Making a decision for a change in child support care 277-03040030

Anyone can be at risk of vulnerability. It is not linked to a specific customer group or characteristic. Everyone experiences vulnerability differently. People experiencing vulnerability may require additional support or assistance to access payments and services.

Referrals for extra support may be needed when contacting a responding customer in the following situations:

• Responding customer has indicated they are impacted by family and domestic violence (FDV) issues
• FDV indicator is present on their record
• Responding customer is affected by an emergency event
• Child Support debt with no payment arrangement
• Responding customer is identified as:
• Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD)
• Indigenous, or
• Remote
• Risks or impacts indicate the responding customer may require additional support

The Resources page in Social worker and other service referrals for Child Support

has referrals and support services to assist people who are at risk of vulnerability.

Make one genuine attempt to contact the responding customer (or customers if there are more than 2 carers) before sending a care contact letter:

• Determine if sending a pre-call SMS is appropriate, by considering the customers individual circumstances, see Child Support Electronic Messaging (EM). If appropriate, send a pre- call SMS notification
• Call all available numbers, including their place of employment

Use the Change in care - Respondent macro to guide the conversation.

Discuss all care information provided by the notifying customer with the other customer/s. Explain how any new information may affect their percentage of care and their assessment. This gives them the chance to respond and to make sure the decision is just. The Resources page has an example on care investigations.

To establish and clarify the specific details of the care change, give the responding person a chance to comment on relevant information gathered and/or provided by the notifying person including:

• details of when the care changes (date of event)
• the pattern of care, and
• details of any court order or written care arrangement, including the date it started

If the responding customer advises there is a written care arrangement, ask them to supply a copy if the current version of the arrangement is not documented.

To help clarify and confirm the care details, particularly the date of event and pattern of care, ask open ended questions, for example:

• What is the actual care that is occurring?
• When did the change actually occur?
• When did you last have overnight care?
• Why did the care change?
• How was the care change discussed with the other person?
• Who is aware of the arrangements?
• Which child/ren does the change relate to?
• Is the change intended to be permanent?
• If the care change is temporary, what is the period of the change?

If there is a written care arrangement which the customers are no longer adhering to, contact the person who has reduced care to determine if they are taking reasonable action to have the care arrangement complied with. Reasonable action for the person with reduced care could include:

• negotiating with the other person/s with a view to re-establishing the care arrangement
• initiating or participating in court action for contravention of a court order
• obtaining or seeking legal advice regarding the making of a court order
• initiating or participating in mediation through a Family Relationship Centre, or other service, to re-establish the care arrangement

Care decision that may impact Family Tax Benefit (FTB)

If either customer receives FTB for the child, the care decision:

• is sent to Centrelink, and
• may affect any Centrelink benefits or payments they receive

Explain to the customer:

• Child Support sends the care decision to Centrelink
• they should check to make sure their relationship and income details are correct with Centrelink. This will reduce the risk of incorrect Centrelink payments when the care decision is transferred. Update any details, e.g., income in Cuba before finalising the care decision
• the date of effect for FTB may be different to the date used in their Child Support assessment. They should give all date of event details to Child Support, even if it was more than 28 days ago
• Centrelink will advise them in writing of any impact on their Centrelink entitlements

Offer to cold transfer the customer to Centrelink if they need:

• more information, or
• to update their relationship or income details

If initial attempts to contact the other customer/s by phone are unsuccessful, use the Care contact letter macro to ask them to contact child support within standard response times.

In the following circumstances, make at least 2 further contact attempts after sending a letter and before making a decision.

• Known family and domestic violence (FDV) issues
• Affected by an emergency event
• Child Support debt with no payment arrangement
• Identified as:
• Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD)
• Indigenous, or
• Remote
• Risks or impacts indicate additional contact is required to support the customer

Was the responding customer contacted by phone?

• Yes, go to Step 3
• No, go to Step 6

Save the document from the Change in care - Respondent macro in the Care window.

