Integrated care - Notification and recording of change in care 277-03060010

Customers, authorised representatives, persons permitted to enquire and third parties can notify Services Australia of a change to the care percentage:

• in person (via phone or Access Services)
• electronically
• through an overseas central authority, see Central Authority Address Listing for International customers
• in writing
• as part of another process such as within a Centrelink online or paper claim. Follow the appropriate Operational Blueprint document for guidance in processing any associated claims once the care decision is made

When customers notify of a care change, whether an increase or decrease to their own care level, investigate by gathering relevant information from both customers.

Additional contact with the notifying customer may be required where the:

• information is unclear or incomplete
• date of the care change is more than 6 months ago, and the change may result in a terminating event. Where necessary, contact the customer/s to ask if they want to apply for a new child support assessment as soon as possible and document their response

Service Officers must explain what a change in care is, in particular the agency:

• does not determine where the child should live or custody arrangements
• will reflect the percentage of care of the child that each customer actually has, or the percentage of care established by a written care arrangement, and
• will make the decision about the amount of care to be used in the customer’s child support assessment and/or Centrelink entitlements, based on the information and evidence provided

Note: at times, customer calls can be distressing, especially where the care is disagreed or not occurring in line with a written care arrangement (disputed). Be considerate and sensitive to the customer’s experience when discussing and explaining care changes. See Identifying customer vulnerability and risk issues.

Check the relevant customer/s records in both programs to confirm:

• care determinations made on or after 1 July 2010 (3 March 2011 for WA Ex-nuptial cases) are aligned in both Centrelink and Child Support records. If not, update records as outlined in Centrelink care determination from 1 July 2010 (3 March 2011 for WA Ex-nuptials) or Alignment of Care Manual Follow-up (MFU) activities
• check that any care notifications, including those received via the Centrelink data exchange, received before 1 July 2010 have been actioned. If required, seek Technical Support from a Service Support Officer to determine what action to take

Note: always add Disagree or Disputed keywords to any work item, Fast Note or workflow before actioning.

Make sure outstanding care alignments and decisions are actioned before or during processing the current care change notification. See References for a link to The Child Support Guide 2.2.5: Alignment of Care between Child Support and FTB.

Check for any other outstanding issues, service or payment options that the customer may be eligible for. Address these issues with the customer when progressing the care change determination.

Confirm the care details currently recorded for all children in both programs with the customer. Progress any further care changes that are identified.

If the agency has already been advised of the same care change as the notified care, identify if:

• a decision has been made, inform the customer of their objection rights. Go to Integrated Care – Managing issues after care determination
• a decision has not been made, identify and record the earliest date of notification received by either program, from either customer. Add or update pending care records accordingly. Go to the relevant step in this procedure

If the customer (or their partner) is not receiving Family Tax Benefit (FTB) or ancillary payments for the child, or the child does not show on a child support assessment (or active reverse cases) action the following in addition to progressing the care change determination.

For Child Support:

• see Applications for a child support assessment and Reverse child support cases, or
• to update the change in care on a Child Support notional assessment

For Centrelink, see Child enters customer's care/custody and:

• the customer (or their partner) is currently receiving FTB. See Reassessment of Family Tax Benefit (FTB) for a current customer where an additional child enters care in the current or previous financial year, or
• making a new claim for FTB for the child/ren in their care. See Claiming Family Tax Benefit (FTB) instalments for children in care other than a newborn or adopted child
• the customer is receiving an income support payment or would receive FTB Part A, except that they have care of a Regular Care Child. See Qualification for payment of Rent Assistance (RA)
• if the customer has provided a Details of your child's care arrangements (FA012) form or documents to support a change of care and they are not FTB/CUR and have not lodged a claim. Call the customer and encourage them to complete an online claim for family assistance

If one customer is living overseas and the parties to the child support assessment have at least one child in their care:

• for a child support assessment, transfer the customer to International Services. See Customer referral guidelines
• for family assistance, see Family Tax Benefit (FTB), Child Care Subsidy (CCS) and Paid Parental Leave scheme customer/child going overseas

If the change in care is due to the customers reconciling:

• for Child Support, see Suspension of Child Support liability on reconciliation
• for Centrelink, see Family assistance customer becomes partnered

If the change in care is for a relevant dependent child:

• for Child Support, see Add a child or relevant dependent to an existing child support assessment
• for Centrelink, see Customer advises care arrangements for family assistance

Unless advised otherwise in this procedure, process the care change in the system of the program the care notification was received in.

