C24/2008 September 2008 Global Refresh of Managed Investments and Shares Letter Production and Mailout

DATE OF ISSUE:  3 September 2008

September 2008 Global Refresh of Managed Investments and Shares Letter Production and Mailout

Purpose of Instruction

This Departmental Instruction is to provide you with information about the processing arrangements for the September 2008 Global Refresh of Managed Investments (MIs) and Shares (SHs) advice letter production and mailout.

John Sadeik

National Manager

Income Support

3 September 2008

Overview

Introduction	Each quarter the Department varies pensions and allowances in accordance with provisions contained in the VEA (Statutory Increase or 'SI').  In March and September of each year, the Consumer Price Index (CPI), the Male Total Average Weekly Earnings (MTAWE) and the Global Refresh of Managed Investments (MIs) and Shares (SHs) data are usually combined as one quarterly reassessment routine. This quarter the Department will be sending advice letters to those pensioners on less than the maximum rate of service pension, income support supplement or age pension who have MIs and/or SHs recorded in their assessment. Advice letters will also be sent to some DVA Age Pensioners who are eligible to commence payment of DFISA, or whose DFISA payment is cancelled following the processing run. DVA Age Pensioners whose DFISA payment has increased or reduced will only receive an advice following the SI and Global Refresh processing if they have MIs and/or SHs in their assessment. This Departmental Instruction provides information about the advice letter production and mailout for this processing exercise and advises of any significant issues relating to the mailout.
Significant Issues- of Managed Investment and Share Global Refresh Mailout	The September 2008 Global Refresh mailout will incorporate the following events for payday 25 September 2008 (WEF 20 September 2008).  Issues of significance with regard to this mailout are as follows: Letters will be sent to all less than maximum rate income support recipients who have MIs and/or SHs recorded in their assessment; A 'SH and MI Information Attachment' will be provided for all income support recipients who have MIs and/or SHs in their assessment.  This Information Attachment will provide a complete listing of the client's MIs and/or SHs regardless of what has been reassessed;
Significant Issues- of Managed Investment and Share Global Refresh Mailout Cont'd	The General Information Sheet (GIS) will not be produced as part of the advice letter to be sent to each client in September.  DVA Age Pensioner clients who commence payment of DFISA, or whose DFISA payment is cancelled will receive an advice letter following the September 2008 SI processing and Global Refresh processing run, regardless of whether they have MIs and/or SHs in their assessment; There will be a paragraph advising eligible clients of the Utilities Allowance (UA) payment.  The UA payment is to be paid to veterans and their partners who are receiving a service pension or income support supplement.  If a pensioner is receiving age pension, UA is payable if they are of age pension age; There will be a paragraph advising eligible clients of their Telephone Allowance payment; A letter will be produced for clients who have MIs and/or SHs recorded in their assessment and whose payment of Rent Assistance (RA) has varied as a result of the reassessment - this includes clients whose income support pension is paid at the nil rate or their income support pension has not been varied; and If a treatment change occurs as a result of the reassessment a letter will be produced.