After making initial contact with all customers, review the information, including any relevant uploaded documents or court orders from all customers to determine:

• the date of event
• percentage of care, and
• type of care decision for each reported care change

Note: interpretation of a written arrangement is not disagreed or disputed care. This is where customers agree care is happening in line with a written arrangement but their calculations differ. Explain to each person how care percentages are calculated. Review written care arrangements to calculate the care percentage to apply.

After reviewing the information, if it is identified that:

• the information provided by the responding customer is unclear or conflicts with the information provided by the other customer/s, go to Step 4
• the customers agree on the details of the change in care, but are not adhering to written care arrangements, check whether circumstances meet the criteria for a Disputed Care referral. Go to Step 5:
• all customers confirm the details of the care change are correct and no further information or referrals are needed, see Table 2 to review the information for making the care decision.

If the information provided by the notifying or responding customers is unclear or conflicts, make further contacts to clarify and determine the facts of the change in care that has occurred. Use effective questioning and investigate potential dates to establish the correct date of event and care period.

If after contacting all customers:

• they confirm the details of the care change are correct and disputed care provisions do not apply, see Table 2 to review the information for making the care decision
• there is a disagreement over care arrangements, or the facts of the change in care cannot be determined, refer the change in care to Integrated care. See Customer Referral Guidelines (CRG) > Disagreed care

Exception - referrals to the Integrated Care Team

Service Officer in specialised areas who manage disagreements about care, e.g., Personalised Services, Complaints, New Customers (if there is a pending registration) or a RACs officer do not need to refer the customer to the Integrated Care Team. These officers will manage the change in care notification.

Circumstances meet the criteria for a Disputed Care referral where all parties have been contacted and agree on the facts of the care change, but:

• a care arrangement, (for example, written agreement, parenting plan or court order), for the child is in place, and
• there is a departure from the terms of the arrangement by one of the parties, and
• the person with reduced care is taking reasonable action to have the care arrangement enforced, and:
• the date of the change in care was on or after 29 March 2024, or
• this is the first care determination for child support and FTB

Does the change in care meet all criteria for Disputed care?

• Yes:
• make a referral to Integrated care, see CRG > Disputed care
• procedure ends here
• No:
• disputed care provisions do not apply
• see Table 2 to review the information for making the care decision

Conduct searches to source new contact details, see Customer location (tracing). If there are new contact details, return to Step 2.

For customers living overseas, give them a 'reasonable time' to respond. E.g.,

• they respond within the 28 days allowed in the notice, plus
• a reasonable time for postage to and from the country. This is usually an extra 14 days

If there is no response to the 'Care contact letter' and evidence is not required, base the decision on the best information available.

Evidence may be requested if there is any reason to doubt the information available.

Situations where the agency may seek evidence include:

• Notifying person advises that the other person is likely to disagree with the change
• History of disagreed/disputed care
• History of care objections/complaints
• Care change notification is unclear or inconsistent with other information available.
• Any other information available that casts doubt over the information received

Situations where evidence may not be required include:

• Care change notification is clear and there is no history of disagreed care or objections/complaints
• Notifying person advises that the other person is likely to agree to the change
• Notifying person has advised their own care has reduced
• Notifying person advises that one of the parties has moved a considerable distance away from the other and there is an address change verifying this

Does evidence need to be requested?

• Yes, go to Step 7
• No, see Table 2

Where necessary, make contact to request evidence to support their claims. Allow additional time as appropriate to the channel where the evidence will be lodged. Encourage the person to provided evidence using themyGov online service or Express Plus Mobile app.

Discuss with each customer any evidence or claim considered in the care decision. This includes evidence and information:

• provided by either customer
• provided by a third party
• obtained from a Child Support initiated search

Do not consider evidence or claims if a customer or third party does not want the evidence or claim discussed or made available to all customers.

