Raw Aus Pol

Simple Wins / Australian Red Tape Every step, every clock, every authority -- written down.

Services Australia (Services Australia)

Delivers income support and family payments

Assesses and pays income support, Commonwealth Rent Assistance and the Child Care Subsidy, and administers the income tests and reconciliation processes that govern them.

Responsibilities

Operates under

The body that decides what happens to a person's income when they take a job, which makes it as much a part of the employment system as any employment program.

The settings that matter for disability employment:

That last exemption is the one worth sitting with. A person working 35 hours in a supported employment setting keeps their pension. The same person working 35 hours in open employment may have it suspended.

Whatever the history of that rule, its present effect is a financial reason to prefer segregated employment over open employment — at the same time as the Disability Royal Commission has recommended phasing segregated employment out. Two arms of Commonwealth policy pointing in opposite directions, through a rule about hours. See The 30 hour rule pays more for segregated work than open employment.

On family payments, this body holds the most interesting asymmetry in the database.

For Commonwealth Rent Assistance, eligibility is assessed automatically when a person claims a qualifying payment. Nobody applies for rent assistance separately. What they must do is verify their rent — with a lease or, failing that, a Rent Certificate signed by their landlord or head tenant.

For the Child Care Subsidy, the agency pays for a whole year against a forecast the family makes of its own future income, then reconciles it against actual income once tax returns are lodged, and raises a debt where the forecast was too low. A 5 per cent withholding runs all year as a buffer.

Meanwhile, through Single Touch Payroll, this agency already receives salary and wage data from the ATO close to real time, and already pre-fills employer details for income support recipients — a change made expressly to stop people unknowingly accruing debts of the kind produced by the income compliance program.

So the same agency, in the same year, pre-fills actual income for one payment and asks families to predict a year ahead for another. See Pay the Child Care Subsidy from income the government already sees.

Where this body appears in a process

Every point at which Services Australia can hold something up, and why.

ProcessStepWhy it waitsClockTypical
A general practice bulk bills and claims the incentives Register for the Bulk Billing Practice Incentive Program registration applicant — 30
A general practice bulk bills and claims the incentives Bulk bill 100 per cent of eligible services assessment statutory — 90
A general practice bulk bills and claims the incentives Incentive paid quarterly in arrears fee statutory — 90
Family with a Child Care Subsidy debt after balancing Debt raised at balancing decision assessment — 30
Family with a Child Care Subsidy debt after balancing Notice of debt and recovery arrangements notification statutory — 28
Family with a Child Care Subsidy debt after balancing Request a review of the decision appeal queue — 60
Family with a Child Care Subsidy debt after balancing Recovery registration applicant — 365
Family receives the Child Care Subsidy and is balanced against actual income Estimate the family's income for the year ahead application applicant — 14
Family receives the Child Care Subsidy and is balanced against actual income Claim and confirm enrolment application assessment — 21
Family receives the Child Care Subsidy and is balanced against actual income Subsidy paid to the provider, fees reduced registration assessment — 0
Family receives the Child Care Subsidy and is balanced against actual income Five per cent withheld all year fee statutory — 365
Family receives the Child Care Subsidy and is balanced against actual income Balancing against actual income assessment queue — 60
Family receives the Child Care Subsidy and is balanced against actual income Top-up, or debt decision assessment — 30
Child receives dental care under the Child Dental Benefits Schedule Eligibility determined from existing family payments assessment assessment — 0
Person with disability from seeking work to employed with supports Disability Support Pension assessment assessment queue — 120
Person with disability from seeking work to employed with supports Ongoing hours and income reporting registration applicant — 14
A farm household in hardship obtains support Claim Farm Household Allowance application applicant — 21
A farm household in hardship obtains support Income and assets test assessment assessment — 30
A farm household in hardship obtains support Payment granted, for up to four years in ten decision assessment — 14
JobSeeker recipient meets mutual obligations under the compliance framework Payment suspended decision assessment — 0
JobSeeker recipient meets mutual obligations under the compliance framework Payment restored registration queue — 7
JobSeeker recipient meets mutual obligations under the compliance framework Cancellation after persistent non-compliance decision assessment — 0
Person seeks restoration and compensation after a wrongly cancelled payment Payment cancelled decision assessment — 0
Person seeks restoration and compensation after a wrongly cancelled payment Seek review of the decision appeal queue — 60
Renter receives Commonwealth Rent Assistance Receive a qualifying payment registration assessment — 0
Renter receives Commonwealth Rent Assistance Rent Assistance automatically assessed assessment assessment — 0
Renter receives Commonwealth Rent Assistance Verify the rent certification third party — 30
Renter receives Commonwealth Rent Assistance Sharer status determined assessment assessment — 0
Renter receives Commonwealth Rent Assistance Calculate and pay with the qualifying payment registration assessment — 0
Renter receives Commonwealth Rent Assistance Notify changes of rent or circumstances application applicant — 14
Renter receives Commonwealth Rent Assistance Indexation twice yearly registration statutory — 182
Renter receives Commonwealth Rent Assistance Ineligible if renting from a state housing authority decision assessment — 0
Older person enters residential aged care Income and assets assessment assessment queue — 45
Household affected by a declared disaster obtains assistance and rebuilds Claim the Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment application queue — 21
Household affected by a declared disaster obtains assistance and rebuilds Claim the Disaster Recovery Allowance application queue — 21
Household receives energy bill relief and concession rebates — New South Wales Hold a qualifying concession card registration assessment — 0
Person leaving family violence obtains protection, income and housing Crisis payment from Centrelink application queue — 14
Person released from prison re-establishes income, identity, health care and housing Lodge a pre-release claim application applicant — 21
Person released from prison re-establishes income, identity, health care and housing Establish identity certification third party — 45
Person released from prison re-establishes income, identity, health care and housing Claim the crisis payment application statutory 7 7
Person released from prison re-establishes income, identity, health care and housing Income support claim granted decision queue — 30

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