Centrepay Policy and Terms
Centrepay Policy and Terms
Centrepay Policy and Terms
Contents
Meaning of words and terms used 2
Purpose of this document 2
The Centrepay framework 3
Arrangements for existing Centrepay Businesses 3
Excluded goods and services 4
Centrepay Policy 5
1. What is Centrepay? 5
2. Centrepay’s objective 5
3. What can be paid for using Centrepay? 5
4. What can’t be paid for using Centrepay? 6
5. How Businesses access Centrepay 7
6. Criteria for approval to use Centrepay 7
7. Requirements for Businesses 8
8. Possible outcomes of an application 9
9. How Customers use Centrepay to pay their bills 9
10. Receiving payments through Centrepay 10
11. Order of deductions from Customer payments 11
12. Transaction fees associated with Centrepay 11
13. Change in Business ownership 11
14. Business withdrawal from Centrepay 12
15. Department’s withdrawal or suspension of approval for Business to use Centrepay 12
16. Centrepay assurance framework 12
17. Assurance checks for Business compliance 13
18. Department’s responses to non-compliance or concerns 13
19. Review of departmental decisions 14
20. Complaints and feedback 14
Centrepay Terms 15
1. Application 15
2. System availability 15
3. Deduction Authority 15
4. Information disclosed by the department 15
5. Conduct with Customers 16
6. Conduct of Business 16
7. Fees 16
8. Treatment of payments 16
9. Intellectual property 17
10. Records and audit 17
11. Variation to terms 18
12. Indemnity 18
13. Governing law 18
The latest version of this policy and the supporting documentation can be viewed at humanservices.gov.au/centrepayorgs
Meaning of words and terms used
Business means an individual or organisation that provides goods or services to Customers.
Centrelink Business Online Services (CBOS) means the secure internet service through which a Business accesses Centrepay online services.
Credit Banking means the payment of periodic amounts by a Customer to a Business to be credited against future bills.
Customer Reference Number (CRN) means the government identifier used to match Customer and Business records.
Customer is a person who receives a Centrelink welfare payment.
Customer Representative is a person authorised by the Customer, or by law, to represent the Customer or manage the Customer’s affairs.
Deduction means an amount of money taken from a Customer’s welfare payment by the department, as directed by a Deduction Authority, to be paid to a Business for amounts the Customer owes.
Deduction Authority is a record of a Customer’s instruction to the department to make a Deduction and to pay it to a Business.
Excess Credit, as it applies to Credit Banking, means an amount of money that is unlikely to be required to pay a future bill.
Overpayment means an amount a Business received that was more than the amount it should have received.
Regulatory bodies are any organisations involved in the regulation of a Business.
In this document, references to approval to use Centrepay in relation to a Business, means approval of the Business by the department to:
a. offer Centrepay to its Customers as a payment option, and
b. access the Centrepay online services available through CBOS.
Purpose of this document
This document is intended to provide department staff and Centrepay stakeholders with clear information about the Centrepay framework and how Centrepay works.
Centrepay stakeholders include:
· Customers
· Businesses for which Centrepay may be a payment option
· Regulatory bodies, and
· Community organisations.
The policy section of this document sets out:
a. how this policy applies to Businesses that were approved to use Centrepay before the date of this policy
b. what a Business should consider before applying to use Centrepay
c. the essential criteria that a Business must meet to use Centrepay
d. the requirements for any Business approved to use Centrepay
e. how a Customer may authorise Deductions
f. the types of goods or services that can and cannot be paid for with Centrepay
g. compliance actions the department may take in respect of Centrepay
h. circumstances when the department will withdraw its approval for a Business to use Centrepay, and
i. the process for reviewing decisions made by the department.
The terms component of this document sets out the conditions on which the department agrees to make Centrepay available to Businesses.
The Centrepay framework
The Centrepay framework consists of:
a. the policy and terms
b. the Centrepay Business Application
c. the Centrepay Procedural Guide
d. the Centrepay Deduction Authority, and
e. an approval letter, approving a Business to use Centrepay, which may contain conditions relating to that approval.
