C51/1998 ISSUE OF 1999 TRANSPORT CONCESSION CARDS AND/OR TRAVEL VOUCHERS (TC1)

Purpose of instruction

To provide information on:

1.The issue of the 1999 TC1 card; and

2.Procedures for applying for:

• Replacement cards and/or vouchers; and

• Issue of TC1 cards New grants and/or vouchers.

States offering TC1

Certain States (NSW, VIC, QLD & WA) offer concessions to war widow(er)s who don't receive a Pensioner Concession Card (PCC).  The TC1 card and/or travel vouchers are issued annually by the Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) on behalf of all mentioned states except WA who arrange their own issue.

Eligibility

As specified by the above-mentioned States, the following war widow(er)s are currently eligible for a TC1 card and or voucher(s):

• all those war widow(er)s in NSW, QLD and WA not in receipt of DFACS

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  DFACS Age Pension.  Pension paid under the Social Security Act, formally DSS Age Pension.  DSS is now known as Dept of Family & Community Services.

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  Age Pension, Income Support Supplement or Service Pension; and,

• all those war widow(er)s in VIC (except World War 1 war widow(er)s) not in receipt of DFACS Age Pension, Income Support Supplement or Service Pension.

National Office Role

National Office supervises the annual bulk printing, personalising and enveloping of transport concession cards and/or travel vouchers for NSW, VIC and QLD and provides data for the local issue of transport concession cards in WA by the WA DVA State Office.

Production

Processing of the bulk issue of approximately 26,000 personalised TC1 cards/vouchers will be carried out on 23-24 November 1998, following the extract of client data on 18 November.  This extract will be matched against a DFACS cartridge that contains the names of DVA War Widow(er)s who are eligible to receive a PCC through DFACS.

The 1999 TC1 card and/or travel vouchers for NSW, VIC and QLD will be personalised, enveloped and dispatched by Security Mailing Services in Sydney.

WA State Office will arrange for the WA TC1 enveloping and dispatch of approximately 2,100 transport concession cards to eligible WA clients.

The cards and/or vouchers are expected to be delivered by the end of the first week in December 1998.

Card Numbers

The approximate number of clients who are eligible for and will receive a TC1 in this years bulk issue are as follows :

STATE                          Number of Clients eligible

NSW                                               11,010

VIC                                                   8,377

QLD                                                  5,198

WA                                                   2,079

Total                                                 26,664

Format of Cards/

Vouchers

The 1999 TC1 card and/or voucher is issued as an A4 cut sheet stationery (135gsm weight) printed on the front and back. There has been no change to the weight of paper used.

The NSW card will be printed in two colours, being Orange and Pale Orange with four travel vouchers attached to the carrier.

The VIC card is printed in the same colours as NSW and has one travel voucher attached to the carrier.

QLD recipients receive four travel vouchers only (no card is issued for QLD).  The travel vouchers are printed in salmon pink with 1999 embossed in white across the vouchers, both front and back.

WA State Office arranges for the local dispatch of a State transport concession card to eligible clients.

Insert

A State specific magnetic refrigerator calendar for 1999 will be included with this year's bulk issue of TC1 cards and/or vouchers.  The calendar shows DVA pension and telephone allowance paydays and includes a list of State specific DVA addresses and telephone numbers on the reverse.

Expiry Date

The expiry date of the 1999 TC1 cards/vouchers will be 31 Dec 1999.

Post Production

Reports

Two copies of the post production schedules reports, listing all cases for which cards are produced, should be printed on 19/11/98 at the local printer destination in the State Offices as listed below:

NSW          VIC            QLD          WA

NSWBO     VICBO1     QLDBO     WABO

The TC1 contact officers need to collect the reports and send a copy to the State Transport Authority contact for their information.

Reporting

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The problem report is designed to assist NO to rectify the problems in order to prevent them from occurring again in the future.

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& Recording Problem Cases

Staff receiving reports of problems cases should record them on the record sheet - see Attachment A.  Return completed copies or email copies to Robert Krajina 20 — th Floor National Office, 02 6289 6044.

Reissue and New Grants of Cards and Vouchers for 1999

NSW

VIC

QLD

Due to loss or theft or other reason, eligible clients may need a reissue of their Card and/or voucher,

Or

If a new grant of pension is made, an eligible client should be issued with a new card and/or voucher.

The following procedures apply for Reissues or New grants :

• NSW clients should obtain new issues or reissues of cards and/or vouchers from CityRail as detailed below:

        CityRail

   Passes and Concessions Office

   Transport House

   Ground Floor

   Wynyard Railway Station

   11-31 York Street                   Ph (02) 9224 4768

CityRail will refer to their list of those who were issued cards in the bulk run and proceed with the reissue.  If they need further information or clarification, they will contact DVA and discuss the matter.

• VIC clients should obtain new issues and reissues of cards and vouchers directly from VIC State Office.  Clients should contact:

     VAN  Reception

     300 La Trobe Street

     Melbourne VIC 3000                 Ph (03) 9284 6517

• QLD clients should contact the DVA State Office who will liaise with Queensland Rail to reissue or issue vouchers, clients should contact:

     VAN Concession Office

     AMP Place

     10 Eagle Street

     Brisbane QLD 4000                   Ph (07) 3223 8609

Supplies of Blank Stock

Blank stock for the issue of cards/vouchers will be forwarded to the officers nominated below no later than 26 November 1998.

NSW: Mr Ray Doran

         Passes and Concessions Office

         CityRail

         Transport House

         11-31 York Street

         Sydney NSW 2000

VIC:  Mr Darren Hayes

         Compensation Section

         Department of Veterans' Affairs

         11 — th Floor

         The Argus Centre

         300 La Trobe Street

         Melbourne VIC 3001

QLD: Mr Lachlan Woodrow

         Queensland Rail

         Traveltrain

         2 — nd floor, Railway Centre

         305 Edwards Street

         Brisbane QLD 4000

Contact Officers

Further queries on this matter should be directed to:

Robert Krajina                                          Martin Dibb

Tel:  (02) 6289 6044          OR                Tel:  (02) 6289 6751

Fax:  (02) 6289 6553                                Fax: (02) 6289 6553

LAN: Robert Krajina                                LAN:  Martin Dibb

Problem Reported

Action Taken by Pensioner

Action Taken by State Office

Additional Comments