Streaming and processing a new claim for Farm Household Allowance (FHA) 002-17040300

Record a temporary Display on Access (DOA) DOC on the customer's record.

Use the Progress of FHA claim Fast Note and record the Service Officer assessing the claim. This must be updated if claim reallocation occurs.

If the customer's partner or a combined partner claim has been lodged, record a DOA DOC, and allocate both claims to the same Service Officer to prevent duplication of work.

Use the Progress of FHA Claim Fast Note to record a Progress of Claim (POC) DOC for all claims, even if a POC DOC has automatically generated. If a combined partner claim has been lodged, record POC DOC on each customer's record.

Update nominee details if needed. See Adding or rejecting a nominee request.

Go to Step 2.

If the claim is:

• a paper claim or ACC claim submitted by a Service Officer, go to Step 3
• an online claim, or ACC claim submitted by the customer, go to Step 4

Check the paper claim for the following:

• If the customer has answered Question 40, refer to Assessing a life interest in a home for more details
• If the customer and partner have claimed on the same claim form, create a SOA shell for the partner via the SOA shell application. For help creating a SOA shell, see Table 3, Step 3
• Claim form has been signed
• If the claim is lodged without a signature and there is an opportunity to correct this (for example, more information is to be requested), request the customer sign the form as part of the request for more information. However:
• claims without a signature can be processed, provided the information on the form is sufficient for the delegate to assess the claim and the delegate is satisfied the claimant has proved their identity
• if the delegate has any concerns about the customer's identity, or the completeness or accuracy of the information provided, the delegate may request a signature or further information
• Check for required information. As Circumstance Change Monitor (CCM) does not apply to paper claims, Service Officers must issue a written request for information

After checking the paper claim and creating the SOA (if required), determine if the customer meets basic eligibility requirements, go to Step 5.

Customers are advised prior to submitting their online claim or ACC that certain documents must be provided to support their claim. If the customer intentionally provides inappropriate or unrelated documents, reject the claim. See Documents required for Centrelink new claims.

If the claim is:

• under 15 days old, and the customer:
• provided all requested documents from the online claim, go to Step 5
• has not provided all documents, go to Step 9
• 15 days old or over, and the customer:
• provided all requested documents from the online claim, go to Step 5
• has not provided all documents, go to Step 14

Note: circumstances may apply where a customer has a claim submission exception, and they are not required to complete all required tasks to submit their claim. See Circumstance Change Monitor (CCM).

To be eligible for FHA, a person must meet all the following:

Note: check all eligibility criteria and answer each criterion individually. For combined partner claims, the criteria will be assessed for both customers within the same claim in Process Direct.

• they meet Australian residence requirements for payment
• they are a farmer, or a partner of a farmer, who contributes a significant part of their labour and capital to a farm enterprise (or is unable to do so due to a temporary illness or injury). See Eligibility and payability for Farm Household Allowance (FHA)
• the farm enterprise has significant commercial purpose or character and is in Australia. This must be supported by documented evidence. Where tax returns and financial statements do not support this criteria, additional documentation is required. See Eligibility and payability for Farm Household Allowance (FHA)
• they are aged 16 years or over (partnered customers must be over the age of consent in their State or Territory)
• they meet the income and asset tests
• they are willing to enter into and comply with a Financial Improvement Agreement (FIA)

In Process Direct, select to review the claim information provided, focusing on the key eligibility points from the above list.

Make a determination about the basic eligibility criteria.

Where the customer is transferring to FHA from another payment, cancel the income support payment before starting the claim in Process Direct. See Cancellation of payments.

Does the customer meet all the above criteria?

• Yes, go to Step 6
• No, as the customer has not met one or more of the basic eligibility criteria, reject the claim, go to Step 15

Check Benefit Status (XBS) screen for previous benefit status dates.

Use the ACC desktop icon and check the ACC to see who submitted the ACC claim. Key the customer's Customer Reference Number (CRN) and view the Submitted by column.

The claim was submitted by:

• a Service Officer if a logon displays
• the customer if the customer's CRN displays

Has the customer or partner (if applicable) received payment of, or claimed FHA in the 52 weeks immediately before date of lodgement of the new claim?