Document all conversations, contact attempts and information gathered in the Care window.

Evidence returned or request for evidence expired

If all information available has been gathered relevant to making a care decision and all customers confirm the details of the care change are correct and no further information or referrals are required, see Table 2.

If the evidence provided identifies there is:

• a disagreement over care arrangements, or the facts of the change in care cannot be determined, refer the change in care to Integrated care. See CRG > Disagreed care
• disputed care and a disputed care referral is appropriate, refer the change in care to Integrated care. See CRG > Disputed care

Review and document all information gathered relevant to the care change before making a decision to accept or reject the change in care.

Use the Change in Care - Care decision macro to record the:

• facts of the change in care
• discussion with each party to the change in care
• evidence provided, and
• reason/s and effects of the decision

Review the information provided by all customers to determine the correct date of event. When determining the date of event, consider:

• when the care actually occurring for the child changed, or
• if the date of event aligns with a specific change in the pattern of care
  E.g, one person is now having 3 nights per fortnight: Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Previously they only had Friday and Saturday. The date of event must be a Sunday as this is the first point the care changed

The date of event used in the decision is either:

• the date both customers confirm the actual care change occurred
• a date determined by Child Support based on the information and evidence provided by both customers
• the date customers made a new care arrangement, e.g., the 'made on' date for a new court order

Review the information provided by all customers to determine the care period to be used in the decision. In some circumstances, care period that is shorter or longer than 12 months from the date of event may be appropriate. If determining a care period other than 12 months, seek technical support. See Technical support in Child Support.

Care periods longer than 12 months

A care period of more than 12 months may be appropriate where the care arrangement follows a cycle over a period greater than 12 months, e.g., every 2 years.

The Resources page has examples of care periods longer than 12 months.

Care periods shorter than 12 months

A care period of less than 12 months might be appropriate where the pattern of care will gradually change over definable periods in a specific and measurable way, e.g., one person is to increase their care by one day per week every 3 months over the upcoming period.

One-off block of 100% care

A shorter care period may also be appropriate where a carer has unexpectedly gained 100% care of a child for a temporary period (generally 4 weeks minimum). In these situations, the Registrar will determine the care over a short care period related to the unexpected circumstance and make a one-off block of 100% care determination.

When recording a one-off block of 100% care, the care type 'Actual' is used, the care percentage of 100% is recorded to the person who has unexpectedly gained 100% care and the Block of 100% Care indicator is selected.

Note: if a period shorter than 12 months is appropriate, tell the customer Child Support will not give effect to the future events until they notify the change has occurred. If neither person advises of the subsequent change, the existing percentage of care will continue.

The Resources page has examples of care periods shorter than 12 months.

Do the customers have a written care arrangement in place?

• Yes, go to Step 4
• No, go to Step 5

A written care arrangement is a court order, parenting plan or written agreement that outlines a pattern of care for a child and may include a percentage of care. For more information, References has a link to the Child Support Guide 2.2.1 Basics of care: Agreements and orders regarding care.

Note: if a customer/s advises that they have a written care arrangement but do not provide a copy of the arrangement, make a decision (to reject or accept) reflecting actual care. To calculate the care percentage based on the pattern of care that is actually occurring, go to Step 5.

International customers

International customers may submit a court order concerning care that was made outside Australia. Only treat and document the court order as a care arrangement if it is registered under section 70G of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth).

Only use information within the court order to determine a care percentage if the parents are complying with the order. Request a copy of the care arrangement documents, scan and record this in the Care window notepad, see Correspondence received in Child Support.

Interpretation and implementation guidance

Interpretation of a written arrangement is not disagreed or disputed care. This is where customers agree care is happening in line with a written arrangement, but their calculations differ. Explain to the customers how care percentages are calculated. The written care arrangements are used to determine the pattern of care and calculate the care percentages that will apply.

If required, seek help from a Service Support Officer (SSO), see Technical support in Child Support.

Written care arrangement is being complied with

If the customers are complying with the provisions of the written care arrangement:

• Review the written arrangements to determine the pattern of care and calculate the care percentage
• To calculate the care percentage, including where the agreement provides for care other than in nights, such as hourly care, go to Step 5.

Written care arrangement is not being complied with

If the customers are not complying with the provisions of the written care arrangement and:

• both customers agree to an alternate actual care situation, determine the care pattern based on the actual care that is happening. Go to Step 5
• the care is disputed and the person with reduced care is taking reasonable action to have the written care arrangement complied with, refer to disputed care

Use the information provided from all sources to determine the pattern of care that will be used to calculate the level of care.

Where a pattern has been established in the past and the Service Officer is satisfied it will continue in the future, use that pattern in calculating percentage of care for the care period.

Where it is established that the change in care relates to a one-off event, what constitutes a change to the pattern of care will depend on the individual circumstances of the case. The References page has a link to the Child Support Guide 2.2.2: Care Determinations & Changes in Care - Change in pattern of care.

Review the information gathered from all sources to calculate the level of care to be recorded.

The care calculator must be used to calculate care in all instances, except where the pattern of care being notified results in either:

• a care percentage of 100% or 0%
• the number of nights as 365 or 0

If calculations are not required, go to Step 7.

Use the care calculator to record the care details:

• determine the number of nights in care, and
• create a document for Cuba

Care other than in nights

APS delegation is needed if the care is in hours, not nights Refer the submission for a decision of hours to be made to an SSO for consideration. For more information, References has a link to the Child Support Guide 2.2.1 Basics of care: Care other than in nights.

• Select care by Frequency, and continue
• Key the number of nights, including if this is zero, and continue
• Select No to 'Is the customer a WA ex-nuptial customer'. This is because 'hours in care' legislation was introduced for WA ex-nuptial customers on 3 March 2011, however the calculator does not recognise this
• Select No to 'Does this summary accurately reflect the customer's level of care and state why this is the case, and continue
• Calculate 'hours in care' using either the frequency or 'care calendar' functionality, and 'continue'
• Select Copy all details to clipboard, and close

Determine the appropriate care type to be applied before recording or correcting the care change record in Cuba. As different types of care decisions require different levels of authorisation, before making a decision, consult with an authorised officer and get relevant approvals.

Record the care type as Actual care for the following circumstances:

• there is no court order, parenting plan or written agreement, and the pattern of care is based on the actual care that is occurring
• the pattern of care is not occurring in line with a court order, parenting plan or written agreement, but the circumstances do not meet the criteria for Disputed Care
• a one-off block of 100% care determination is required

Document any written care arrangements in the Care window

Also referred to as Below Regular Care The notifying person can ask Child Support to determine the care percentage based on the actual pattern of care if:

• a person who was assessed as having 14% or more care of the child will no longer have at least 14% care, and
• this will not be made up within the care period despite the child being made available to them

This decision allows for backdating for more than 28 days if the person advises Child Support of the change within a reasonable period of time. The care type to be recorded in Cuba is Below 14% care.

The References page has a link to the Child Support Guide 2.2.3: Below Regular Care Determinations, Making the child available.

Record the care type of:

• Court Order, where care is occurring according to a court order
• Parenting plan, where care is occurring according to a parenting plan
• Written agreement, where care is occurring according to a written agreement

Document written care arrangements in the Care window.

If the change will not alter the cost percentage, but a decision is still required, go to Step 2.

If the change does not meet the criteria for an investigation to commence when a change will not alter the cost percentage, make a refusal decision.

Refusal decision to be made

If none of the above exist, consider whether contact with the other person should occur before finalising the refusal decision.

Contact may be necessary if:

• The other party is the one whose care has increased
• Any other circumstances of the case that make it suitable to do so

In these circumstances, make one genuine attempt to contact the other party before proceeding with the refusal decision.

