DATE OF ISSUE: 3 September 1991
STATUTORY PENSION INCREASE 3 OCTOBER 1991 (INCLUDING BRITISH RETIREMENT INCOME) ADP PROCESSING
INTRODUCTION
1.This year, the usual Spring Statutory Pension (SI) increase will not occur. The June 1991 CPI figure which controls the amount of increase pensioners receive in the October was a negative amount, and the Legislation only provides for an increase, not a decrease. However, various allowances which are indexed over a different period have been increased. The following variations will be effective from 3 October:
.Pharmaceutical Allowance is to be indexed annually commencing 3 October 1991
. British Retirement Income (BRI) notional exchange rate will change from One Pound Sterling equals $A2.2336 to $A2.1186 See Paragraph 5 for further details.
.Specific Disability Allowances (SDA), Section 27 Items 7-15
.Clothing Allowance
.Attendant Allowance
.Recreational Transport Allowance
TIMETABLE
2.Listed below is the timetable for the combined exercise.
Wednesday 28 August 1991. Trial Screen with the new rates will be available.
Tues/Wed10/11 September 1991. Cut off for Payday 58 (effective 19/9/91) for all States will be at the usual times.
. Any advices produced after cutoff for payday 58 and before the SI/BRI processing will contain incorrect rates
Thursday 12 September 1991. Interface will be conducted for all States.
. New Rates will be loaded
. SI/BRI processing will be conducted.
Friday 13 September 1991. All systems available
. The various Schedules will be available.
. BRI advices will commence printing at the NCC.
. Daily Advices produced for clients with BRI in their assessment to be held in Branch Offices until despatch of the BRI advices.
Monday 16 September 1991. BRI advices will be despatched to mailing house.
From 13 September. Examiner action on manual SP and DP to cut-off for payday 59 schedules. (3 October 1991)
GENERAL OPERATIONAL OUTLINE
3.Processing for the rate changes will be divided into groups of those cases which will be processed automatically and those cases which will require manual action. For the Disability Allowances Processing, automatic increases to rates will be effected where possible using programs which apply the new allowances to the PMF and CDB.
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.
SPECIAL FEATURES AND SUGGESTIONS
British Retirement Income
5.The new rate of $A2.1186 is the average of the on demand airmail buying rate for the month of July 1991. This is the same exchange rate as the Department of Social Security will be holding from 26 September 1991.
The amount recorded as superannuation type 08 or 09 will be varied by applying a conversion factor which is calculated as follows:
new exchange rate =$2.1186 = 0.9485
old exchange rate$2.2336
The amount in Australian Dollars of income recorded as British Retirement Income superannuation type 08 or 09 will be multiplied by the conversion factor to give the new rate of superannuation. The Pension amount will then be reassessed accordingly.
Pharmaceutical Allowance
6.Legislation (Section 198E of the VEA) covering provisions to index the Pharmaceutical Allowance received Royal Assent on 25 June 1991. This Allowance is to be indexed on the first payday after 20 September each year.
Pension Code Book and Rates Charts
7.Amendments to the code book and rates charts effective 3 October 1991 will be issued shortly.
PNG Pension Rates (Queensland Only)
8.The PNG pension rates effective from 3 October are currently unavailable. These rates will be distributed shortly.
Manual DP Listings
9.Manual DP cases will be listed on the same day as the automatic disability pension and service pension updates. Manual DP cases require processing through the on-line pension processing system (IDPS/PIPS). This action cannot be completed until after the cut-off for payday 19 September, and the new rates are put into production.
Fringe Benefits & Treatment Entitlement Cards
10.Fringe benefit income limits will not increase, but it is expected that some pensioners will become eligible for fringe benefits. Issue of health cards and recall of pharmaceutical cards will be processed through the normal batch system following the SI.
Pre Increase Action
11.Although there is no increase in pension rates, the increase in the Pharmaceutical rate will impact on most clients and the exercise should be regarded as a full AL. It is suggested that the following steps be undertaken prior to computer runs for the SI/BRI to help processing progress as smoothly as possible:
.Minimise the number of cases 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.
Limitation Cases
12.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.
PENSION RATE CHANGES
DISABILITY PENSIONS AND/OR ALLOWANCES PROCESSING
Full Rate Code with Limitation
13.Increases to Specific Disability Allowances (SDA) will be processed in the following three stages:
.Rates of SDA allowances will be increased automatically, except where payment is recorded under a miscellaneous code.
.Cases requiring manual processing will be selected and listed.