Letter Content - September 2008 Global Refresh of MIs and/or SHs Mailout

Advice Letter Target Audience – September Global Refresh of MIs and/or SHs	A letter will be produced for the following clients following the September 2008 Global Refresh of MIs and/or SHs processing: All less than maximum rate service pensioners (SP), income support supplement recipients (ISS) and age pensioners (AP) including those in receipt of DFISA, who have MIs and/or SHs recorded in their assessment; Maximum rate SP/ISS/AP recipients who have MIs and/or SHs in their assessment who move to less than the maximum rate as a result of the reassessment; Less than maximum rate SP/ISS/AP recipients who have MIs and/or SHs in their assessment and who move to the maximum rate as a result of the reassessment; SP/ISS/AP recipients who have MIs and/or SHs in their assessment and are reduced to nil as a result of the reassessment; All DVA Age Pensioners who commence payment of DFISA, or whose DFISA payment is cancelled will receive an advice letter, regardless of whether they have MIs and/or SHs in their assessment; and Treatment changes as a result of the Statutory Increase (SI) or global refresh of MIs and/or SHs reassessment.
Defence Force Income Support Allowance  (DFISA)	All DVA Age Pensioner clients with or without DFISA in payment, who are paid at less than the maximum rate of pension and, who have MIs and/or SHs in their assessment will receive an advice letter following the Global Refresh processing. In addition, an advice will be produced for those clients who commence payment of DFISA or whose DFISA payment is cancelled following the September processing regardless of whether they have MIs and/or SHs in their assessment. An example of the advice letters to clients with MIs and/or SHs and in payment of DFISA is shown at ATTACHMENT A.
Introductory Paragraphs for SP/ISS/AP Client's Advices	AP clients in receipt of DFISA will have 'multiple outcome' paragraphs printing as part of their introductory paragraphs - advising them of a variation to their AP payment and DFISA payment. All AP/SP/ISS client letters will have either the single or multiple outcome introductory paragraphs printing, advising them of the outcome of their payments, as follows: Multiple Outcome Paragraphs: This is to advise you that your: age pension has been increased/reduced/reduced to nil. Defence Force Income Support Supplement (DFISA) has varied. rent assistance has been reduced. This change will take effect from 20 September 2008. Single Outcome Paragraph: This is to advise you that your service pension has been increased/reduced.  This change will take effect from 20 September 2008.
Financial Assets Reassess-ment	The asset value of MI and/or SH data will be reassessed as part of this process.  Clients with MI and/or SH data recorded in their assessment will receive a paragraph advising them of the ...Change to Value of Shares and/or Managed Investments.... This paragraph advises clients about the reassessment program and explains that... The asset value of your shares which are listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and/or unit based managed investments has been reassessed.  The adjusted value of these investments has been used to work out your pension and has resulted in an increase (or an overall reduction) to the amount of pension paid to you.' OR ..'has resulted in your pension being reduced to nil.'
Managed Investments and/or Shares Information Attachment	All less than maximum rate income support recipients with MIs and/or SHs recorded in their assessment will receive a complete listing of all their MIs and/or SHs regardless of which MIs and/or SHs have been reassessed. We will not be providing clients with a listing of their Full Income and Assets.
CPI & Male Total Average Weekly Earnings (MTAWE)	There will be a brief reference made about the CPI and MTAWE in all advice letters. Advice on CPI and MTAWE variations will also be included in the September edition of Vetaffairs, which is to be distributed between  Friday, 19 September 2008 and Tuesday, 7 October 2008.
Obligations to be Suppressed	Full and Partial obligations are to be suppressed for all letters produced.  Reference will be made to previous obligations issued to clients and in the case of Service Pension and Income Support Supplement recipients, reference will also be made to obligations provided in the 'You and Your Pension' Booklet. The Financial Obligations paragraph (including the Prescribed Rates), will be present in the advice for all clients excluding service pensioner and income support supplement pensioners who are reduced to nil. Age pensioners who are reduced to nil, but continue in payment of DFISA will receive their Financial Obligations paragraph including their prescribed rates.
Telephone Allowance	Pensioners entitled to a telephone allowance (TA) payment will receive a paragraph advising them about their quarterly payment and the date of that payment – 25 September 2008.  The TA paragraph will advise pensioners that ....'TA is a separate payment and is not included in your total fortnightly payment information referred to in the letter.'
Utilities Allowance	Utilities Allowance (UA) is to be paid on a quarterly basis.  The test days for eligibility are 20 March, 20 June, 20 September and 20 December.  On each of these test days a person must be eligible for a DVA income support payment in order to qualify for the payment of UA, regardless of age. Age pensioners will continue to be age based for determining payment of UA. Where the payment of UA is in line with the SI payday for March, June and September, the advice letters will generate the UA paragraph advising clients of their payment amount. The UA paragraph wording in the advice will read: Utilities allowance is a payment made to you to assist with the payment of energy, rates and water expenses.  The quarterly instalment of utilities allowance will be paid on 25 September 2008.  The utilities allowance is a separate payment and is not included in your total fortnightly payment information referred to in this letter.  The current quarterly rates for utilities allowance are: Singles Rate - $XXX.XX Couples Rate (each) - $XX.XX Clients who reside overseas are not eligible to receive the UA payment.
Treatment Advices to be Checked	For the September 2008 Global Refresh the Enclosure (treatment) advice letters will be printed at the nominated printer at each location.  These advices would normally be printed at the IBM Printhub but due to a problem with the printing of quarterly advices at the Printhub we will be printing these directly to your nominated printers. It is suggested that these letters be checked for accuracy, and reconciled against the reports received in each location to ensure they reflect the correct treatment paragraphs.  It should be noted that not all clients who have an advice produced due to a treatment change will have MIs and/or SHs in their assessment.  Clients who do not have MIs and/or SHs in the assessment will not have MIs and/or SHs related paragraphs printing in their advice.
Tasmanian Clients with Overseas Postal Address	Advice letters for Tasmanian Office clients with an overseas postal address will have their advices printed and posted from the Mailing House.
Blind Clients will not receive an advice	Blind clients will not receive an advice.  Where a member of a couple is assessed as 'blind' - a single advice will only be produced for the non-blind member who may be affected by the processing. An exception to this rule is where a Blind client with MIs and/or SHs in their assessment is also in payment of rent assistance (RA), which is subject to the income and assets tests and as such, may result in a variation to their RA payment.  Where there is a variation to the RA payment for these clients, an advice will be produced.
General Information Sheet	The General Information Sheet (GIS) will not be produced as part of each client's letter for the September processing.  The only exception is Reduction to Nil advices where the GIS will form part of the advice. The GIS will continue to be produced as part of the daily advice letter production for SP, ISS and AP grant advice letters.
Single & Joint Addressed Letters	All service pension and income support supplement recipient couples will receive a joint advice, provided the pensioner addresses are identical, this includes illness separated couples.  The batch address defaults determining single and joint advices have been aligned with the PIPS PC daily advice defaults.   Where both members of a couple have the same postal address recorded - a joint advice will be produced. Important to note: Staff are reminded when granting Age Pension or for those clients in a joint assessment who request separate or single advices, they need to update this information using the mainframe PRODIMS - Client Correspondence Client Options (CO.CO) Screen - prior to the processing run to initiate the client request.  The advice default requests set in CO.CO will override the DOCGEN and PIPS advice rules. Age pensioner couples will receive separate letters - providing the advice default request has been set in CO.CO.

