Documenting Child Support information 277-01030000

Document conversations with customers within 24 hours. Where possible record information:

• during the call
• between calls, or
• shortly after

Recollection of the conversation will decline as time goes by.

See Hints for real time documentation on the Resources page.

Record a document when:

• customer, representative or third party contact is attempted or is successful
• giving, receiving or locating information
• making a decision, recommendation or authorising a decision
• receiving or requesting advice from the Program Advice team, or
• a compliment is received

• Use the Call Management macro for inbound and outbound calls
• When conducting pre-registration interviews follow Application for assessment - phone
• When making a decision, use the appropriate decision macro. See Child Support Macros
• If a macro is not available, document the decision in the relevant Cuba window, including:
• a detailed reasons for the decision, and
• legislative references
• Use appropriate subject headings to reflect the main purpose of the notepad
• Use dot points to summarise
• Use the customer’s first name or first name and role where required. E.g., ‘Jack’ or ‘Jill’ to avoid perceived bias, or 'Jack (applicant)' or 'Jill (respondent)'. Specialist areas may have different requirements when documenting their initial discussion or outcome decision
• Be factual and document all relevant information
• State only what the customer said
• Use inclusive language
• Limit the use of abbreviations

Do not include personal information to identify a staff member. E.g., the staff member’s surname or site.

Do not include judgements on a customer’s intention or state of mind. Avoid emotive language, e.g., instead of 'the customer was very angry...' use 'the customer said they were angry about...'or 'the customer expressed anger about...'.

Services Australia may release documented information to the customer or external bodies during an Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) or Freedom of Information (FOI) process.

See the Resources page for:

• a documentation examples
• details about where to document in Cuba
• a link to:
• Child Support Acronyms and Abbreviations, and
• the Writing Guide

Documents are a record of:

• what happened,
• information provided, and
• recommendations or decisions made

Select the type of contact from below.

• Use the Call Management macro to document all inbound and outbound customer contact
• Include the facts provided by the customer and options provided to them, including any referrals
• Use appropriate subject headings reflecting the main purpose of the contact. e.g. Care Change notification - Jack, Care Change Response- Jill, Care Decision
• Detail of any further action required
• Sign off using the custom signature block function:
• Name
• APS level
• Business function (e.g. Mainstream Customer Services)

If the customer is aggressive or has made a threat of harm to another person, themselves or an office, record details in CIRT as soon as possible. See Item 8 and Customer aggression - Reporting and recording incidents.

If the customer confirms they are affected by family and domestic violence, document the information in the customer’s profile record only. See Item 9 and Family and domestic violence to record information.

Use the Call Management macro to document all customer contact attempts.

When documenting unsuccessful customer contact attempts. Include:

• Reason for contacting the customer
• Telephone numbers tried, see Item 5
• Messages left
• Information to be obtained, if the customer call back
• Details of any further action required
• Sign off using the custom signature block function

• Use the Call Management macro and record document in the Communication window
• If the customer is locked to a specialist Child Support Team transfer the customer, see Customer Referral Guidelines

Note: if a customer is managed in Personalised Services, cold transfer the customer directly to CS Personalised Services queue as per the customer referral guidelines. Obtaining the customer’s name and date of birth is sufficient to establish the correct customer, a full identity check is not required. Refer to 5.2 Transferring Calls to Personalised Services.

All decisions made must be accompanied by a decision document. using an appropriate subject heading e.g. NAP Decision- Accepted, Care Decision.

Use the relevant Child Support macro to document decisions.

If a macro is not available, include the following in a decision document:

• Reasons for the decision or recommendation, with reference to the resource used to make the decision such as:
• CSA Act, CSA Regs, CSRC Act
• Operational Blueprint, and/or
• the Child Support Guide
• Facts provided by the customer
• Any information obtained and where it came from
• The order of events

Consider the privacy implications of where to document information:

• Do not place a customer’s or representative's personal information (full name, address, etc.) in a case-related window notepad unless guided to do so by a macro. This helps minimise privacy incidents
• When recording contact attempts in the Case window do not record the actual phone number attempted
• Sometimes, customers are only thinking about a change to their case or assessment. As this does not require a decision, add the documentation on their individual Communication window, not a case notepad
• Where the information relates to an individual, such as assessment amount or disbursement queries, document this in the customers Communication window
• If a customer confirms they are affected by family and domestic violence:
• record relevant information in the individual customer’s communication notepad, and
• add a family and domestic violence Sensitive Issue indicator in the Client Profile window. See Item 9
• Where a receiving parent elects to end their child support assessment due to being granted an exemption:
• document the details of this discussion in the receiving parents Communication window
• the Case window should only contain a notepad stating customer has elected to end case (do not document family and domestic violence/safety concerns or exemption information in the case window)
• Use the Case window to document a notification of a possible change to the assessment (such as chare change), related sequence of events, and the decision outcome
• Where specific case or assessment information relates to a change. For example, change in care, add a child, opting in, and requires the involvement of the other party in the decision making process:
• record the individual’s Call Management macro in their Communication window and refer to other notepads where further macros or information is contained. For example for a change in care, see their case (number) for the change in care details
• record any other relevant macro/s depending on the relevant Operational Blueprint direction

The above sequence depends on the flow of the conversation and required actions, however the overall documentation outcome expectation is the same.

Note: if customer confirms they are affected by family and domestic violence:

• record relevant information in the individual customer’s communication notepad, and
• add a Family and Domestic Violence Sensitive Issue indicator in the Client Profile window, see Item 9

To document information in:

• Cuba, see Item 6
• Pluto, see Item 7

When deciding where to documenting information, consider the privacy implications.

Document information in:

• dialogue boxes
• notepads for free text. Use the spell check function Cuba notepads before saving
• intrays

Use the Where to document in Cuba on the Resources page as a guide.

Select below for more information.

• Record inbound and outbound contact in the dialogue boxes in customer’s Communication window using the Call Management macro
• Record the information using appropriate Type, Reason, Category, and Issue fields
• Record information relevant to a change in circumstances, which might affect the case liability or assist with collection, in the relevant case/function or collection window. See Where to document in Cuba on the Resources page as a guide

Document calls transferred to the Personalised Services queue in the Communication window

Select:

• Type: Phone In
• Case: Leave blank
• Reason: Request For Inf
• With: Client
• Category: Other
• Issue: Other

In the Collection window, record:

• All successful and unsuccessful customer contact about collection of arrears, including payee contact for information gathering
• All collection action, including:
• Election for Employer Withholdings (EW) not to apply
• Hardship applications and decisions
• Single Touch Payroll (STP) information
• Level 1 and Level 2 search requests and information obtained in the relevant fields, summarising search results in relevant free text areas

Example:

If requesting information from a bank under Section 120, document the following in the ‘About Notice’ dialogue box:

• How the bank information was located
• Reason for requesting information, and
• Relevant legislative references

Use the notepads in the function windows (such as in the NAP, care, opt in/opt out window) to record details of the conversation.

E.g., when taking a non-agency payment (NAP):

• key details of the NAP in the NAP window
• document all relevant details regarding the NAP in the NAP notepad
• update the NAP notepad with information gathered, other parent contact and the NAP decision document

Do not document information only in an intray notepad. This information in only available in the Recent Activity Screen (RAS) for 6 months.

Document information in:

• Notes icon
• Interaction notes
• Free text field

Use the spell check function in Pluto note screens before saving the notepad.

Select below for more information.

The notes icon is located in 2 locations:

• Customer Summary screen
• Cuba Case screen

The notes icon displays notes in 2 categories:

Communication notes:

• used for documenting information relating to the customers personal information, including contact attempts

Process notes:

• notes will display from processes that have been completed
• the location of these notes will depend on the process completed. E.g., completing an Income Tax Declaration will display in the Customer Summary screen because the process relates to the individual customer
• new process notes cannot be created however existing process notes can be updated

Notes can be recorded within an interaction in Pluto through selecting either:

• the note banners throughout the form, or
• the Note icon

The note heading will display depending on the note selection, update if required.

When completing certain processes or updating details in Pluto, free text fields will display. Document the details surrounding the update.

After recording a security incident in the Customer Incident Reporting Tool (CIRT), record the security incident in the customer's Client Profile window:

• Select the Notepad icon
• Create a new note with the subject heading: CIRT – CIRT Reference Number XXXX- Incident Date DD/MM/YY
• Add a Sensitive Issue Indicator
• Select Security Incident from the dropdown list
• Record the Special Contact as 'Other'
• Type 'Security Incident Report - XX/XX/XXXX' (date) in the Special Contact Detail

Record information provided by the customer in relation to family and domestic violence or safety concerns in the customer’s Client Profile window:

• add a Sensitive Issue indicator and select ‘Family Violence’ from the drop down list
• the review date will automatically default to a date 760 days in the future

Document a notepad with the following:

• Family and domestic violence or safety concerns identified. If the customer has multiple child support cases, when adding the sensitive issue indicator, document the case number in the notes that these concerns relate to
• Administrative action taken. E.g., 'referred to Social Worker for a child support exemption'
• Referral action taken, to inform future customer service. E.g:
• 'warm transferred to 1800RESPECT'
• ‘number provided for 'MensLine'
• 'provided information about FRAL'
• If the customer has advised there is an Apprehended Violence Order (AVO) or Domestic Violence Order (DVO) against the alleged perpetrator, and
• Other relevant information provided by the customer in relation to their concerns
• Do not put anything in the Special contact detail window, only in the notepad

Record a compliment for a Service Officer, service or product in the Communication window:

• Type: How the compliment was received
• Reason: Provide Inform
• Category: Communication
• Issue: Select from:
• Compliment Service Officer (compliment about a Service Officer)
• Compliment CSP (compliment about Child Support services)
• Compliment Prod (compliment about a product)

When including information from an internal email:

• document the relevant information. Do not copy and paste the whole email
• make sure the email tone and content are appropriate to record
• do not include a staff member’s surname unless they have provided consent

Note: Services Australia may release this information to customers, for example during an Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) or Freedom of Information (FOI) process.

Secure messaging is not available for general customers.

Employer Services and Financial Institutions use secure messages via the Child Support Business Online Services (CSBOS).

Do not duplicate documentation in the customer's record.

Any inbound messages received will create a RAS record.

Update the customer's indicators in the Client Profile window if they confirm any of the following:

• Indigenous Status
• Country of Birth
• Language other than English Spoken at home
• Interpreter Required
• Occupation
• Sensitive Issue
• Special Contact
• Hard of hearing
• Sight Impaired
• Speech Impaired
• Literacy Problem
• Mobility

Note: the Indigenous Status Indicator is mandatory to complete to exit the window. If the Indigenous Status is not confirmed with the customer, select Not Determined.

Child Support must comply with legislation regarding fraud prevention and control. Unauthorised access to customer records is a criminal offence.

Make a notepad entry to avoid allegations of unauthorised access when there is no other record during access.

Document why a customer record has been accessed, including:

• to check progress
• to help a team member
• to view previous customer contact, or
• to obtain information

Do not document access if:

• a customer is being case managed, and the Service Officer is frequently accessing the case
• an Internal Decision Maker (DM) or Objection Officer accesses a case during a conference or the decision making process
• Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) support staff access a case to prepare or check a file
• accessing a case for auditing, quality assurance , complex litigation cases, workload allocation, investigating system faults and FOI requests, or
• a Team Leader or other officer is performing work allocation duties

Frequent access

Document frequent access to customer records in 1 detailed notepad entry. During frequent access add a detailed notepad every 5 (business) days. This notepad must explain the reasons for the frequent access.

Documenting information or leaving scanned images on the incorrect or duplicate customer records is a potential privacy incident. If unsure a privacy incident has occurred, talk to a Team Leader.

If a document has been saved incorrectly on a customer record it can be:

• reassigned, or
• deleted

Documents will need to be reassigned or deleted from Cuba regardless of which system the document was added.

For more information select from below options.

Consider detaching and reassigning correspondence incorrectly attached to a customer record. See Correspondence Cuba process help.

Detach, split and reassign correspondence containing multiple customer’s information.

Detach and delete correspondence about a non-customer. Email a request to 'detach and delete' including CSID, name, Indexed Date and GUI ID to the Mail Handling Team.

Consider deleting a document manually recorded on the incorrect customer record. A document cannot be retrieved after it is deleted.

Service Officer action

To delete a document:

• lock the customer(s) record
• create a TS Documentation Deletion Request intray and record details of the request
• complete the Delete document from Cuba form:
• highlight the specific entry in the relevant Communication window, notepad or Collection window
• take a screen shot and paste into the Delete document from Cuba form under the relevant option
• lodge an online Service Support Officer (SSO) request, see Technical support Cuba process help:
• leave the Issue Details CSID field blank
• in the Issue Text, add the customer's Child Support Reference Number (CSRN), full name and reason (document deletion request)
• do not paste the Delete document from Cuba form into the Technical Support Issue Detail window
• email the Delete document from Cuba form to the SSO allocated to the online request

SSO action – Delete documents

To delete a document:

• check document deletion is appropriate
• scrutinise the request. If the correct document cannot be determined, refer back to the Service Officer to clarify or attach a screen shot
• see Managing Cuba Fixes on the Resources page