DATE OF ISSUE:  11 JULY 1994

COMMONWEALTH SUPERANNUATION AND DEFENCE FORCE RETIREMENT BENEFIT & DEATH BENEFIT PENSION INCREASES - EFFECT ON SERVICE PENSION

INTRODUCTION

1.The Australian Government Retirement Benefits Office (AGRBO) will increase Commonwealth Superannuation and Defence Force Retirement Benefit and Death Benefit (DFRB/DB) payments in July and, as a result of that, this Department will adjust service pensions for those pensioners affected.

EFFECTIVE DATE

2.It is intended to adjust service pensions from this Department's payday
4 August 1994, being the first available payday following payment of the increased AGRBO benefits.

TIMETABLE

3.All processing will be carried out over the weekend of 16-17 July 1994 in a similar manner as last year.

GENERAL MATCHING PROCESS

4.The necessary tapes will be obtained from AGRBO to commence the ADP matching exercise to identify dual payees.  In general the matching process will be conducted as follows:

.A file of service pension cases with Commonwealth or DFRB superannuation (superannuation codes 03 and 04) will be matched with tapes provided by AGRBO containing that authority's payees.

.Matching will be based upon a combined key of surname and old (super) rate as the primary key, initials will be included as a secondary matching key.

.Each State's selected superannuation records will be compared with AGRBO records on an Australia-wide basis.

OUTPUT SCHEDULES

5.Output schedules will be produced in the following categories:

.A listing of unmatched cases.

.A listing of mismatched initials, (warning only).

Note:  A complete listing of AGRBO payees will not be produced as it would contravene the Information Privacy Principles of the Privacy Act 1988.

.Schedule of Unmatched Cases - Unmatched cases will be listed for Branch action.  These are the only cases which require entry of the new super rate onto the super select schedule for input to the super reassessment program.  If a match on a surname can be combined with either a matched reference number, a correct rate or a date of birth then all the "likely match" cases will be printed.

.Mismatch on Initials - Where the primary matching conditions are met but the initials in the records differ, the case will go ahead for subsequent automatic updating but, as a warning that the record may not be correct, a separate schedule of these cases will be produced for the Branch to examine the discrepancy.  This schedule will be headed:   INITIALS MISMATCH.

Where the Branch is satisfied that the records (both AGRBO and DVA) are those of the same person, no further action is necessary.  However, where an adjustment of our record is necessary to process the case, action must be taken to substitute the automatically prepared data with the correct data before cut off.

KEYFAST TRANSMISSIONS TO COMPUTER CENTRE

6.NSW, VIC and QLD may process super transactions entered through KEYFAST in the normal manner.  (SA, WA and TAS may use Keyfast, however they will need to request the facility be set up.)

The Super Reference Number should be included in the transaction if you wish to retain it on the CDB record.

INPUT TRANSACTION FORMAT

COL — 1 — 2-8 — 9 — 10-11 — 12-20 — 21-26 — 27-32 — 33-80

CONTENT — STATE — FILE — SEG — SUPER — SUPER — GROSS DEDUCTIBLE — FILLER

NO — LINK — TYPE — REF NO — AMOUNT AMOUNT

LENGTH — 1 — 7 — 1 — 2 — 9 6 — 6

7.Once the transactions are entered through Keyfast, the following ADP MESSAGE should be sent to the NCC, OIC Shift.

"Please run Schedule 9.4.2 Superannuation KEYFAST Processing of the Automatic Reassessment Processing Operations Guide to run on the (insert date) using the following parameters:

STATE IDENTIFIER:N, V, or Q

SUPER TYPE CODES:03, 04

PAY PERIOD:(as appropriate)

PAY DATE:04/08/94 (effective payday)

RUN DESCRIPTION:COMM SUPER (Report Heading)

ALL REPORTS TO BE RETURNED TO ??? BRANCH

ATTENTION:(Contact Officer's Name)"

GENERAL INFORMATION

8.Should you be uncertain about the identity of the cases and wish to prevent super processing, you should register an action and put the case into SB or PY status.  This will prevent automatic updating occurring.

Overseas Cases

9.Any case recorded on the AGRBO records as having an overseas address will now be matched on an Australia wide basis.  It is not possible to identify an overseas client from the AGRBO tape as their tape does not include State or Country indicators.

Regulation 45A Procedures

10.In line with part 11.1.7 of the Finance Regulation 45a procedures, it will be necessary for delegates to verify that payees on the AGRBO tapes have been correctly matched with service pensioners receiving superannuation.  A schedule listing all clients matched will be provided for this task.

Advices

11.A short automatic payment computer advice will be printed for cases where a pension variation occurs.  Branches should make their own arrangements for despatch of advices.

NCC IMPLICATIONS

12.This exercise is scheduled for the weekend of 16-17 July 1994 and a short advice letter will be required.  Benefits Applications Section will provide you with the AGRBO tape and detailed information regarding the programs to be run closer to the processing date.

CONTACT OFFICERS

13.The contact officers for this exercise are

Murray Chynoweth (06) 289 6078 (Business Hours)

Rene Bartlett (06) 2880899 (After Hours)

NEIL BAYLES

A/G ASSISTANT SECRETARY

PLANNING & MANAGEMENT