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C05/2013 March 2013 Global Refresh of Managed Investments, Shares and Overseas Exchange rates Letter Production and Mailouts

Document

DATE OF ISSUE:  8 March 2013

March 2013 Global Refresh of Managed Investments, Shares and Overseas Exchange rates Letter Production and Mailouts

Replaces DI No.

N/A

Purpose of Instruction

This Departmental Instruction is to provide information about the processing arrangements and advice letter production and mailout for:

  • the March 2013 Statutory Increase and Global Refresh of Managed Investments (MIs) and Shares (SHs); and
  • the Global Refresh of Overseas Exchange Rates.

The Clean Energy Supplement (CES) will commence from 20 March 2013. This instruction also contains information about the advice letter for the CES recipients.

Overview

Introduction

Each quarter the Department varies pensions and allowances in accordance with provisions contained in the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986 (Statutory Increase or 'SI').  Each March and September, the movements in the Cost of Living Index and the Global Refresh of Managed Investments (MIs) and Shares (SHs) data are combined as one quarterly reassessment process.

In March and September, advice letters are generally sent to only those income support pensioners paid at less than the maximum rate of service pension, income support supplement or age pension who have managed investments and/or shares recorded in their pension assessments and who are affected by the Global Refresh of MIs and/or SHs reassessment.  This typically affects approximately 27,000 households.

For this quarter there will be a change to the deeming interest rates from 3% to 2.5% for amounts up to and including $45,400 ($75,600 per couple) and from 4.5% to 4% for amounts over $45,400 ($75,600 per couple).  This typically increases the number of advice letters produced to approximately 54,000.

From 20 March 2013 the Clean Energy Supplement (CES) will commence.  The Department will write to all clients in payment following the March 2013 processing of service pension (SP), income support supplement (ISS), age pension (AP), war widow/er pension (WWP), disability pension (DP), seniors supplement (SS), MRCA Special Rate Disability Pension (WDP) and MRCA Wholly Dependent Partner (SRDP) payment who will receive the fortnightly CES from 20 March 2013.  It is estimated approximately 240,000 advice letters will be produced.

The advice letters will be specially revised versions of the usual 'automatic' advice format.  The advices will provide clients with information about the CES and the payment amount.  A personalised letter from the Minister will be sent with the advice letter for the CES recipients.

Each mailpack will also contain a DL size information flyer about the DVA services available online through MyAccount.

Significant Issues

Issues of significance with regard to this mailout are as follows:

  • The asset value of MI and SH data will be reassessed, except for clients in bereavement period.
  • The deeming interest rates will be reduced by 0.5%.
  • An advice letter will be sent to all clients receiving the CES payment from 20 March 2013.
  • The CES recipients will also receive a personalised letter from the Minister.
  • CES will commence after 20 March 2013 for the following groups and they will not receive an advice letter in this mailout:
  • MRCA Permanent Impairment payment (CES will commence from 1 July 2013); and
  • recipients of fortnightly education allowances under the VCES and MRCAETS (CES to commence from 1 January 2014).
  • Clients residing overseas permanently or are absent from Australia temporarily for longer than the portability period will not be entitled to CES and will not receive an advice letter, except where:
  • there is MI and/or SH in the assessment; and
  • the income support pension is payable at less than the maximum rate.
  • An advice letter without CES information will be produced where payment is reduced to nil after reassessment and no other payment is payable.
  • A MyAccount flyer will be included with all letters.
  • Staggered lodgement of advices with Australia Post to commence on Thursday 21 March and be completed by COB Wednesday 27 March 2013.

Removal of Contact Details from automatic advice letters

Individual staff contact details previously appeared at the top left-hand corner of advice letters.  The Veterans' Access Network contact number now replaces the individual staff contact information in advice letters, following promotion of VAN as the national point of contact for clients.

