Amends DI No.

N/A

Replaces DI No.

C18/2010

Purpose

This Departmental Instruction provides information on the bulk issue of the 2012 Pensioner Concession Card (PCC).

It also provides information on issuing daily PCCs and travel vouchers.

Overview

The PCC is issued by the Australian Government to all income support recipients to prove eligibility for a range of Commonwealth, State/Territory and local benefits and concessions.  DVA is responsible for issuing the PCC to DVA clients (including Age Pensioners being paid by DVA).

DVA issues the PCC annually in September/October to eligible pensioners.  The mailing house contracted to the Department is responsible for printing, enveloping and lodging the cards with Australia Post.

The PCC is also issued on a daily basis for new grants and reissues.

Dates

The 2012 bulk issue production is schedule to take place between 26 September and 14 October 2011.  The following are the key dates for this exercise:

Task

Date

Production extract

25 September

Commence using 2012 stock for daily issues

26 September

Reports to contact officers

26 September

Printing, enveloping and lodgment of cards.

26 Sept – 14 October

Final lodgment with Australia Post

14 October

Numbers

The approximate total number of carriers to be produced in the annual bulk run based on the pre-production data is 192,507 and the total number of cards to be produced is 242,849 (partnered carriers have two cards).  The breakdown of carriers to be produced for each state is:

State

Partnered

Single

Special Register

Blind

Total

NSW

15,113

46,560

30

874

62,577

VIC

9,732

31,593

173

587

42,085

QLD

12,857

29,659

171

581

43,268

SA

4,663

12,894

69

182

17,808

WA

5,412

11,983

63

284

17,742

TAS

1,771

4,901

18

70

6,760

NT

130

319

0

4

453

ACT

664

1,119

0

31

1,814

Total

50,342

139,028

524

2,613

192,507

Order of Lodgement

The cards will be printed and lodged with Australia Post in the following order.

From Monday 26 September:

•   Northern Territory (NT)
•   Australian Capital Territory (ACT)
•   Tasmania (TAS)
•   Western Australia (WA)

From Friday 30 September:

•   New South Wales (NSW)

From Wednesday 5 October:

•   Queensland (QLD)
•   South Australia (SA)

From Monday 10 October:

•   Victoria (VIC)

Regular updates will be provided to location contacts to advise of progress.  A list of the location contacts can be found on the back page of this instruction.

2012 PCC Stock

Minor text and date amendments have been made to the 2012 stock.  Daily single stock supplies will be sent to the location contacts.  Surplus single stock from the bulk issue will be sent on completion of the production run.

VIC, SA & WA Vouchers

There are no amendments to the VIC, SA and WA vouchers issued.

PCC Information Insert

A PCC Information Insert will be included with VIC, SA and WA partnered carriers.  The insert contains the information that cannot fit on the partnered carriers due to the vouchers.

Fridge Calendar Magnet Insert

A DVA fridge calendar magnet will be inserted with all PCCs.  Daily stock supplies will be sent to the location contacts.  Surplus stock from the bulk issue will be sent to the location contacts.  For NSW and VIC, the surplus stock will be sent on completion of the Transport Concession Card/Voucher bulk issue.

Blind Pensioners

The word 'BLIND' will be printed at the top right hand corner of the card, (just left of the of the State logo), except for ACT, where it will be printed on the next line down.  The card will also be hole-punched at the bottom right hand corner.

Group Destination – Public Trustee

Group destination streamed cards will be packaged together and sent directly to the Public Trustee from the mailing house.

Cross Reference

PCCs for cross reference cases will be issued in the payment file number.

Listing Dependants on PCC

The rules for listing dependants on the PCC are outlined below.

Member of a couple in receipt of an income support payment will be cross-listed as a dependant on veteran and partner PCC.

Spouse/defacto of a veteran (including blind veterans) not eligible or payable but in the assessment, will be listed as a dependant on the veteran PCC.

A veteran not in payment (and therefore not eligible for a PCC) will appear as a dependant if partner is on blind service pension.

The maximum number of children that will be listed on a PCC is six.  If there are more than six dependent children in the assessment, an additional card will be issued listing the veteran and remaining children.

Reports

Location Contacts will be provided with reports on completion of the bulk extract.  The officers should examine the reports and undertake any necessary action.

Deceased Clients

Clients who have a date of death recorded after the planned data extraction date of 25 September 2011 will be excluded from the card production run.  Where there is a surviving partner, the data will be reconfigured and a card will be issued on the single carrier.

2012 Daily Issues

The procedures for issuing daily PCCs (for new grants and replacements) remain unchanged.

The last batch extract for 2011 daily PCCs will be on Thursday night, 22 September 2011.  New and replacement issues for 2011 will need to have been printed by 6.00 pm on Friday, 23 September 2011.

State offices can commence using the 2012 stock from Monday, 26 September 2011.

2011 Voucher Issues (if applicable)

Any new grants or transfer-ins between 26 September and

31 December 2011 will need to be manually issued with 2011 travel vouchers, if applicable.

2012 Voucher Issues (if applicable)

All cardholders are entitled to only one issue of vouchers for their residential state each calendar year except where a cardholder transfers to another state.  New grants of income support pension must not be provided with concession vouchers if they have received a PCC with vouchers in the same calendar year.

Voucher personalisation should be suppressed for all replacement or re-issued cards for clients.  The card will be personalised and issued on the carrier, however, the vouchers will remain attached to the carrier but will be voided with XXXX's.  This includes clients who:

•   have had a 2012 DVA PCC processed with vouchers, then lost and regained eligibility during the course of the year; or
•   Centrelink Transfer-In cases, as they have already received their PCC and vouchers from Centrelink.

Voucher Replacement

For most states, DVA does not have the facility to issue replacement vouchers.  The following state rail authorities have given consent to DVA, and the arrangements are listed below.

State

Arrangement

VIC

The Victorian Rail Authority gives DVA authority to issue replacement vouchers on their behalf for an indefinite period.

SA

SA Rail gives DVA authority to issue replacement vouchers on their behalf indefinitely.

WA

TRANSWA gives DVA authority to issue replacement vouchers on their behalf for a period up to the 31 — st January 2012.  After this date people can phone TRANSWA to apply for replacement vouchers.  TRANSWA may charge for replacement vouchers.

Location Contacts

The Location Contacts are as follows:

LocationContact

NSW/ACT — John Eden

QLD — Sharon Golden

VIC — Daniel Luba

SA/NT — Marion Colliver

WA — Michelle Pauly / Margarete Mumme

TAS — Bryon Kelly / Kelly Direen

Please advise the project co-coordinator if there are any changes to the contact officers listed above.

Project Coordinator

The project coordinator for the bulk issue of the 2012 PCC is:

Peter Castle

Cards & Advices

Income Support Group

Phone:  02 9213 7630

Email:  peter.castle@dva.gov.au