Where the following occurs for a mutual customer, process in the Centrelink system at the earliest opportunity:

• a mutual customer with a Centrelink hardship claim due to unforeseen and exceptional circumstances. See the Shared care not confirmed and agreed or customer hardship table
• a customer is advising of or confirms a reduction in their care of a child. Record as ‘preliminary’ care to minimise FTB overpayments while progressing the care decision. See the Coding shared care arrangements table
• the care change is part of a new claim for Family Tax Benefit (FTB) or 'FTB Add Child'
• Income Support Payments (ISP) customers eligibility for payments is affected by the change in care assessment
• the FTB customer is a step-parent. See the P24845 - Step-parent workaround table. Apply the workaround for each subsequent care change until the child ceases to be an FTB child

Note: for some cases, dual-coding will be required.

The care type, date of notification and date of event must be recorded accurately. This is to make sure the care details are applied correctly to the customer's family assistance, income support and child support assessments. If the care details are recorded incorrectly, amend the pending/preliminary record.

For disagreed or disputed care referrals or new care change notification, gather relevant information from all customer records from both programs to determine the next actions required. If further care change notifications without care determinations recorded are identified, use the Change in care macro to guide the conversation. Any information obtained should be discussed with the other customer.

Record the discussion using the Change in care macro and an Integrated Care – Progress DOC:

• in Cuba, document the discussion in the Care window
• Only include information relevant to the care change and decision making in the case notepad
• This information is available to all customers in the case of a Freedom of Information request
• Document customer specific information, such as payment or income discussions in the relevant customer's individual records
• in Customer First, create a Fast Note > Integrated Care – Progress DOC to record a document for any customer who is on an Income Support Payment and/or Family Tax Benefit, including customers who have pending claims
• Record all care information received in Child Support and Centrelink systems in the Integrated Care - Progress DOC, whether it is open, on hold or completed
• Include information relevant to the care change and decision making only.
• Consider if it is appropriate to refer to other carer's and evidence provided by third parties using generic terms only
• Document any other customer specific information in the relevant customer’s record only with consideration of any privacy issues when referring to the other carer
• Complete any Review/DOC referrals to Integrated Care such as a Disagree Care in Progress referral DOC
• where the other carer does not have a record and/or documentation provided does not include the other carer's current contact details
• request their name, address, date of birth and telephone number from the notifying customer
• If the notifying customer can supply enough information to create a record for the other carer, a record must be created, and the children linked to the new record
• Do not provide any details to the notifying customer. See Notification and assessment of shared care arrangements for Family Tax Benefit (FTB)

The date of notification (DON) for Child Support or date of receipt (DOR) for Centrelink, is the date the agency was first advised of the care change verbally or in writing. Check all customer records, in all relevant systems, to identify the correct DON/DOR to be used.

Note: the agency will not give effect to future changes in care. Only pend care notifications where a customer notifies that a care change has already occurred.

The date of event is either:

• the actual date the care changed as confirmed by both customers, or
• a date determined by the agency based on the information and evidence provided by both customers

Accurately record the likely date of event to make sure both Child Support and FTB assessments take effect from the correct date.

Note: the date of event used to record the care change will be tentative until all information from all customers is considered.

Consider whether the care that is actually occurring has changed. Identify the likely date of event by asking questions about the circumstances that led to the change in care.