• Yes, go to Step 7
• No, go to Step 8

Where the customer or partner (if applicable) have received or claimed FHA in the previous 52 weeks, Service Officers must:

• Use the provisional claim data and confirmed data to finalise the claim
• Do not request verification of the customer's circumstances, unless:
• information is missing or not previously recorded, and will affect the claim outcome
• there are concerns with the legitimacy of the customer's information
• there are significant changes in circumstances, for example, change in marital status
• non-farm income is identified, eligibility for the farm business losses must be assessed
• Check and resolve any outstanding failures.
  To locate failures:
• go to the FHA Income Tax Review (FITR) screen
• select the relevant year review
• select Edit
• from the Failure Activity Status, select Resolved
• save

To resolve an FFA or FIA, see:

• Farm Financial Assessments (FFA)
• Mutual obligations, failures and exemptions from the activity test for Farm Household Allowance (FHA customer

Note: if information is needed to resolve the failure, for example, tax returns for a non-lodger, a verbal request may be the quicker option. If a written request is required, the notice must contain the needed information.

Processing staff must resolve active failures due to not fulfilling mutual obligations or completing a Farm Financial Assessment when previously in receipt of FHA.

For help resolving active failures:

• Non-lodgement of tax returns, see Business income reconciliation for FHA
• Financial Improvement Agreements, see Mutual obligations, failures and exemptions from the activity test for FHA customers
• Farm Financial Assessments (FFA)

Go to Step 8.

Check if Identity Confirmation is required to support a claim for payment or service.

Has Identity Confirmation been achieved for this customer?

• Yes, code identity outside the claim activity, see Coding identity documents. Go to Step 9
• No, consider:
• RFC verified documents to complete linkage, see Background > Referral to the Rural Financial Counselling Service (RFCS)
• Difficulty confirming identity including unable to attend in person, see Alternative Identity

Go to Step 9.

Have extra documents been identified, in addition to outstanding Required tasks?

• Yes, go to Step 10
• No, Update the Progress of claim (POC) DOC and HOLD the claim activity until day 15. Procedure ends here

If there has been a change to the customer's contact details, update these before sending out a written request.

For claims where further information is required (see Requesting Information):

• Request the required information to be provided within 14 days. Allow extra time for mail delivery to respond:
• Refer to the customer's preferred time of contact in the FHA new claim, or on the FHA Customer Summary (FCS) screen in Process Direct when contacting the customer to request required information. Give timeframes for the return of the information
• If registered for Electronic Messaging, send a pre-call notification (SMS only) using Electronic Message
• make a minimum of one genuine attempt to contact the customer to discuss missing documentation
• For more details see Privacy concerns when calling customers, returning calls or leaving messages on answering machines
• Provide advice about the services available and offer a referral to the Rural Financial Counselling Service (RFCS). The RFCS may be able to help the customer get the outstanding information
• Use the FHA phone contact attempted Fast Note to record all contact attempts on the customer record

Note: if the customer has completed supporting modules in the online claim, for example, real estate, business details, income, and assets, do not request paper copies of these forms.

Go to Step 11.

A referral may be required where the:

• customer or partner is receiving income from Compensation or the Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA)
• customer (or partner) is involved in or claiming at least one of the assessment reasons listed in Identifying and making suitable referrals to the Complex Assessment Officer (CAO)
• customer is a principal carer or has a shared care arrangement
• customer is potentially eligible to claim a foreign pension. See International Services
• primary production aggregation assessment where the Service Officer processing the claim does not have the delegation to complete a primary aggregation assessment

Is a referral required before the claim can be processed?

• Yes, follow the required process to complete a referral to:
• CAO, see Identifying and making suitable referrals to the Complex Assessment Officer (CAO)
• DVA, see Payments from the Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) and referrals to the DVA Clearance Team
• Compensation, see Coding Compensation and damages (Mod C) to request a clearance
• Principal carer or shared care, see Table 2 Step 7
• International Services, see Foreign pensions
• Primary production aggregation assessments:
  - Check the customer has lodged all required documents for claim assessment or reassessment before completing the referral
  - Refer the claim using the Fast Note - select Auto Text, use Rural > Claims > FHA Aggregation and complete all fields
  - Place claim on hold
• Go to Step 12
• No, go to Step 12

Is the claim put on hold pending a response to request for information or referral?

• Yes:
• Update the Progress of claim (POC) DOC and HOLD the claim activity, allow extra time for referral outcomes and request for information
• Procedure ends here until required referrals are completed and/or response received to a request for information
• If the customer does not respond to the request for information within a reasonable timeframe, go to Step 14
• No, assess the claim. Go to Step 13

Assess the documentation and information provided by the customer to determine eligibility.

Has all required information been provided?

