Updating Child Support customer information 277-01080000

Information can be received that requires an update of customer records, including:

• representatives
• new or alternate contact details
• adding a customer occupation or special needs
• change of customer name
• alias name
• change a customer's gender
• child surname or gender unknown
• change to date of birth

Child Support is required to alter the Register when this information is received. This information may be received in a number of ways:

• a phone call or letter is received from the customer
• a phone call or letter received from a third party
• a form
• Centrelink or the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), for example, when intercepting a tax refund
• from investigating certain aspects of the case. For example, tracing
• overseas central authorities

When receiving information over the phone, always check proof of identity. A customer can be the payer, payee, child, representative or organisation. For example, banks and employers.

If written information is received where the customer's intention is unclear, contact them by phone to clarify.

Locate the appropriate customer (or case) in Cuba see List Customer window.

Once the relevant customer (or case) has been located, document all information received in the Communication window. If help is needed see the Communication window help.

Once the information is documented, determine the type of change required.

Note: before making any changes to a customer's personal information, complete proof of identity checks and confirmation of the information.

For more information, see Child Support representative with ordinary authority and/or Child Support authorised agent.

Information may be received regarding the special needs or circumstance for a customer, for example, the customer could be hearing impaired, require an interpreter, have mobility difficulties or live in a remote location.

For information on documenting indicators see Item 10 in Good documentation practices and principles table in Documenting Child Support Information.

Record the information using the Client Profile window.

For details of when to add or remove sensitive indicators, see Sensitive issue management Cuba Process Help.

Use the Customer Representative window when a customer directs they want to:

• add a representative
• update representative records, or
• delete a representative from their file.

To record, update or delete this information see Customer representative Cuba Process Help.

Document any changes in a notepad. Document where the information was obtained.

For more information, see Child Support representative with ordinary authority and/or Child Support authorised agent.

Use the Individual Customer Details window when a customer directs they want to add, update or end an alternate contact.

Document any changes in a notepad. Document where the information was obtained.

Note: an alternate contact is not a customer representative. Case or customer specific information must not be provided to an alternate contact.

When receiving information regarding a customer's change of name use the Individual Customer Details window to make any adjustments to the current record.

The name recorded and used by Child Support will usually be the customer's Legal Name. When a customer notifies a new name, they must be advised Child Support will use their new name when conducting administrative actions. This includes in letters to the other party.

If a person attempts to change their name, Child Support can refuse to accept the new name. This may occur when Child Support is not satisfied the new name is the person’s actual name, legal or otherwise commonly known as.

If the person insists their name be changed:

• Request evidence of the new name. Evidence to satisfy the Registrar may include:
• birth certificate, or BDM extract
• current driver’s licence
• Medicare card
• bills sent to the person’s current address
• employment certificates
• The Registrar should generally accept the evidence at face value, unless there are compelling reasons not to do so

The exception to this is where there is evidence of family and domestic violence. If the customer has changed their name specifically to avoid violence (or the threat thereof), do not update the customer’s Legal name in the Individual Customer Details window, go to Item 6.

Some customers can update their name automatically using their Child Support online account.

If a customer’s name does not automatically update, an Online name change request intray will create. The name change details will be in a notepad in the Individual Customer Details window. Before updating the customer's name, see Resources page for Updating a customer's online name change - checklist.

If there are concerns regarding the name the customer has updated their name to or requested to update their name to:

• Reinstate the customer’s previous name or do not update the customer's name, or
• Update to another name the Registrar is satisfied to be the person’s correct name. For example via data matching with Centrelink or ATO
• Send UQ211.00 Online name change evidence request letter advising legal names must be used. Evidence must be supplied
• If the online name change is inappropriate, consider whether a referral to:
• Personalised Services (PS) is appropriate, or
• advise the Case Manager if the customer is already managed by PS

The 2 options to select from when updating a customer's name are:

• Legal name will auto-populate in assessment letters, notices and Cuba windows
• Preferred name will only display in the Individual Customer Details window

Where a person’s surname or gender is recorded as Unknown, update their name and title with information obtained from them. Customers can also request to have their title deleted from their records to reflect their preferred gender. See Updating gender details on customer records.

If a Centrelink data mismatch results from use of an alias due to family violence - refer to a Service Support Officer to review the circumstances and make a case specific decision.

Access alias name/s through the Alias Management screen via the Individual Customer Details window.

If the customer has changed their name specifically to avoid violence (or the threat thereof), do not update the customer's Legal Name in the Individual Customer Details window. Update the name as Alias via the Alias Management dialogue box in the Individual Customer Details window and select the Family Violence Indicator check box.

A warning message will display if the Family Violence check box is selected and a Sensitive Issue indicator relating to family and domestic violence is not present in the Client Profile window.

See Family and domestic violence to update the customer’s name in these circumstances.

If a Centrelink data mismatch results from use of an alias due to family violence - refer to a Service Support Officer who can review the circumstances and make a case specific decision.

Revealing personal information may constitute a privacy breach and must be reported to a team leader.

Document the information and where it was obtained in a notepad.

