[Ken Bakon]

Fellow Pros,
Be interested to hear your views on the new form. Particularly the consent/application signature area.
Appears to me that if the pensioner signs the form, that automatically means they give Council consent. (even if they do not want to give Council such consent).

Tried to call OLG, but they are closed until next Monday…………..wish we could do that!

[Robert Hay]

Hi Ken

I believe with the hardcopy form that the card has not been presented/sighted by Council and consent from the pensioner is required to make an online enquiry to confirm eligibility.

I would still like to sight the card or get a copy from the pensioner if I can but understand how this new process makes it very easy for the pensioner.

Robert

[Trevor Holland]

Hello Everyone

Not really sure about this form as it appears to be missing details regarding MRCA pensioners which were included on previous forms. Or am I just getting forgetful and thought it was previously included?

Like Ken I also tried to ring OLG to discuss. Will need to follow up next week when OLG are back on deck.

Trevor

[Matthew Saunders]

Hi Ken,

I agree. The wording for the paper and online application should clarify more clearly that they are (1) signing to give consent and (2) to verify that the information is true and correct. The consent is kind of hidden in the third paragraph.

The verbal application is even worse as it asks for them to consent by saying yes/no, but after that they are read a paragraph that says by answering the questions they declare that the information provided is true and correct (after they have already answered the questions – perhaps the owners should be informed of that BEFORE they answer the questions?).

I notices a few other omissions/anomalies as well:

1) No field for assessment number
2) Date of occupation field(s) a bit confusing. “The last financial year” – Do non-financial people know what a financial year is? Also, If they only have to enter a date of occupation in the current financial year, how are Councils that back-date rebates going to determine previous financial year rebates without a field for their date of occupation before the current financial year.
3) No mention of MRCA applicants in eligibility list.

I am also not happy that I will now have do more work and research for my pensioner presentation at the conference (LOL).

Kind regards,

Matthew.

[David Grima]

Is there a WORD version available?

[Jeanette Curley]

Hi David

Yes there is I have just received it and will send it through.

[Jeanette Curley]

Hi

I have received a further email from OLG advising the forms sent out are minimum requirements – if you wish to add detail which is relevant for your Council then that is fine. If you have more technical questions please send to olg@olg.nsw.gov.au Attn: Performance Team.

[Cherie Muir]

Hi there
About the new forms …
What about the new sentence on the front page that reads:

“If more than one ‘occupant’ of the property is eligible for a concession, an additional form will need to be completed. However only one rebate is available per property.”

This sentence is new. How are we interpreting this? Does it mean that for a husband and wife (which both live at the property) we need two forms to grant the full 100%? As with the old forms we could grant the full 100% to an eligible husband and wife with only one form?

We could add the “All other Owners” table (from the old form) back into the new form (to help us determine eligibility, etc), but that still would not resolve this issue about having to have ‘an additional form’ from each occupant.

Am I looking at this correctly … seems to be more complicated (not simplified)?

Thanks, Cherie

[Ken Bakon]

Cherie,
I have put a number of questions to the OLG (the “one form per occupant” being one).
The questions were emailed to them over two weeks ago…………still waiting!

I will publish their answers on this site when (or if) they reply

Ken

[Cherie Muir]

Thanks Ken!
I’ll be keen to see their response … have you just kept on with the old form while waiting for clarity?
Cherie

[Jeanette Curley]

Hi there

I have just received the following response from the OLG in regards to the consent forms.

Dear Jeanette
Thank you for your email of 10 January 2018 about the concern of a separate consent section on the new pensioner application form.

Thank you for bringing this concern to my attention. I can confirm the form is currently being updated to include a separate section for consent and a link will be sent to all NSW councils as soon as approved for distribution.
Yours sincerely
Sonja Hammond
Manager Performance

[James Bentley]

Hi everyone,
I have a general question which has been prompted by the new form. As far as Centrelink pensioners are concerned, my understanding is that Council is only entitled to ask for – and verify – Pensioner Concession Card entitlement. The type of pension granted to the ratepayer is immaterial. Has Council ever been able to ask for – or even consider – the type of Centrelink pension in order to make a determination regarding the grant or quantum of pensioner rebate?

Thanks,
James

[Matthew Saunders]

Hi James,

The old form and the new form don’t ask for the pension type as a person is entitled to a rebate if they hold a Pensioner Concession Card irrespective of what type of payment eg Single parent, age, disability etc. If you need to know what type of payment they are on, the Centrelink verification search shows this information under the “payment type” and you can therefore get the information from there and record it if required.

The consent forms stipulate that “payment type” will be provided to councils so there are no barriers to recording the information as long as the information is stored and used for the purpose it is provided, being to determine their eligibility for a rebate.

Kind regards,

Matthew.

[James Bentley]

Crystal clear. Thanks very much for that Matthew.

[Matthew Saunders]

It has come to my attention when speaking to James that some councils may not receive the same results from Centrelink when doing the verifications. Our results show the payment type and grant date, but Cessnock Council said they do not get this with theirs.

If you look under the payment details on your search results, there should two results fields being be a payment type and Payment grant date. If you don’t get these results and you want this information you can contact Centrelink and ask to have these fields added to your search results.

Matthew.

[Author]

Posts