• Yes:
• and claim is to be rejected, go to Step 15
• otherwise finalise the claim, see Table 2, Step 1
• No, go to Step 14

As the customer has not provided all required information and documentation, reject the claim FSD. Do not request any more information from the customer and/or partner. If the customer does not have an identity status of Confirmed, and the claim will be rejected, do not request Proof of Identity (POI) documents. See Alternative Identity.

Before rejecting the FHA claim:

• If the customer advises of a change in marital status, update these details in the claim
• Delete all provisional data not associated with a mandatory task (Payment Destination and Farmer Specific Data). Coding of information that has been confirmed via supporting documentation is not required
• Clear any error messages that will prevent finalisation of the claim
• Complete the Date of Commencement (NDC) task

Reject the claim, select:

• the Benefit Action (BA) screen from the Task Selector in Process Direct
• the appropriate rejection reason
• key the Date of Effect
• Save

Note: where the partner should also be rejected for a combined claim, the BA screen must be coded on the partner's record.

Finalise the claim:

• select Assess
• when the Claim Assessment Results screen displays, see Table 2, Step 9
• Record details on a DOC using the Fast Note - select Auto Text, use Rural > Claims > FHA Rejected.
  Details must include the rejection reason and the information used to determine the rejection. If any additional documents are missing, include these in the DOC

Procedure ends here.

As the customer has not met all the eligibility requirements, reject the claim using the most appropriate reason.

To reject the claim, only code extra information required to reject the claim for the appropriate reason in Process Direct.

If the customer is advising of a change in marital status, update these details in the claim.

If the customer or partner has high employment income above the cut-off point, see Rates and Thresholds index.

If rejecting for high employment income, reject the claim using the BA screen:

• Select the BA screen from the Task Selector in Process Direct
• Select the appropriate rejection reason (INC, INE)
• Key the Date of Effect
• Select Save

Note: where the partner should also be rejected for a combined claim, code the BA screen on the partner's record.

If the customer does not meet farmer eligibility reason as per Farmer Specific Data (FSD) coding and is rejecting Not a partner of a farmer (NPF), reject the claim using the BA screen:

• Select the BA screen from the Task Selector in Process Direct
• Select the appropriate rejection reason (NRI, NSP)
• Key the Date of Effect
• Select Save

Note: where the partner should also be rejected for a combined claim, code the BA screen on the partner's record.

Delete any provisional data not associated with a mandatory task (Payment Destination, Proof of Identity and Farmer Specific Data) that has not been confirmed or is not relevant to the rejection reason.

To finalise the claim, see Table 2, Step 1.

Record details on a DOC using the Fast Note - select Auto Text, use Rural > Claims > FHA Rejected.

Details must include the rejection reason and the information used to determine the rejection.

Depending on the customers circumstance, they may be eligible for an alternative payment. See Inappropriate claims.

When processing FHA claims:

• Check to make sure no unapproved Social Service Plans (SSP) are on the record prior to completing claim
• Check there are no open Change of Circumstance (CoC) activities that need completing prior to completing claim
• Where possible, finalise the activity on the day it is started. If not possible, when the Service Officer can complete the activity, they must:
• Select the transaction and go through all screens to get to the Social Service Plan (SSP)
• After reviewing all screens, select 'assess' on the SWE screen. Do not go directly to ELD/SSP through the Super Key after selecting the activity, unless told by ICT
• Complete all updates in Process Direct
• Do not exit the claim in Process Direct to manually code data into Customer First, unless instructed by an approved workaround
• Code income and assets for the customer and their partner, including the FHA Rural Exempt Indicator where required

The Task Selector will display screens that may need updating. The Tasks that have provisional data will be automatically selected and will display .

• Select any additional tasks that need completion
• Select Next

Where key eligibility requirements have not been met, FHA should automatically reject in the Process Direct SSP.

To reject the claim FSD - Failed to Supply Documents or to override the automatic rejection with another rejection reason go to the Benefit Action (BA) screen and key:

• DOV: Date of claim
• Benefit: FHA
• Rejection Reason: use relevant reason to reject

Note: where the partner should also be rejected for a combined claim, code the BA screen on the partner's record.

For information on coding the following tasks:

• Farm Business Income, go to Step 3
• FHA Business Financials, go to Step 4
• Farmer Specific Data, go to Step 5
• FHA Farm Business Assets, go to Step 6
• Income, see Assessing income for Farm household Allowance (FHA)
• Assets, see Assessing assets for Farm Household Allowance (FHA)
• PINS deductions see Managing Australian Taxation Office (ATO) tax deductions

PINS deductions for FHA claims are to be coded in Customer First.