If a customer requests a change to the gender recorded on their record, they must provide documentation that meets the evidence standards before any change to their gender records can be made.

A person must provide one of the following forms of evidence to establish or update their gender on their personal record:

• Statement from a Registered medical Practitioner or Registered Psychologist that specifies their gender
• Valid Australian Government travel document, such as a valid passport that specifies their gender
• State or territory birth certificate that specifies their gender
• A document from a state or territory Registrar of Birth, Deaths and Marriages recognising a change of sex and/or gender. For example, a Gender Recognition Certificate or Recognised Details Certificate

Document details of the changes made including who provided the information and how it was obtained, in the Individual Customer Details window.

To update the gender, see the Updated individual customer details table in Customer records Cuba Process Help.

If a child record has a surname or gender recorded as Unknown, confirm with the customer the relevant information. Customers must provide documentation that meets the evidence standards before any change to a child's gender records can be made.

A person must provide one of the following forms of evidence to establish or update their gender on their personal record:

• Statement from a Registered medical Practitioner or Registered Psychologist that specifies their gender
• Valid Australian Government travel document, such as a valid passport that specifies their gender
• State or territory birth certificate that specifies their gender
• A document from a state or territory Registrar of Birth, Deaths and Marriages recognising a change of sex and/or gender. For example, a Gender Recognition Certificate or Recognised Details Certificate

The child’s surname should reflect the surname on the child’s birth certificate.

Document details of the changes made including who provided the information and how it was obtained in the Individual Customer Details window.

To update the surname or gender, see the Update individual customer details table in Customer records Cuba Process Help.

When receiving information regarding a change to a customer's date of birth, update this in the Individual Customer Details window.

Note: when changing a date of birth for a customer who has a role as a child, run Eligibility to update the change, see Eligibility Cuba Process Help. Complete the update in accordance with the Correcting errors on Child Support cases.

Record changes in a notepad. Document the information and where it was obtained. See Documenting Child Support information.

Advise the customer or authorised representative that information used for their Centrelink, Child Support and Medicare payments and services is not routinely transferred within Services Australia. The customer may need to contact either Centrelink, Child Support or Medicare to update relevant information.

Customers with an active CSA online account but an invalid residential or postal address on Cuba

The customer may refuse to provide or be unable to provide:

• a residential, or
• postal address

If the customer requests all correspondence is sent online, advise them:

• not all child support correspondence is available to be viewed online and
• some correspondence is sent via surface mail only

If the customer is unable to provide a residential or postal address, explore options such as them providing the address of:

• a friend
• representative, or
• post office box

If the change to the customers contact details have been:

• advised by the customer by telephone or letter,
• update the change to the customer's change of address in the Individual Customer Details window. See Customer records Cuba Process Help
• advised by the authorised representative, review the written authority:
• If the written authority specifies, the representative represents the customer ‘for all child support matters’ or equivalent wording. The representative is authorised to change the customer’s contact details
• If the written authority is not sufficiently broad or does not permit the representative to change the customer’s contact details. New contact details provided by the representative must be confirmed with the customer. If customer contact is not successful investigate and verify the customer details to ensure the record is accurate. Updates to the customer’s details following investigation and verification must meet the guidelines in Customer location (Tracing). The advice from the representative is an independent source for this purpose
• obtained from another source/s, for example, system searches:
• Update the customer’s details in accordance with Customer location (Tracing)
• document the source and change details in the notepad
• updated via the customer’s Child Support online account Personal Details page, the information will automatically update on Cuba. No further action is required. For information on when a Customer has updated their name, see Item 5 Change a customer's name in Table 1 Update customer personal information

If the new address for a customer is an overseas address, update the address:

• in the Individual Customer Details window, and
• complete the Residency Referral window

See Residency referrals for Child Support customers - Domestic Service Officer.

If the address received is incorrect, or later it is found the customer does not live at that address, ensure:

• the Invalid indicator check box is ticked and
• a reason selected from the dropdown menu

This will place the customer on tracing.

Once the change of address is completed and the new information saved, manually update the status of any pending or deleted letters generated while the customer’s address was invalid, to ‘keyed’. This will reissue the letters to the customer and prevent the RUM-New address intray from generating.

When the address has been updated future letters will issue automatically to the new address. If letters were sent but not received by the customer prior to the Tracing indicator being added, resend them manually.

Ask the customer the date of the last letter they received or check notepads for relevant details. Also advise the customer that any letters that were unable to be issued due to their invalid address will be sent to them. Explain to the customer that these letters will show the date when they were originally generated and not the current date.

If unable to contact the customer to inform them their letters will be released and or resent, create an MX0-1 UNIQUE LETTER in Cuba using the UQ240.00- Re-issue Correspondence letter pre-approved text which advises that the customer correspondence that has been held, is now being sent with the original issue date.

Resources has a link to pre-approved letter text.

See Letters for Child Support customers - creating unique letters, Letters Cuba Process Help.