Questions can include:

• Which child/ren does the change relate to?
• What date did the care or pattern of care change?
• Has the care change been discussed with the other customer?
• Is the change intended to be permanent?
• If the care change is temporary, what is the expected period of the change? Do they expect that the pattern of care before the change will resume at the end of the temporary period or will a new arrangement commence at that time?
• Is the care change disputed or do the customers disagree about the facts of the care of the child?
• Is the change due to a one-off missed care event or disruption to the pattern of care? If the standard pattern of care is likely to resume a care change may not have occurred

Seek technical assistance from your Service Support Officers for care events:

• that occurred before 1 July 2010 (before 3 March 2011 for WA ex nuptial cases), and
• not notified until after 1 July 2010 (after 3 March 2011 for WA ex nuptial cases), or
• notified before 1 July 2010 (before 3 March 2011 for WA ex-nuptial cases) with no determination yet made

Has the customer advised of multiple care change events?

• Yes, go to Step 5
• No, go to Table 3

Where the customer reports multiple care change events, or if a care determination is accepted out of order, process each notification as a separate care change. Determine the appropriate care period for each care change.

Calculate the care percentage for the first event as though the subsequent event/s had not occurred. The care percentage for each care change will be in effect in:

• Centrelink assessments from the date of event, and
• Child Support assessments up to the day before the date of effect of the subsequent care change if:
• the subsequent event results in a different care percentage, and
• the customer has notified of the change within 28 days

Go to Table 3

Determine the likely care period. A care period is generally the 12 month period starting from the date of event.

In some circumstances, a shorter or longer care period may be appropriate. Assess each case on its own merits.

Care periods longer than 12 months

A care period of more than 12 months may be appropriate where there is a care arrangement in place that follows a cycle over a period greater than 12 months, for example every 2 years. For more information see References for a link to the Child Support Guide 2.2.1: Basics of care and Example - Calculate care period 12 months and over table in Notification of change in child support care (post 1 July 2010).

Care periods shorter than 12 months

A care period of less than 12 months may be appropriate where:

• the pattern of care will gradually change over definable periods in a specific and measurable way. For example, one customer is to increase their care by 1 day per week every 3 months over the upcoming period. See Example - Calculate care period less than 12 months in Notification of change in child support care (post 1 July 2010)
• a carer has unexpectedly gained 100% care of a child for a temporary period (generally 4 weeks minimum). The agency will determine the care over a short care period related to the unexpected circumstance and make a one-off block of 100% care determination. See Example - Calculate care period shorter than 12 months - one-off block of 100% care table in Notification of change in child support care (post 1 July 2010). This may be considered a temporary absence for Centrelink benefits and payments, see Child leaves customer's care/custody

Note: any care decision will continue until the agency is notified or becomes aware of a change to the pattern of care.

Ask the customer for the pattern of care based on what they expect to occur during the care period. In most cases, the actual care each customer has determines the percentage of care. If satisfied a pattern established in the past will continue, use that pattern to determine care for the care period.

Questions that may assist in determining the likely percentage of care include:

• Have they and the other customer established a pattern of care for the child?
• Is the other carer likely to agree that these are the new care arrangements?
• How many nights do they and the other customer expect to care for the child/ren during the care period?
• How did they calculate the expected care?
• Do they or the other carer provide care other than in nights? For example, are they a shift worker or do they provide extensive care during the day but little or no overnight care? For more information see References for a link to the Child Support Guide 2.2.1: Basics of care: Care other than in nights
• Is the care set out in a written care arrangement? For example, court order, parenting plan or written agreement. If so, what is the commencement date of the written care arrangement?
• Do they have a co-signed FA012 form, or have both customers provided the same details in separate forms? If so, and no details/discrepancies need clarification and the signatures can be verified accept the form/s without any pre-decision contact as care is considered to be agreed
• If care is not occurring in accordance with a written care arrangement, are either they or the other customer trying to enforce the care set out in the care arrangement?
• If so, what actions have been taken to enforce this to date? See Customer Referral Guidelines to determine if a disputed care referral is appropriate

Use the care calculator to determine the likely care percentage, including if the customer:

• provides their own calculations
• agrees on a certain number of nights or a care percentage
• indicates they have incorrectly calculated the care percentage provided in a FA012 form
• requests their care be calculated other than in nights. Use the care calculator to calculate hours in care. Do not calculate care using a combination of hours and nights. See References for a link to the Child Support Guide 2.2.1: Basics of care: Care other than in nights

The care calculator must be used except where:

• the notified pattern of care during the care period results in either:
• a care percentage of 100% or 0%, or
• the number of nights as 365 or 0
• there is a FA012 Form where:
• a percentage of care has been written by the customer. There is no requirement for customers to explain or provide calculations on the number of nights of care provided or the pattern of care, and
• both parties have signed the form (co-signed forms may be deemed to be a written agreement if specific conditions are met). See Completing the Details of your child's care arrangements (FA012)

Note: the care calculator will time out at approximately 15 minutes. Establish the pattern of care and interpret care arrangements before opening the care calculator. Press 'F5' to refresh the calculator before beginning.

If a customer wants to estimate possible care changes or future patterns of care for themselves, refer them to the Child Support care estimator available on servicesaustralia.gov.au.

Note: if a Centrelink or mutual customer reports or confirms a reduced level of care for themselves action immediately in Customer First. Create a ‘preliminary care’ record to prevent an overpayment. Recording preliminary care is not a care decision, see Notification and Assessment of shared care arrangements for Family Tax Benefit (FTB). The change of care can only be finalised in Cuba once the change in care determination process is finalised and processed in Customer First.

Special rounding rules

Special rounding rules apply to the calculation of care percentages. To manually calculate the percentage of care divide the number of nights the customer has care of the child in the care period by the total number of nights in the care period and multiply by 100. For example, if the care period is 12 months, divide the number of nights of care by 365 and multiply by 100. To ensure the total care percentage equals 100%, if the final percentage of care figure is:

• below 50%, round the number down to the next whole percentage
• 50% or more, round the number up to the next whole percentage

See Example - Percentage of care (special rounding rules) table in Notification of change in child support care (post 1 July 2010) for more information.

To apply the special rounding rules:

• in Cuba, key the number of nights into the Care window to automatically calculate the percentage of care used in the assessment. For customers with a care percentage of 50% each, record the payee as having 50% care, see Care Cuba Process Help. Do not record as a number of nights. Where care is entered as 50% to the payee, Cuba will automatically change payee to 51% care and the other party to 49% care. The 'Care Reported as 50%' checkbox will be automatically ticked and a care percentage of 50% will be transferred to mutual customer family assistance assessments
• in Customer First, see Notification and assessment of shared care arrangements for Family Tax Benefit (FTB) to code the care change
• for principal carer assessment purposes only round up percentages between 45.1 and 45.9 to 46%. See Shared care for social security payments

If customers share 50% of the care of the child, letters from:

• Child Support will indicate both customers have a cost percentage of 50% care of the child, however the child support assessment notices will show the percentages of care as 51% or 49%. This has no impact on the child support assessed rate as the cost percentage of 50% is used for both customers
• Centrelink will reflect the FTB rate is payable at 50%, however the actual care percentages will still be recorded when the actual care percentage is between 48% – 52%

When Child Support or Centrelink determine a new care percentage, the actual Date of Event (DOE) and the earliest date of notification (DON/DOR) are recorded. Child Support and Centrelink use these dates to determine when the new care determination affects the child support assessment and Family Tax Benefit (FTB)/Income Support Payment (ISP) eligibility and entitlement.

Care advised within 28 days

If Child Support or Centrelink is notified within 28 days of a care change, the date of effect will be the date the care changed for both Child Support and Centrelink purposes.

Care advised outside of 28 days

A change in care notified more than 28 days after the event may result in the child support assessment for that child being suspended or terminated.

