B49/1992 BULK ISSUE OF 1993 CONCESSION CARDS - PRINTING, DESPATCH AND PROCEDURES

DATE OF ISSUE: 06 November 1992

BULK ISSUE OF 1993 CONCESSION CARDS - PRINTING, DESPATCH AND PROCEDURES

INTRODUCTION

1.This instruction deals with the issue to pensioners of 1993 concession cards in the December 1992 bulk issue.  The following cards will be despatched as part of the bulk issue:

a.1993 Pensioner Health Benefits (PHB) cards with attached Transport Concession (TC1) cards (and travel vouchers for QLD, NSW and VIC only);

b. Pharmaceutical Benefits Concession (PBC) cards with attached Veterans' Affairs Card; and

c.War Widows Transport Concession Cards (TC1) for NSW, VIC and SA only (with attached travel vouchers for NSW and VIC only).

2.All PHB cardholders and war widow TC1 cardholders will receive an advice leaflet with their card which will advise them of the 7 January 1993 payment of TA.  Those PBC cardholders entitled to TA (that is, certain disability pensioners and World War 1 veterans) will also receive an advice leaflet.

TIMETABLE

3.The following are the key activity dates:

a.The data processing run will be conducted by the National Computer Centre (NCC) on the weekend 14/15 November 1992 and the tapes will be despatched to the printer (R. L. Polk & Co Pty Ltd of Melbourne) on 16 November 1992.

b.Limited stocks of 1993 PHB and PBC cards will be made available to the NCC by 13 November for daily issues after the processing run.  Branch offices may obtain stocks of blank cards from the NCC by request.

c.The last packages to be mailed to pensioners will be lodged with Australia Post by 4 December 1992.

d.All PHB and PBC cards not used in the bulk issue will be sent to the NCC by 11 December 1992.

e.All war widow TC1 cards not used in the bulk issue will be sent to the appropriate state transport authority or branch office by 11 December 1992.

PRODUCTION OF SCHEDULES

4.The listings to be used for concession cards will be produced in alphabetical order and with a composite split (where appropriate).  The headings on reports will be descriptive and the following listings will be produced:

a.PHB/TC1 cards issued;

b.PBC/VA1 cards issued;

c.pensioners who receive PHB cards and who have been included with your State run but are paid by another State (the paying State is indicated by N, V, Q, S, W or T);

d.pensioners who do not receive any card, together with a brief explanation of why they did not receive a card (e.g. too many characters in the address).

5.Other listings may be produced for various categories not  able to be picked up automatically and requiring despatch by Branches.  These will be dealt with separately and may include: certain World War 1 (WW1) allies, special register cases and a number of war widows.

MACHINE DAMAGED OR INCORRECTLY ADDRESSED DOCUMENTS

6.The printer will despatch damaged or incompletely addressed 1993 cards to respective branch offices for manual issue.  Branch offices are to request stocks of 1993 PHB and PBC cards from the NCC so that they are capable of issuing cards manually if required.  Cards should be available at the NCC from 16 November 1992.

DESIGN CHANGES

7.PHB and PBC Cards  On the 1993 PHB and PBC cards the "Date of Effect" box has been replaced with a "Date of Grant" box.  Those pensioners whose date of grant of pension was before 1 January 1993 will have inserted in the Date of Grant box the words "PRE 1993".  Those pensioners whose date of grant is on or after 1 January 1993 will have inserted the actual date of grant..

8.PHB and PBC Cards  On the 1993 PHB and PBC cards the first line of the "Names of Pensioner and Dependants" box is to be left blank.  This change is necessary because the card is folded where the first line of printing would be inserted and, after a while, any printing on this line becomes illegible.  The details of the veteran or spouse (as appropriate) will be positioned on the second line and any dependants will follow from the third line onwards.

9.PHB Card for QUEENSLAND  The format of the PHB card for Queensland has been changed.  Two additional travel vouchers have been added and these will be personalised with the pensioner's name and file number.

10.PHB Card for VICTORIA  The format of the PHB card for Victoria has been changed.  A single travel voucher has been added which will be personalised with the pensioner's name, address and file number.

11.War Widow Card for VICTORIA  The format of the war widow TC1 card for Victoria has been changed.  A single travel voucher has been added which will be personalised with the war widow's name, address and file number.

