Centrelink-Child Support information exchange 277-04080000

The purpose of this Governance Arrangement is to set expectations and establish processes to ensure that legal requirements are observed when sharing information between master programs.

Master programs

For the purpose of the 2016 Governance Arrangement, the 2 master programs referred to in this document are Child Support and Centrelink.

This Governance Arrangement:

• states the purpose for, and the legislation that supports, the exchange of mutual customer data between the 2 master programs within Services Australia, and
• provides an overview of how data can be exchanged and the process for problem resolution where data failure occurs

Acronyms and Definitions

• 'AoC' - the Alignment of Care measure, implemented on 1 July 2010
• 'Centrelink' - a master program of the Services Australia responsible for delivering Commonwealth payments and services
• 'Child Support' - a master program of the agency, responsible for facilitating the payment of child support
• 'Mutual customer' - a customer registered with both Centrelink and Child Support. A customer does not have to have an 'active case' or 'current record' in either Centrelink or Child Support for the purposes of mutuality

Term of this Governance Arrangement

This Governance Arrangement is current from the date it is published. It will be reviewed every 12 months and updated when required.

Background

Centrelink and Child Support share mutual customer information to enable correct assessment of family assistance and social security payments and assessment and collection of child support payments.

In June 2008, system changes were made to allow for some information to be automatically shared via a data exchange.

From 1 July 2010, Alignment of Care (AoC) was introduced to allow one care determination to be used to determine both a child support liability and family assistance entitlement in line with care arrangements of a child.

The child support and family assistance legislation allows for the sharing of information where the information is required for the administration of family assistance, social security and child support.

Legislation Enabling Data Exchange

Authority for Disclosure of Information

Information can be exchanged between Centrelink and Child Support only where it is in accordance with the following provisions of the Privacy Act 1988, social security law, family assistance law, other relevant legislation and is necessary to allow Child Support or Centrelink to fulfil their legislative requirements.

Legislation

Specifically, any exchange of information between Centrelink and Child Support is governed by the following legislation:

Section 201(1) of the Social Security (Administration) Act 1999

Section 161(1) of A New Tax System (Family Assistance) (Administration) Act 1999

Section 16(3)(ba) of the Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988

Section 72AA of the Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988

Section 72AB of the Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988

Section 72AD of the Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988

Section 150(3)(ba) of the Child Support (Assessment) Act 1989

Subsection 351(3) of the Student Assistance Act 1973

Subsection 126(1) of the Paid Parental Leave Act 2010 and

Australian Privacy Principles as set out in Schedule 1 of the Privacy Act 1988

Privacy and Confidentiality - Protection of Personal Information

Child Support and Centrelink:

• acknowledge all information exchanged is confidential and will not be disclosed to third parties, unless this is authorised by legislation or required by a court order; and
• will ensure that data received from the other party will be kept secure and that it is protected by such security safeguards as is reasonable to prevent loss, unauthorised access, use, modification, disclosure or other misuse

Data Exchange and the sharing of information

Data is transferred electronically between Centrelink and Child Support for customers matched via the mutual customer matching process. Relevant information is also shared manually to support the correct administration of social security and family assistance payments and child support assessment and collection.

Examples of information shared via the exchange may include:

If the care percentage of a child of a mutual customer is updated in either the Centrelink or Child Support system, the details will be automatically transferred to the other master program via the data exchange. This ensures that the assessment for the child is correct and aligned between the 2 master programs.

Examples of information being shared manually may include:

Child Support may request details recorded on the Centrelink system for mutual customers to initiate collection action including but not restricted to employer and bank account details. This information is not transferred electronically via the data exchange but can be manually sourced.

Centrelink may request confirmation from Child Support that a customer has made an application for child support in order to update the customer's Maintenance Action Test status. Where this information is not transferred electronically via the data exchange it can be manually sourced.

Data exchange escalation

Both master programs agree to work co-operatively to resolve issues with the data exchange and to provide relevant, timely and appropriate feedback regarding these issues.

Staff should escalate issues following the below processes:

• Where a problem is identified, staff must escalate via their normal escalation processes
• The master program responsible will assess the impact of the problem, assign a priority for resolution, and take all reasonable steps for resolution

Key stakeholders in the information exchange process

Function	Division/Branch	Contact details
General Manager	Families Children and Targeted Services Division	See Organisational structure
General Manager	Service Delivery Excellence	See Organisational structure
General Manager	Child Support , Indigenous and Tailored Services Division	See Organisational structure
National Manager	Child Support Program Branch	See Organisational structure
National Manager	Families and Child Care Branch	See Organisational structure
National Manager	Child Support, Indigenous and Tailored Services, New Customers and Mainstream Services	See Organisational structure
National Manager	Business Process Branch	See Organisational structure
Director	Child Support Program Branch	See Child Support Program Branch
Director	Families and Child Care Branch	See Child Support Program Branch
Director	Child Support, Indigenous and Tailored Services	See Integrated Care, New Customers and Mainstream services