Memorandum of Understanding
between
the Commonwealth of Australia Department of Veterans' Affairs
(ABN 23 964 290 824)
and
the Commonwealth of Australia Department of Family and Community Services
(ABN 36 342 015 855)
regarding
payment of Social Security Age Pension to
Entitled Persons
2.1 — The parties to this MOU are:
5.1 — An Entitled Person has a choice to claim the Age Pension, before or after this MOU comes into effect, from either Centrelink or DVA.
6.1 — After grant of Age Pension, an Entitled Person has the choice to transfer between both agencies.
7.1 — DVA agrees to administer the Age Pension on behalf of FaCS for Entitled Persons who have consented to DVA doing so (the Task).
7.2 — DVA agrees to perform the Task in accordance with Social Security Law, the Guide to Social Security Law and policy instructions issued by the Secretary of FaCS, as amended from time to time.
8.1 — In performing the Task, DVA agrees to meet the FaCS customer service standards described in Attachment A and provide FaCS with the management information set out in Attachment B
8.2 — In performing the Task DVA agrees to prepare Ministerial responses to customer related correspondence about social security age or wife pension paid by DVA, for the Minister of the Department of Family and Community Services.
8.3 — In preparing ministerial responses DVA agrees to provide customer details to FaCS within 5 working days of request to assist with preparing responses to requests from the FaCS Portfolio Ministers, the Ombudsman, Appeal Courts or Tribunals or other source that may arise from time to time. DVA will need to contact Centrelink if they require similar customer information to respond to their ministerial.
8.4
8.5Claims of Legal Liability:
8.5.1Compensation for Detriment caused by Defective Administration Payment
8.5.2Act of Grace Payments
8.6Access to Services:
8.6.1 — DVA agrees Entitled Persons who chose to receive their Age Pension from DVA have access to all customer services available to other DVA clients.
9.1 — DVA agrees that payments made to Entitled Persons will be subject to the same administrative activities as are applicable to service pensioners and income support supplement recipients and their partners including:
10.1 — FaCS agrees to do all things necessary to ensure that DVA and its Personnel can perform the Task properly, including:
11.1 — To cover the administrative costs of DVA determining and processing Age Pension claims, assessments and reviews on behalf of FaCS, FaCS agrees to pay DVA for each financial year the amount calculated by multiplying the estimated customer numbers by the base price per customer rounded to the nearest $100.
The estimated customer numbers will be calculated by taking the total number of BEB recipients at payday 26 of the previous financial year then reducing that figure by half of the yearly customer 'mortality' rate (4.1%).
The base price per customer for the 2003-04 financial year will be calculated by dividing the 2002-03 DVA payment ($198,900) by the estimated customer numbers for that financial year (7309) and then applying an indexation factor. The indexation factor will be based on the Wage Cost Index, Australian Public Sector, June Quarter figure for the preceding financial year (4.2%). For the 2003-04 financial year the base price per customer would be $28.36 [(198900/7309) *4.2%]. For each subsequent financial year the base price per customer will be the previous year's price multiplied by the indexation factor.
The total payment amount will be made in 2 equal six-monthly installments.
12.1 — DVA agrees to provide a written assurance/performance report on the previous six months performance against the service standards relating to quality and timeliness of processing and customer service, review arrangements and monitoring (as set out in Attachment A).
12.2 — DVA agrees to provide a quarterly written report on the management information (MI) set down in Attachment B. DVA agrees to provide the MI reports to FaCS no later than the second weeks in October, January, April and July of each year.
12.3 — Payment will be subject to DVA fulfilling all its obligations in this MOU.
13.1 — The parties agree that DVA can make Age Pension payments to Entitled Persons by drawing directly on the relevant FaCS financial appropriation.
14.1 — Any notice, request or other communication served in relation to this Agreement shall be in writing and delivered promptly to the DVA or FaCS at the addresses specified below:
DVA Director Business Operations and Support Section Income Support Branch PO Box 21 WODEN ACT 2606 |
FaCS Director Aged Program Management Section Seniors and Means Test Branch Box 7788 Canberra Mail Centre ACT 2610 |
14.2 — Technical questions from DVA and its Personnel on Social Security Law, the Guide to Social Security Law and policy instructions by the Secretary of FaCS will, in the first instance, be directed to the FaCS Helpdesk:
15.1 — The parties will notify each other of issues or disputes as early as possible. The parties will act in good faith to attempt to resolve such issues or disputes in a timely manner.
16.1 — DVA will respond on behalf of the Ministers for FaCS or DVA to queries or complaints from Entitled Persons receiving an Age Pension from DVA in a timely manner.
16.2 — The parties will consult each other and determine on a case-by-case basis who is in the best position to deal with claims from DVA Age Pension customers that relate to possible defective administration or act of grace payments.
16.3 — The parties agree to respond in a timely manner to requests for assistance from the other regarding DVA Aged Pension customer queries, claims and complaints.
17.1 — Variations to this MOU must be in writing, signed by the parties' authorised representatives.
18.1 — For the purposes of government accountability and effective management of this arrangement, the parties agree to provide each other with reasonable access to material relating to this MOU.
