Disability Support Pension (DSP) customer fails to attend an interview 008-03090070

What type of interview did the customer fail to attend?

• If a Job Capacity Assessment (JCA) interview, see JCA and Employment Services Assessment (ESAt) appointments. Procedure ends here
• If a DSP Participation interview, see DSP participation requirements compliance model. Procedure ends here
• For all other interviews, go to Step 2

Check to confirm the letter advising the customer to attend an interview contains a reasonable timeframe for response, information about the consequences of non-compliance and a reference to the relevant Act the request to attend an appointment has been made under.

Has the customer been fully advised in writing of these requirements?

• Yes, go to Step 3
• No, the interview must be rebooked and an advice issued containing this information. Procedure ends here

Attempt to contact the customer by telephone, if possible, on the day of the non-attended interview.

• Make at least 2 contact attempts over a 2 day period
• If the customer does not have a telephone, send a letter asking the customer to contact within 7 days. Resubmit an activity for 7 days to follow up response to letter

Is contact with the customer successful?

• Yes, go to Step 4
• No, go to Step 6

Consider the reason for non-attendance and other options for conducting the interview.

• A face-to-face interview is generally required for DSP customers. However, in exceptional circumstances, a phone interview may be more appropriate, for example:
• the customer has difficulty attending due to the nature of their disability
• the customer is in hospital, or
• other circumstances beyond their control
• If there are any doubts about conducting the interview over the telephone, consult with a Senior Service Officer (SSO). This may mean calling back the customer after consultation with the SSO

Advise the customer that non-attendance may result in suspension of payment.

• Ensure that they understand the reason for suspending the payment. That is, that the interview is required to verify their continuing entitlement and therefore payment cannot continue until they are interviewed and their entitlement is established

If the customer agrees to attend another interview, book a new appointment.

• Advise the customer that if they do not attend this new interview, payment may be suspended immediately
• No further phone contact is needed if this new appointment is missed

Have new arrangements been made to conduct the interview?

That is, the customer agrees to attend another appointment or it is appropriate to conduct the interview by telephone.

• Yes, record details on a DOC. Include how the customer was contacted, the reason for non-attendance and details of the new arrangement. Procedure ends here
• No, go to Step 6

Go to the Benefit Action (BA) screen and code the following:

• ‘DSP’ in the Svc Rsn field
• ‘SUS’ in the Action field
• 'FAI' in the Reason field
• the date of effect, (the date the suspension is to take effect), in the Effect Date field
• the Source field
• the date of receipt in the DOR field

Record the details on a DOC. Include the reason for non-attendance or why no contact was made, and why payment has been suspended.

Go to the Assessment Results (AR) screen to finalise activity.

Unless action is taken to restore DSP within 13 weeks of the suspension date, DSP will automatically cancel at the end of that period.

A Manual Follow Up (MFU) activity is created on the Activity List (AL) screen after the suspension activity has been finalised. This activity may not appear until the next day.

Complete the free text (Q999) letter. The letter should advise the customer of the reasons for suspension of payment, its date of effect, the impacted payment, the relevant section of legislation, and their review and appeal rights.