For decision letters add a document to the Letters List window and include the details:

• of original letters, for example address and date originally sent, and
• of the new decision letter, for example new address and the date of reissue

See Documenting Child Support information.

Creating this record of when and where the customer was served notice of any decisions will assist in identifying the 28 day notification period to lodge an objection.

Document on the Individual Customer Details window, including:

• sources for locating the address
• date the address was located
• verification of the address
• date the address was verified, and
• that letters requiring re-issuing have been checked and generated

Where the customer will be parenting from a distance, offer referrals to local community support services. These services can provide tips on managing changing parenting arrangements and maintaining the relationship with the children.

To update address/phone details, see the Update individual customer details table in Customer records Cuba Process Help.

Changes or updates to a customer's Tax File Number (TFN) must be done by the Solution Gateway Team in consultation with a Program Support Manager (PSM).

The Solutions Gateway Team will investigate and must immediately take the following actions:

• Seek PSM assistance
• Complete a privacy incident notification
• Undertake appropriate activities to prevent disbursement of payments, such as:
• ‘Hold Credit - All Payments’
• Special recovery conditions
• If the investigation finds that the person has been incorrectly identified as a Child Support customer, any collection action should immediately be ceased/withdrawn
• Place a Special Contact Message on the customer’s record, to ensure the TFN is not incorrectly updated again
• If there is a duplicate, intertwined, or compromised TFN, see Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and the Services Australia Information Hub

If after investigation, it is established there is no tax file number recorded, the customer is incorrect or the customer has been allocated a new tax file number by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), the update will need to be done in accordance with the Correcting errors on Child support cases.

Replacing a TFN

When a TFN is updated:

• all taxable or amended taxable incomes are automatically removed from Cuba
• the TRDB functionality will load ATO incomes for the last 3 financial years
• if there are income that are older than 3 financial years, manually add the income to Cuba

Note: if the old TFN belongs to someone else, do not reload the incomes.

The recording of an incorrect tax file number may constitute a privacy breach and must be reported to the team leader.

When either completing a variation or registering a new case and it is discovered that the customer has 2 separate records, both with valid tax file numbers (or one customer record has a valid TFN the other has no TFN recorded), the tax file number will need to be investigated.

If it is established that a customer has 2 valid tax file numbers, each attached to a separate customer record (CSRN), and there is a reason to believe the situation is related to tax evasion, see Possible tax evasion by Child Support customers (individuals and business).

This issue must also be reported to the ATO. To identify the right record, contact the ATO by email or phone. Resources has the ATO's contact details.

To update the duplicate CSRN or TFN, see Correcting a duplicate Child Support. customer record.

Replacing a TFN

When a TFN is updated:

• all taxable or amended taxable incomes are automatically removed from Cuba
• the TRDB functionality will load ATO incomes for the last 3 financial years
• if there are income that are older than 3 financial years, manually add the income to Cuba

Note: if the old TFN belongs to someone else, do not reload the incomes.

When a customer advises that their Customer Reference Number (CRN) is different to the CRN that Child Support has on record, the below steps must be followed as changing a CRN can have data matching and/or customer identification number (CIN) implications between Centrelink and Child Support:

• A Child Support Unit (CSU) request should be sent to determine the correct CRN for a customer
• Service Officer to lodge an SSO online enquiry as only an SSO can investigate a customer’s CRN/CIN/CSID match
• SSO to complete a Centrelink/Child Support information exchange macro
• Centrelink Liaison Unit (CLU) to liaise with Centrelink’s Data Quality Unit to determine the customers correct CRN and CIN and whether a privacy incident has occurred
• If a privacy incident has occurred, refer to Privacy Incidents Cuba Process Help. All information related to the wrong person’s CRN must be deleted
• Centrelink’s Data Quality Unit investigates the customers Centrelink record to determine whether there are any Family Tax Benefit (FTB) implications and action accordingly
• If updating the customer’s CRN impacts on the assessed rate of child support, the update will need to be done in accordance with the Correcting errors on Child Support cases

Updating a CRN when Centrelink deductions are in place

If a customer has Centrelink deductions in place, check:

• the Centrelink Deductions window, if current deductions have ended, and
• Child Support is no longer receiving funds

To end a Centrelink deduction:

• go to the Centrelink deduction window
• from the End Reason dropdown select ‘Force Terminate’

Once the deduction has ended, replace the CRN.

If it is determined that a customer needs to be transferred to another officer or another office, document the reasons within the Communication window and then transfer the customer via the Customer Transfer window. See Transfer or lock a customer Cuba Process Help.

Note: if transferring the customer to the International team because they are managed by International Services, indicate they are overseas via the Client Profile window.

More details may be in the Customer referral guidelines for Child Support.

Refer to Table 2 steps 1 and 2 of Restricted Access Customer System (RACS) if:

• a possible RACS customer is identified, or
• a customer requests a review of their RACS status

A customer's password is recorded on the Individual Customer Details window. Once recorded it will appear in the Password: field on the Customer window. This is not the customer password for an online Child Support account. To either Add, Update or Delete a password, see the Add or update a password table in Customer records Cuba Process Help.