After navigating into the claim processing part of Process Direct FHA, warnings and error messages may present.

Investigate and clear all errors:

• before progressing the claim to Assess
• that present after selecting Assess. Once the errors have been cleared, select Assess

For help, see Process Direct navigation, common screens and functions.

From 1 July 2024, Services Australia will use a customer's actual farm business income, as per their latest tax return, to assess FHA eligibility.

Where there has been a change of circumstances, customers may provide a farm business income estimate for the current financial year. The customer's estimate must be considered reasonable for their claim to be finalised and used to assess their entitlement to FHA.

If the customer has an interest in multiple farming businesses, a separate profit and loss is required for each farming business.

From 16 December 2019, income from directly related businesses must be combined with the farm business income to determine the total farm business income.

Non-farm income is to be offset against a farm business loss to reduce the assessable income used in the FHA income test.

If it is determined the estimate provided within the claim is unreasonable, contact the customer to discuss and request a revised estimate. This can be accepted verbally, make sure the POC DOC is updated with details of the discussion.

Claims lodged from 1 July 2019 may contain Forced Disposal of Livestock income.

For help with:

• Farm business income estimates, see Business income estimates for Farm Household Allowance (FHA)
• Farm business losses, see Assessing income for Farm Household Allowance (FHA)
• Forced disposal of livestock, see Assessing income for Farm Household Allowance (FHA)

In the FHA claim transaction, record the following information required for the annual income review. This includes if the farm income is based on an estimate for the current financial year or actual income from the latest available Tax return.

Go to FBF (FHA Business Financials), select add, and record the following.

• Expected lodgement month (this is the month the customer usually completes their tax returns). This Information is available in the SU694, Private Trust details (MOD PT) or Private Company details (MOD PC):
• if the customer submits an online claim, use the month as per the tax returns lodged
• if unavailable, use May of the next financial year, and
• record on a DOC on the customer's record for the FHCO to follow up contact with the customer for this information after FHA is granted
• Requesting Financial year (this will be the financial year the customer is due to complete next)
• Business Name (businesses on the Real Estate and Business (REBS) screen appear in the drop-down box. For Trust and Company Income use Other)
• Start Date (start date of payment)
• End Date: Key 31/12/9999 unless updating a change to the customers circumstances
• Estimate/Actual (source of the current farm business income)

If the customer has more than one business, only one business needs to be recorded.

For partnered customers where the partner is claiming as a partner of a farmer:

• select OTH for the business name, and
• key May as the Expected lodgement month

Note: if the customer has submitted a paper claim, code the REBS screen before FBF.

Review the customer's claim and check eligibility details for the famer (and their partner if applicable). The answers in the customer's claim must only be changed if there is evidence to support the change.

For help determining eligibility and coding Farmer Specific Data, see Eligibility and payability for Farm Household Allowance (FHA).

For partnered customers, complete the Farmer Specific Data task on the customer and partner records, even if the partner is not claiming FHA. They may be considered the partner of a farmer.

From 11 June 2020, a single assets test is applied to FHA. The asset threshold has been increased to $5.5 million for combined farm and non-farm assets.

Customers must provide a recent tax return and financial documents with their FHA claim, use the balance sheet to get the customer’s net business asset position. See the Resources page for the balance sheet adjustment calculator. The assessable assets do not need to be recorded in the Farm Business Assets task in Process Direct

• Check all assets are coded in Process Direct on the relevant screens/tasks. This will be replicated in the Income System Integrated System (ISIS), and
• The correct farm business type is recorded on the:
• Real Estate (RE) screen,
• Business (BUS) screen, or
• on the trust or company record, and, where applicable
• the FHA rural exemption code has been applied to farm assets
• Trust or company linkage has been completed for a farm related trust or company

Note: where the FHA rural exemption is coded for the partner in Process Direct, this will not apply in Customer First. After finalising the claim, recode the FHA rural exemption for the partner in Customer First.

Share the care of a child

Does the customer share the care of a child with another person?

A shared care assessment is required to determine which carer is the principal carer of the child. This applies even if one carer has not claimed income support. Only one person can be the principal carer of a child at any time.

FHA customers with shared care who are the principal carer are qualified for the 'with child' rate and have access to a separate income test.

Is a shared care assessment required?

