A person appealing against the level of income used to determine their daily fees would normally be seeking a simultaneous reassessment of their income support pension since the same income assessment is used for both purposes.
However, there are four situations where a resident may appeal against the level of income assessed purely for the purposes of having their daily fees varied. These situations are:
- where the resident agrees with the income assessed for pension purposes but disagrees with level of daily fees assessed;
- where the resident is a blinded pensioner whose income is exempt for pension purposes;
- where the resident is a war widow/er receiving ISS at the ceiling rate; and
- where the resident is a self-funded retiree who receives disability pension and has qualifying service.
In the first of these situations, the appeal is a DH&FS matter although DVA may be required to confirm that the income assessed is correct. Any case of this type should be referred to the local DH&FS office for consideration.
In the latter situations, direct action is required by DVA to resolve the appeal but DH&FS must be advised of the outcome of the appeal. More