If the care change occurred before 1 July 2018 and notification was received more than 28 days after the date of event but before 30 December 2018, the change will affect the:

• family assistance assessment, from the actual date of event/s
• child support assessment from the date of notification. If there are multiple care change decisions to be made, only the latest change will have effect in the child support assessment

If the care change occurs on or after 1 July 2018 and notified more than 28 days after the date of event, or, before 1 July 2018 and notified on or after 30 December 2018, the change/s will affect the:

• family assistance assessment, from the actual date of event/s
• child support assessment for the reduced care carer from the date of event
• child support assessment for the increased care carer from the date of notification

If the care change is for a WA Ex-Nuptial Child with a notification date on or after 15 May 2019 and more than 28 days have passed since the date of event of the care change/s, the change will affect the:

• family assistance assessment, from the actual date of event of each change
• child support assessment for the reduced care carer from the date of event
• child support assessment for the increased care carer from the date of notification

Multiple care determinations or care determinations made out of order

If multiple events are notified on the same date, or if a care determination is accepted out of order, that is, a care determination for a later care event has already been accepted:

• give effect to any reduction in care for a carer from each of those date of events
• give effect to any increase in care for a carer from the date of notification, recording the actual date of event. If a more recent care change event already exists the retrospective care period will have no impact on the child support assessment. It will effect Centrelink entitlements from the date of event. See Examples - Multiple care change notifications in Notification of change in child support care (post 1 July 2010) for further details

Exceptions

There are 4 exceptions to the above date of effect rules for Child Support when care is notified outside of 28 days:

• Interim care determinations – when care changes within an interim care period a new care determination cannot take effect until after the interim care period ends. If:
• a care determination would otherwise take effect within the interim period, it will take effect from the day after the interim care period ends
• the care changes after the interim period but within the maximum interim period, it will take effect from the date of notification
• the customers make a new written care arrangement, and actual care is in line with that arrangement, make a new decision based on that written care arrangement. This exception applies to both Child Support and Centrelink assessments
• Below regular care determinations – when a below regular care determination is made and Services Australia was advised within a reasonable period of time, the care determination takes effect from either:
• the date a customer ceased a pattern of care or
• the date a pattern of care is first used in the assessment
• see References for a link to the Child Support Guide 2.2.3: Below regular care determinations
• WA Ex-nuptial children – If the change occurred before 1 July 2018 and the notification date is outside 28 days and before 15 May 2019 the effective date is the date of notification
• Reconciliation – where care is updated for a relevant dependent or ‘Claimed For’ child because an assessment is suspended upon reconciliation or reinstated due to separation see Suspension of child support liability on reconciliation

Terminating Events

When a change in care causes a terminating event, the assessment will end from the date the care changed. See Step 7.

Note: before 1 July 2018 a child moving from the care of 1 party to the assessment to another was not a terminating event. The assessment was amended to reflect the new care percentage from the date of notification.

Payment of arrears for FTB customers

Generally, date of effect for FTB customers will occur from the date the care changed. However where arrears are payable, the date of effect can be no earlier than 1 July of the financial year before the financial year in which the determination is made. See Payment of arrears after reassessment and stopping a payment.

A care suspension period will apply if the agency is advised of a change in care outside of 28 days but within 26 weeks of the change and as a result of the change:

• all carers cease to be eligible carers as their care reduces below 35%, and
• a person who was not an eligible carer would become an eligible carer except for the date of effect rules from 1 July 2018 (15 May 2019 for WA Ex-nuptial cases)

A suspension period will always apply retrospectively. The start date of the suspension period will be the date the care changed. The end date is the day before we are notified of the care change.

During a care suspension period, there is no assessment for the child. The child will not be taken into account in the assessment on:

• the case with the suspension, if there are multiple children on the case and the suspension does not apply to all children
• any other case the carer may have

During a suspension period, a customer is not considered to be taking Maintenance Action for FTB purposes by having a child support case. A 13 week grace period will apply from the date of event of the care change for FTB purposes. However if the notification was greater than 91 days from the date of event, FTB Part A entitlement will reduce to the base rate until the customer takes reasonable action to obtain child support.

Note: a suspension period will not apply to care changes that occur before 1 July 2018 which are notified before 30 December 2018.

If a care change causes a care suspension period to be applied to a child’s assessment check the case for:

• prescribed non-agency payment, see Non-agency payment (NAP) and
• an application to extend a child support assessment past a child’s 18th birthday, see Eighteen year old children extending a child support assessment

See Examples - Care suspension and terminating events table in Notification of change in child support care (post 1 July 2010).