Production of Advice Letters

SI Processing	SI Processing is scheduled to run from PM Friday, 5 September 2008, following the completion of the IPS FORT processing, through until approximately PM Sunday, 7 September 2008.
Critical Dates

Processing Weekend within DVA (includes 'advices' processing)	Friday (pm) 5 September 2008 – Sunday (pm) 7 September 2008
Transmission of Production Data to Mailing House	Monday, 8 September 2008
Mailing House to commence printing Advice Letters	Tuesday, 9 September 2008
Mailing House to commence National lodgment of Advice Letters with Australia Post	Friday, 12 September 2008
Mailing House to complete lodgment of all State's Advice Letters with Australia Post by COB	Friday, 12 September 2008

Expected Client Numbers

The approximate number of letters to be sent nationally following processing is approximately 31,000 based on March 2007 mailout statistics.  The September 2008 statistics will be confirmed following processing.

STATE	APPROX NO. OF ADVICE LETTERS
NSW (incl ACT)	9,488
VIC	7,405
QLD	6,776
SA	2,971
WA	2,894
TAS	1,029
TAS OS	53
TOTAL	30,616

Printing of Letters	SALMAT BusinessForce located in Mulgrave, Victoria, will print, fold and insert advice letters from Tuesday, 9 September 2008 through until Friday, 12 September 2008.
National Lodgement of Letters	Letters will be lodged Nationally on Friday, 12 September 2008 with Australia Post. A representative from the Systems, Cards and Advices Team will notify and confirm all lodgment details. The Income Support contact officers for this exercise will be given progress reports and advised of any changes to this timetable.
Centrelink DFISA Advices from CPI Processing	DVA will be suppressing the printing of all Centrelink daily DFISA variation advices with an effective date of 20 September 2008, which are transmitted to DVA following the running of the Centrelink CPI processing.  All other advices will print as part of the normal processing, including the printing of the CLK DFISA cancellation and grant advices.
Foreign Pension Refresh Program known as GROOVER	The foreign pension refresh program referred to as 'GROOVER' (Global Refresh Of Overseas Exchange Rates) is a separate processing exercise to the September 2008 Global Refresh processing and is tentatively scheduled to run on the evening of Wednesday, 10 September 2008 - after the September Global Refresh processing. The effective date of the Foreign Pensions Refresh Run is 20 September 2008 for payday 25 September 2008. Separate Foreign Income advices are produced for clients who have foreign pensions, excluding the British Social Security Pension (type 08), British Official Public Service/Forces pension (type 09) and British Other Income (type 07). Clients whose pension has been varied will receive an advice. Please note that British Other Income (type 07) was previously refreshed as part of GROOVER processing however, following a review of British pensions, the Repatriation Commission approved the adjustment of all sterling payments as part of the uniform exchange rate variation exercises.   British other income (type 07) is now reassessed automatically as part of the British Pensions exchange rate variation processing runs, not as part of the GROOVER processing. Please note that the advice letters produced from this processing will be printed at the IBM Printhub and couriered to each Office for posting after the September 2008 quarterly letters have been dispatched.

Issues Requiring Staff Action

Enclosure (Treatment Changes) Advice Letters	Enclosure (treatment changes) advice letters will be printed at the nominated printer in each location.  Printer Identification as per state locations is as follows: SA – S116P TAS – T003P WA – W014P VIC – V011P NSW – N604P QLD – Q403P These advices should be checked for accuracy, and reconciled against the reports received by each Office. Contact Officers will receive via email a zip file advices report containing details of all advices sent, including enclosure advices. These advices will print at the above named printers immediately following the processing and should be available by start of business on Monday 8 September 2008.
ZIP Files of Advice Schedule Reports	A Zip File listing details of all clients who receive an advice will be emailed to the Contact Officers during the week following the processing run.  The Zip File replaces the Advices Schedule Report, which is too large to print on the printers in each office.
Reduction to Nil Letters	Any Reduction to Nil advice letters resulting from the September processing will be printed at your location at the nominated printer.  Staff are required to include a Commonwealth Seniors Health Card (CSHC) claim form, a CSHC fact sheet and an envelope for clients to return the completed form in.
MOA 15 or MOA 16 Cases - An advice to be produced	Clients who have MIs and/or SHs in their assessment and are paid War Widows Pension and Rent Assistance (RA) but whose income support supplement or service pension is paid at the nil rate will receive an advice letter advising them if their RA has varied following the Global Refresh.
Reprints of Advices Available using VIEW – Advices Tab	Reprints of individual advice letters produced from the quarterly processing can be requested via VIEW - Advices Tab reprint facility.  Quarterly advice reprints are available and can be requested from day one of the next quarter ie., March quarterly advices from 01/04/yyyy, June quarterly advices from 01/07/yyyy and September quarterly advices from 01/10/yyyy.
'HELD' Advices to be Forced	As part of the Batch processing run any advices in 'Held' status will be forced to print.  Forced held advices will print at each respective Office's nominated printer as part of the production processing. Please ensure your designated printer is fully operational during the processing period.  These advices will need to be checked to ensure the information in them is correct prior to posting.
Holding of daily advice letters	Daily payment advice letters produced after the processing run on the weekend of 6 - 7 September 2008, should be held pending notification that the September 2008 quarterly letters have been dispatched.  This will ensure that pensioners receive their advice letters in chronological order.
Manual Advices Required – for PA only back onto payment of Service Pension	Following the September SI and Global Refresh processing there may be some instances where clients have gone from payment of Pharmaceutical Allowance (PA) (MOA 99 cases) only, onto payment of Service Pension. Following PIPS processing of these cases a 'new grant' advice with fringe benefits paragraphs and other related new grant information is produced.  A new grant advice does not convey the appropriate wording for this situation, and as such the PIPs advice should be suppressed and a manual advice produced.

