[James Bentley]

Hi everyone,

At the last Hunter & Central Coast RP meeting there were some comments made about the potential inadequacy of the verbal pensioner concession application form with respect to future auditing by the Department of Human Services. I requested clarification from Human Services and received a (carefully-worded) response:

Ms Shanleigh Munro, Account Manager, Third Party Operations, Department of Human Services has today confirmed that “the version of consent form that you have provided in your email is the current approved version of verbal application for all NSW Councils. Any future updates, these will be referred through to NSW Office of Local Government for their distribution.” I called her and asked whether or not production of the current verbal application form would be sufficient for the purposes of future auditing by Human Services and her response was that the form itself is sufficient to establish consent by the ratepayer. I asked if any additional proof (such as audio files) would be required at audit, and she mentioned that the form itself is sufficient.

I understand that her written response was not as concise as our conversation over the phone, but she has left me in no reasonable doubt that completion of the verbal application form is sufficient to prove ratepayer consent and accordingly Cessnock City Council will continue to accept verbal applications for the pensioner concession.

Cheers,
James