen, select > Manage Advances
  • select the correct CURRENT advance
  • check the second instalment date in the advance header
  • select Adjust instalment date action

2

Update instalment date + Read more ...

To update the instalment date, complete the following fields:

  • Contact method: select type
  • Advance: this will show the type of advance (Standard, FTB)
  • Advance amount: - this is the total amount advanced to the customer
  • First Instalment amount:
  • Second Instalment amount:
  • Second instalment date:
  • New second instalment date: update date with new required instalment date (this must be a date in the future, it cannot be today's date)
    Note: this will be the date the system issues the payment and the payment will not be available in the customer's account until the next working day

Finalise activity and confirm payment instalment date with customer.

Manually create a separate Note advising date change and reason.

Assisted - Customer First

On this tab

Assessing an advance payment using Customer First

Changing the second instalment date using Customer First

Assessing an advance payment using Customer First

Table 1

Step

Action

1

Customer is unable to apply for an advance payment via self service options + Read more ...

If the customer is unable to use self service options, claims for the standard advance payment are to be processed using the Advance Payments workflow.

Tell the customer how often they can be paid an advance, so they have a chance to change the amount before any advance being finalised.

  • Run the Advance Payments workflow
  • Select the advance payment option
  • Indicate if the application is being made over the telephone or in person
  • The Advance Payments workflow will automatically reject the application if the person is not qualified. Note: this may happen at the beginning of the assessment or during progress through the questions

Note: when an income managed customer applies for an advance payment, a message will show. Service Officers are to read the relevant information to the customer, before proceeding with the workflow.

Does the customer have a nominee?

2

Customer has a nominee + Read more ...

If the customer has a nominee, the first question will be:

'This customer has a nominee, or the applicant may be the nominee. Have you checked if there are any restrictions preventing the issue of an Advance before continuing?'

Select the correct radio button:

  • Yes – the affordability question set will be presented to assess the advance
  • No – a message screen will show, advising to check the customer record to ensure there are no restrictions such as a DOC on the record stating the nominee has advised that no advances are to be paid. It also provides more details on contacting the nominee

The information message advises staff should offer to mail an application form to the customer. This is incorrect as there is no longer an application form.

Select OK to close the message.

To reject the application, select Continue. Advance will be rejected – Claim withdrawn.

For more details on Advances and nominees, see Advances.

3

Continue action: Affordability assessment + Read more ...

The first assessment question will determine if the customer can afford to repay the advance without being placed in financial hardship.

Ask the customer to think about their current expenses to determine how much they can afford to repay for the next 13 fortnights (6 months).

If the customer cannot afford the repayments for the minimum advance amount, the claim will be rejected.

Note: the workflow shows the amount range the customer may apply for. This could change depending on the fortnightly amount entered.

If the customer wants to know how much the repayments would be for a specific amount a Ready Reckoner is available within the workflow.

At the end of the Basic Eligibility Criteria section, Rejection and Override Decision buttons may appear. The rejection reason 'POD' - Person has an overpayment/debt - can be overridden when:

  • the debt has been repaid and is not yet updated on the system
  • the debt is less than 5 cents, or
  • there is no debt

Select the relevant button and follow the instructions to enable grant of the advance payment or allow the workflow to process the rejection.

If the application is successful, the workflow will make the payment to the customer via their regular method of payment. Payment of advance under a nominee arrangement is to the usual account.

4

Continue action: payment options and DOC + Read more ...

The workflow will:

  • Prompt Service Officers to tell the customer they are entitled or not entitled to an advance payment
  • Show the payment options available (that is, one-off payment or via instalments), and when the advance payment/s will be paid into the customer's bank account. The first payment is usually made within 1 to 3 working days depending on the payment type and the application channel
  • Write the online DOC

Payment by instalment

  • If the customer chooses to have the advance payment paid by instalments, the repayments will be calculated on the full amount of the advance and not just the instalment that is being paid first
  • When coding the date for the second instalment, for non-pension customers, the date coded must be one working day before the date the customer needs the funds. The payment is issued as per normal payment delivery timeframes
  • The second instalment must be paid within 6 months of the original grant

If nominee arrangements are in place, annotate the DOC as follows:

  • If a correspondence nominee has applied on behalf of the customer, indicate that the applicant was the nominee, or
  • if the customer has applied, record details of contact or attempted contacts made with the nominee

Note: when actioning advance payments for Income Management customers, check the advance payment on the Payment Summary (PS) screen before finalising the activity. The Advance is identified as being income managed by the $0.00 amount in the $Net payment column.

Funds will be credited with the nightly payment strip and available in the Income Management account the next day. This means customers who are granted an advance on a Friday can access these funds on the weekend using self-service options to transfer to their BasicsCard. For more details see, Coding Income Management expenses and Transfer of funds between Income Management Account and BasicsCard online.

5

Workflow ends: Issue receipt number + Read more ...

The system will offer a printed receipt with a receipt number and details about the decision made.

If requested, issue a verbal receipt number. Give the customer the choice of receiving an immediate printed receipt (face to face contact only).

Grant letters are no longer sent to customers with the exception of customers with a nominee, under 18 years of age or who is Income Managed.

If the customer is in immediate need of the advance and any delay in accessing funds would severely disadvantage the customer, see Urgent payments due to exceptional and unforeseen or extraordinary circumstances.

Are the customer's payments income managed?

6

Income managed customer impacts + Read more ...

Advance repayments reduce the amount of funds credited into a customer's Income Management account. Service Officers are to check there are sufficient funds available to meet ongoing regular expenses.

Go to the Expense Management Summary screen and view the percentage of the fortnightly unallocated funds available. If more than 100% is allocated, regular expenses will need to be reviewed and updated. For more details, see Determining a person's priority needs for Income Management.

Changing the second instalment date using Customer First

Table 2

Step

Action

1

Customer requests change to instalment date + Read more ...

Check the instalment date, by selecting the Advance date hyperlink. The instalment date will show on the Advance Details screen.

2

Update instalment date + Read more ...

To update the instalment date, complete the following fields:

  • Contact method: select type from drop down list
  • Advance: this will show the type of advance (Standard, FTB)
  • Advance amount: this is the total amount advanced to the customer
  • First Instalment amount:
  • Second Instalment amount:
  • Second instalment date:
  • New second instalment date: update date with new required instalment date (this must be a date in the future, it cannot be today's date)
    Note: this will be the date the system issues the payment, and the payment will not be available in the customer's account until the next working day

Finalise activity and confirm payment instalment date with customer.

Annotate DOC with the updated instalment date and reason for change.

Procedure ends here.