Integrated care - Gathering additional information and evidence 277-03060040

Make one genuine attempt to contact the responding customer before sending a letter.

• Send a pre-call SMS notification, see Child Support electronic messaging
• Call all available numbers, including their place of employment

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

If contact is:

• successful, go to Step 2
• unsuccessful, go to Step 5

Contact the customer and tell them that a care change notification has been received. Use the Call Management macro to guide the conversation.

Note: contact with incarcerated customers is by phone appointment only. Contact the Incarcerated Customer team to arrange an appointment. Use the Incarcerated Customer Appointment Email template located on the Resources page.

Confirm the care details currently recorded for all children in both programs with the customer. If further care changes are identified these should also be progressed.

Discuss and confirm the notified care change details including:

• date of event
• care period
• percentage of care
• pattern of care
• reason for the change in care
• care type, based on actual, below regular care, or
• a written care arrangement (for example, a court order, parenting plan or written care agreement)
• is not being followed. Check if this is by agreement.
• is being contravened. Check the reasons for the contravention and any actions taken to have this reinstated.
  Consider a disputed care referral. See Customer Referral Guidelines (CRG) > Disputed Care

Discuss the potential effect the change in care may have on the customer’s:

• Child Support assessment/s:
• if the care details given by the customer lead to a change to their child support assessment. Discuss potential changes including role reversals, care suspension periods and care terminating events
• where the assessment is likely to end due to a care terminating event, ask the customer if they would like to apply today for a new child support assessment. Tell them if they do not make an application today and their care change causes their assessment to end the assessment will restart from the day the application is received. Document if the customer wants to make an application for a child support assessment
• Family Assistance or Income Support payments. Encourage the customer to test their eligibility for payments where appropriate. See Payment and Service Finder

Check and update the customer’s details in their Child Support record in line with the Customer Management Approach

For Centrelink customers, check and update as required:

• contact details
• income details, in line with Business Imperatives
• if the customer or their partner are in receipt of income support payments, confirm relationship details. See Assessment of relationship status – processes, roles and responsibilities

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

Make sure Centrelink relationship and income details are accurate. This reduces the likelihood of incorrect Centrelink benefits or payments occurring when the care decision is transferred. Update these details before finalising the care decisions in Cuba.

Discuss any other outstanding issues identified as part of initial record checks done.

Tell the customer they can use self service to notify changes in care online and manage other business with the agency. Help the customer to transition to self service unless the customer is not eligible or it is deemed inappropriate.

If the customer confirms the change in care details as notified and enough information is available to make a decision regarding the care percentage, go to Integrated care - Making and recording care determination.

If the customer disagrees with the care percentage or date of event, go to Step 6

If attempts to contact Child Support customers by phone are unsuccessful, send an “S009 please contact” SMS, if the customer has previously had contact with Child Support. See Child Support electronic messaging

Conduct searches if no valid phone contact details are available.

If a new contact number is located and the customer is successfully contacted, confirm the details with the customer and update their record:

• for Child Support, see Updating Child Support customer information
• for Centrelink, see Notification and assessment of shared care arrangements for Family Tax Benefit (FTB)

Contact the other customer again to discuss new information or tell them Services Australia (the agency) could not confirm the care change.

Customers may change the details originally given and/or give extra information. This may mean contacting customers on more than one occasion to give them an opportunity to respond.

Discuss all the information given, this may prevent the care being disagreed or disputed. See Example 1 on the Resources page. If actual care details are confirmed by both customers go to Integrated care - Making and recording care determination.

Give customers options to provide supporting documentation. The fastest way to do this is via myGov/Child Support online services.

Tell each customers:

• the information and evidence they provide will be considered in making a care percentage decision. Where information and evidence is conflicting it will be:
• discussed with the other customer
• made available to the other customer (including evidence a customer submits from third parties), except where:
• this information is sensitive. This information will be considered in the care determination however unnecessary or private information will not be made available (for example, third party evidence from a Social Worker or a Women’s Refuge). Although the evidence will not be made available to the other party, the principles of procedural fairness require Child Support to advise all the relevant parties what information is being taken into account when a decision is being made. Discuss with the customer the information the decision maker will need to make a decision. Tell the customer, in the event of an Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) first review, the information may be considered and exchanged with the other parent. If a customer or third party does not consent to their evidence or claim being disclosed to the other customer, it will not be considered in the decision
• information from children is not accepted and such evidence will be disregarded. Evidence from a child aged 18 years or older may be considered, see Child Support’s information gathering powers
• if a customer provides a written statement from a third party, it will be inferred they have consented to the third party being contacted. See References for a link to the Child Support Guide 2.2.1: Basics of care: Supporting evidence
• statements from third parties must maintain the privacy of the customers
• the agency may initiate searches. Any conflicting information or evidence used to make a decision will be discussed with both customers

Service Officers must not imply that the third parties have to give information.

In the event a customer does not give information or evidence to support their claims, the agency may base the care determination on information or evidence received from the other customer or third parties. See References for a link to the Child Support Guide 2.2.1: Basics of care.

Explain that:

• the change in care decision is the agency‘s decision about the amount of care to be used in the customer’s:
• child support assessment, and/or
• Centrelink payments or benefits
• the agency:
• does not determine where the child should live or custody arrangements
• reflects the percentage of care of the child that each parent actually has, or the percentage of care established by a written care arrangement

Note: the circumstances around care changes 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.