If the decision made is to not make a new care percentage decision (to ‘refuse’ the reported care change) under the discretion allowed in s54H or s54HA, the pending care record should be rejected and the reason for the decision documented.

The customers have the right to object to the decision over the phone or in writing. See Table 3, Step 3 for more information.

Consider whether pre-decision contact is required with each party to the care decision.

Pre-decision contact is necessary if:

• the care change will affect the cost percentage, and
• no successful phone contact has occurred throughout the care process and the information in the initial notification was unclear or incomplete. For example Care % is not consistent with reason given for change, or
• there is evidence or information being used to make the decision that has not been discussed with the customer, or
• a decision is being made which will have an adverse impact for a customer and contact has not been successful

Make sure the 'Pending' care record in Cuba is updated to reflect the correct final care determination for each change in care notification received. Inaccurate care information, as well as unnecessarily deleting and rekeying Child Support care records may impact on a customer's Family Tax Benefit (FTB).

See Care Cuba Process Help to make changes to a pending care record for:

• Disputed care notifications on or after 23 May 2018
• General care notifications on or after 1 July 2018
• WA ex-nuptial case care notifications on or after 15 May 2019, effecting only Child Support Periods (CS Periods) with a WA ex-nuptial status of No

For all other care notifications, see Care Cuba Process Help - Care levels notified before 1 July 2018 and WA ex-nuptial child support periods

Check the pended care record reflects the correct:

• date of event
• date of notification
• percentage of care
• date of effect - this is generally auto-populated by the system using the 28 day rule, but be alert and check the outcome of the decisions. Different date of effect rules are applied for care changes notified before 1 July 2018. Note: for WA ex-nuptial children, if the change was late notified after 14 May 2019, the system needs to be enhanced to treat these customers correctly. For more information see Table 3 in WA child Support ex-nuptial cases
• care type
• 'additional information' indicators are checked appropriately for the decision type

Check the decision:

• has considered all relevant information provided by both customers
• has been made by an appropriately authorised or delegated officer, see Delegations and authorisations
• includes references to relevant sections of the legislation
• different sections of legislation may apply to each of the parties involved in the decision as well as the circumstances of the case

Consider the following:

• A care change is loaded in error or the customer incorrectly advises that a change has occurred, e.g., customer incorrectly pended care via CSAonline or the change is for a future date, delete the pended care record.
  To make sure care data transfers to Centrelink correctly the care record that is to be applied must be accepted before deleting pended care records. Document the reason for deleting the record To delete a care record, follow the process in Care Cuba Process Help
• A change in care is incorrectly loaded as a new change in care, instead of an objection to a previous care decision, delete the pended care record
• A customer indicates they no longer wish to pursue a change in care, but believes a change did occur, a decision must still be made. A customer cannot elect to withdraw notification of a change in care as it is a notification, not an application. Where the notifying customer withdraws their participation in the process, make a decision based on the information available. If insufficient evidence is available, it would be appropriate to reject the change, not to delete it

When a decision is being made to reject, refuse or accept a care change notification, letters are issued and customers have the right to object

If help is required, see Technical support in Child Support.

Objection rights

When Child Support or Centrelink have made a care decision, an objection to that decision may be lodged by phone or in writing. For a verbal care percentage objection see Customer referral guidelines - Objections

Seek help if required, see Technical support.

Save the document from the Change in care macro in the Care window.

Open the pending Cuba care record and process the care decision to reflect 'Accepted' or 'Refused', see Table 2 in Care Cuba Process Help.

Review and check the Pre-confirmation Results window, see Eligibility Cuba Process Help. Make sure all the changes that will take effect once Eligibility is saved, are correct. For help understanding the re-confirmation results, seek technical support.

If all the changes displayed in the Pre-confirmation Results window are correct, save Eligibility to process the care decision.

