[Tracey Walker]

Hi All,
Further to Ken’s posts on 8th June in relation to the verbal application form, I approached Department of Human Services in relation to the online application form as we had put in our Revenue Policy that would accept paper, verbal and online application. This policy is part our annual plan process and will be going to Council on 25 June.

My question to the Department of Human Services recently was what would be involved and how does Council apply/register to use the online application form, and I included some detail on what our thoughts were around the process and how it would work with our property system (Pathway).

The response I received back has stated “if Council would like to transition to either verbal and/or online consent forms we require the Council to confirm that they have identification processes in place i.e. how you will ensure that the actual customer is the one making the application, and confirmation that the Council is able to retrieve the consent section of the application form for review purposes if/when called upon.”

My question is has anyone come across this from the Department of Human Services and what have you put in place (if anything) to confirm customer identity, we have three points of confirmation being full ownership details, phone number or email address as we don’t (as most Councils) hold DOB.

[Matthew Saunders]

Hi Tracey,

Penrith City Council has moved to verbal applications which we use for over the phone and over the counter applications. We do not use the online application form. We did not involve Human Services as we were acting under the direction from the Office of Local Government that only the online form needed Centrelink review.

I have looked at the Procedural Guide issued by Centrelink under the general contract we are now all under and it mentions that in relation to customer consent we are responsible for:

“…• confirming the identity of the customer before getting consent as per CCeS policy clause 13.2 (j)”

I have checked 13.2(j) of that Policy (from March 2016) which basically mentions the same thing:

“13.2 (j). confirm the identity of the Customer prior to obtaining consent”

We use the same way to identify a pensioner as we do for other Council enquiries so I am happy that we are properly identifying them as best as we can with the limited information we are given by the NSW Land Registry Services (name and postal address). I am also happy that our record of the consent complies with their requirements in relation to who, what when & how etc.

Our intention with our verbal forms was to wait until our first audit from Centrelink for them to tell us whether they were happy with our consent and auditing procedures.

I will wait to hear from you as to what they come back with about the verbal consent, otherwise I will carry on in blissful ignorance.

Kind regards,

Matthew.

[Tracey Walker]

Hi All,
I have received further confirmation from Human Services in relation to the verbal and online application forms.

Councils will need to provide their identification process for both verbal and online applications prior to setting up and using the application forms?
Yes, Council will need to advise us of how you will ensure that the person signing the authorisation for you to make an enquiry into Centrelink Confirmation eServices (CCeS) is in fact the customer making the application. Under the CCeS Policy, when accessing and using Customer information a Business must confirm the identity of the Customer prior to obtaining consent.

What would be the minimum requirements accepted by Human Services considering that Council’s do not hold date of birth, although we have been working in the background with state government to try and get this information included on Sale transfers?

It would be at the discretion of the Council how you identify the customer, we do not set any requirements for this.

Council is also required to be able to retrieve the consent section of the application form for review purposes if/when called upon. For verbal consent, this may be a recording or notation made on the customer’s record. For online applications, this may be in a check box within the form online, or an electronic version of the signed form. Page 15 of the attached CCeS Procedural Guide details further information in regards to customer consent which may assist you with this and the above.

Document link: CCeS Procedural Guide

[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

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