C47/1996 ISSUE OF 1997 PENSIONER:SSION CARD

Purpose of instruction

This Departmntal Instruction is to provide information about the issue of the 1997 Pensioner Concession Card (PCC), procedures for applying for replacement travel vouchers and arrangements for ongoing issue of PCCs.

Introduction

The PCC is issued by the Commonwealth Government to all income support recipients to prove eligibility for a range of Commonwealth, State/Territory and Local Government benefits and concessions. DVA is responsible for issuing the PCC to DVA clients.

The PCC is issued annually to all recipients for the calendar year.

PCCs should be delivered to clients by the end of the first week in

December.

The 1997 PCC is issued as a plastic card, tipped face down onto a

carrier.  Rail Travel vouchers are attached to the carrier for all States which have rail transport, and for the Australian Capital Territory.  Vouchers for Tasmania are for use for transport related concessions.

Card Production

Processing of the bulk issue of approximately 396,424 1997 PCCs will commence on 18 November 1996, following the extract of client data on the weekend of 16-17 November.

The 1997 PCC will be personalised, enveloped and despatched by

Leigh Mardon Pty Ltd in Melbourne.

Card Numbers

The approximate numbers for each State/Territory for the bulk issue in November 1996 are as follows:

State/Territory

No. of PCCs

NSW

135,473

VIC

90,831

QLD

77,182

SA

38,091

WA

36,055

TAS

15,643

NT

613

ACT

2,536

TOTAL

396,424

New Clients

As of 1 July 1997 clients who are currently being paid their Disability pension by us and their Age pension from Social Security (approx 25,000) will transfer across and the clients will be paid their Age pension and Disability Pension by this Department, thus, making them eligible to receive a PCC from DVA.  Additional PCC carrier/cards have been ordered to do a bulk mailout to these clients at a later stage.

Insert

A State specific magnetic refrigerator calendar will be included with

this years bulk issue of PCCs.  It should also be included with new

cards produced in the State Offices as part of the ongoing processing.

Stocks will be supplied to the State Offices for this purpose.

An additional 1/3 A4 flyer is to be included with NSW informing clients of the postcode change for the NSW State Office.

Changes

The 1997 PCC will be a green plastic card with heading and logos in green.  The travel vouchers will be the same colour.

Expiry Date will be 31/12/97 for all 1997 PCCs.

The contact phone numbers for the 1997 PCC will be determined by the client's State address.  See Attachment A for State telephone numbers.

Vouchers

For the 1997 PCC issue, neither DSS nor DVA will have the facility to issue replacement vouchers.  The PCC carriers display a warning

stating that DVA cannot issue replacement vouchers.  Where State

rail authorities provided them, contacts and procedures for applying for replacement vouchers are listed on Attachment A.

The number of vouchers attached to the carriers will vary with each State/Territory, up to a maximum of four vouchers, able to be

separated from the carrier by perforations. The vouchers will include the pensioner's name and entitlement number, and in the case of Tasmania will also contain the pensioner's address and Date of Grant.

All card holders are entitled to only one issue of vouchers for their

residential State each calendar year except where a card holder

transfers to another State.  New grants of income support pensions must not be provided with concession vouchers if they have received a PCC with vouchers in the same calendar year.

Carrier Layout

For the 1996 carrier layout some State vouchers were at the bottom of the carrier and some were on the side of the carriers.   The carriers have now been changed so that all the vouchers are printed at the bottom of the carrier.  As with the 1996 mailout some States have two vouchers some have four vouchers.  Please see voucher details below:

State

1996

1997

NSW

4 vouchers on side

4 vouchers on bottom

ACT

4 vouchers on side

4 vouchers on bottom

VIC

2 vouchers on bottom

2 vouchers on bottom

QLD

4 vouchers on side

4 vouchers on bottom

SA

2 vouchers on side

2 vouchers on bottom

NT

2 vouchers on bottom

2 vouchers on bottom

WA

2 vouchers on bottom

2 vouchers on bottom

TAS

4 vouchers on the side

4 vouchers on bottom

Reports

State offices will be provided with the following listings of cases:

• Clients who did not receive a PCC and the reason, eg clients with an overseas address; and

• Special register clients.