Letter Content – March 2013 Global Refresh of MIs and/or SHs Mailout

Advice Letter Target Audience

A letter will be produced for the following clients following processing of the SI, the Global Refresh of MIs and/or SHs, the change of deemed interest rate, and the commencement of CES:

  • All SP/ISS/AP/DP/WWP/SS/MRCA WDP/MRCA SRDP.
  • SP/ISS/AP recipients who have MIs and/or SHs in their assessment and are reduced to nil as a result of the reassessment.
  • Overseas residents with MI and/or SH in the assessment receiving the income support pension at less than the maximum rate.
  • MI and/or SH information will only be provided to Less Than Max Rate recipients who have MI and/or SH.

Introductory Paragraphs for SP/ISS/AP Client's Advices

AP clients in receipt of DFISA will have 'multiple outcome' paragraphs printing as part of their introductory paragraphs – advising them of a variation to their AP payment and DFISA payment.

All AP/SP/ISS client letters will have either the single or multiple outcome introductory paragraphs printing, advising them of the outcome of their payments, as follows:

Multiple Outcome Paragraphs:

This is to advise you that your:

  • age pension has been increased/reduced/reduced to nil.
  • Defence Force Income Support Allowance (DFISA) has varied/reduced to nil.
  • rent assistance has been granted/increased/reduced/cancelled.

This change will take effect from 20 March 2013.

Single Outcome Paragraph:

This is to advise you that your service pension has been increased/reduced/reduced to nil.  This change will take effect from 20 March 2013.

Clean Energy Supplement (CES)

A paragraph introducing the Clean Energy Supplement will be present for all CES eligible clients.  For DP only, WWP only and MRCA WDP and MRCA SRDP recipients, this will be the first paragraph of the letter.

Clean Energy Supplement

You are now receiving a Clean Energy Supplement as part of your regular payment.  This ongoing assistance is part of the Household Assistance Package under the Australian Government's plan for a Clean Energy Future and will help you with household costs associated with the carbon price.

This is a tax exempt payment and does not count as income for income and asset assessment purposes.

Payment  Information

All letters will contain payment information as an attachment.  The following paragraph will appear in the body of the letter.

Payment Information

Details of your fortnightly payments are provided in the Payment Information Attachment.

Financial Assets Reassessment

The asset value of MI and/or SH data will be reassessed as part of the processing.  Less than maximum rate income support clients with MI and/or SH data recorded in their assessment will have a paragraph advising of the 'Change to Value of Shares and/or Managed Investments'.

This paragraph advises clients about the reassessment program and explains that:

'The asset value of your shares which are listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and/or unit based managed investments has been reassessed.  The adjusted value of these investments has been used to work out your pension payment and has resulted in a variation to the amount of pension paid to you....'

OR

'has resulted in your pension being varied to nil....'

Maximum rate clients with or without MI and/or SH in their assessment will not receive this paragraph.

Managed Investments and/or Shares Information Attachment

All less than maximum rate clients with MIs and/or SHs recorded in their assessment will receive a full listing of all their MIs and/or SHs regardless of which MIs and/or SHs have been reassessed.

Clients will not be issued with a listing of their Full Income and Assets.

Change to Pension due to Indexation Increases

All letters will continue to have the paragraph advising that 'Your pension has been adjusted in line with increases in the cost of living or wages where applicable.'

Information on indexation adjustments and pension increase will also be provided in the March edition of Vetaffairs, which is to be distributed from Tuesday, 2 April 2013.

Deemed Interest Rate Change

There will be a change to the deemed interest rates from 3% to 2.5% for amounts up to and including $45,400 ($75,600 per couple) and from 4.5% to 4% for amounts over $45,400 ($75,600 per couple).

Clients with deemed income will receive an explanatory paragraph advising of the new deemed interest rates and a table showing a breakdown of their deemed income.

Obligations

Full and Partial obligations are to be suppressed for all letters produced.  Reference will be made to obligations issued to clients in previous letters and in the case of SP and ISS recipients, reference will also be made to obligations provided in the 'You and Your Pension' Booklet.

The Financial Obligations paragraph (including the Prescribed Rates), will be present in the advice for all clients, except for pensioners who are reduced to nil.

AP clients who are reduced to nil, but eligible for payment of DFISA will receive their Financial Obligations paragraph including their prescribed rates.

Right of Review

A right of review paragraph will be present in all letters.