.Cases requiring manual processing will be examined and updated through IDPS/PIPS before cut-off for payday 3 October.
Action Schedules
14.Action schedules of DP cases requiring manual examination and variation by examiners will be produced for the following action groups:
Group Contents — Reference Number
.Disability pension cases with a suspension
segment. Some of these cases may include
an SP component, but the suspension and/or
DP segments only should be adjusted.200
General Procedure for These Manual Adjustments
15.Where possible, SDA will be increased to the new rates before cases are listed for manual action. For EATS and Composite cases, examiners will be required to update the adjustment recorded on PIPS, and alter the amount of limitation on the schedule. For suspension cases, examiners will update the suspension segment on the schedule. Cases with joint or miscellaneous codes will require a code change to record a new pension code which is valid according to the code book. If any component of a DP segment is to be adjusted, processing through PIPS will be required. Processing of the case will be as follows:
.Update the new SDA details via the DP screen
.Complete Advices (AD) screen;
.Submit (SU) the case to MS/5O, write the consecutive number onto the schedule and forward to the Delegate for determination.
Keyfast Description
16.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 3 October.
Parameter Cards
17.Parameter cards and rate tables have been prepared at Central Office to effect the automatic updating of the SDA cases and list those requiring manual action. These cards will be input to the computer by Central Office.
PENSION RATE CHANGES - SERVICE PENSION PROCESSING
18.The increase to the Pharmaceutical allowance will be effected automatically on the PMF wherever possible. Schedules will be produced to enable manual reassessment of any cases on the CDB or PMF which cannot be processed automatically. The processing 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 3 October.
Processing of Automatic cases
19.The processing will generate Pension Payment transactions updating the rates of the Pharmaceutical and allowance for cases recorded on the CDB with an automatic method of assessment by:
.Obtaining income/asset details and assessment information from the CDB.
.Reassessing the service pension and allowances using the new SI rates, and the existing assessment details.
.Generating transactions for update of the PMF in respect of rate variations, changes in payment category and/or pension code. The system does not update the effective date, so that on display of the case, the previous effective date will be shown (ie not 3 October 1991).
Processing of manual cases: 13 September to cut-off for payday 3 October 1991.
20.The processing of manual cases should be done in the above period and cases are to be processed through PIPS. Cases listed for manual action should be reassessed using the SI rates, updated through an action record, and a D2650, or D408 or other coding sheet produced to effect the PMF variation. If coding is done on an action schedule, the consecutive number for the PIPS action should be noted on the schedule.
21.Frozen 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.
22.PMF/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.
23.Manual 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.
24.Cases 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.
25.Manual 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
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 (where not updated automatically) 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.
26.Assessment 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.
OUTPUT
Advices
27.Listed below are the types of advices to be produced:
.Fringe Benefits Changes - The usual full obligation advice will be despatched to beneficiaries who have fringe benefit changes as a result of the SI.
.BRI - Clients who have British Retirement Income in their assessment will receive a short advice containing the details of the new notional exchange rate. These advices will be despatched centrally through a mailing house.
Note:Clients receiving any other increase (i.e. the increase in Pharmaceutical Allowance and the DP minor benefits ) will not receive an advice.
Daily Advices
Daily advices produced after this exercise for Clients who have British Retirement Income in their assessment will need to be held in Branch Office until notified by Central Office (Oona O'Beirne Phone 02 213 7771) that the BRI advices have been despatched.
Schedules
32.The normal fortnightly processing schedule will be produced from this exercise, and be available on Friday, 13 September. In addition, a Report of manual cases will be produced for Pharmaceutical Allowance and .
Schedules for Manual Action
33.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.
INFORMATION/SUPPLEMENTARY PROCESSING SCHEDULES
34.A number of conditions may exist on the CDB which require additional investigation beyond the normal SI processing. The cases listed will already be automatically processed 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.
35.Service pension cases submitted to MS should be transmitted to the computer centre via the normal pension payment daily stream.
NCC IMPLICATIONS
36.The Benefits Applications Branch will provide the NCC with a detailed schedule of the computer runs necessary for this exercise. Benefits ADP & D Section will provide the NCC with an after hours contact number closer to the processing date.
CONTACT OFFICERS
37.The Benefits contact officer for this exercise is
Glenys Canning telephone(06) 289 6019 (Business Hours)
Martin Doyle(06) 281 0708 (After Hours)
DAVID MACKRELL
ASSISTANT SECRETARY
BENEFITS PLANNING & MANAGEMENT