B16/1990 STATUTORY PENSION INCREASE 14 JUNE 1990 ADP PROCESSING

DATE OF ISSUE:  23 April 1990

STATUTORY PENSION INCREASE 14 JUNE 1990 ADP PROCESSING

1INTRODUCTION

1.1 — Changes for the 14 June 1990 Statutory Increase involve variations because:

.Basic Assets Limits have been increased.

.Increase of $10 per fortnight for Rent Assistance.

2GENERAL OPERATIONAL OUTLINE

2.1 — The processing for pension rate changes will be divided into groups of those cases which will be processed automatically and those cases which will require manual action.

2.2 — The ADP and associated Branch Office processing is discussed in the following sections.  A broad timetable of events and Scheduling dates are included at Attachment 1.

2.3 — A program to select only those cases affected by the Assets Test and Rent Assistance will be run initially.

The selection program will process only those cases affected and so all other cases will not have the Prescribed Asset Limit increased.  This will cause no real problems as the limit will increase when the case is actioned or at the next full Statutory Increase.  Special steps will be taken prior to the Property Revaluation run in August.

2.4 — For the 'SERVICE PENSION PROCESSING' income/assets details and personal assessment particulars held on the CDB will be referenced for the automatic reassessment of pension and preparation of variation transactions for update of the PMF.

3SPECIAL FEATURES AND SUGGESTIONS

3.1PMF Update/On-line System

Processing will be undertaken over the weekend 26/27 May 1990.  THE LATEST AVAILABLE PMF UPDATE WILL BE FRIDAY 25 MARCH, at 5.00pm SYDNEY TIME.  Neither the on-line Pension Processing system (IDPS/PIPS) nor the Pension Payment update facility will be available over the weekend.

3.2Pre Increase Action

It is suggested that the following steps be undertaken prior to computer runs for the SI to help processing progress as smoothly as possible:

.Minimise the number of cases (with RA or on Assets Test) in "frozen" status (SB or PY status).

.Arrange an early cut-off (say one week) for processing of cases requiring 'MS' submissions by pension examiners to allow time for those cases to be received and actioned by Pension Payments.

.Clear outstanding 'MS' cases.

.Resolve any SP Compare reconciliation edits.

.Arrange a cut-off date one or two days before automatic processing commences for final automatic authorities to Pension Payments.

3.3Trial Assessment Facility/War Pension Code File

The new Trial Assessment facility with the new SI rates and other assessment changes will be available shortly.

3.4Limitation Cases

Cases for which limitations are in force will have pension increased automatically, but the limitation amount will not be adjusted.  Identification of these cases and adjustment to the limitation amount must be arranged locally.

3.5Processing Problems

Should any problems arise with either the automatic processing system or the procedures outlined, they should be advised to Central Office immediately.  The contact officer at Central Office is Ric Moore on telephone

(06) 282-5491 (bh) or (06) 282-3913 (ah).

4.PENSION RATE CHANGES

4.1Basic Assets Limits

Basic assets limits have been increased as follows:

Homeowners             Old Rate       New Rate

"Standard" Veteran$ 96,000$103,500

"Married" Couple - each$ 68,500$ 73,750

"Married" Wife/Widow$ 68,500$ 73,750

Non Homeowners          Old Rate       New Rate

"Standard" Veteran$164,500$177,500

"Married" Couple - each$102,750$110,750

"Married" Wife/Widow$102,750$110,750

4.2Rent Assistance

Rent assistance has been increased as follows:

Per Fortnight             Old Rate       New Rate

"Standard" Veteran$  40.00$  50.00

"Married" Couple - each$  20.00$  25.00

"Married" Wife/Widow$  40.00$  50.00

Addition for 1 or 2 Children$  10.00$  10.00

Addition for 3 or more

Children$  10.00$  20.00

Example:

Veteran + wife + 4 children — RA  =  $70 per fortnight

4.3 — The increases to service pension and allowances will be effected automatically on the PMF wherever possible by program APPBAL.  Reports and schedules will be produced to enable manual reassessment of cases which cannot be processed automatically.  APPBAL will also generate pension payment transactions for automatically processable cases.  Cases listed for manual action will need to be processed through PIPS before cut-off for payday 14 June.

5OUTPUT

5.1Output From Program APPBAL

The cases which cannot be processed automatically will be reported on schedules for manual action.  Manual cases are:

.Frozen actions (i.e. cases in 'PY' or 'SB' Status).

.PMF/CDB incompatible cases.

.Manual methods of assessment (excluding Working Rule B).

.Cases suspended on the PMF.

.Manual disability pension cases.

.Assessment errors.

Other schedules which may be produced are:

.Last SI not processed.

.Old SI process codes deleted.

.Manual arrears cases.

.Data base errors detected.

.Transaction generation error schedule.