Treatment Advices to be Checked

The Enclosure (treatment) advice letters will be printed at the nominated printer at each location.

These letters should be checked for correctness, and reconciled against the reports received in each location to ensure they reflect the correct treatment paragraphs.  It should be noted that not all clients who have an advice produced due to a treatment change will have MIs and/or SHs in their assessment.  Clients who do not have MIs and/or SHs in the assessment will not have MIs and/or SHs related paragraphs printing in their advice.

Tasmanian Overseas Clients' Advices

Advice letters for Tasmanian Office clients with an overseas postal address will have their advices printed and posted directly from the mailing house.

No Advices for Blind Clients

Blind clients will not receive an advice.  Where a member of a couple is assessed as 'blind' - a single advice will be produced for the non-blind member who may be affected by the processing.

An exception to this rule is where a Blind client with MIs and/or SHs in their assessment is also in payment RA, which is subject to the income and assets tests and as such, may result in a variation to their RA payment.  Where there is a variation to the RA payment for these clients, an advice will be produced.

General Information Sheet

The General Information Sheet (GIS) will not be produced as part of each client's letter for the March processing.

For information, the GIS will only be produced in the following circumstances:

  • as part of the annual end of financial year (June) mailout
  • as part of an income support pension new grant advice
  • as part of a daily advice when a client is switched over from transitional to non-transitional assessment

Pensioners who reside overseas permanently will not be given the GIS to avoid confusion, because some components of the pension supplement listed (PS non-taxable and PS flexible) are not payable to overseas pensioners.

Single & Joint Addressed Letters

All service pension and income support supplement recipient couples will receive a joint advice, provided the pensioner addresses are identical.  The batch address defaults determining single and joint advices have been aligned with the PIPS PC daily advice defaults.   Where both members of a couple have the same postal address recorded, a joint advice will be produced.  This includes illness separated couples.

Important to note: Staff are reminded when granting Age Pension or when clients in a joint assessment request separate or single advices, they need to update this information using the mainframe PRODIMS - Client Correspondence Client Options (CO.CO) Screen - prior to the processing run to initiate the client request.  The advice default requests set in CO.CO will override the DOCGEN and PIPS advice rules.

Age pensioner couples will receive separate letters if the advice default request has been set in CO.CO.

Minister's Letter

For all CEP recipients, a letter from the Minister regarding the commencement of the Clean Energy Supplement fortnightly payment will be the last sheet of their advice letter.

The content of this letter will be provided in a separate Businessline.

MyAccount Information Flyer

A MyAccount flyer about the DVA services available online will be included with all advice letters in this mailout.

A copy of the flyer will be provided in a separate Businessline.

Production of Advice Letters

SI Processing

SI Processing, the Global Refresh of Shares, Managed Investments, change to Deemed Interest Rates and CES payment processing are scheduled to commence from Saturday 9 March 2013 through to Sunday 10 March 2013.

Critical Dates

Processing within DVA (includes 'advices' processing)

Friday (9 pm) 8 March 2013 – Sunday 10 March 2013

Transmission of Production Data to Mailing House

Sunday (pm) 10 March 2013

Mailing House to commence production of Advice Letters

Thursday 14 March 2013

Mailing House to commence lodgement of Advice Letters with Australia Post

Thursday 21 March 2013

Mailing House to complete lodgment of all Advice Letters with Australia Post by COB

Wednesday 27 March 2013

Expected Client Numbers

The number of letters to be sent nationally is estimated to be approximately 240,000, which is much higher than the March 2012 exercise, and statistics for that mailout is therefore not comparable.  For reference, the estimated number of mailpacks generated for each location in the March 2013 SI mailout is listed below:

State

Number Of Advice Letters

NSW (and ACT)

78,134

VIC

52,062

QLD

60,055

SA

21,519

WA

22,550

TAS

8324

TAS (Overseas)

700

MRCA clients

629

TOTAL

243,973

Production of Letters

The mailpacks will be produced at Computershare Ermington premises, a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales.  All mailpacks will be lodged with Australia Post from this site.

Staggered Lodgement of Letters

Mailpack lodgement with Australia Post will be staggered by state from Thursday 21 March with final lodgement by COB Wednesday 27 March 2013.

The lodgement schedule as requested by the Client Contact, Policy & Communications Branch is as detailed below.

File Name

Lodgement with Australia Post

WA

Thursday 21 March

SA & MRCA clients

Friday 22 March

QLD

Monday 25 March

NSW

Tuesday 26 March

VIC

Wednesday 27 March

TAS & TAS Overseas

Wednesday 27 March

Progress Reports

Regular updates of the mailpack production and lodgement will be provided to the Income Support contact officers by the Cards and Advices Team.

DFISA Advices from Centrelink Processing

DVA suppressed all Centrelink daily DFISA variation advices with an effective date of 5 March 2013, which are transmitted to DVA following the Centrelink processing run.  All other advices will be printed as part of the normal processing, including Centrelink DFISA cancellation and grant advices.

Foreign Pension Refresh Program known as GROOVER

The foreign pension refresh program referred to as 'GROOVER' (Global Refresh Of Overseas Exchange Rates) is a separate processing exercise to the March 2013 Global Refresh processing and is scheduled to run on the evening of Wednesday, 13 March 2013. The effective date of the Foreign Pensions Refresh Run is 20 March 2013 for payday 4 April 2013.

Separate Foreign Income advices are produced for clients who have foreign income, and whose pensions have been varied because of the GROOVER run.  A sample GROOVER advice can be found at Attachment B.

About 500 GROOVER advices are expected and are to be printed locally.  The advice letters will be sent to nominated printers at each location for printing and mail processing by Systems Support Officers (SSOs).

A small number of streamed advices will also be printed.  These letters should be checked for accuracy and reconciled against the advice schedule reports.

All GROOVER advices must be held pending notification of the successful lodgement of all the March quarterly advices.  This will ensure that pensioners receive their advice letters in chronological order.

Please note:  The British Social Security Pension (type 08), British Official Public Service/Forces pension (type 09) and British Other Income (type 07) are not included in the GROOVER update.  Instead they are regularly updated in British Pensions exchange rate variation exercises (commonly known as BRI runs) whenever the pound Sterling exchange rate varies by 2.5% or more.

Issues Requiring Staff Action

Streamed Advices

Several categories of advices are streamed out to print at nominated printers at each location, as they require additional checking and manual actions.

The following advice types are streamed:

  • Enclosure (treatment eligibility or student child change);
  • Overseas postal address (except Tasmanian clients);
  • Reduction to nil.

They are to be printed at state office printers listed below:

SAVSSOPRO06

TASVTSOPR03

WAVWSOPR01

VICV005P

NSWN607P

QLDVQSOPRO1

These advices, in particular treatment eligibility change ones, should be checked for correctness, and reconciled against the reports received by each Office.

Reduction to Nil advice letters also require inclusion of Commonwealth Seniors Health Card (CSHC) claim forms, CSHC fact sheets and reply paid envelopes to the mailpacks.

Please note: A MyAccount flyer should be included with each advice letter.  Income Support Contact Officers are to email Advices Help Desk – ACT to advise of the number of flyers required at their location.  Supply of the flyers will be sent by internal mail as soon as they are available.

ZIP Files of Advice Schedule Reports

A Zip File listing details of all clients who receive an advice will be emailed to the Contact Officers following the processing run.  The Zip File replaces the Advices Schedule Report, which is too large to print on the printers in each office.

Reprints of Advices Available using VIEW – Advices Tab

Reprints of individual advice letters produced from the quarterly processing can be requested via VIEW – Advices Tab reprint facility.  Quarterly advice reprints are available and can be requested from day one of the next quarter i.e. March quarterly advices from 01/04/yyyy, June quarterly advices from 01/07/yyyy and March quarterly advices from 01/10/yyyy.

'HELD' Advices to be Forced

As part of the Batch processing run any advices in 'Held' status will be forced to print.  Forced held advices will print at each respective Office's nominated printer as part of the production processing.

Please ensure your designated printer is fully operational during the processing period.  These advices will need to be checked to ensure the information in them is correct prior to posting.

Holding of daily advice letters

Daily advice letters produced after the processing run on 9 – 10 March 2013 should be held pending notification that all the March 2013 quarterly letters have been dispatched.  This will ensure that pensioners receive their advice letters in chronological order.

Income Support Contact Officers

Income Support  Contact Officers

A contact person from each State is required to act as a liaison point for the Cards and Advices Team and is to be the responsible person for distributing any information regarding the March 2013 Global Refresh mailout to staff.

The Income Support (IS) contacts for the March 2013 quarterly processing exercise are listed below:

NSW:Steven Weston

VIC:Greg Heitsch

QLD:Stephen Hamill

SA:Maria Nasilowski

WA:Michelle Pauly / Margarete Mumme

TAS:Daimeon Horne

Feedback from Staff

Any concerns regarding letters produced as part of this run should be directed to the Advices Help Desk – ACT mailbox.  Please report any problems without delay and state the nature of the query together with any relevant information.  Every effort will be made to develop solutions to address any concerns raised.

Cards & Advices Team Contact Details

Any queries regarding this mailout should be directed to the Advices Help Desk – ACT mailbox.

Richard Magor

Assistant Secretary

Income Support and Grants Branch

8 March 2013

Mock-ups of Letters to be Produced

Letter Content

Prior to the issue of this Departmental Instruction, comments were sought from staff regarding the advice content and paragraph sequencing.  No feedback was received.

Advice Samples

Details of the proposed content of the letters are included in Attachment A.

  • Example 1A: SP Increase, with CES, with MIs/SHs in assessment.
  • Example 1B: AP Increase, with CES, without MIs/SHs in assessment.
  • Example 2A: CES advice for DP only or WWP only.
  • Example 2B: CES advice for MRCA WDP or MRCA SRDP.

Attachment B contains a sample of the GROOVER advice.

Letter Variables

Please note, in the enclosed examples:

  • Letterhead, DC name and signature block will change according to State.
  • The words “service pension”, “age pension” and “income support supplement” each represent variables which will appear for those clients in receipt of the applicable pension.
  • The introductory paragraphs will advise clients of the outcome of their re-assessment, being either 'increased', 'reduced' or 'reduced to nil'. Variables such as 'increased', 'reduced', 'granted', 'commenced' or 'cancelled' may be used when referring to Income Support allowance outcomes.

ATTACHMENT A

Example 1A

  • SERVICE PENSION INCREASE
  • PARTNERED ASSESSMENT
  • SINGLE OUTCOME
  • WITH CES
  • WITH MIs/SHs IN ASSESSMENT
  • WITH DEEMED FINANCIAL ASSETS
  • INCOME TESTED

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

LETTERHEAD

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

Dear Mr and Mrs Thompson,

This is to advise you that your service pension has been increased.  This change will take effect from 20 March 2013.

Clean Energy Supplement

You are now receiving a Clean Energy Supplement as part of your regular payment.  This ongoing assistance is part of the Household Assistance Package under the Australian Government's plan for a Clean Energy Future and will help you with household costs associated with the carbon price.

This is a tax exempt payment and does not count as income for income and asset assessment purposes.

Payment Information

Details of your fortnightly payments are provided in the Payment Information Attachment.

Change to Value of Shares and/or Managed Investments

The asset value of your shares which are listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and/or unit based managed investments has been reassessed.  The adjusted value of these investments has been used to work out your pension payment and has resulted in a variation to the amount of  pension paid to you.  The value of other income and assets you may have has not been affected by this reassessment.

Please refer to the 'Shares and Managed Investments Information' Attachment included in this letter.  This Attachment details all of your shares and/or managed investments regardless of whether there has been a change to that share or managed investment.  It is important that you check that this list is a full and accurate statement of your shares and/or managed investments.

We have not provided you with a complete listing of any other income or assets you have in your assessment, as they remain unchanged.  However, they continue to be used in assessing the amount of pension you are paid.

Change to Pension due to Cost of Living or Wages Increases

Your pension has been adjusted in line with increases in the cost of living or wages where applicable.

Deemed Interest Rate Change – Financial Assets

With effect from 20 March 2013, the deemed interest rates will change.  The new deemed income rates of 2.5% for amounts up to $45,400 ($75,600 per couple) and 4% for amounts over $45,400 ($75,600 per couple), will be used to work out the amount of income calculated from your financial assets.

This has resulted in a change to the income amounts used to work out your rate of service pension.

Total Financial Assets

FINANCIAL ASSETS

VALUE

DEEMED INTEREST RATE

DEEMED INCOME PER FORTNIGHT

$xx,xxx.xx

2.5%

$xx.xx

$xx,xxx.xx

4%

$xx.xx

$xx,xxx.xx

$xxx.xx

What is Deemed Income?

For pension purposes, income from financial assets such as accounts with banks, building societies and credit unions, loans, bonds, debentures, gifts, shares, managed investments and bullion is deemed.  The value of all your financial assets are added together, and deemed interest rates are applied to calculate the income.

Financial Obligations

You need to tell us within 14 days (28 days if you are living overseas or receive remote area allowance) if your combined gross income from all sources is more than $XXXX.XX per fortnight or the value of your combined assets is more than $XXXXXX.XX.

Other Obligations

We have explained your obligations to you in previous letters and the booklet 'You and Your Pension'.  These obligations still apply.

Changes You Have Already Told Us About

If you have told us recently about a change to your income and assets or your domestic situation, it may not have been processed before this letter was sent.  If this is the case, we will send you another letter providing details of your new pension assessment when that change has been finalised.  This normally takes no more than 4 weeks.

Your Right of Review

If you do not agree with this variation to your pension, you may apply to have it reviewed by a Review Officer at this office.  If you do decide to apply, you must do so within three months of being advised of this decision.  Such a request for review must be in writing, and must set out your reasons for seeking this review.

If you have any questions regarding Income Support issues you should contact us on 1300 550 452 (Capital city callers) or 1800 550 452 (Non-Capital city callers).  For any other enquiries please contact the Department at the address or telephone number shown at the top of this letter.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

DEPUTY COMMISSIONER

SIGNATURE BLOCK

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *
PAYMENT INFORMATION ATTACHMENT

The Department calculates your payments on a daily basis.  This means that your fortnightly payment is made up of 14 days of entitlement.  Therefore, when there is a change to your circumstances on any particular day in the fortnight - your payment will be adjusted from that day.  For that reason your payment may be different for one or two paydays after a reassessment.

Payment for 4 April 2013VeteranPartner

TOTAL FORTNIGHTLY PAYMENT$xxx.xx$xxx.xx

This is made up of:

- Service Pensionxxx.xx xxx.xx

- Pension Supplement  xx.xx   xx.xx

- Clean Energy Supplement - Service Pension  xx.xx   xx.xx

Payment for 18 April 2013VeteranPartner

TOTAL FORTNIGHTLY PAYMENT$xxx.xx$xxx.xx

This is made up of:

- Service Pensionxxx.xx xxx.xx

- Pension Supplement  xx.xx   xx.xx

- Clean Energy Supplement - Service Pension  xx.xx   xx.xx

Please Note:  If you have an overpayment or lump sum advance which is currently being recovered (by deductions from your fortnightly pension), the amount paid into your account may be less than the total fortnightly payment shown above.


SHARES AND MANAGED INVESTMENTS INFORMATION

(Information currently used to assess your pension)

You are receiving service pension at less than the maximum rate payable.

You are currently paid under the income test.  The total of your assessed gross fortnightly income is $x,xxx.xx.  The total of all your assets (excluding any deductible assets) is $xxx,xxx.xx.

Information about your shares and managed investments is provided below.

The asset value of your shares which are listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and/or your unit based managed investments have been automatically updated.

The asset values of any unlisted public company shares, overseas shares, options, rights and futures or account based managed investments you hold have not been updated.  You must tell us if the asset value of these investments has varied by $1,000 or more.

The information below sets out the values for the shares and/or managed investments in your current assessment.

Listed Securities and Unlisted Public Securities

Description

No. of Shares

Asset Amount

XXXXXX

X,XXX

$XX,XXX.XX

XXXXXX

X,XXX

$XX,XXX.XX

XXXXXX

X,XXX

$XX,XXX.XX

Managed Investments

Description

Units

Asset Amount

CCCCCCCCCCCCC

XXX

$XXX.XX

CCCCCCCCCCCCC

XXX

$XXX.XX

CCCCCCCCCCCCC

XXX

$XXX.XX

Note: Income from financial assets is deemed.

Important Information:  We have not provided you with a complete listing of any other income or assets you may have in your assessment, as they have not been changed in this assessment.  However, they continue to be used in assessing the amount of service pension you are paid.  If they have changed, please notify the Department immediately.

You need to tell us within 14 days (28 days if you are living overseas or receive remote area allowance) if the above list of your Shares and/or Managed Investments is incomplete or incorrect; or if the number of shares or units you hold has changed.  Please note that failure to advise of incorrect or missing information about your shares or managed investments, or about other income or asset changes, may lead to your pension being overpaid.  Such overpayments are recoverable.

ATTACHMENTS

  • Minister's letter


Example 1B

  • AGE PENSION INCREASE
  • ASSETS TESTED
  • MULTIPLE OUTCOMES
  • DFISA VARIATION
  • WITH DEEMED FINANCIAL ASSETS
  • WITH CES
  • WITHOUT MIs/SHs IN ASSESSMENT

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

LETTERHEAD

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

This is to advise you that your:

  • age pension has been increased.
  • Defence Force Income Support Allowance (DFISA) has varied.

This change will take effect from 20 March 2013.

Clean Energy Supplement

You are now receiving a Clean Energy Supplement as part of your regular payment.  This ongoing assistance is part of the Household Assistance Package under the Australian Government's plan for a Clean Energy Future and will help you with household costs associated with the carbon price.

This is a tax exempt payment and does not count as income for income and asset assessment purposes.

Payment Information

Details of your fortnightly payments are provided in the Payment Information Attachment.

Change to Pension due to Cost of Living or Wages Increases

Your pension has been adjusted in line with increases in the cost of living or wages where applicable.

Deemed Interest Rate Change – Financial Assets

With effect from 20 March 2013, the deemed interest rates will change.  The new deemed income rates of 2.5% for amounts up to $45,400 ($75,600 per couple) and 4% for amounts over $45,400 ($75,600 per couple), will be used to work out the amount of income calculated from your financial assets.

This has resulted in a change to the income amounts used to work out your rate of service pension.

Total Financial Assets

FINANCIAL ASSETS

VALUE

DEEMED INTEREST RATE

DEEMED INCOME PER FORTNIGHT

$xx,xxx.xx

2.5%

$xx.xx

$xx,xxx.xx

4%

$xx.xx

$xx,xxx.xx

$xxx.xx

What is Deemed Income?

For pension purposes, income from financial assets such as accounts with banks, building societies and credit unions, loans, bonds, debentures, gifts, shares, managed investments and bullion is deemed.  The value of all your financial assets are added together, and deemed interest rates are applied to calculate the income.

Financial Obligations

You need to tell us within 14 days (28 days if you are living overseas) if you gain or dispose of any assets, or the value of your total existing assets varies, or your gross income from all sources increases above $XXX.XX per fortnight.

Other Obligations

We have explained your obligations to you in previous letters.  These obligations still apply.

Changes You Have Already Told Us About

If you have told us recently about a change to your income and assets or your domestic situation, it may not have been processed before this letter was sent.  If this is the case, we will send you another letter providing details of your new pension assessment when that change has been finalised.  This normally takes no more than 4 weeks.

Your Right of Review

If you do not agree with this decision, you can contact your nearest Veterans' Affairs office and discuss the reasons for the decision.  If you remain dissatisfied, you may apply to have the decision reviewed by an Authorised Review Officer, with no prior involvement in the case.  If you decide to apply for a review more than 13 weeks from the day this notice is given to you, you can only be paid an adjustment from the date we receive your application.  Requests for review may be made in person, by telephone or in writing.

