Biannual Bulk Issue – 2020 Pensioner Concession Card (PCC)
Purpose | This Departmental Instruction provides information about: · bulk issue of 2020 Pensioner Concession Card (PCC); · daily issue of PCCs and travel vouchers to Victorian clients; and · reissue of PCCs to clients who lost their pension and PCC as a result of the 1 January 2017 assets test changes. |
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 paid by DVA. Bulk issue of PCCs occur every two years in September/October. The mail house contracted to DVA is responsible for printing, enveloping and lodging the cards mail packs with Australia Post. Outside of the bulk issue exercise, the PCC is also produced internally at each state location on a daily basis for new grants and reprints. |
Eligible PCC holders not in Income Support payment | In the 2017-18 Budget, the Government announced that it would reissue the PCC to clients (valid from 9 October 2017) who lost their pension and PCC as a result of the 1 January 2017 assets test changes. These clients will retain their PCC eligibility for life. Any future pension qualification or disqualification will not affect their entitlement to hold a PCC. This group of clients are also included in the bulk issue of 2020 PCC. |
Distribution of fridge magnet calendars | Since 2017, fridge magnet calendars are distributed with the Spring edition of Vetaffairs in late September. |
Dates | The 2020 bulk issue will take place between 22 September and 11 October 2019. The following are the key dates for this exercise. |
Activity | Date |
Production data extract | 22 September 2019 |
Reports to contact officers | 23 September 2019 |
Commence using 2020 stock for daily issues | 24 September 2019 |
Printing, enveloping and lodgement of cards mail packs | 24 September – 11 October 2019 |
Final lodgement with Australia Post | 11 October 2019 |
Numbers | The estimated number of 2020 PCC mail packs are:
|
The estimates are based on:
· the 2017 project less 5% per year, being the expected annual rate of natural attrition of DVA client numbers, and
· the clients who lost their PCCs as a result of the 1 January 2017 assets test changes (Reissues).
Order of Lodgement | The cards will be printed and lodged with Australia Post in the following order. |
WA | Tuesday, 24 September 2019 |
NSW | Thursday, 26 September 2019 |
ACT & TAS | Tuesday, 1 October 2019 |
VIC | Thursday, 3 October 2019 |
QLD | Thursday, 10 October 2019 |
SA & NT | Friday, 11 October 2019 |
Regular updates of progress will be provided to location contacts. A list of the location contacts can be found on the last page of this instruction.
VIC Travel Vouchers | Travel vouchers are issued with the PCC for residents of Victoria. |
Fridge Magnet Calendar for New Grants | A supply of fridge magnet calendars will be sent to the location contacts and VAN representatives. The calendar is to be included as part of a new grant package, together with the grant advice and You and Your Pension Booklet.
As every Vetaffairs recipient would have received a calendar, a calendar should not be sent out again with daily PCC reprints. |
|
Blind Pensioners | The word ‘BLIND’ will be printed at the top right hand corner of the card, (just left of the Expiry date). The card will also be hole-punched at the bottom right hand corner. | |
Cross Reference | If there is a cross reference number for a person, the PCC bulk issue will be under the active file number which may not always be the prime eligibility file number. |
Listing of Dependants on PCC | The rules for listing dependants on the PCC are outlined below. · Members of a couple both in receipt of income support payment will be cross-listed as a dependant on each other’s PCC. Only the dependant’s name is shown, without the file number. · Partner of a veteran (including blind veterans) not eligible or payable but in the assessment, will be listed as a dependant on the veteran PCC. The ineligible partner’s name, file number and suffix will be printed on the veteran’s card. · A veteran not in payment (and therefore not eligible for a PCC) will appear as a dependant if the partner is on blind pension. The ineligible veteran’s name and file number will be printed on the partner’s card. · The maximum number of children that can be listed on a PCC is six. If there are more than six dependent children in the assessment, an additional card listing the remaining children will be issued to each eligible parent. |
The same rules apply for the dependants of Reissues clients.
Eligibility for residents of Norfolk Island | Norfolk Island residents who are in receipt of SP / ISS are eligible to receive a PCC. Age pensioners who are residents of Norfolk Island paid under Social Security Act 1991 (SSA) are not eligible to receive a PCC. This group of clients should not be in payment with DVA. |
2020 PCC Stock | Supplies of 2020 PCC stock for daily issue will be delivered to the location contacts. The bulk issue of 2020 PCC will be valid from 1 January 2020 until 31 December 2021. |
Reports | On completion of the bulk extract, production and error reports will be emailed to location contacts and SSOs. The officers should examine the reports and undertake any necessary action. |
Deceased Clients | Clients who have a date of death recorded after the data extraction date of 22 September 2019 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. |
Daily issuing of PCCs and Vouchers
2020 Daily Issues | The procedures for issuing daily PCCs (for new grants and replacements) remain unchanged. |
The last batch extract for 2020 daily PCCs will be on Friday night, 20 September 2019. New grant and replacement issues for 2020 will need to be printed by 6.00 pm on Monday, 23 September 2019.
State offices should commence using the 2020 stock from Tuesday, 24 September 2019.
2019 Voucher Issues (if applicable) | Any new grants or transfer-ins between 23 September and 31 December 2019 will need to be manually issued with 2019 travel vouchers, if applicable. |
2020 & 2021 Vouchers (if applicable) | All cardholders are entitled to only one issue of travel vouchers for their residential state 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. |
Vouchers will not be provided for all replacement or re-issued cards.
This includes clients who:
· have had a 2020 and/or 2021 DVA PCC with vouchers processed, then lost and regained eligibility during the course of the year/s; or
· Centrelink Transfer-In cases, as they have already received their travel vouchers from Centrelink.
Replacement of Travel Vouchers | DVA does not have the authority to issue replacement travel vouchers. |
Contacts
Location Contacts | The PCC Location Contacts are as follows: |
Location | Contact |
NSW / ACT | Sharon Golden / Edna Lobo |
QLD | Kerri Muller |
VIC | Bryon Kelly |
SA / NT / WA | Marion Colliver / Bee Measham |
TAS | Guy Siberry / Rodney Quinn / Gillian Blake |
Please advise the project coordinator if there are any changes to the contact officers listed above.
Project Coordinator | The project coordinator for the bulk issue of the 2020 PCC is: |
Kyoko Motomura
A/g Assistant Director
Service Operations – Income Support, Cards and Advices
Income Support Processing Branch
Phone: (02) 9213 7207 Ext: 417207
Email: Kyoko.Motomura@dva.gov.au
Janice Silby
Assistant Secretary
Income Support Processing Branch
12 September 2019