Quality On Line (QOL) 111-23000000

Use QOL tools to check for returned activities.

If Work Optimiser shows the following activities:

• Offline, go to Step 2
• QOLABT, go to Step 4
• Returned Activities and/or view feedback, go to Step 5

For more information, see Work Optimiser for staff.

The system can revert activities to offline, which will result in a non-finalised (offline) status irrespective of the quality check being finalised in the QOL tool.

There are 2 reasons for activities going offline:

• The activity is checked in the QOLCheck tool but goes offline before completing in mainframe
• The Daily Driver has reverted the activity status back to started (STA) after it was submitted (SUB) but before being checked in the QOLCheck tool

Offline activities can be located by doing a search in Work Optimiser using the keyword offline.

Note: only staff with Work Optimiser Analyst access can check for offline activities for other staff. See Work Optimiser for Analysts.

Action required for Offline activities

Offline activities must be actioned because the original update would not have been applied to the customer's record once the activity went offline.

Before actioning the activity, staff must check the QOLCheck tool to confirm if the activity has already been QOL checked. If the QOL has:

• been completed, staff should check for feedback to ensure all feedback is addressed prior to actioning the activity
• not been completed, staff need to wait until the original activity has been QOL checked, to ensure any feedback is addressed before the offline activity is actioned

After QOL feedback has been addressed or where there is no QOL feedback, action the Offline activity:

• in Customer First, select:
• the activity from the Activity List (AL) screen
• 'U' (Undo submitted activity not passed in QOL) > Continue
• in Customer Record:
• key 'U' next to the activity on the AL screen
• press Enter
• ensure the relevant updates are applying within the activity
• finalise the activity on the Assessment Results (AR) screen
• record details in a DOC, if applicable

Note: activities can be selected for QOL checking a second time and must be fully checked for further updates to the activity before being resubmitted.

Go to Step 3.

Urgent QOL requests are actioned in situations where there is an immediate impact to the customer, or it is critical to the business.

Service Officers should complete activities in a way or order that reduces the need for urgent QOL requests.

If an urgent QOL assessment is required:

• Smart Centre staff, Labour Hire and Service Delivery Partners staff must make sure the request meets the urgent QOL criteria, see Urgent QOL process for Smart Centre and Labour Hire staff
• If the activity is processed within a Service Zone or boutique team, upload all supporting information to the customer's record as soon as possible and follow local procedures. See Storing scanned documents
• Other staff, check with your team leader for local protocols

Refer all QOLABT activities to Centrelink Payments Support Team (CPST) using the Quality Online (QOL) Function Issues form via mySupport.

Complete the appropriate action advised by CPST.

Staff must:

• run QOLStat Step Feedback and Result Feedback reports daily
• action all feedback for both released and returned activities on a daily basis

Staff should action their feedback themselves, however if help is needed they must follow local procedures.

For returned activities, go to Step 6.

Returned activities must be reverted to a STA (started) status to enable correction.

To undo a submitted activity:

• in Customer First, select:
• the activity from the Activity List (AL) screen
• 'U' (Undo submitted activity not passed in QOL) > Continue
• in Customer Record:
• key 'U' next to the activity on the AL screen
• press Enter
• make sure the relevant corrections/feedback are made within the activity
• finalise the activity on the Assessment Results (AR) screen
• record details in a DOC, if applicable

Note: these activities can be selected for QOL checking a second time and must be fully checked for further updates to the activity before it is resubmitted.

Staff can request a review of a QOL check decision under the Dispute Escalation Policy. Follow local procedures supporting the policy. See Quality Standards in service delivery for policy details.

There is no:

• functionality to alter the outcome of a QOL check within the QOL tool
• national report to record the altered outcome of a changed QOL check

If a QOL decision is overturned as a result of a QOL dispute, Line Managers and/or SSO's should:

• account for these results when manually assessing the staff member's accuracy results, and
• adjust proficiency levels accordingly where applicable

Staff and Line Managers/SSOs must keep records of dispute outcomes for audit purposes and to support learning and development discussions.

QOL checkers will:

• undertake QOL checks with a consistent assessment of activities in accordance with Operational Blueprint and the National QOL Principles
• not undertake checks on their own work
• take responsibility for completing the check of the selected activity
• utilise local escalation protocols to complete the check if the activity is beyond the QOL checker's area of expertise
• select only one activity at a time and complete the QOL check before moving onto another activity. Note: customer and partner activities can be selected at the same time if the QOL checks are related
• not override discretionary decisions unless the relevant legislation, policy or procedure does not allow discretion
• not use the 'Return for correction and rechecking' option for any activity unless instructed to do so
• not override the outcome of the QOL check (for example, if the QOL outcome is 'release' and no errors were selected within the QOL check, do not override the 'release' outcome)
• give appropriate, consistent and constructive feedback

Refer to the relevant Operational Blueprint or intranet site for local procedures for managing QOL activities.

QOL checkers must prioritise their work in the following order:

• payment affecting activities (EAN, IPI, STM)
• activities for today's Entitlement Period End Day (EPED)
• activities for the last 2 EPEDs
• other activities by environment, working from the oldest

Be mindful of payment strip times in each state.

Refer to the relevant Operational Blueprint or intranet site for local procedures for managing QOL activities.