19.1 — DVA and FaCS acknowledge their obligations to comply with relevant Commonwealth privacy and confidentiality legislation and policies, including the Privacy Act 1988 and directions from the Privacy Commissioner, as well as the following:
20.1 — In this MOU, unless the contrary intention appears -
Age Pension |
Age pension is a government payment, which provides a safety net for older people who have reached age pension age and are unable to adequately provide for themselves. Any reference to the Age Pension in this MOU can also relate to the administration of Wife (Age) Pension for Entitled Persons. |
Attachment |
Means a document attached or referred to expressly by a clause as describing a relevant aspect of this MOU. |
Centrelink |
Commonwealth service delivery agency |
claim |
Includes potential claim, suit, demand, action or proceeding from any person. |
Disability Pension |
A pension paid to compensate veterans for injuries or diseases caused or aggravated by war service or certain defence service on behalf of Australia under the Veterans Entitlements Act 1986 |
DVA |
Means the Commonwealth of Australia, as represented by and acting through the Department of Veterans' Affairs, but also including its Personnel. |
Entitled Person |
Means a Veteran who is entitled to both the Disability Pension under the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986 and the Age Pension under the Social Security Act 1991 and their partner. |
FaCS |
Means the Commonwealth of Australia, as represented by and acting through the Department of Family and Community Services, but also including its Personnel. |
Guide to Social Security Law |
Provides a comprehensive guide to finding information contained in Social Security Law. The Guide is updated on a monthly basis. |
include |
Where 'include' (in any form) is used in this Agreement, examples following it do not limit the scope of the relevant issue to a specific example or class of examples. |
MOU |
Means this document (embracing the clauses and information in the Signatures Page plus any express Attachment. This Agreement does not include the title page, table of contents or headings; although, these may help clarify any inconsistencies. |
party |
Means, as applicable, the Commonwealth, the State and their respective Personnel. |
Personnel |
Includes any party's officer, partner, employee, agent, volunteer, bailee, contractor, subcontractor, executor, administrator, substitute, successor, licensee or assignee but – when applied to one party – does not include the other party or that other party's Personnel |
Signatures Page |
Means the pages executed (by signatures or affixing a seal as appropriate) by each party to indicate intention to create legal relations under this Agreement. |
Social Security Law |
Consists of three parts: Social Security Act 1991, Social Security (Administration) Act 1999 and the Social Security (International Agreements) Act 1999. |
Task |
DVA administration of the social security age pension on behalf of FaCS for Entitled Persons who have nominated DVA as the delivery agency. |
Veteran |
A person who is taken to have rendered eligible war service or to whom a pension is payable under part II of the VEA 1986. |
Signed for and on behalf of the Commonwealth of Australia Department of Veterans' Affairs by: |
[insert name and position of authorised person] |
Signature and date: _______________________ __/__/__ |
Witnessed by: |
[insert name of witness] |
Signature and date: _______________________ __/__/__ |
Signed for and on behalf of the Commonwealth of Australia Department of Family and Community Services by: |
[insert name and position of authorised person] |
Signature and date: _______________________ __/__/__ |
Witnessed by: |
[insert name of witness] |
Signature and date: _______________________ __/__/__ |
DVA management information is to be provided quarterly.
The management information should be in a text file on either a floppy disc or a cd and contain the following information:
DVA ID
Customer identifier
Payment Type
Age Pension
Wife Pension
Payment Status
Current
Suspended
Sex
Male
Female
Age (years)
Integer
Age (days)
Integer
Relationship Status
Married
Defacto
Single
Separated
Divorced
Widowed
Country of Birth
Country List
Indigenous Indicator
Aboriginal
Torres Strait Islander
South Sea Islander
Both Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander
Aboriginal & South Sea Islander
Torres Strait & South Sea Islander
Aboriginal & Torres Strait & South Sea Islander
Not identified
State of Residence
New South Wales
Victoria
Queensland
South Australia
Western Australia
Tasmania
Northern Territory
Australian Capital Territory
Australian Postcode of Residence
Postcode list
Country of Residence
Country List
Duration on payment (years)
Integer
Duration on payment (days)
Integer
Rate of Payment
Single
Partnered
Illness separated
Payment reduction
Receives maximum payment
Receives reduced payment
Payment Made Under Which Means Test
Asset Test
Income Test
Blind Maximum Payment Indicator
Blind and is exempt from means test
Not blind
DVA Payment Types
List of payments
Pension (Basic + supplement)
Dollars and cents
Pharmaceutical Allowance
Dollars and cents
Rent Assistance
Dollars and cents
Remote Area Allowance
Dollars and cents
Telephone Allowance
Dollars and cents
Partner's Payment Type
Payment list
Own Income
From business
Dollars and cents
From compensation
Dollars and cents
From earnings
Dollars and cents
From farm
Dollars and cents
From deeming
Dollars and cents
From DVA payments
Dollars and cents
From real estate
Dollars and cents
From income streams
Dollars and cents
From foreign sources
Dollars and cents
From other sources
Dollars and cents
Total Income as Assessed (combined amount if partnered)
Dollars and cents
Own Assets
Farm business
Dollars and cents
Other business
Dollars and cents
Farm real estate
Dollars and cents
Other real estate
Dollars and cents
Household and Personal Effects
Dollars and cents
Assets subject to deeming
Dollars and cents
Income Stream Assets
Dollars and cents
Other Assets
Dollars and cents
Total Assets as Assessed (combined amount if partnered)
Dollars and cents
Rent Type
Board and lodging
Free board
Free board and lodgings
Free lodgings
Government rent
Lodgings only
Maintenance fee for nursing home/retirement village
Mooring fees
No rent paid
Other
Private rent
Site fees
Amount of rent paid
Dollars and cents
Home ownership
Deemed interest
Homeowner and lives in Government funded Aged Care
Not a homeowner and lives in Government funded Aged Care
Fully owns home
Owns home jointly with partner
Homeowner but lives elsewhere
Bequeathed life interest
Homeowner and lives in a nursing home
Not a homeowner and lives in a nursing home
Not a homeowner
Other homeowner
Owns home jointly with someone other than partner
Purchased life tenancy
Homeowner and lives in a special residence
Not a homeowner and lives in a special residence
Links
[1] https://clik.dva.gov.au/user/login?destination=comment/reply/24524%23comment-form
[2] mailto:Helpdesk.Age.Pension@facs.gov.au