These documents excluding the approval letter and more information about Centrepay are published on the department’s website at humanservices.gov.au/centrepayorgs and may be changed at any time.
Arrangements for existing Centrepay Businesses
Each Business with a pre-existing Centrepay contract will be contacted by the department and given notice:
· that its Centrepay contract will be terminated at the end of 31 August 2015; and
· of the department’s decision to either approve the Business to continue to use Centrepay under this policy and terms, or not approve the Business to continue to use Centrepay, from 1September 2015.
A Business will be taken to have agreed to and accepted the new Centrepay Policy and Terms if the Business accepts a Centrepay payment during the period 18 to 31 August 2015. The department will automatically approve these Businesses to continue to use Centrepay after 31 August without being required to make a new application. Businesses will be transitioned to the new Centrepay framework on 1September 2015.
Businesses that do not receive a Centrepay payment during the period 18 to 31 August 2015 can also be approved to continue to use Centrepay under this policy and transition to the new Centrepay framework if:
· they request to be approved to continue using Centrepay before 1 September 2015; and
· the goods or services they provide are not excluded by this policy.
Each Business that is given notice of a decision to not approve the Business to continue to use Centrepay will have an opportunity to discuss the department’s decision before 1 September 2015.
Any Business which does not agree to comply with the new Centrepay Policy and Terms must contact the department before 31 August 2015 to notify that it does not wish to continue using Centrepay after that date. The department will withdraw approval for the Business to use Centrepay after 31 August 2015.
Excluded goods and services
From 1 July 2015, no Business will be permitted to commence any new payment arrangements with Customers for any goods or services excluded by this policy.
For Businesses which were receiving Centrepay payments from Customers prior to transition to this policy for goods or services that are excluded under this policy, and are approved to continue using Centrepay after 31 August 2015: the Business will be permitted to continue to receive Centrepay payments from those Customers for those goods or services under the existing payment arrangement until no later than 30 June 2016, 12 months from the commencement of this policy. By the end of those 12 months, the Business must ensure it receives no Centrepay payments from any Customer for any goods or services excluded by this policy.
After the 12 months’ period, any Business found to be receiving Centrepay payments for excluded goods or services will be in breach of the Centrepay terms and this policy, and may have its approval to use Centrepay withdrawn.
Centrepay Policy
1. What is Centrepay?
1.1. Centrepay is a voluntary bill-paying service which is free for Centrelink Customers. Through Centrepay, a Customer can authorise the department to deduct regular amounts from their welfare payments to pay their bills to a Business.
1.2. These deductions are made before the balance of the welfare payment is deposited in the Customer’s nominated bank account.
1.3. Any payment to a Business is dependent upon there being an amount available for deduction from a Customer’s welfare payment.
1.4. The department cannot therefore guarantee that any payments will be made to a Business.
1.5. Where the full expected amount is not available, a Deduction of the available amount will be made.
2. Centrepay’s objective
2.1. The objective of Centrepay is to assist Customers in managing expenses which are consistent with the purposes of their welfare payments, and reducing financial risk, by providing a facility to have regular Deductions made from their welfare payments.
3. What can be paid for using Centrepay?
3.1. Deductions can be made for goods or services that are not excluded in section 4 below. The following table sets out the categories of goods and services that are currently accepted for Centrepay.
Table 1: Categories of goods and services eligible for Centrepay Deductions
Centrepay Category / Examples /Accommodation[1] / Real estate agent, private landlord, community or Indigenous housing, nursing/retirement home
Education and Employment / Education, childcare and employment related expenses
Health / Medical, cost of funerals and veterinary related expenses
Financial Products / Home contents and motor vehicle insurance, special interest loans including no and low interest loans, savings plans
Legal and Professional Services / Legal, accounting and other similar professional expenses, court fines
Utilities / Electricity, gas, telephone and other services
Travel and Transport / Travel and transport related expenses
Household / Clothing, food provision, homecare services, household goods, lay-by. This category will include a service reason specifically for consumer leases of household goods, and a service reason for other contracts relating to household goods.