Income Support Contact Officers

Income Support  Contact Officers	NSW: Peter Rajaratnam – 02 9213 7106 VIC: Gavin Inglis – 03 9284 6379 QLD: Steve Jensen – 07 3223 8835 SA: Steve Jensen / Eleanor Smith – 07 3223 8825 / 08 8290 0425 WA: Steve Jensen / Michelle Pauly – 07 3223 8835 / 08 9366 8238 TAS: Bryon Kelly – 03 6221 6698
Feedback from Staff	Any concerns regarding letters produced as part of this run should be directed to Anissa Lam the September Global Refresh Business Co-ordinator located in New South Wales.  Please forward your feedback on this exercise to the Business Co-ordinator, noting the nature of the query together with any relevant information – every effort will be made to develop solutions to address any concerns raised.  Please ensure that problems are reported as early as possible.
Contact Details	Any queries regarding this mailout should be referred to: Anissa Lam (02) 9213 7169 (Phone) (02) 9213 7885 (Fax) anissa.lam@dva.gov.au (email)

Mock-ups of Letters to be Produced

Letter Content

Prior to the issue of this Departmental Instruction, comments were sought from staff in each location who were provided with copies of the proposed paragraph sequencing and mock-ups of advice letters for this run. All feedback received from staff was extremely positive with no requests for changes to the proposed advice letter content. Details of the proposed content of the letters, including sample letters and sequencing of paragraphs are included in Attachment A. Attachment A – Paragraph sequencing and Advice Letter Examples: Example 1A: SP Increase - Less than Maximum rate remaining on Less than Maximum rate- with MIs/SHs in assessment, TA in Payment, Utilities Allowance (UA) in payment. Example 2A: ISS Increase remaining on Less than Maximum rate, with MIs/SHs in assessment, TA not in Payment, UA in payment, RA in payment. Example 3A: SP Reduction to Nil, with MIs and/or SHs in assessment, Nil TA in payment, Nil UA in payment, RA cancelled. Example 4A: Age Pension Increase, DFISA varied, with MIs and/or SHs in assessment, TA in payment, UA in payment.

Letter Variables

Please note, in the following samples: Letterhead, DC name and signature block will change according to State; The words “service pension”, “age pension”, “income support supplement” each represent variables which will appear for those clients in receipt of the applicable pension; and

ATTACHMENT A

EXAMPLE 1A:

• OVERALL INCREASE – EITHER FROM LESS THAN MAXIMUM RATE TO LESS THAN MAXIMUM RATE OR INCREASE FROM LESS THAN MAXIMUM RATE TO MAX RATE AMOUNT
• SINGLE OUTCOME
• MIs/SHs IN ASSESSMENT
• SERVICE PENSIONERS
• MARRIED ASSESSMENT
• INCOME TESTED
• TELEPHONE ALLOWANCE IN PAYMENT
• UTILITIES ALLOWANCE IN PAYMENT

GPO Box 651, Brisbane  QLD  4001

Contact:              Brisbane Office

Telephone: Bank of Queensland Centre

              259 Queen Street

              Brisbane Qld 4000

1!!11 IIIll l 111 1I!! (Barcode?)              Postal Address:

JOHN SMITH              GPO Box 651 Brisbane Qld 4001

MARY SMITH

29 MARGARET STREET              Telephone:

IPSWICH   QLD   4010              Capital city callers: 133 254

              Non-Capital city callers: 1800 555 254

              Facsimile: (07) 3223 8479

              7 September 2008

              YOUR FILE NUMBER IS QX123456

Dear Mr and Mrs SMITH,

This is to advise you that your service pension has been increased.  This change will take effect from 20 September 2008.

Change to Value of Shares and/or Managed Investments

The asset value of your shares which are listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and/or unit based managed investments has been reassessed.  The adjusted value of these investments has been used to work out your service pension payment and has resulted in an increase to the amount of service pension paid to you.  The value of other income and assets you may have has not been affected by this reassessment.

Please refer to the 'Shares and Managed Investments Information' Attachment included in this letter.  This Attachment details all of your shares and/or managed investments regardless of whether there has been a change to that share or managed investment.  It is important that you check that this list is a full and accurate statement of your shares and/or managed investments.

We have not provided you with a complete listing of any other income or assets you may have in your assessment, as they have not been changed in this assessment.  However, they continue to be used in assessing the amount of service pension you are paid.

Your pension has also been adjusted in line with movements in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Male Total Average Weekly Earnings (MTAWE).

Payment Information

Details of your payments are provided in the Payment Information Attachment.

Telephone Allowance

Your quarterly telephone allowance will be paid on 25 September 2008, together with your pension payment.  Your telephone allowance is a separate payment and is not included in your total fortnightly payment information referred to in this letter.  The current quarterly telephone allowance rates are:

Singles Rate - $XX.XX (telephone only)

$XX.XX (telephone with home internet)

Couples Rate (each) - $XX.XX (telephone only)

$XX.XX (telephone with home internet)

Utilities Allowance

Utilities allowance is a payment made to you to assist with the payment of energy, rates and water expenses.  The quarterly instalment of the utilities allowance will be paid on 25 September 2008.  The utilities allowance is a separate payment and is not included in your total fortnightly payment information referred to in this letter.  The current rates of utilities allowance are:

Singles Rate - $XX.XX

Couples Rate (each) - $XX.XX

Financial Obligations

You need to tell us within 14 days (28 days if you are living overseas or receive remote area allowance) if your combined gross income from all sources is more than $XXXX.XX per fortnight or the value of your combined assets, apart from your home, is more than $XXXXXX.XX.

Other Obligations

We have explained your obligations to you in previous letters and the booklet 'You and Your Pension'.  These obligations still apply.

Changes You Have Already Told Us About

If you have told us recently about a change to your income and assets or your domestic situation, it may not have been processed before this letter was sent.  If this is the case, we will send you another letter providing details of your new pension assessment when that change has been finalised.  This normally takes no more than 4 weeks.

Your Right of Review

If you do not agree with this variation to your pension, you may apply to have it reviewed by a Review Officer at this office.  If you do decide to apply, you must do so within three months of being advised of this decision.  Such a request for review must be in writing, and must set out your reasons for seeking this review.

If you have any questions regarding Income Support issues you should contact us on 1300 550 452 (Capital city callers) or 1800 550 452 (Non-Capital city callers).  For any other enquiries please contact the Department at the address or telephone number shown at the top of this letter.

Yours sincerely,

ALISON STANLEY

Deputy Commissioner

As Delegate of the Secretary and Repatriation Commission

PAYMENT INFORMATION ATTACHMENT

The Department now calculates pension payments on a daily basis.  This means that your fortnightly pension payment is made up of 14 days of entitlement of pension.  Therefore, when there is a change to your circumstances on any particular day in the fortnight - your pension will be adjusted from that day.  For that reason your pension payment may be different for one or two paydays after a reassessment.

Payment for 25 September 2008VeteranPartner

Payment for 9 October 2008VeteranPartner

Please Note:  If you have an overpayment or lump sum advance which is currently being recovered (by deductions from your fortnightly pension), the amount paid into your account may be less than the total fortnightly payment shown above.

SHARES AND MANAGED INVESTMENTS INFORMATION

(Information current as at 7 September 2008)

You are receiving service pension at less than the maximum rate payable. (If client goes from LMAX to MAX rate this sentence will read: 'You are receiving service pension at the maximum rate payable.)

You are currently paid under the income test.  The total of your assessed gross fortnightly income is $x,xxx.xx.  The total of all your assets (excluding any deductible assets) is $xxx,xxx.xx.

Information about your shares and managed investments is provided below.

The asset values of your shares which are listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and/or unit based managed investments have been automatically updated.

The asset values of any unlisted public company shares, overseas shares, options, rights and futures or account based managed investments you hold have not been updated.  You must tell us if the asset value of these investments has varied by $1,000 or more.

The information below sets out the values for the shares and/or managed investments in your current assessment.

Listed Securities and Unlisted Public Securities

Description	No. of Shares	Asset Amount
XXXXXX	X,XXX	$XX,XXX.XX
QQQQQQQQQQQQQ	XXX	$    X,XXX.XX

Managed Investments

Description	Units	Asset Amount
VVVVVVVVVV	XX	$XX.XX
CCCCCCCCCCCCC	XXX	$XX.XX

Note: Income from financial assets is deemed.

Important Information:  We have not provided you with a complete listing of any other income or assets you may have in your assessment, as they have not been changed in this assessment.  However, they continue to be used in assessing the amount of service pension you are paid.  If they have changed, please notify the Department immediately.

