8.1.1.10 General claim requirements

Requirements of the SS(Admin)Act

The SS(Admin)Act:

• requires that any person wanting to receive a social security payment or a concession card must make a claim, and
• sets out how the claim must be made.

The Act gives the Secretaries of DSS, DEWR and the Department of Home Affairs, in relation to the payments for which they are responsible, the authority to:

• prescribe the way in which a claim may be made (other than the ways already set out in the Act)
• approve claim forms and define what constitutes lodging a claim for the purpose of the Act, and
• approve new ways in which a claim may be made.

Determining when payment is received

A key outcome of the claims process is determining the day from which a claimant who claims and is qualified for a social security payment begins to receive it. The following table explains the 5 concepts used in the SS(Admin)Act to determine when payment is to be received.

Circumstances in which a claim is not necessary

The SS(Admin)Act sets out the circumstances where:

• a claim is NOT required, or
• the day of lodgement of the claim is NOT the day the claim is taken to be made.

No claim is necessary when:

• a delegate transfers a person receiving an income support payment to another income support payment for which the person is also qualified, or
• the claim is an automatic transfer by computer.

Deemed claims

The day of lodgement of the claim is NOT the day the claim is taken to be made in the following circumstances:

• If a vulnerable claimant who is qualified for a payment or a concession card contacts Services Australia, the day of the contact is the day the claim is taken to have been made provided the person lodges a claim within 14 days, or within 13 weeks if a medical condition or special circumstances affected the person's ability to lodge the claim earlier.
  • Explanation: This is a deemed claim.
• If a claimant claims a social security payment, other than a supplementary payment (1.1.S.427), for which they are not qualified and later claims another payment for which they are qualified, the second payment can in certain circumstances be taken to have been claimed on the day of the first (incorrect) claim.
  
  • Explanation: The original claim is referred to as an incorrect claim.
• If a claimant claims for a pension, allowance or benefit other than a social security benefit or entitlement, but which is similar to a social security payment (the initial claim), and at that time the claimant was qualified for a social security payment, other than a supplementary payment, and the Secretary is satisfied that it is reasonable to do so, the claimant is taken to have made the later claim on the day the initial claim was made.
• If a claimant claims and is qualified for an income support payment and on the day the claimant claims is qualified for another income support payment, and the Secretary is satisfied that it is reasonable to do so, the second payment can be taken to have been claimed on the day the first claim was claimed.
  
  • Explanation: The original claim is referred to as an inappropriate claim.

• If a claimant claims a supplementary payment, but on that day the claimant is qualified for another supplementary payment which the claimant claims later, and the Secretary is satisfied that it is reasonable to do so, the second supplementary payment can be taken to have been claimed on the day the first claim was made.