Social and Recreational / Sporting activities and equipment, music lessons and other training
3.2. More specific definitions of these categories can be found in the Centrepay Procedural Guide, available at humanservices.gov.au/centrepayorgs
3.3. The department may change this list at any time.
3.4. Any Business that provides a good or service that is not specifically excluded by section 4 below, but does not fall within an existing Centrepay Category, may contact the department to discuss its product or service before making an application.
4. What can’t be paid for using Centrepay?
4.1. In keeping with the objective of Centrepay, the following expenses and payment arrangements are excluded from Centrepay:
Table 2: Categories of expenses and payment arrangements excluded for Centrepay Deductions
Service Category / Description /Household Goods Rental or Consumer Leases / rental or lease payments for goods, where the consumer lease is not regulated under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009, i.e. the lease is for less than four months or of indefinite duration or where the lessor does not hold an Australian Credit License
Brokers / payments to any broker, arranger or similar that acts as a ‘middle man’, rather than being the provider of a Centrepay Category good or service to the Customer
Financial Products / • short term loan repayments to cash lenders, payday lenders or pawnbrokers
• credit card payments and fees
• any arrangement where the Deduction would not be paid, directly or indirectly, to the Business that provided the goods or services to the Customer. For example Part IX debt agreements and where the debt has been ‘sold’ by a Business to a debt collection agency
• commercial debt consolidation
Insurance / • income protection insurance
• funeral insurance plans
• life insurance
• any other product where the Customer has to continue making payments until the death of a nominated person to receive benefits
Excluded Products / alcohol, tobacco products, pornographic material, gambling products or services, gift cards, vouchers or homebrew products
Hampers / layby or instalments through payment plan arrangements, where the business primarily trades in hamper style goods and services
Travel and Transport / · vehicle leasing payments and expenses
· payments for taxi services or hire cars
Other / any expenses or payment arrangements that, in the department’s view:
• are inconsistent with the purposes of welfare payments
• have significant potential for high cost but low value goods or services
• have unfavourable clauses, or
• expose customers to unacceptable risks of financial stress or exploitation
5. How Businesses access Centrepay
5.1. A Business must make an application to be approved by the department to use Centrepay.
5.2. To apply to use Centrepay, a Business must complete a Centrepay Business Application available at humanservices.gov.au/centrepayorgs, accept the Centrepay terms and agree to act in accordance with this policy.
5.3. Upon approval, Businesses will be provided access to CBOS, which is an online facility through which the Business can manage its Centrepay activities. Access to CBOS will be provided through a registration process and will allow Businesses to:
a. receive deduction and payment reconciliation reports
b. receive tax invoices
c. add, vary and/or cancel Customer deductions in accordance with the Customer’s Deduction Authority, depending on the level of access granted to the Business by the department.
5.4. If a Business wishes to add other goods and/or services under Centrepay, the Business will need to submit a new application for approval.
6. Criteria for approval to use Centrepay
6.1. To be approved and remain approved, a Business must meet all of the following essential criteria:
a. be a legal entity, or represented by a legal entity, capable of contracting with the department[2]
b. have an Australian Business Number, unless it is a private landlord, or an Australian Company Number
c. provide goods or services to Customers that are not excluded from Centrepay
d. provide its goods or services to Customers in Australia and have a place of business in Australia
e. warrant that it complies with all applicable Australian requirements for registration and industry regulation, licensing or accreditation in relation to its operations
f. have a complaint handling procedure to resolve complaints by Customers, and, if there is an external dispute resolution scheme for the Business’s industry, be a member of the scheme, and
g. agree to comply with:
i. this policy, and
ii. the Centrepay terms.
6.2. Meeting the essential criteria above does not entitle a Business to be approved to use Centrepay. The department will not approve a Business if, in the department’s opinion, any of the following apply: