Manual RA cancellation procedure

Step

Action

1 Notification of new admission to aged care received

The source of this advice may include:

• New admissions report supplied by DH&FS;
• Recording of a high or low level of care indicator (newly available from 1 march 1998) on the residential situation screen; or
• Advice received from the aged care resident or their representative.

2 Check if person is in approved (subsidised) bed

If advice regarding the person's entry into aged care did not come from DH&FS (ie the third dash point in step 1 above applies), confirm whether the person is residing in the aged care facility to receive aged care or is under some other arrangement.  To find this out contact the care provider or the local DH&FS office.

If the person is residing in the facility under some arrangement other than Commonwealth Government subsidised aged care, rent assistance will continue to be payable in respect of any fees paid and no further action should be taken to cancel rent assistance.

However, if appropriate, the amount of rent paid may need to be updated in the “Rent Amount” field on the residential situation screen.  In the case of a co-habitee, the amount of rent entered should not include fees payable in respect of the partner receiving care.

The Residential Care Search screen, is accessible from the Residential Situation screen.  This screen may provide provider information useful for provider contact purposes although it may not always be current.

Examiners need to be aware that it is possible to have non approved beds in an approved facility and it is thus not possible to conclude that a person is receiving Commonwealth Government subsidised care merely because they are in an approved facility.

3 Check if receiving accommodation only

If the person is residing in an approved aged care facility, confirm with the proprietor that they are receiving a Commonwealth subsidy in respect of the resident.

If the person residing in the facility is receiving accommodation only, rent assistance continues to be payable in respect of any fees he or she pays for accommodation in that facility.  No further action should be taken to cancel rent assistance.

However, if appropriate, the amount of rent paid may need to be updated in the “Rent Amount” field on the residential situation screen.  Where partnered assess as separated due to illness.

4 Cancel rent assistance

If the pensioner was receiving rent assistance and is not eligible for rent assistance after considering step 2 and step 3, rent assistance payable should definitely be cancelled.

Click on the drop box for the “RA not payable” field on the Residential Situation screen and select an RA not payable flag appropriate to the person's situation such as “Client in Residential Care Facility”.  This will cancel rent assistance.    More