Farm Household Case Officer (FHCO) cases 002-02070030

To search for an unassigned FHA case:

• Select Workspace, then Search Benefit Cases
• Case Type: select Farm Household Allowance
• Case Status: select Current
• Select Search

FHA case list displays.

• Hover over Employee Responsible button
• Select the small triangle and scroll down to the blank line at the end
• Select the blank line

Unassigned cases will display.

To display cases by region code:

• hover over Region Code menu for small triangle, then select Sort Ascending, or
• key region code in Region Office Code box and select Search

FHA cases are assigned by FHCOs, FHCO line managers, or other approved staff.

After FHA has been granted, assign an FHCO to a FHA case.

In Process Direct, select:

• FHA/SRSS from workspace
• FHCO Diary
• FHCO ID - ensure correct ID is displaying
• Key the customer's Customer Reference Number (CRN) with no spaces and a capital letter (for example 123456789A)
• Select Link, the customer's name appears in the FHCO's diary

A customer may be reassigned to another FHCO. This happens because of:

• caseload levels
• change in roles
• conflict of interest, or
• customer request

Only an FHCO line manager can reassign a FHA customer to another FHCO from the FHCO Diary. If reassigning is required, the case can be unassigned by the previous FHCO via the FHCO Diary. Select the D Link CRN and the new FHCO can then assign themselves as Employee Responsible.

To assign a new FHCO, in Process Direct, select:

• FHA/SRSS from workspace
• FHCO Diary
• FHCO ID - ensure correct ID is displaying
• Key the customer's CRN with no spaces and a capital letter (for example 123456789A)
• Select Link, the customer's name appears in the new FHCO's Diary

Any future FIA appointments will automatically transfer to the new FHCO.

The new FHCO will contact the customer to introduce themselves and provide the customer with the contact details.

The FHCO will:

• send a pre-call notification (SMS only) using electronic message, see Centrelink letters online and Electronic Messaging
• make at least 2 genuine attempts on different days and times to contact the customer
• record all contact attempts via the FHA Phone contact attempt Fast Note on the customer's record

If a customer contacts the former FHCO, provide the customer with the contact details for the new FHCO and tell them that further contact should be with the new FHCO.

In the customer's record, in Process Direct:

Go to the FHA Customer Summary (Super Key FCS) screen. If the customer has been assigned an FHCO, the FHCO's name will display in the FHCO Name field.

If an FHCO has not been assigned to the customer, go to Step 5.

If an FHCO has not yet been assigned to the customer, was the claim finalised more than 14 days prior to the customer contact?

• Yes, email the FHCO Not Allocated email template to Farm Household Case Officer (FHCO). See the Resources page for the email template
• No, tell the customer that an FHCO will be assigned to their case and will make contact to introduce themselves
• Use the Fast Note workflow to DOC the record, advising email template has been sent

If the customer contacts asking to speak with their FHCO, to identify the FHCO assigned, go to Step 4.

Service Officers should contact FHCO via MS Teams or email to advise of the customer request for contact.

Is the FHCO available at the time of customer contact?

• Yes, if agreed to by the FHCO warm transfer the customer via phone. Alternatively ensure contact details are correct on the record and advise the FHCO will return their contact
• No:
• escalate the request for contact to FHCO using the Request for FHCO contact email template. See the Resources page for the email template
• use the Fast Note workflow to DOC the record, including the reason for contact

The customer may contact to advise they are dissatisfied with the service received from their FHCO.

If the customer contacts to:

• Give feedback about an interaction they have had with a FHCO, record the details using the Customer Feedback Tool
• Request an alternative FHCO, send an email to FHCO using the request an alternative FHCO. See the Resources page for the email template
• Use the Fast Note workflow to DOC the record, including the current FHCO name
• Follow up on a previous request for an alternative FHCO, if the request was:
• more than 14 days ago, send another request an alternative FHCO email
• less than 14 days ago, tell the customer a new FHCO will be assigned to their case and will make contact to introduce themselves

Offer a referral to the Rural Financial Counselling Service (RFCS) at day 1-3 after the lodgement of the FHA claim, unless the customer does not want to be referred or has already been referred.

Check to see if an RFCS referral exists on the customer record. Check:

• the Document List (DL) screen for a referral
• Nominee arrangement
• Person Permitted to Enquire (PPE) arrangement

Go to Step 2.

The FHCO National Support team sends an email to FHCOs between 1-3 days of the claim being lodged. This notifies the FHCO that a day 1-3 contact is required, including an RFCS referral.

The FHCO must:

• send a pre-call notification (SMS only) using electronic message, see Centrelink letters online and Electronic Messaging
• make 2 genuine attempts on different dates and times to contact the customer to offer the referral

Is contact successful?

• Yes, go to Step 3
• No, use Fast Note - select Auto Text, use Rural > Update > FHA phone contact attempted to DOC the record of the attempted contact. If the second attempt is unsuccessful, update the previous DOC with details of the attempted contact

If the day 1-3 contact with the customer is successful, see the Resources page for the FHCO day 1-3 key messaging script.

Using the key messaging script, discuss with the customer:

• Receipt of the FHA claim
• If the partner is not current on FHA, confirm if the partner wants to apply for FHA
• If the claim is not a combined claim and the partner intends to claim FHA, advise the partner should lodge a claim within 14 days of claim lodgement date for the claim to be backdated
• Partner Permitted to Enquire
• Mutual obligation for Farm Household Allowance
• MyGov and electronic messaging registration
• RFCS referral

After the discussion, staff must:

• Update the FHA Customer Summary Screen (Super Key: FCS):
• Select Edit
• Key the 1 to 3 Day Initial Contact Date
• Key the 1 to 3 Day Initial Contact User ID (logon)
• Select Save
• Document the above using Fast Note - select Auto Text, use Rural > FHCO > FHCO Day 1-3 NCL contact

Is the request to arrange for the RFCS to contact the customer accepted?

• Yes, go to Step 4
• No, procedure ends here

Advise the RFCS the customer has agreed to the referral:

• Record the referral on the customer's record using Fast Note - select Auto Text, use Rural > Update > RFCS Express Consent
• Complete the RFCS Referral Facsimile template and send via fax to the regional RFCS Executive Officer. See the Resources page for the facsimile template and link to the RFCS