You need to tell us within 14 days (28 days if you are living overseas or receive remote area allowance) if the above list of your Shares and/or Managed Investments is incomplete or incorrect; or if the number of shares or units you hold has changed.  Please note that failure to advise of incorrect or missing information about your shares or managed investments, or about other income or asset changes, may lead to your pension being overpaid.  Such overpayments are recoverable.

EXAMPLE 2A:

• OVERALL INCREASE – REMAINING ON LESS THAN MAXIMUM RATE OF INCOME SUPPORT SUPPLEMENT
• MIs/SHs IN ASSESSMENT
• INCOME SUPPORT SUPPLEMENT – SINGLE ADVICE
• MULTIPLE OUTCOMES
• RENT ASSISTANCE PAYABLE
• NIL TELEPHONE ALLOWANCE IN PAYMENT
• UTILITIES ALLOWANCE IN PAYMENT
• INCOME TESTED

GPO Box 651, Brisbane  QLD  4001

Contact:              Brisbane Office

Telephone: Bank of Queensland Centre

              259 Queen Street

              Brisbane Qld 4000

1!!11 IIIll l 111 1I!! (Barcode?)              Postal Address:

GERALDINE THOMPSON              GPO Box 651 Brisbane Qld 4001

29 MARGARET STREET

IPSWICH   QLD   4010              Telephone:

              Capital city callers: 133 254

              Non-Capital city callers: 1800 555 254

              Facsimile: (07) 3223 8479

              7 September 2008

              YOUR FILE NUMBER IS QX666666

Dear Mrs THOMPSON,

This is to advise you that your:

• Income support supplement has been increased.
• Rent assistance has been increased.

This change will take effect from 20 September 2008.

Change to Value of Shares and/or Managed Investments

The asset value of your shares which are listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and/or unit based managed investments has been reassessed.  The adjusted value of these investments has been used to work out your income support supplement payment and has resulted in an increase to the amount of income support supplement paid to you.  The value of other income and assets you may have has not been affected by this reassessment.

Please refer to the 'Shares and Managed Investments Information' Attachment included in this letter.  This Attachment details all of your shares and/or managed investments regardless of whether there has been a change to that share or managed investment.  It is important that you check that this list is a full and accurate statement of your shares and/or managed investments.

We have not provided you with a complete listing of any other income or assets you may have in your assessment, as they have not been changed in this assessment.  However, they continue to be used in assessing the amount of income support supplement you are paid.

Your pension has also been adjusted in line with movements in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Male Total Average Weekly Earnings (MTAWE).

Payment Information

Details of your payments are provided in the Payment Information Attachment.

Utilities Allowance

Utilities allowance is a payment made to you to assist with the payment of energy, rates and water expenses.  The quarterly instalment of the utilities allowance will be paid on 25 September 2008.  The utilities allowance is a separate payment and is not included in your total fortnightly payment information referred to in this letter.  The current rates of utilities allowance are:

Singles Rate - $XX.XX

Couples Rate (each) - $XX.XX

Financial Obligations

You need to tell us within 14 days (28 days if you are living overseas or receive remote area allowance) if your gross income is more than $XXXX.XX per fortnight or the value of your assets, apart from your home, is more than $XXXXXX.XX.

Other Obligations

We have explained your obligations to you in previous letters and the booklet 'You and Your Pension'.  These obligations still apply.

Changes You Have Already Told Us About

If you have told us recently about a change to your income and assets or your domestic situation, it may not have been processed before this letter was sent.  If this is the case, we will send you another letter providing details of your new pension assessment when that change has been finalised.  This normally takes no more than 4 weeks.

Your Right of Review

If you do not agree with this variation to your pension, you may apply to have it reviewed by a Review Officer at this office.  If you do decide to apply, you must do so within three months of being advised of this decision.  Such a request for review must be in writing, and must set out your reasons for seeking this review.

If you have any questions regarding Income Support issues you should contact us on 1300 550 452 (Capital city callers) or 1800 550 452 (Non-Capital city callers).  For any other inquiries please contact the Department at the address or telephone number shown at the top of this letter.

Yours sincerely,

ALISON STANLEY

Deputy Commissioner

As Delegate of the Secretary and Repatriation Commission

ATTACHMENTS

• Payment Information Attachment - YES

• Shares and/or Managed Investments Information Attachment - YES

EXAMPLE 3A:

• SERVICE PENSION - REDUCTION TO NIL
• MIs/SHs IN ASSESSMENT
• RENT ASSISTANCE CANCELLED
• SINGLE ASSESSMENT
• MULTIPLE OUTCOMES
• NIL TELEPHONE ALLOWANCE IN PAYMENT
• NIL UTILITIES ALLOWANCE IN PAYMENT

GPO Box 651, Brisbane  QLD  4001

Contact:              Brisbane Office

Telephone: Bank of Queensland Centre

              259 Queen Street

              Brisbane Qld 4000

1!!11 IIIll l 111 1I!! (Barcode?)              Postal Address:

WILLIAM TELL              GPO Box 651 Brisbane Qld 4001

29 MARGARET STREET

IPSWICH   QLD   4010              Telephone:

              Capital city callers: 133 254

              Non-Capital city callers: 1800 555 254

              Facsimile: (07) 3223 8479

              7 September 2008

              YOUR FILE NUMBER IS QX333444

Dear Mr TELL,

This is to advise you that your:

• service pension has been reduced to nil.

• rent assistance has been cancelled.

This change will take effect from 20 September 2008.

Change to Value of Shares and/or Managed Investments

The asset value of your shares which are listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and/or unit based managed investments has been reassessed.  The adjusted value of these investments has been used to work out your service pension payment and has resulted in your service pension being reduced to nil. The value of other income and assets you may have has not been affected by this reassessment.

Please refer to the 'Shares and Managed Investments Information' Attachment included in this letter.  This Attachment details all of your shares and/or managed investments regardless of whether there has been a change to that share and managed investment.  It is important that you check that this list is a full and accurate statement of your shares and/or managed investments.

We have not provided you with a complete listing of any other income or assets you may have in your assessment, as they have not been changed in this assessment.  However, they continue to be used in assessing the amount of service pension you are paid.

Your pension has also been adjusted in line with movements in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Male Total Average Weekly Earnings (MTAWE).

Payment Information

Details of your payments are provided in the Payment Information Attachment.

Pensioner Concession Card

As your service pension is no longer payable, you no longer qualify for fringe benefits from this Department.  Please destroy your existing Pensioner Concession Card as it is illegal for this card to be used after cancellation and use can be checked by electronic validation by some concession providers.

Commonwealth Seniors Health Card

Since you no longer qualify for fringe benefits for a Pensioner Concession Card, you may be eligible for a Commonwealth Seniors Health Card (CSHC) providing you are of pension age.  A CSHC claim form and fact sheet are enclosed for your information.  If you do not already have a CSHC from Centrelink and would like to claim a CSHC from the Department of Veterans' Affairs, please return your claim form in the envelope provided.

Your Right to Re-Apply

You may re-apply to have your service pension restored at any time if your income and/or assets fall below the limits that would allow for payment of the pension.

Changes You Have Already Told Us About

If you have told us recently about a change to your income and assets or your domestic situation, it may not have been processed before this letter was sent.  If this is the case, we will send you another letter providing details of your new pension assessment when that change has been finalised.  This normally takes no more than 4 weeks.

Your Right of Review

If you do not agree with this variation to your pension, you may apply to have it reviewed by a Review Officer at this office.  If you do decide to apply, you must do so within three months of being advised of this decision.  Such a request for review must be in writing, and must set out your reasons for seeking this review.

If you have any questions regarding Income Support issues you should contact us on 1300 550 452 (Capital city callers) or 1800 550 452 (Non-Capital city callers).  For any other inquiries please contact the Department at the address or telephone number shown at the top of this letter.

Yours sincerely,

ALISON STANLEY

Deputy Commissioner

As Delegate of the Secretary and Repatriation Commission

ATTACHMENTS

• Payment Information Attachment - YES

• Shares and/or Managed Investments Information Attachment - YES
• General Information Sheet – YES, only Reduction to Nil clients receive the GIS.

DFISA LETTERS

EXAMPLE 4A:

• AGE PENSION INCREASE (Less than Max Rate)
• INCOME TESTED
• MULTIPLE OUTCOMES
• DFISA VARIATION

• WITH MIs/SHs IN ASSESSMENT.
• TELEPHONE ALLOWANCE IN PAYMENT
• UTILITIES ALLOWANCE IN PAYMENT

GPO Box 651, Brisbane  QLD  4001

Contact:              Brisbane Office

Telephone: Bank of Queensland Centre

              259 Queen Street

              Brisbane Qld 4000

1!!11 IIIll l 111 1I!! (Barcode?)              Postal Address:

PHILLIP JOHNSTON              GPO Box 651 Brisbane Qld 4001

30 ELIZABETH STREET

TOOWOOMBA   QLD   4045              Telephone:

              Capital city callers: 133 254

              Non-Capital city callers: 1800 555 254

              Facsimile: (07) 3223 8479

              7 September 2008

              YOUR FILE NUMBER IS QX123456

Dear Mr JOHNSTON,

This is to advise you that your:

• Age pension has been increased.
• Defence Force Income Support Allowance (DFISA) has varied.

This change will take effect from 20 September 2008.

Change to Value of Shares and/or Managed Investments

The asset value of your shares which are listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and/or unit based managed investments has been reassessed.  The adjusted value of these investments has been used to work out your age pension payment and has resulted in an increase to the amount of age pension paid to you.  The value of other income and assets you may have has not been affected by this reassessment.

Please refer to the 'Shares and Managed Investments Information' Attachment included in this letter.  This Attachment details all of your shares and/or managed investments regardless of whether there has been a change to that share or managed investment.  It is important that you check that this list is a full and accurate statement of your shares and/or managed investments.