6PROCESSING

6.1Processing of manual cases:

28 May to cut-off for payday 14 June 1990.

The processing of manual cases should be done in the above period and cases are to be processed through IDPS/PIPS.  Cases listed for manual action should be reassessed using the SI rates, updated through an action record, a D2650 produced, or a D408 or other coding sheet produced to effect the PMF variation.  If coding is done on an action schedule, the consecutive number for the IDPS/PIPS action should be noted on the schedule.

6.2Frozen Actions - when cases in 'PY' or 'SB' status are encountered by the SI program, update is prohibited because the record is 'frozen'.  The cases need to be 'unfrozen' and re-processed as follows:

.Return case to 'RI' status (by using 'Cancel Determination' and 'Cancel Submission' as appropriate).

.Re-process case using the SI as the last variation (if effective date is prior to the SI date enter arrears line for effective date).

.Submit to 'MS' or 'DA' as appropriate and prepare D408 in 'MS' cases.

.Determine case as per normal.

6.3PMF/CDB incompatible cases - cases will need to be investigated to determine the cause of the discrepancy, then the CDB or PMF corrected as necessary before the SI action can be processed.  The discrepancies will normally relate to people/suffixes on the CDB and PMF.

6.4Manual Methods of Assessment - cases need to be manually re-assessed and processed through the system as normal.  Where a case involves a suspension or a manual DP component, it should be processed through an MS submission and a D408 raised to record the manual coding.

6.5Keyfast Description - MS (multiple segment) and manual transactions should be transmitted to the Computer Centre in the normal pension payment daily stream i.e. keyfast description $ PENSIO, prior to the cut-off for payday 14 June.

6.6Cases Suspended on the PMF - where a service pension, "Other" or Total suspension occurs on the PMF, the SP rate and suspension rate should be re-assessed, the case processed through an 'MS' submission and the rates varied as necessary.  The schedule is produced in 'PMF transaction' format and should be used to code the adjustments.  The schedules should be endorsed with the 'MS' consecutive number generated by the system, and be signed by the Delegate - this obviates the need to prepare a D408 for these cases.

6.7Manual DP Recorded on the CDB - this schedule lists in 'PMF transaction' format cases with the following 'DP codes' on the CDB.

.EATS.

.COMP (Composite/Proviso 'c').

.DIV 10 (Members of the Defence Force).

.MAN, MISC, CONVERSION DATA  (Note: these are no longer valid codes, but may still exist if the case has not been correctly coded following Conversion).

The DP should be examined, the new rates entered through the DPEN format, and the case submitted through 'MS'.  Rates of both SP and DP should be varied on the schedule.

The schedules should be endorsed with the "MS" consecutive number generated by the system and signed by the Delegate - this obviates the need to produce a D408 for these cases.

6.8Assessment Errors - the assessment routine will produce information messages as an indication that certain action should be taken as a result of the re-assessment. These cases should be examined and modified as necessary, as well as processing the SI increase.

Note -Where "QA" data exists on a case which is processed manually, care should be taken to ensure that the assets data is recorded correctly because the "QA" data will not be copied into the action assessment.

7INFORMATION/SUPPLEMENTARY PROCESSING SCHEDULES

7.1 — A number of conditions may exist on the CDB which require additional investigation beyond the normal SI processing.  The cases listed will already be "autoprocessed" or will appear for action on the schedules.  The conditions are detailed below:

.Last SI not processed - the case was not processed in the last SI that effected the case.  Check the case to ensure that appropriate A/L or SI action was taken.

.Old SI process codes deleted - before any SI processing takes place, any old SI process code (S183) will be deleted.  Action on these will depend on the reason the old process exists, but most will not require any corrective action.

.Manual arrears cases - cases where the current effective date is in advance of the SI date.These cases need to be examined to ensure that any adjustment for the period between the SI date and the current effective date is made.

.Data Base Error detected - these cases will 'fail' SI processing, and should be referred immediately to ADP for action.

.Transaction Generation Errors - the equivalent of Interface errors in normal daily production.  Corrective action is the same as for Interface errors.

7.2 — Service pension cases submitted to 'MS' should be transmitted to the computer centre via the normal pension payment daily stream.

JIM DALTON

ASSISTANT SECRETARY

BENEFITS PLANNING & MANAGEMENT

ATTACHMENT 1

STATUTORY INCREASE - 14 JUNE 1990

TIMETABLE OF EVENTS - GENERAL

26/27 May 1990 — Reassessment for all CDB records where MOA is "automatic".

26/27 May 1990 — Automatic update of service pension segments on the PMF               except for those cases listed in part 5.3 of these procedures.

26/27 May 1990 — Reconciliation run on all variations to either the PMF or CDB.

From 25 May — Examiner action on manual SP and DP schedules.

to cut-off for

payday 14 June 1990.

PROCESSING SCHEDULE

The Benefits Applications Branch will provide the NCC with a detailed processing schedule.

The Benefits contact officer for this exercise is:

RIC MOORE(06) 282 5494 (BH)

(06) 282 3913 (AH)