• Yes, and the Service Officer:
• is suitably trained, see Shared care for income support payments and principal carer determination go to Step 7
• is not suitably trained, to refer the customer for a Shared Care/Principal Carer assessment, run the Principal Carer Determination Required Fast Note - select Auto Text, use Families > Updates > Principal Carer Determination Required. Select Confirm. Place claim on hold
• No, go to Step 8

After addressing any warnings or errors:

• Select Assess to view the Social Service Plan (SSP) screen
• Go to Step 9

The SSP screen will show the outcome of the claim and provides an opportunity to correct coding before finalising the claim.

Note: to check the partner SSP for a combined claim, select and select the partner to display their result.

The information displayed includes:

• Claim dates - check the start date and assessment status are correct
• Eligibility - check the dates are correct
• Entitlement items - check the rates displayed are as expected
• Planned Payments - check the future payments and arrears are correct
• Interim Status this shows the outcome of the claim

Is the customer or partner entitled to any arrears?

• Yes, go to Step 10
• No, go to Step 11

Determine if the customer is entitled to an arrears payment. Factors to consider when determining the payment of arrears include:

• when the claim was lodged
• the start date of the claim
• the delay between the lodgement and finalisation of the claim

Is the customer or partner entitled to an arrears payment and is this displayed in the SSP?

• Yes, go to Step 13
• No, do not complete the activity. Go to Step 11

Review the SSP to make sure the claim outcome and daily rate is as expected (considering the income assessed within the claim). If the customer is partnered, check the partner SSP, select and select the partner to display their result.

If the rate is displaying as Nil due to employment income the claim must be rejected. See Table 1, Step 15.

Note: manual calculation of the rate of payment is not required for comparison purposes if the SPP appears as expected.

Does SSP reflect correct result and daily payment rate?

From 11 June 2020, all customers eligible for FHA payment at greater than zero dollars will be paid at the maximum rate.

• Yes, go to Step 13
• No, go to Step 12

Check all claim details are recorded correctly and update if required.

If any errors are identified, select in Process Direct to return to the claim and correct any errors before proceeding. Once the coding has been checked, corrected (if required) and the SSP reflects the correct result, go to Step 13.

If the Document is in To Be Distributed, a status error displays when approving an SSP:

• Select the Back button
• Go to the Search SSP screen. The SSP should update to Approved
• To show the updated status, clear out of the customer record then go back in

Where the correct outcome still does not display, check the correct information is keyed:

• refer the record for further investigation
• record details and the SD number on a DOC
• after ICT have resolved the issue, go to Step 13

When the SSP screen is displaying the correct outcome, select:

• Finish
• Finalise
• OK to clear the displayed message advising the claim has been successfully completed

To check the partner SSP for a combined claim, select and select the partner to display their result.

If the claim is selected for a QMA check, before the new claim QMA is actioned, record the appropriate claim outcome Fast Note, if:

• granted, select Auto Text, use Rural > Claims > FHA Grant
• rejected, select Auto Text, use Rural > Claims > FHA Rejected

Non-proficient Service Officers get a message to advise the claim has been sent for Quality Checking and are re-directed to the Process Direct Landing page.

Has the finalisation of the New Claim resulted in an arrears payment to the customer over the system arrears limit?

• Yes:
• issue a payment via Real time Gross Settlement (RTGS) up to the system arrears limit. The remainder of the arrears release in the next overnight payment strip. Once the payment is released via RTGS, go to Step 15.
  Note: RTGS may not be an appropriate method of payment for all customers. See Immediate payment by payment method Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS)
• if the customer's financial institution does not accept RTGS payments, refer the record to ICT via Digital Assistant Roxy
• No, go to Step 14

Record details on a DOC, use the following Fast Note if the claim is:

• granted, - Rural > Claims > FHA Grant
• rejected, - Rural > Claims > FHA Rejected. Details must include the rejection reason and the information used to determine the rejection

The DOC must also include information used to determine rejection and any requirements for a reassessment to occur. For example, if rejected FSD, list all outstanding documents.