The rate of DFISA paid to you is derived from your age pension assessment.  You may seek to have your age pension assessment reviewed if you are dissatisfied with your DFISA rate.

If you have any questions regarding Income Support issues you should contact us on 1300 550 452 (Capital city callers) or 1800 550 452 (Non-Capital city callers).  For any other enquiries please contact the Department at the address or telephone number shown at the top of this letter.

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DEPUTY COMMISSIONER

SIGNATURE BLOCK

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ATTACHMENTS

  • Payment Information Attachment (where fortnightly CES is displayed as a separate entry)
  • Minister's letter


Example 2A

  • CLEAN ENERGY SUPPLEMENT LETTER FOR DISABILITY PENSION ONLY OR WAR WIDOW/ER'S PENSION ONLY CLIENTS

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LETTERHEAD

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Clean Energy Supplement

You are now receiving a Clean Energy Supplement as part of your regular payment.  This ongoing assistance is part of the Household Assistance Package under the Australian Government's plan for a Clean Energy Future and will help you with household costs associated with the carbon price.

This is a tax exempt payment and does not count as income for income and asset assessment purposes.

Payment Information

Details of your fortnightly payments are provided in the Payment Information Attachment.

If you have any questions regarding the above matters please contact this office at the address or telephone number shown at the top of this letter.

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DEPUTY COMMISSIONER

SIGNATURE BLOCK

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

ATTACHMENTS

  • Payment Information Attachment
  • Minister's letter


Example 2B

  • CLEAN ENERGY SUPPLEMENT LETTER FOR MRCA WDP and MRCA SRDP CLIENTS

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

LETTERHEAD

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

Clean Energy Supplement

You are now receiving a Clean Energy Supplement as part of your regular payment.  This ongoing assistance is part of the Household Assistance Package under the Australian Government's plan for a Clean Energy Future and will help you with household costs associated with the carbon price.

This is a tax exempt payment and does not count as income for income and asset assessment purposes.

Payment Information

Details of your fortnightly payments are provided in the Payment Information Attachment.

If you have any questions regarding the above matters please contact this office at the address or telephone number shown at the top of this letter.

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DEPUTY COMMISSIONER

SIGNATURE BLOCK

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

ATTACHMENTS

  • Payment Information Attachment (where fortnightly CES is displayed as a separate entry)
  • Minister's letter


ATTACHMENT B

EXAMPLE OF GROOVER ADVICE:

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STATE SPECIFIC LETTERHEAD

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This is to advise you that your service pension has been increased.  This change will take effect from 20 March 2013.

The rate of exchange used to convert your Foreign Income to Australian Dollars for income support pension assessment purposes has been reviewed.  The new rate of exchange is shown below.

If the Foreign Income per fortnight amount shown below is not the same as the gross amount (in foreign currency) you are currently receiving, you should notify the Department within 14 days (28 days if you are living overseas or receive remote area allowance).  The Foreign Income per fortnight amount shown below may be incorrect if you have received an increase in your foreign payment, or the amount has been recorded incorrectly.

Foreign Income

Description

Foreign Income per fortnight

Exchange Rate

Assessed Income per fortnight

Euro

xxx.xxx

x.xxxx

$xxx.xx

Turkish Lira

xxx.xxx

x.xxxx

$xxx.xx

Payment Information

Details of your payments are provided in the Payment Information Attachment.

Financial Obligations

You need to tell us within 14 days (28 days if you are living overseas or receive remote area allowance) if your combined gross income from all sources is more than $XXXX.XX per fortnight or the value of your combined assets is more than $XXXXXX.XX.

Your Right of Review

If you do not agree with this decision, you may apply to have it reviewed by a Review Officer at this office.  If you do decide to apply for a review, you must do so within three months of being advised of this decision.  A request for review must be in writing and set out your reasons for seeking this review.

If you have any questions regarding the above matters please contact this office at the address or telephone number shown at the top of this letter.

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DEPUTY COMMISSIONER SIGNATURE BLOCK

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ATTACHMENTS

  • Payment Information Attachment