2.6.2.10 CCS - eligibility for children aged 13 & under & attending secondary school or aged 14 or above

Summary

For an individual (1.1.I.90) to be eligible for CCS, the child must be aged 13 and under and not attending secondary school. However, there are children who may be eligible for CCS in certain circumstances, where the child is not able to be left at home unsupervised, and an adult is not able to provide suitable care in the circumstances:

• children aged 13 and under who are attending secondary school, including children with a disability or medical condition (1.1.C.25),
• children with a disability or medical condition aged 14 to 15 years, and
• children with disability or medical condition aged 16, 17 or 18 years in exceptional circumstances.

Preconditions to eligibility

For eligibility to be considered for these children, individuals must indicate their child cannot be left at home alone and there is no adult able to provide suitable care in the circumstances. Where an individual is already eligible for CCS for a child starting secondary school, the individual can make a case for their child's eligibility to continue by updating their circumstances.

To do this, the individual seeking CCS eligibility for a child in one of these groups will need to include a statutory declaration addressing:

• why the child cannot reasonably be left alone in the circumstances, and
• that no one aged 18 years or above is able to provide suitable care in the circumstances.

This could be, for example, because the family lives in a remote location, the child has a low level of maturity, or the child's disability or medical condition means they are unable to be left at home unsupervised.

In addition, where an individual has a child aged 15 and under with a disability or medical condition (where the child is an NDIS participant or has or is undergoing assessment for a specified condition), when making a claim (1.1.C.27) or when updating circumstances, the individual will also need to indicate and provide evidence the child has a disability or medical condition.

Exceptional circumstances

Individuals with a child with a disability or medical condition aged 16, 17 or 18 will only be eligible for CCS in exceptional circumstances. In these instances, including when a child with a disability or medical condition turns 16, individuals will need to make a case for the child's eligibility, or continued eligibility, to Centrelink. Individuals will need to provide a statutory declaration (see Preconditions to eligibility), and information about their case for the delegate at Centrelink to make a decision.

Individuals may also need to provide evidence of the child's disability or medical condition with their request (see evidentiary requirements for children aged 16, 17 or 18 below).

Evidentiary requirements for children with disability or medical condition

To meet the disability or medical requirements, children need to be an NDIS participant or have been diagnosed with or be undergoing assessment for a specified condition. The individual must be able to provide sufficient evidence at claim or when updating their circumstances to substantiate these claims.

Children with a disability or medical condition aged 15 & under

Child is an NDIS participant

If the child is an NDIS participant, to meet disability or medical requirements the individual only needs to provide the child's NDIS participant number.

Child has been diagnosed with or is undergoing assessment for a specified condition

If the child is not an NDIS participant and has been diagnosed with or is undergoing assessment for one of the conditions listed in:

• Schedule 1 of the CCSMinRules, or
• Part 2 of Schedule 3 of Disability Care Load Assessment (Child) Determination 2010

the documentary evidence must demonstrate the condition was diagnosed or is being assessed by a registered medical practitioner (1.1.M.40).

If the child is not an NDIS participant and has been diagnosed with or is undergoing assessment for one of the conditions listed in the CCSMinRules Schedule 2, the documentary evidence must demonstrate the condition was diagnosed or is being assessed by a registered psychologist.

The conditions listed in the CCSMinRules Schedule 2 are also listed in the CCSMinRules Schedule 1 meaning evidence will be accepted if the diagnosis or assessment is made by a registered medical practitioner or a registered psychologist.

If the child is undergoing assessment or the documentary evidence does not specify the child's condition is permanent, or likely to be permanent, the evidence must be dated within 24 months of the date the evidence is provided to Centrelink.

Children with a disability or medical condition aged 16,17 or 18

Individuals who wish to be eligible for CCS for a child aged 16, 17 or 18 must always provide a statutory declaration addressing:

• why the child cannot reasonably be left alone in the circumstances, and
• that no one aged 18 years or above is able to provide suitable care in the circumstances,

regardless of whether or not they have previously been eligible for CCS for the child.

An 18 year old would only be eligible where they are enrolled in child care and completing a year of school to allow the family to maintain existing care arrangements until the end of the school year.

Individuals not already eligible for CCS for their child

If the individual was not previously eligible for CCS for a child with a disability or medical condition who is turning 16, or aged 16, 17 or 18, they will need to provide evidence of their child's condition as per the above disability or medical requirements.

Individuals already eligible for CCS for their child

If the individual was eligible for CCS for a child who is now turning 16 the individual may need to provide evidence of the child's disability or medical condition:

• If the child's NDIS participant number has been provided or previously supplied evidence indicates the child's condition is permanent, or is likely to be permanent, no further evidence of the child's disability or medical condition needs to be provided.
• If previously supplied evidence indicates the child's condition was not permanent or they were undergoing assessment for a condition, the individual must provide new evidence of the child's disability or medical condition, dated within 24 months of the date the evidence is provided to Centrelink.
• If the individual has recently provided Centrelink with updated evidence, the individual does not need to provide new evidence of the child's disability or medical condition, as long this evidence is dated within 24 months when the individual makes the request for their child's continued eligibility for CCS.

Where a child is not an NDIS participant & does not have & is not being assessed for a specified condition

If a child has or is undergoing assessment for a disability or medical condition but is not an NDIS participant and does not have or is not being assessed by a registered medical practitioner or registered psychologist for one of the specified conditions, the Secretary's delegate can determine the child has a disability for the purposes of eligibility for CCS.

Evidentiary requirements

The individual will need to make a submission to Centrelink, and provide documentary evidence from a registered medical practitioner or registered psychologist. The evidence must include the condition the child has been diagnosed with, or an explanation of the type of condition their child is undergoing assessment for (if a registered medical practitioner or registered psychologist has not been able to identify what condition the child may have).

If the registered medical practitioner or registered psychologist does not specify in the documentary evidence the condition is permanent, or likely to be permanent, the evidence must be dated within 24 months of the date the evidence is provided to Centrelink.

If the delegate is satisfied the child has a disability and makes a determination to this effect, the individual must also provide a statutory declaration as described above. If the child is aged 16, 17 or 18, the Secretary's delegate must have determined it is appropriate for the child to be eligible for CCS in exceptional circumstances.

Change of circumstances

If an individual's circumstances change they must update their circumstances as soon as practicable. For example, if a child no longer has a condition, or an assessment has resulted in a diagnosis, individuals must notify Centrelink, and provide updated evidence where applicable.