DATE OF ISSUE:
STATUTORY PENSION INCREASES: ADDITIONAL PENSION FOR CHILDREN AND GUARDIANS ALLOWANCE FROM 9 JANUARY 1992 - ADP PROCEDURES
introduction
1.Additional Pension for Children (APC) and Guardians Allowance (GA) are indexed and increased from the first payday of each year. The rate of APC is linked to the rate of Family Allowance and to the maximum married service pension rate. The next increase will be effective from 9 January 1992.
2.The rate of the allowances paid to children in the Veterans' Children Education Scheme (VCES) and Orphan's Pensions have also been reviewed. A separate instruction relating to procedures to effect these increases has been prepared and will be published separately.
3.The trial assessment module with the new rates will be available from Monday, 10 December 1991. The new rates of APC and GA will be:
Additional Pension for Children
each child under 13 yrs $53.00 increased to $54.80
each child aged 13-15 yrs $77.30 increased to $79.90
each non-prescribed child $34.00 (no change)
Guardian's Allowance $27.80 increased to $28.70
general operational outline
4.The processing for pension rate changes will be divided into cases which will be processed automatically, and cases requiring manual action.
5.Amendments to the ADP Pension Payments Code Book and Rates Charts will be produced and distributed separately.
special features and suggestions
PMF Update/On-line System
6.Processing will be undertaken over the weekend 14-15 December. THE LATEST AVAILABLE PMF UPDATE WILL BE FRIDAY 14 December, at 5 PM SYDNEY TIME (for WA only 7 PM). The Pension Processing system (PIPS) and the Pension Payment update facility will not be available during the weekend.
Pre Increase Action
7.It is suggested that the following steps be taken (IN RELATION TO THE CASES AFFECTED BY THE CHANGE) to increase the number of cases that are increased automatically
. Minimise the number of cases in "frozen" status (SB or PY status).
. Arrange an early cut-off (say one week) for processing of cases requiring MS submissions to allow time for those cases to be received and actioned by Pension Payments.
. Resolve any SP Compare reconciliation edits.
. Arrange a cut-off date one or two days before automatic processing commences for final automatic authorities to Pension Payments.
Limitation Cases
8.Cases for which limitations are in force will have the pension increased automatically, but the limitation amount will not be adjusted. Identification of limitation cases and adjustment to the limitation amount must be arranged locally.
Miscellaneous/Joint Cases
9.Any cases where a miscellaneous or joint pension code remains (ie this has not been removed following the PPSR Phase 1 conversion) will not be actioned automatically. These cases will be listed for manual action. The manual action must involve removal of the miscellaneous or joint code, and separation of any joint payment, in addition to the SI action.
pension rate changes - pension processing
Processing of automatic cases - 14-15 December 1991
10.Program APPBAL will generate Pension Payment transactions updating the rates of service pension and allowances for "selected" cases recorded on the CDB with an automatic method of assessment by:
. Obtaining personal assessment information from the CDB.
. Reassessing the service pension and APC using the new APC and GA rates and elements of assessment.
. Generating transactions for update of the PMF in respect of rate variations. APPBAL does not update the effective date, so that on display of the case, the previous effective date will be shown (ie not 9 January 1992).
Outputs From Program APPBAL
11.A schedule of cases processed automatically will be produced. Other cases which cannot be processed automatically (and which are affected) will be reported on schedules for manual action. The manual schedules will give the reason each case is listed for manual action.
12.Other schedules which may be produced (if any relevant cases occur) are:
.Last SI not processed.
.Old SI process codes deleted.
.Manual arrears cases.
.Data base errors detected.
.Transaction generation error schedule.
Processing of manual cases: 16 December to cut-off for payday 9 January 1992.
13.The processing of manual cases should be done in the above period. Cases are to be processed on a PIPS action record, using the new APC/GA rates and a D2650 or a D408 or other coding sheet produced to effect the PMF variation. If manual coding is done on an action schedule (rather than a D408/coding sheet), the consecutive number for the PIPS action should be noted on the schedule.
Frozen Actions
14.When cases in 'PY' or 'SB' status are encountered by APPBAL, update is prohibited because the record is 'frozen'. These cases need to be 'unfrozen' and re-processed as follows:
. Return case to 'RI' status (by using 'Cancel Determination' and 'Cancel Submission' as appropriate).
. Re-process case using the SI as the last variation (if effective date is prior to the SI date enter arrears line for effective date).
. Submit to 'MS' or 'DA' as appropriate and prepare D408 in 'MS' cases.
. Determine case as per normal.
PMF/CDB incompatible cases
15.Cases will need to be investigated to determine the cause of the discrepancy, then the CDB or PMF corrected as necessary before the SI action can be processed.
Manual Methods of Assessment
16.Cases need to be manually re-assessed and processed through the system as normal. Where a case involves a suspension or a manual DP component, it should be processed through an MS submission and a D408 raised to record the manual coding.
Cases Suspended on the PMF
17.Where a service pension, "Other" or Total suspension occurs on the PMF, the SP rate and suspension rate should be re-assessed, the case processed through an 'MS' submission and the rates varied as necessary. This schedule is produced in 'PMF transaction' format and should be used to code the adjustments. The schedules should be endorsed with the 'MS' consecutive number generated by the system, and be signed by the Delegate - this obviates the need to prepare a D408 for these cases.
INFORMATION/SUPPLEMENTARY PROCESSING SCHEDULES
18.A number of conditions may exist on the CDB which require additional investigation beyond the normal SI processing. The cases listed will already have been processed or will appear for manual action on the schedules. The conditions are detailed below:
Last SI not processed
19.The case should have been processed in a previous A/L but was not. The last SI date on the CDB can be used to determine the last successful SI processed.
Old SI process codes deleted
20.Before any SI processing takes place, any old SI process code (S183) and super or delete fringe benefit codes will be deleted. Action on these will depend on the reason the old process exists, but most will not require any corrective action.
Manual arrears cases
21.Cases where the current effective date is in advance of the pension increase date. These cases need to be examined to ensure that any adjustment for the period between the increase date and the current effective date is made.
Data Base Error detected
22.These cases will 'fail' update processing, and should be referred immediately to ADP for action.
Transaction Generation Errors
23.The equivalent of Interface errors in normal daily production. Corrective action is the same as for Interface errors.
Note: The cases listed above will only be those cases affected by the APC/GA changes and not all cases on the system.
24.Service pension cases submitted to 'MS' should be transmitted to the computer centre via the normal pension payment daily stream with KEYFAST code $PENSIO.
ncc implications
25.Cut off for Payday 65 (26 December 1991) is 13 December 1991. This exercise is scheduled for 15/16 December 1991 as part of the normal fortnightly reassessment program $PPBFORT. Benefits Applications Section will provide direct to the NCC the schedule for this exercise.
Contact Officers
26.The contact officer for this exercise is TRACEY CUNNINGHAM telephone (06) 289 6398. The after hours contact officer is KEN STEWART telephone (06) 282 4794.
DAVID MACKRELL
ASSISTANT SECRETARY
PLANNING & MANAGEMENT