C57/2002 Changes to PIPS and IPS - Single Orphans Pension

Purpose

The purpose of this Departmental Instruction is to outline the procedures to follow to ensure that single orphans pension is correctly paid.

Background

Single Orphans pension can be paid through PIPS or through IPS. When a single orphan turns 16, they continue to be eligible for orphans pension while they remain in full-time study and are under age 25. Orphans pension is cancelled at age 16 if the person in receipt of orphans pension also receives VCES Education Allowance or Youth Allowance.

A number of cases have been identified throughout Australia where the child is over 16 and still in receipt of orphans pension. A number of these cases have been restored in error due to confusion regarding PIPS PC and IPS processing procedures.

System changes have been made to reduce the likelihood of single orphans pension being inadvertently restored.

PIPS problem

Orphans pension can be restored through the PIPS system. A warning message appears whenever a worksheet is opened. “Client X is older than 16. Do you want DP refreshed/continued?”  By selecting  “Yes”, the orphans pension is put back into payment.

System Changes to PIPS

The warning message that appears for single orphans in PIPS has been changed to alert the user that selecting “Yes” will grant single orphans pension. Where Single Orphans pension is not payable staff processing Income Support actions must select “NO” to ensure that single orphans pension is not restored.

IPS problem

The IPS system allows payment of single orphans pension to be cancelled using Unauthorised Manual Assessments. However, when this happens, the child may still be active in the Income Support assessment and the payment is therefore restored the next time a batch process, such as a Statutory Increase, is run.

Confusion exists when a single orphan continues to receive orphans pension as a result of the batch processing run and PIPS assessment when it appears that the payment has been cancelled through IPS.

System Changes to IPS

An edit has been put into the Unauthorised Manual Assessments folder in IPS (accessed via the Payabilities tab in VIEW.) If an attempt is made to cancel a PIPS single orphans pension using Unauthorised Manual Assessments, an error message will appear and the user will not be able to be finalise the case in IPS. These cases must be processed through PIPS PC.

Contact Officer

Any queries should be directed to Warren Walsh, who can be contacted on (03) 9213 7254 or by email.