DAILY ISSUES

12.Non personalised stock will be delivered to the NCC by Monday 13 November 1992 for daily issues.  All daily issues carried out by the NCC after the processing run on 14/15 November 1992 will be on 1993 cards.

MANUAL ISSUES

13.PHB Cards  For pensioners who gain fringe benefits from 16 November and require a 1992 card, branch offices will manually issue a PHB card to cover the pensioner until 31 December 1992.  Branch offices are to ensure that sufficient stocks of 1992 cards have been obtained from the NCC to cover likely usage.

14.War Widow TC1  The NCC does not possess a facility for daily issues of war widow TC1 for the three states which issue them, that is, NSW, VIC and SA.

Cards will be issued manually as follows:

a.In NSW new issues and replacement of cards is handled by the Concession Fares Office of State Rail.

b.In VIC new issues and replacements are handled by the DVA Victoria Branch Office.

c.In SA new issues are handled by the DVA South Australia  Branch Office and replacements are handled by the Concessions Pass Office of the State Rail Authority.

STATE OF RESIDENCE

15.In the bulk mailout, concession cards (including war widow TC1) will be issued based on the pensioner's residential address not the state of the paying branch office.

ACT USE OF NSW TRAVEL CONCESSIONS

16.PHB cardholders resident in the ACT will be issued NSW cards for travel within that state.

RAIL TRAVEL VOUCHERS

17.Concessional rail travel vouchers will be issued to PHB cardholders living in New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria.  (The vouchers form part of the composite PHB/TC1 card.).

18.In each of the three states a pensioner, who is granted or who becomes eligible for "Fringe Benefits" after the bulk issue, will be issued a complete set of cards including the rail vouchers.  Replacement cards are to be dealt with as follows:

a.New South Wales  If a pensioner living in NSW seeks a replacement issue of either the PHB or the TC1 component of the concession card, replacement rail vouchers will be issued automatically up to 28 February 1993.  From 1 March 1993 replacement cards generated by the ADP on-line system will have the rail voucher component over-printed with the word "CANCELLED".  All "CANCELLED" rail vouchers are to be detached from the set and are not to be issued to the pensioner.  In these circumstances the client is to be directed to the State Rail Authority for issue of replacement vouchers.

b.Queensland If at any time a pensioner living in Queensland seeks a replacement issue of either the PHB or TC1 component of the concession card, replacement rail vouchers are to be issued.

c.Victoria  To be advised

19.New grants, reviews and/or transfers-in with entitlement to fringe benefits will NOT have the rail voucher component cancelled by the ADP system as pensioners are entitled to the free vouchers in these circumstances.

SPECIAL REGISTER CASES

20.Concession cards for Special Registers will be printed at the NCC and sent to relevant Branch Offices for despatch.

OVERSEAS CASES

21.Pensioners with an overseas address will receive neither a card nor a Telephone allowance leaflet.  Pensioners who have been living overseas and who return to Australia will be issued the appropriate card upon request to their branch office.  Pensioners travelling overseas for a short holiday are not required to return concession cards.

TELEPHONE ALLOWANCE INSERT

22.Telephone Allowance advice leaflets, which inform pensioners about the 7 January 1993 payment, will be sent with some cards.  These advice leaflets will not be personalised and will not be state specific.  The leaflets will be inserted with the card by the printer.  Advice leaflets will be despatched on the following basis:

a.all PHB cardholders will receive an advice leaflet irrespective of whether they are receiving Telephone Allowance,

b.all War Widow TC1 holders will receive a different advice leaflet irrespective of  whether they are receiving Telephone Allowance.  Those PBC holders eligible for Telephone Allowance will also receive this advice leaflet provided they received a Telephone Allowance payment on 1 October 1992.

CONTACTS FOR NOTIFICATION OF ADP AND OTHER PROBLEMS

23.Notification of major ADP system problems should be made as an OIM system request providing specific details of the cases involved.  Contact Officer for systems related issues is Lisa Green on (06) 289 6037.

24.Any other immediate problems should be notified by telephone and fax to Peter Thorp on (06) 289 6409 or Fax : (06) 289 6553.

MAURIE GALT

ASSISTANT SECRETARY

INCOME SUPPORT