C53/1997 ISSUE OF 1998 TC1 TRANSPORT CONCESSION CARDS AND/OR TRAVEL VOUCHERS

Purpose of instruction

To provide information on :

1. the issue of the 1998 TC1 card; and,

2. procedures for applying for:

·replacement cards and/or travel vouchers; and,

·new grants of TC1 cards and/or travel vouchers.

States offering TC1

Certain States (NSW, VIC, QLD and WA) offer transport concessions to war widow(er)s who do not receive the PCC.  The TC1 card and/or travel vouchers are issued annually to all eligible recipients for the next calendar year.

Eligibility

As specified by the above-mentioned States, the following war widow(er)s are currently eligible for a TC1 card and or voucher(s):

• all those war widow(er)s in NSW, QLD and WA not in receipt of DSS Age Pension, Income Support Supplement or Service Pension; and,
• all those war widow(er)s in VIC (except World War 1 war widow(er)s, not in receipt of DSS Age Pension, Income Support Supplement or Service Pension.

National Office Role

National Office supervises the annual printing, personalising and enveloping of transport concession cards and/or travel vouchers for three of these States, NSW, VIC and QLD.  National Office also provides data for the local issue of transport concession cards in WA by the WA State Office.

Production

Processing of the bulk issue of approximately 26,360 TC1 cards/vouchers will commence on 24/11/97, following the extract of client data on 18/11/97.  This extract will be matched against a DSS cartridge which contains the names of DVA War Widow(er)s who are eligible to receive a PCC through DSS.

The 1998 TC1 card and/or travel vouchers for NSW, VIC and QLD will be personalised, enveloped and dispatched by Lane Print Group in Adelaide.

WA State Office will arrange for the enveloping and dispatch of approximately 2,090 transport concession cards to eligible WA clients.

The cards and/or vouchers will be delivered by the end of the first week in December 1997.

Card Numbers

The approximate numbers for each State for the bulk issue in November 1997 are as follows :

   STATE                          Number of Clients eligible for

                                                Card/Voucher issue

    NSW                                               11,090

    VIC                                                   8,120

    QLD                                                  5,060

    WA                                                   2,090

Format of Cards/ Vouchers

The 1998 TC1 card and/or voucher is issued as A4 cut sheet stationery printed on the front and back.

The NSW card is printed in two colours front (mainly pale green with green headings) and one colour back with four travel vouchers attached to the carrier.

The VIC card is also printed in two colours front (mainly pale green with green headings) and one colour back and has one travel voucher attached to the carrier.

QLD recipients receive four travel vouchers only (no card is issued for QLD).  The travel vouchers are printed in salmon pink with 1998 embossed in white across the vouchers, both front and back.

WA State Office arranges for the local dispatch of a State transport concession card to eligible clients.

Insert

A State specific magnetic refrigerator calendar for 1998 will be included with this year's bulk issue of TC1 cards and/or vouchers.  The calendar shows DVA pension and telephone allowance paydays and includes a list of State specific DVA addresses and telephone numbers on the reverse.

Expiry Date

The expiry date for all 1998 TC1 cards and vouchers will be

31 December 1998.

Post Production Reports

Two copies of the post production schedules reports, listing all cases for which cards are produced, should be printed on 19/11/97 at the local printer in the State Offices as listed below:

NSW          VIC            QLD          WA

NSWBO      VICBO1      QLDBO     WABO

The TC1 contact officers need to collect the reports and send a copy to the State Transport Authority contact for their information.

Reissue and new grants of Cards and Vouchers for 1998

Due to loss or theft or other reason, eligible clients may need a reissue of their Card and/or voucher,

or

if a new grant of pension is made, an eligible client should be issued with a new card and/or voucher.  The following procedures apply for Reissues or New grants :

• NSW clients should obtain new issues or reissues of cards and/or vouchers from CityRail as detailed below:

        CityRail

   Passes and Concessions Office

   Transport House

   Ground Floor

   Wynyard Railway Station

   11-31 York Street                   Ph (02) 9224 4768

CityRail will refer to their list of those who were issued cards in the bulk run and proceed with the reissue.  If they need further information or clarification, they will contact DVA and discuss the matter.

• VIC clients should obtain new issues and reissues of cards and vouchers directly from VIC State Office.  Clients should contact:

     VAN  Reception

     DVA Victoria State Office

     300 La Trobe Street

     Melbourne VIC 3000                 Ph (03) 9284 6517

     OR

     John Kelly                                Ph (03) 9284 6759

• QLD clients should contact the DVA State Office who will liaise with Queensland Rail to reissue or issue vouchers, clients should contact:

     VAN Concession Office

     DVA Queensland State Office

     AMP Place

     10 Eagle Street

     Brisbane QLD 4000                   Ph (07) 3223 8609

• WA clients should obtain new issues or reissues of their transport concession card from WA State Office.  Clients should contact:

     General Enquiries Area

     DVA WA State Office

     AMP Building

     140 St Georges Terrace

     Cnr William Street

     Perth WA 6060                          Ph (08) 9366 8444

Supplies of Blank Stock

Blank Stock for the issue of Cards/vouchers will be forwarded to the officers nominated below no later than 26 November 1997.

NSW:  Mr Brian McFarlane

          Passes and Concessions Office

          CityRail

          Transport House

          11-31 York Street

          Sydney NSW 2000

VIC:  Mr Darren Hayes

        Compensation Section

        Department of Veterans' Affairs

        11 — th Floor

        The Argus Centre

        300 La Trobe Street

        Melbourne VIC 3001

QLD: Mr Denis Casey

        Queensland Rail

        Traveltrain

        2 — nd floor, Railway Centre

        305 Edwards Street

        Brisbane QLD 4000

Contact Officers

Further queries on this matter should be directed to:

Ferri Ghazi                                               Martin Dibb

Tel:  (02) 6289 6436          OR                Tel:  (02) 6289 6751

Fax:  (02) 6289 6553                               Fax: (02) 6289 6553

LAN: Ferri Ghazi                                       LAN:  Martin Dibb