Instructions on how to use the QOLCheck tool are in the QOLCheck and QOLStat Guide, see the Resources page:

• When completing a QOL check the questions are shown in the QOLCheck tool as a:
• step question relating to a specific screen, or
• transaction question applied to the overall check
• A feedback box shows when an error has been identified and must be completed before continuing the QOL check. Feedback should include references to the relevant Operational Blueprint files and policy/legislation, where applicable
• QOL checkers must:
• check all updated screens in Customer First/Customer Record when completing QOL checks
• go to Customer First and make sure there is no-one locked in the customers record
• review the errors listed which are based on the responses to the questions in the QOL check
• stimulate the customers' payment within the activity, if required. The QOL checker must do this once the QOL check has been completed
• A staff member may be instructed to hand over an activity from Process Direct into ISIS. If it is sampled for a QOL check, QOL checkers must:
• manually check the updated screens in Customer First/Customer Record
• view the updates via the relevant task selectors (for example, NTS, CDTS)
• remember screens updated in Process Direct will not show in the QOL tool
• QOL checkers are responsible for completing the check end to end
• If the activity is beyond the QOL checker's area of expertise they should use local escalation protocols to ensure the activity is completed
• The method with which an activity is completed should not impact the result of the QOL check if the correct outcome is achieved, that is, workflow versus manual coding

For details about applying step question options for the Accommodation Details (AC) screen, search QOL tool in the A-Z of Rent Assistance terms and codes.

QOL checkers must ensure all checks they are responsible for are cleared by the close of the business day.

Where a payment affecting activity is identified in the QOL tool from the previous day, the QOL checker must:

• contact the customer
• explain the delay in payment
• apologise
• offer to deliver a:
• partial payment via urgent payments due to Centrelink delay, or
• Immediate payment by payment method New Payments Platform (NPP), if required
• document the record with the above discussion

When a correction is needed, feedback must be provided in the QOLCheck tool.

Feedback must be clear, concise and have:

• a description of the error
• a description of what action is needed
• the relevant resource material, and
• QOL checker's logon

Tips on recording feedback:

• Do not use the [Enter] key in feedback as it creates formatting problems when QOLStat reports are extracted
• The Free Text Feedback field has a 596 character limit:
• QOLCheck will allow QOL checkers to paste content that exceeds this limit
• When a staff member runs the QOLStat Feedback Report, the feedback only shows up to the 596 character limit
• Feedback on step questions displays in the Step Question Feedback Report of the QOLStat tool
• Feedback on the overall check displays in the Results Feedback Report of the QOLStat tool
• Feedback in QOL can be released under Freedom of Information

Contingency Mode A is a checking mechanism completed manually through Customer First/Customer Record. It is activated when:

• the QOL tool is unavailable, or
• system issues severely affect the function of the QOL tool

Notice of activation is communicated through the National News Update (NNU).

Tip: there is no search function for Submitted (SUB) activities in Contingency Mode A.

To undertake checking in Contingency Mode A:

• select the appropriate activity in Customer First or Customer Record
• select/Type (A) Approve an activity-QOL contingency mode
• on the Procedure and Accuracy Check (PAC) screen select view all screens
• once all screens have been viewed, the PAC screen will display
• key 'Y' (Pass) or 'N' (Fail)

If feedback is required, give it through the appropriate feedback channel (for example, the Staff Feedback Tool).

Some parts of the QOL proficiency assessment process are completed through automation unless an exemption has been applied. For details on proficiency reviews (manual and automated), see Updating proficiency for QOL.

The Line Manager is responsible for:

• assessing that the staff member has the knowledge and skills to advance or maintain their level of proficiency
• reviewing the work performed over the proficiency period
• updating the Quality Sampling Summary (QSS) screen to reflect changes to proficiency, where QSS automation is not appropriate

The Line Manager or SSO is responsible for:

• assessing the staff member in accordance with the QOL checker accreditation criteria using the QOL checker accreditation form
• keeping records of QOL checker accreditation and reaccreditations for potential audits
• providing feedback to QOL checkers regarding their accreditation and reaccreditation
• monitoring and discussing any feedback (for example, feedback the QOL checker may have received regarding QOL disputes or staff feedback)

Line Managers are responsible for applying for and approving QOL checker access in ISP.

Line Managers and SSOs can run the Result Feedback and Step Feedback reports in the QOLStat tool to access staff member feedback.

See the Resources page for a link to the QOLStat Feedback Report Guide.

To provide QOL related feedback to a staff member, in particular at another site, the Staff Feedback Tool can be used.

Only staff with Work Optimiser Analyst access are able to check (using a keyword search) for 'offline', 'qolabt' and 'notalloc' activities.

For more information about Analyst access to Work Optimiser, see Work Optimiser for Analysts.

Line Managers and SSOs can review decisions made in QOL when requested by a staff member. Note: there is no functionality to alter the outcome within the QOL tool.

If the QOL 4.0 resource is not available in the Software Centre, staff must request the QOL Client resource.

If the QOL 4.0 application is still not available the next business day after requesting approval, or if install errors, escalate the issue via mySupport.

Access for staff members to:

• view their own QOLStat results
• create QOLStat reports for themselves. These may include feedback reports. For help, see the QOLStat Feedback Report Guide
• replaying checked work using QOLCheck

Note: users may need to download the QOL 4.0 application from the Software Centre as per Item 1 above.

• Access to complete a quality check
• Line Managers should only request access to the relevant system that the QOL checker will be quality checking. QOL checkers should be proficient in the requested system CMM, DMN, FAO, IRS, NSS, PEN, TAC

Access to:

• view QOLStat information for others
• replay checked work

Generally this is limited to APS5 and above.