Service Officers must:

Complete a final record check:

• Close the Progress of FHA claim Fast Note
• Close off any scanned images that have been actioned as part of the claim assessment
• The Region Office Code (ROC) on the Office Code (OC) screen is correct for FHA. Update where required
• Make sure the reporting frequency for partnered customers is aligned. To update, see Rate and payment of Farm Household Allowance
• If the partner is current on ISP, make sure all documents are coded that may affect the partner’s payment
• Issue a manual grant letter for all granted FHA claims. This includes issuing a manual grant letter to the nominee if the customer has one. See Rural & remote Australians for letter templates
• Before sending the letter check the Nominee Address Summary (NOADS) screen in the nominee record to ensure the correct address is used. See Changing personal details of nominees

Note: if the claim has been selected for Quality Checking, the Quality Management Officer (QMO) will email the Service Officer once the claim has been completed. The Service Officer must issue the grant letter.

If registered for Electronic Messaging, send a pre call notification (SMS only) using Electronic Message. Make a minimum of one genuine attempt to contact the customer in their preferred time wherever possible and advise the outcome of their claim. Record details of all contact attempts on a DOC using the FHA phone contact attempted Fast Note.

If the customer's FHA claim has been granted discuss:

• The services available from the Rural Financial Counselling Service (RFCS) and offer a Referral to the Rural Financial Counselling Service (RFCS)
• If the customer or partner are Family Tax Benefit (FTB) or Child Care Subsidy (CCS) current, request an update to the income estimate
• If outstanding report/s are displayed on the record, get the required information, and complete the report during the call for first contact resolution. Promote self-service for any future reporting
• The requirement to update the business income estimate as circumstances change

If the claim has been rejected, tell the customer:

• reason for the rejection
• their review and appeal rights

Note: if the claim has been selected for Quality Checking, the Service Officer must make the contact attempt once the claim has been finalised. That is, not the Quality Management Officer (QMO).

See the Resources page for scripts to help with claim outcome conversation.

Where a customer's previously determined claim requires a:

• reassessment of a previous claim that has been rejected FSD (Failure to Supply Documents), go to Step 2
  Note: for other rejection reasons, see First contact about a decision and the internal review process
• change to the start date of claim following a review of decision, go to Step 4

Was the customer's claim rejected, check the rejection DOC to confirm the customer has provided all requested documentation and is seeking reassessment of the claim within 13 weeks of being notified of the decision?

Note: if the customer has lodged requested documentation, this is deemed a reassessment request.

• Yes, go to Step 3
• No, and the:
• customer has provided some of the required information, tell the customer of the remaining outstanding documents. The customer will need to provide all requested documentation within 13 weeks of being notified of the decision
• original decision is not to be reassessed, the customer must make a new claim:
  Make a minimum of one genuine attempt to contact the customer in their preferred time wherever possible to discuss the outcome.
  Annotate the Reassess FHA Rejected Claim DOC with reasons why the claim cannot be reassessed, include the outstanding information still required.
  Complete any related Work Items such as the Fast Note.
  Procedure ends here

If all requested information has been provided, re-index the claim from the original date of receipt. Do not allocate the claim back to the original processing officer.

Note: due to a system limitation, to re-index a claim that was lodged more than 12 months in the past, the date of receipt will need to be a date within the last 12 months. Manually adjust the start date of payment in the Date of Commencement task in Process Direct.

To create the new claim activity (SOA shell) staff must launch Process Direct:

• Select the SOA Shell from the Landing page
• In the SOA shell creation screen:
• Select Farm House Allowance from Benefit Type
• Key the customer’s Customer Reference Number (CRN) in the Customer CRN field
• Key the Date of Receipt as the date the claim was originally lodged
• Select Create Claim (located in bottom right corner)

Close off any ACTDOCs, Callback DOCs or scanned documents associated with the reassessment request.

Continue the reassessment of claim, see Table 1, Step 1.

If the claim needs backdating to an earlier date following a review of the decision:

• Reject FHA with reason code OTH (Other) from the original start date
• Create the new claim activity (SOA shell):
• Launch Process Direct
• Select SOA Shell from the Landing page
• In the SOA shell creation screen:
• Select Farm House Allowance from Benefit Type
• Key the customer’s CRN in the Customer CRN field
• Key the Date of Receipt as the date the claim was originally lodged
• Select Create Claim (located in bottom right corner)
• Re-grant FHA from the correct start date, see Table 1, Step 1
• After the claim has been finalised:
• Refer record to ICT via Digital Assistant Roxy as the debt from the rejection and the arrears for the period already paid from the re-grant will need to be offset
• Once the record has been escalated via Digital Assistant Roxy; to prevent incorrect arrears being issued, Service Officers must escalate to their Team Leader for immediate action. See Payment of arrears after reassessment and stopping a payment
• Issue a manual grant letter. See Rural & remote Australians for letter templates