If customers cannot be contacted or are not in agreement with the care details provided, send letters to all relevant parties (including third parties) to request evidence:

• for Child Support only customers and mutual customers not receiving Family Tax Benefit (FTB) Child Care Subsidy (CCS) or an Income Support Payment (ISP):
• Use the Care contact letter macro to generate a 'Care contact letter' to request evidence
• Select 'Yes' to 'Is the care disagreed?' in the Care contact macro where customers are not in agreement
• Select 'No' to 'Is the care disagreed?' in the Care contact macro if customer/s cannot be contacted
• for mutual customers receiving FTB, CCS or an ISP, or have a pending claim:
• use the Child - Change in Care Arrangements script to issue a Q810 Shared Care Dispute- Request for information letter
• for mutual customers receiving CCS only and have regular care:
• issue a Q888 CCS ACCS RFI letter if pending disagreed care will reduce their care to 13% or less
• for Centrelink only customers who:
• receive FTB, CCS or ISP use the Child - Change in Care Arrangements script to issue a Q810 Shared Care Dispute- Request for information letter
• receive CCS only and have regular care issue a Q888 CCS ACCS RFI letter if pending disagreed care will reduce their care to 13% or less
• do not receive FTB, CCS or ISP but have an existing Centrelink record, issue a Q999 letter requesting confirmation of shared care arrangements and supporting evidence. See the Resources page of Notification and assessment of shared care arrangements for Family Tax Benefit (FTB) for the letter text
• any carer/s who do not have an existing Centrelink record
• if there are enough details to create a record, one must be created. The children must be linked to the new record. See Adding a customer to the system and Linking a child to a customer's record. Issue a Q999 letter with a Details of your child's care arrangements (FA012) from the record.
• if there are not enough details to create a record, issue a Q999 letter from the existing carer's record as a third party letter. See the Resources page of the Notification and assessment of shared care arrangements for Family Tax Benefit (FTB) 007-02040020 for the letter text
• for all letters issued via Centrelink system:
• close any open DOCs generated by the script on each carers’ record

Once generated, review the letters for the following:

• notified change in care details
• request for supporting care-related information and/or evidence
• information on what evidence can be accepted and how it will be used and shared if it is considered in the making of the care decision
• contact number for customer to call
• advice that the care determination is based on the information provided by each customer, third parties as well as information sourced from Services Australia initiated searches
• due date evidence needs to be received by. Where letters auto-populate, due dates may need to be manually adjusted.
• allows the customer time to respond. See Standard response times

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.

If managing the care change in:

• Child Support system, go to Step 9
• Centrelink System, go to Step 10

• Create an SCT Awaiting Evidence intray on one associated customer record
• Set the Integrated Care - Progress DOC to Complete

No open work items

• Place the Integrated Care - Progress DOC on hold, add keyword Disagree or Disputed depending on service officer’s role
• Use the date when next action can be taken as the resubmit date

In scope Families related work items on the Activity List (AL) – for example FTB NCL, REA or REV:

• Set the Integrated Care - Progress DOC to Complete
• Place other work items on hold, add keyword Disagree or Disputed depending on service officer’s role
• Use the date when next action can be taken as the resubmit date

Where new work items are received in Work Optimiser - for example, a scanned document:

• include references to where information is located, such as a FA012 lodged on (date) in the Integrated Care - Progress DOC
• set the other work items to Complete

Decide whether there is sufficient and reliable information/evidence to make a care determination.

If the customers:

• provided sufficient evidence for a care determination to be made, go to Step 2
• do not provide supporting evidence, go to Integrated care - Making and recording care determination
• are unable to agree on the date the care changed, go to Step 3

Discuss conflicting information, supporting documentation and evidence that was considered in the care decision with each customer before finalising the decision. Whether submitted by either customer, a third party or obtained from agency-initiated searches.

Note: if a customer or third party does not want the evidence or information to be discussed or made available to all customers for comment. Do not consider this evidence or information when making the care determination.

Discuss all conflicting information so that each customer has an opportunity to respond to relevant information provided by the other customer. This may mean contacting customers on more than one occasion to discuss the information and evidence received to reach the most appropriate decision.

If more information is provided in this contact, it can be considered before the decision is finalised. Ask the customer to provide further supporting evidence to the agency as soon as possible.

Tell the customer they can use self service to provide information/evidence and manage other business with the agency. Help the customer to transition to self service unless the customer is not eligible or it is deemed inappropriate.

Date of Event:

If the customers cannot agree on the date the care changed:

• discuss the dates in question and the pattern of care
• encourage the customers to reach agreement on when the care actually changed

If unsuccessful, ask the customers to provide further supporting evidence to the agency, using their Child Support online account. Set the shortest possible timeframe for the evidence to be returned.

Where a likely date cannot be determined from the information, as a last resort, base the decision on the customers’ point of agreement. The point of agreement is the earliest day on which both customers agree the care changed. See Example 2 on the Resources page.

For assistance in making a decision regarding the date of event based on a point of agreement, seek Technical Support.

If using the 'point of agreement' to determine the date of event, tell the customers this date. Explain the decision is being made because no conclusive information or evidence was given by the customers.

If the point of agreement date of event is later than the original date of notification:

• record 2 care decisions to prevent ‘future notified care’ records being created:
• the first is to reject the pending care record using the original date of notification, and
• the second to reflect the accepted care determination using the ‘point of agreement’ date of event as both the date of event and date of notification

Provide customers with objection rights to each decision.

No pattern of care:

If the customers have advised the care will change but no pattern exists and conflicting information has been provided, the agency may make a decision using the ‘point of agreement’ to determine the new care percentage. See References - Child Support Guide 2.2.2: Care determinations & changes in care.

Go to Integrated care - Making and recording care determination