A care terminating event will occur if the agency is notified of a care change more than 26 weeks after the date of event, and because of the care change:

• all eligible carers cease to be eligible carers as their care reduces below 35%, and
• a person who was not an eligible carer would become an eligible carer except for the date of effect rules effective from 1 July 2018 (15 May 2019 for WA Ex-nuptial cases)

Application for assessment because of a care terminating event

If a customer’s assessment is likely to end due to a care terminating event, ask if they would like to apply today for a new child support assessment. Tell the customer if their care change causes their assessment to end, the assessment can only be restarted from the day they lodge a new application for assessment.

If the customer wants to make an application for a child support assessment, document their response in the same note that records the care notification. The restart cannot be processed until the care determination is finalised.

Application to extend the assessment past a child’s eighteenth birthday

Another application to extend the assessment when a child turns eighteen may need to be taken see Eighteen year old children extending a child support assessment.

See Examples - Care suspension and terminating events in Notification of change in child support care (post 1 July 2010).

Where the customer:

• requests that care be calculated in a form other than nights:
• for Cuba, see Step 2 in the Calculate and determine care percentage table and return to this Procedure
• for Customer First, see Assessment of shared care arrangements for Family Tax Benefit (FTB)
• has unexpectedly gained 100% care of a child for a temporary period of 4 to 8 weeks:
• for Cuba, see Step 3 in the Calculate and determine care percentage table and return to this Procedure
• for Customer First, see Child enters customer's care/custody for Centrelink purposes
• advises the level of care for the other customer (who has at least regular care) has fallen below 14% despite the child being made available to them:
• for Cuba, see Step 7 in the Calculate and determine care percentage table and return to this Procedure
• for Customer First if care has reduced below 35%, they are not deemed to be an FTB child (care of 14%-34% only entitles a customer to ancillary benefits). See the References page in Integrated Care for links to the Family Assistance Guide 2.1.1.20 Shared Care and Change of Care Summary and 2.1.1 FTB Child & Regular Care Child
• contests the notified change in care, refer the customer to the Integrated Care team if:
• there is a written care arrangement which one of the customers is no longer adhering to and the customer with the reduced care is taking reasonable action to comply with the care arrangement. See Customer Referral Guidelines (CRG) > Disputed care

Note: if a customer wants to estimate possible care changes or future patterns of care for themselves, refer them to the Child Support care estimator on servicesaustralia.gov.au.

Determine which system to record the care change in, as outlined in Step 4 in Table 1.

For:

• Cuba, go to Step 2
• Customer First, go to Step 8

If a care record is not pending, add a new Cuba care record based on the:

• type of care
• care percentages, and
• date of event details including the commencement date of any court order or written care arrangement provided by the notifying customer

More detailed actions apply when adding a disputed care record. See Care Cuba Process Help to add a disputed care record.

See the References page for the levels of authorisation for care decisions. Consult with an authorised officer and obtain relevant approvals when making the care decision.

Note: do not select the care types of 'CSA Decision', 'Oral Agreement', 'Interim Decision' or 'Court Ordered'

For:

• actual care, go to Step 4
• below 14% Care, go to Step 5
• a court order, parenting plan, or written agreement, go to Step 6

Select Actual:

• where there is no court order, parenting plan or written agreement, or
• where there is a court order, parenting plan or written agreement and:
• care is not occurring in line with the court order, parenting plan, or written agreement, and
• appropriateness of a disputed care determination is pending

Select Below 14% Care where:

• a customer’s current percentage of care is 14% or more, and
• the agency is notified within a reasonable time that their actual percentage of care would be less than 14% despite the child being made available

See the References page in Integrated Care for a link to the Guide 2.2.3 Below regular care determinations.

Record:

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

A co-signed FA012 form may be considered a written care agreement if it sets out the care that is expected to occur as an ongoing arrangement. However, if the FA012 only sets out the care that has already occurred/is occurring, it is not a written care agreement.