Once eligibility is saved and the care decision is applied:

• check that the child support assessment is updated accurately via the case liability rates window
• for mutual customers, Cuba will transfer the care percentage via data exchange to Centrelink. The care percentage will be applied to the customer’s FTB and other income support payments

If the care change caused a:

• terminated assessment, go to Step 6
• reverse entitlement:
• check if a formula assessment is appropriate or if a Court Order (CO), Registrar Varied Assessment (RVA), Agreement etc. has to be put back in place. See Managing reverse child support cases to make sure the accuracy of the reverse case, particularly in relation to collection, has been verified
• go to Step 7

When running eligibility to give effect to the care change, review the pre-confirmation results.

If the warning message Terminating event, should case be restarted? Is child in pye/pay care? displays, identify if one of the following is required:

• Manual creation of a reverse case
• Restart/add a new registration to a reverse case, or
• Restart/add a new registration to an existing assessment

Create or restart a case or add a new registration if the customer indicated they want the child to be assessed. They may have advised during the change of care notification or subsequently.

Check all notepads associated with the care change and recently added to the case.

If a customer has asked to reapply for an assessment, the assessment will restart from the date they first made a request to have the child added on the assessment.

As the child support assessment will be active until eligibility is run following the acceptance of the care change, the child support assessment can be restarted by the owning officer without the need for a referral to New Customers.

Follow the process for creating a reverse case with the following exceptions:

• Assessment will begin on the day the application was made
• Both customers must be contacted to identify what collection method and to gather information about how payments are to be made
• Child Support periods (CS Period) will not be aligned
• Formula departures - Most formula departures, for example change of assessment, agreement, court order, will not survive a terminating event. The only exceptions are a non-periodic payments clause in an agreement that does not affect the annual rate, and lump sum crediting provisions in a binding agreement. These will not apply again until the payee named in the agreement again becomes an eligible carer
• Estimates - If there was an estimate of income in place for either customer before the terminating event, contact the estimating customer to discuss their income. If the estimate:
• was in place before the terminating event and the case is restarted within the same financial year and the customer does not revoke the estimate, the estimate will be used as that customer’s income in the restarted assessment
• election was made during a period when the case had ended, after the change in care occurred, ask the customer if they would like to lodge a new estimate election

Check any letters generated thoroughly to make sure they reflect the care decision and care percentages made, see Table 7 in Letters Cuba Process Help.

Letters and assessment notices are sent to customers notifying them of changes. One of the following letters will generate:

• MEA1-9 Change of Care
• MEA1-6 Letter to advise payer and payee that the agency has rejected/refused to make a change to the care percentage of the child
• MEA1-4 Letter to advise payee that a terminating event has occurred
• MEA1-5 Letter to advise payer that a terminating event has occurred
• MAC1-3 Letter to advise multiple decisions have been made on case but no change to the annual rate has resulted
• MAC1-4 Letter to advise multiple decisions have been made on case which have resulted in a change to the annual rate
• NOA-01 CS Notice of Assessment and Covering Page. Sometimes the system:
• suppresses the Cuba letters, and
• issues an NOA-01 which consolidates the decision letters

Where the customers’ roles have changed, see Reverse child support cases.

Once the care decision has been finalised, review the case to identify if the change has resulted in:

• a payee overpayment, contact the payee to discuss repayment options, see Contact with Child Support customers and Child support overpayments and other payee debt
• a retrospective liability increase for the payer, discuss repayment options with the payer
• changes to prescribed NAP, contact both customers to discuss the impact, see Non-agency payment (NAP)
• the customers’ roles changing, see Reverse child support cases
• the care being suspended and an application to extend the child support assessment past the child's 18 birthday is pending, see Eighteen year old children extending a child support assessment
• the assessment/case being terminated, see Terminating events (Stage 2)
• an agreement being suspended, transfer the customer to the Agreements and Court Orders team to discuss the impact on their agreement

Post-decision contact is necessary if:

• the care change will affect the cost percentage, and
• pre- decision contact was not attempted, or
• the customer is unaware of an adverse decision, or
• a debt or overpayment has been created and there is no payment arrangement in place, or
• there are other outstanding issues which need to be discussed

Does the customer disagree with the care decision

• Yes, go to Step 3
• No, procedure ends here

If a customer disagrees with the care decision, discuss the reasons why and try to resolve the issue by explaining how the care decision was made. Determine appropriate referral options, see Customer Referral Guidelines (CRG) - Child Support, for the customer including:

• a referral to an external service provider
• a referral to another section within Child Support
• a transfer to Centrelink
• a referral to the Complaints process
• lodgement of an objection on a care decision or application for a Centrelink review

If the customer advises of additional information on the same date of the original decision that will change the outcome. It may be possible to reconsider the decision because a decision becomes final when it is communicated in writing to the relevant parties. Seek technical support, see Technical Support in Child Support.

If the customer contacts Child Support about the change in care letters they received advising the care percentage on their assessment is not in line with the care decision. This may indicate a keying error has occurred. Seek technical support about whether an error has occurred that needs correcting, see Correcting errors on Child Support cases.

If a customer wants to pursue an objection or apply for a review of the care decision, they can do so by notifying Child Support or by notifying Centrelink where one or more customers receive family assistance. This applies to all customers including non-mutual customers.

Objections to care decisions may be lodged either verbally or in writing.

Check whether the decision was made by Child Support, Centrelink or the Integrated Care Team.

If the customer is requesting an objection or review of a decision made by Integrated Care transfer to the Integrated Care Team. The Integrated Care Team will discuss the decision with the customer to decide which program to lodge their objection or review with.

For all other customers for a decision made by:

• Child Support go to Step 4
• Centrelink go to Step 5

If the customer still wants to pursue an objection to the care decision transfer the customer to the Objection team.

If the customer advises of a change in the care since the original decision was made, treat this as a new care notification. See Notification of change in child support care. Progress the new care decision as required and transfer the customer to the Objection team if the customer wants to object

Document discussion in the Care window, see Documenting Child Support information.

Procedure ends here.

If Centrelink made the original care decision, provide an explanation of the care decision to Child Support customers (mutual or non-mutual) impacted by the decision.

Any Child Support customer (mutual or non-mutual) impacted by a Centrelink care decision can:

• lodge an objection
• initiate a Centrelink review, or
• participate in a review process that may have already started

Tell the customer the program who made the care decision is generally best placed to review it.

Example

A non-mutual customer may not understand the relationship between Child Support and Centrelink. Explain this so they can understand why they can speak with Centrelink about care. A non-mutual customer can seek a review with Centrelink.

If the customer asks why the care percentages recorded in the Centrelink decision and Centrelink assessment are different, transfer the customer to Centrelink to determine why this has occurred. It may be a keying error.

Ask the customer if they have already lodged a request for a format review of decision with Centrelink. If the customer has lodged a review, open the External Information Care window to check:

• the Appeal Related indicator has a status of ‘Y’, or
• that a review/objection is in progress

Open the Objections window to check if there is a Child Support objection in progress. If there is no objection in progress, the review is being managed by Centrelink.

If the Appeal Related indicator has a status of ‘Y’, and the customer has not lodged a review with Centrelink, the other party may have initiated this.

Tell the customer that Centrelink is managing this process and once a decision is made, they will advise Child Support of the outcome.

Finalise any child support issues and transfer the customer to Centrelink to discuss the review in progress.

Document discussion in the Care window.

If the customer has not yet lodged a review with Centrelink, go to Step 7

If the customer wishes to pursue their review rights to the Centrelink decision with:

• Centrelink, finalise any child support issues and transfer the customer to Centrelink, or
• Child Support, transfer the customer to the Objections Team

See Customer Referral Guidelines (CRG) - Child Support for transfer information, and document discussion in the Care window notepad.