C20/2012 Bulk Issue of 2013 NSW Transport Concession Card (TC1) and 2013 Victorian Free Travel Voucher (VTV)

Amends DI No.

N/.A

Replaces DI No.

N/A

Purpose

This Departmental Instruction provides information regarding:

• the bulk issue of the 2013 New South Wales Transport Concession Card (TC1);
• the bulk issue of the Victorian War Widow/Widower Free Travel Voucher (VTV); and
• arrangements for daily issue.

NSW Transport Concession Card

The Transport Concession Card (TC1) provides state funded travel concessions and is issued by DVA on behalf of the New South Wales Government.  New South Wales is the only state to issue the TC1.

War widows/widowers residing in other states may be eligible for state transport concessions through their DVA Gold Card, CSHC or other transport passes.

The TC1 is issued to war widows/widowers who reside in New South Wales and are not in receipt of service pension, income support supplement or age pension paid by DVA or Centrelink.

It is important to note that effective from 15 October 2012, some of the  MRCA wholly dependant partners (MRCA widow — s/widowers) are also eligible to receive the TC1.  The eligibility criteria are very specific, stating that the widow/widower "has been compensated under subsection 234(1) of the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004 (MRCA) and the member's death was related to overseas warlike or non-warlike service".  As our current system does not record this specific information, it is not possible to automatically identify and include eligible MRCA widow — s/widower — s in the TC1 bulk issue run — s.

Only n — ine MRCA widow/widowers who reside in NSW have been identified by the relevant MRCA staff from their records as eligible.  The 2012 TC1 have already been issued manually to them.

Payments Section – NSW will be manually issuing the 2013 TC1 and 2013 DVA fridge calendar magnet to eligible MRCA widows/widowers, following the bulk issue.

Victorian

Free Travel Voucher

The Victorian Free Travel Voucher (VTV) is issued to war widow/widowers who reside in Victoria and are not in receipt of service pension, income support supplement or age pension paid by DVA or Centrelink.

Wholly dependant partners (MRCA widow/widowers) are eligible to receive the VTV.

Valid

Both the TC1 and the VTV are valid from 1 January 2013 to and including 31 December 2013.

Numbers

The approximate numbers to be produced from the bulk issue are:

NSW Transport Concession Card — 7,837

Victorian Free Travel Voucher — 5,664

Dates

The following dates apply to the 2013 annual bulk issue:

TaskDate

Production data extract — 2 — 4 – 2 — 5 November 201 — 2

Printing, enveloping and lodgement — 27 November – 5 December 201 — 2

Final lodgement with Australia Post — 5 December 201 — 2

Reports

Reports will be provided to the location contacts by Wednesday 28 November 201 — 2.

Inserts

A 2013 DVA fridge calendar magnet will be inserted with the bulk issue of the TC1 and the VTV.

Daily Issues

The 2013 daily TC1 and VTV stock supplies will be sent to the location contacts as soon as the stock becomes available.

Data extraction for the bulk issue will occur on the 2 — 4 – 2 — 5 November 201 — 2.

NSW

Current eligible TC1 card holders will receive their replacement cards in the bulk run.  War widows/widowers who gain eligibility for the TC1 from Monday, 2 — 6 November 201 — 2 should be issued with both a 201 — 2 and 201 — 3 TC1 together with a 2013 DVA fridge calendar magnet.  From 1 January 201 — 3 only the 201 — 3 TC1 should be issued with a 2013 DVA fridge calendar magnet.

Victoria

War widows/widowers currently eligible for a VTV will receive their replacement cards in the bulk run.  War widows/widowers who gain eligibility for the VTV  from Monday, 2 — 6 November 201 — 2 should be issued with both a 201 — 2 and 201 — 3 VTV t — ogether with a 2013 DVA fridge calendar magnet. From 1 January 201 — 3 only the 201 — 3 VTV should be issued with a 2013 DVA fridge calendar magnet.

2012 stock

Any remaining 2012 stock should be destroyed securely when this stock is no longer required.

Location Contacts

The location contacts for the bulk issue are:

NSW – TC1 — John Eden

VIC – VTV — Peter Castleman

Project Coordinators

The project coordinators for the bulk issue are:

Anissa Lam

Income Support

Phone: 02 9213 7169

Email:  Anissa.Lam@dva.gov.au

Ganes Jagadeeswaran

Income Support

Phone: 02 9213 7310

Email:  Ganes.Jagadeeswaran@dva.gov.au

Location:

Centennial Plaza

Tower B – Level 3

280 Elizabeth Street

Surry Hills  NSW  20 — 10