Leigh Mardon will provide the State offices with a microfiche (not

floppy disks) listing of all clients on the 1997 bulk issue extract.

Local Printers

Since 23 October 1995, ongoing issues of new and replacement

PCCs have been made through local printers in the State offices

following daily batch extracts.  New laser printers will be provided to the States before the 18 November 1996 for printing the new 1997 PCC stock.

The last extract for 1996 PCCs will be done on Friday, 15 November, before the bulk extract.  These cards are to be printed on 1996 stock.

Manual PCC Issues

From 18 November, all new grant and card replacement transactions will generate a 1997 PCC record with an Expiry date of 31/12/97.  The 1996 stock must not be used for daily extracts from and including 18 November, as we cannot then issue valid 1997 vouchers.   As in previous years the States will have to issue manual 1996 cards for those clients who are granted, transferred in or issued with replacement cards between 18 November and 31 December 1996.

Any clients transferring to DVA during the year who have already

been issued a PCC and vouchers from DSS should not be issued new vouchers when given a replacement PCC from DVA.

New Stock

Stock for the 1997 PCCs should be received in the State offices no

later than the week ending 15 November.  Testing has already been undertaken in National Office and at the mailing house with regard to the new stock.  The new stock will alleviate the displacement of cards from the carriers during printing and prior to enveloping.  Local printers will have no difficulty producing new cards and reissues.

Contact Officers

Danielle Moloney                                             Masuda Sheikh

Project Officer                                                  Ag Asst. Director

(06) 2896681                                                   (06) 289 6442

NSW/ACT

Phone (02) 224 4767  Fax (02) 224 3466

For a period of 6 weeks after the bulk mailout, the NSW Concession and Passes Manager has given the authority to our NSW State Office to issue replacement vouchers on their behalf. System changes will enable NSW State Office to issue these vouchers until the 31 January 1997 without the system automatically voiding the vouchers.

After this period the contact number for requesting replacement vouchers from the State Rail Concessions Office is (02) 224 4767.  The Concessions Office will accept a written or faxed application from the person or from DVA (or DSS for their clients).  A faxed application via DVA should be on letterhead and include the clients name, address, entitlement number and the number of replacement vouchers required.

VIC

The Victorian Rail Authority have given our Victorian State office authority to issue replacement vouchers on their behave for an indefinite period.  System changes have been made to allow the vouchers to be issued.

QLD

(07) 235 2223

Queensland Rail have set up a Rail Concession Unit where people can apply for replacement vouchers and sign a Statutory Declaration.  They do a computer check and only replace unused vouchers.  The vouchers can only be replaced once in a calendar year.

For non-metropolitan clients, the unit has an arrangement with local rail stations to fax the Statutory Declaration to the RCU, and send the original later.  Alternatively, people can get a Statutory Declaration at the local police station, pay their half fare concession and get a refund to the voucher equivalent after their travel.  This should be confirmed by ringing the above number in the first instance.

SA

13 2232

The Australian National Railways Office has a General Reservations office which people can ring for information.  ANRO will not replace the vouchers, but if the person fills out an application, they will provide them with a ticket in place of the voucher.

WA

For a period of 6 weeks after the bulk mailout, Westrail have given authority to our WA State Office to issue replacement vouchers on their behalf. System changes will enable WA State Office to issue these vouchers until the 31 January 1997 without the system automatically voiding the vouchers.

After this date period people can phone the Westrail Refunds Officer on (09) 326 2222 for an application for replacement vouchers.  Westrail will not accept personal applications.  Westrail check that the vouchers have not been presented before replacing them.

Note: Westrail charge $8.00 for replacement vouchers.