We have not provided you with a complete listing of any other income or assets you may have in your assessment, as they have not been changed in this assessment.  However, they continue to be used in assessing the amount of age pension you are paid.

Your pension has also been adjusted in line with movements in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Male Total Average Weekly Earnings (MTAWE).

Payment Information

Details of your payments are provided in the Payment Information Attachment.

Telephone Allowance

Your quarterly telephone allowance will be paid on 25 September 2008, together with your pension payment.  Your telephone allowance is a separate payment and is not included in your total fortnightly payment information referred to in this letter.  The current quarterly telephone allowance rates are:

Singles Rate - $XX.XX (telephone only)

$XX.XX (telephone with home internet)

Couples Rate (each) - $XX.XX (telephone only)

$XX.XX (telephone with home internet)

Utilities Allowance

Utilities allowance is a payment made to you to assist with the payment of energy, rates and water expenses.  The quarterly instalment of the utilities allowance will be paid on 25 September 2008.  The utilities allowance is a separate payment and is not included in your total fortnightly payment information referred to in this letter.  The current rates for utilities allowance are:

Singles Rate - $XX.XX

Couples Rate (each) - $XX.XX

Financial Obligations

You need to tell us within 14 days (28 days if you are living overseas) if your combined gross income from all sources is more than $XXXX.XX per fortnight or the value of your combined assets, apart from your home, is more than $XXXXXX.XX.

Other Obligations

We have explained your obligations to you in previous letters.  These obligations still apply.

Changes You Have Already Told Us About

If you have told us recently about a change to your income and assets or your domestic situation, it may not have been processed before this letter was sent.  If this is the case, we will send you another letter providing details of your new pension assessment when that change has been finalised.  This normally takes no more than 4 weeks.

Your Right of Review

If you do not agree with this decision, you can contact your nearest Veterans' Affairs office and discuss the reasons for the decision.  If you remain dissatisfied, you may apply to have the decision reviewed by an Authorised Review Officer, with no prior involvement in the case.  If you decide to apply for a review more than 13 weeks from the day this notice is given to you, arrears can only be paid from the date we receive your application.  Requests for review may be made in person, by telephone or writing.

The rate of DFISA paid to you is derived from your age pension assessment.  You may seek to have your age pension assessment reviewed if you are dissatisfied with your DFISA rate.

If you have any questions regarding Income Support issues you should contact us on 1300 550 452 (Capital city callers) or 1800 550 452 (Non-Capital city callers).  For any other inquiries please contact the Department at the address or telephone number shown at the top of this letter.

Yours sincerely,

ALISON STANLEY

Deputy Commissioner as Delegate of the Secretary

PAYMENT INFORMATION ATTACHMENT

The Department now calculates pension payments on a daily basis.  This means that your fortnightly pension payment is made up of 14 days of entitlement of pension.  Therefore, when there is a change to your circumstances on any particular day in the fortnight - your pension will be adjusted from that day.  For that reason your pension payment may be different for one or two paydays after a reassessment.

Payment for 25 September 2008                        Veteran

Payment for 9 October 2008           Veteran

Please Note: If you have an overpayment or lump sum advance which is currently being recovered (by deductions from your fortnightly pension), the amount paid into your account may be less than the total fortnightly payment shown above.

SHARES AND MANAGED INVESTMENTS INFORMATION

(Information current as at 7 September 2008)

You are receiving age pension at less than the maximum rate payable.

You are currently paid under the income test.  The total of your assessed gross fortnightly income is $x,xxx.xx.  The total of all your assets (excluding any deductible assets) is $xxx,xxx.xx.

Information about your shares and managed investments is provided below.

The asset value of your shares which are listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and/or unit based managed investments have been automatically updated.

The asset values of any unlisted public company shares, overseas shares, options, rights and futures or account based managed investments you hold have not been updated.  You must tell us if the asset value of these investments has varied by $1,000 or more.

The information below sets out the values for the shares and/or managed investments in your current assessment.

Listed Securities and Unlisted Public Securities

Description	No. of Shares	Asset Amount
XXXXXX	X,XXX	$XX,XXX.XX
QQQQQQQQQQQQQ	XXX	$    X,XXX.XX

Managed Investments

Description	Units	Asset Amount
VVVVVVVVVV	XX	$XX.XX
CCCCCCCCCCCCC	XXX	$XX.XX

Note: Income from financial assets is deemed.

Important Information:  We have not provided you with a complete listing of any other income or assets you may have in your assessment, as they have not been changed in this assessment.  However, they continue to be used in assessing the amount of age pension you are paid.  If they have changed, please notify the Department immediately.

You need to tell us within 14 days (28 days if you are living overseas) if the above list of your Shares and/or Managed Investments is incomplete or incorrect; or if the number of shares or units you hold has changed. Please note that failure to advise of incorrect or missing information about your shares or managed investments, or about other income or asset changes, may lead to your pension being overpaid.  Such overpayments are recoverable.