International child support customers may submit a court order for care that was made outside Australia 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 customers are complying with the order.

Record the following details:

• From Date: the date care changed
• Payee/Payer Care Percentage: the care percentage set out in the written care arrangement
• Made On: the date the written care arrangement commenced

Request a copy of the care arrangement documents.

Note: select the relevant care type if the notified care is not occurring according to the court order/parenting plan/written agreement.

If a disputed care consideration is appropriate, refer to the Integrated Care team. See Customer Referral Guidelines.

Save the pended care changes to generate a Pending Care Decision intray.

Go to Table 5.

If the care change notification is lodged with Centrelink, and cannot be completed on the date received, update the Care Alignment Details (!CADDS) screen to Commenced for the relevant child/ren. Use the earliest Date of Notification (DON) and leave the Disputed indicator field blank.

Note: always add Disagree or Disputed keywords to any work item, Fast Note or workflow before actioning.

Code the care change in Customer First FTB Shared Care (FSC) screen.as preliminary irrespective of which program was first notified of the care change if:

• the customer with reduced care has advised that their care has reduced, and
• a disputed care decision is not being considered

Complete the Assessment Results (AR) activity raised.

In Customer First, the care status of 'Preliminary' indicates a 'pending' care decision. Where a customer notifies of or confirms a reduction in their care, immediately apply the reduced level of care to the family assistance entitlement to avoid an overpayment.

Once the care decision is finalised:

• update the care (if different from original coding)
• set the Preliminary indicator to ‘No’ in Centrelink system. This will update the status to 'Accepted' in Cuba

If the care change is already recorded, check the details. Amend the pending and/or preliminary care record if the incorrect details have been entered, such as:

• care type
• dates of event
• the date of notification. Make sure the earliest date Services Australia was notified is used
• care percentage

For past and present Centrelink customers, check the Centrelink relationship and income details. If required update the details before finalising the care decision in Cuba.

Make sure all relevant information has been gathered from the customer to determine the likely event date, care period, percentage of care, date of effect and type of care change:

• If care is being notified more than 26 weeks after the date the care changed and may result in a care terminating event ask if they want to apply for a new child support assessment. See Step 7 in Table 3
• If a care decision is likely to result in the payee having a care percentage of less than 35% for a child and a child support agreement applies to the child:
• transfer the customer to the Agreements and Court Orders team to discuss the impact on their agreement
• If the likely impacts and outcomes for Child Support and/or Centrelink payments can be determined, discuss these with the customer. Provide options to the customer to test their eligibility for a new or a different payment type. Advise that the next step will be to discuss the care change with the other party/ies
• If there is a potential new entitlement to FTB, income support payments or allowances, see Contact in relation to an intended claim. If a FTB claim is lodged whilst the care decision is being progressed, this will be considered when the care decision is finalised

Tell the customer if the other customer:

• confirms the care change, they will receive notification of the decision in writing
• disagrees with the care change or the change cannot be confirmed, customers will need to provide evidence. A letter will then be issued informing them of the date the information is to be provided to the agency. For mutual customers, tell the customer a letter will be issued through their Centrelink record

Help the customer to transition to self service for receiving mail and providing evidence, unless the customer is not eligible or it is deemed inappropriate.

Inform the customer they can use myGov to notify the agency of a subsequent change in care, see Using Child Support self service.

If appropriate, refer the customer to the Services Australia website or provide the customer with:

• national service referrals as per the Customer Support/Referral Guide
• community services in the customer’s local area, see Social worker and other service referrals for child support customers

If the customer prefers to receive the products by mail, issue the relevant publication/s from the Products and Services window in Cuba for automatic dispatch.

Document in line with Documenting Child Support information and Online Document Recording (ODR):

• all conversations including macro documents
• contact attempts
• relevant information gathered court orders, parenting plans and written agreements provided:
• for Cuba, in the Care window notepad
• for Customer First, annotate the Integrated Care – Progress DOC

Go to Integrated care - Gathering additional information and evidence.