REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT —
COUNTRY AGE PENSION FUEL CARD
1517. Hon JACQUI BOYDELL to the Minister for Regional Development:
I refer to the answer provided by
the minister to question on notice 5626, asked by Hon Mia Davies, MLA.
(1) Given that
the couple status of applicants for the Country Age Pension Fuel Card is not
recorded by the Department of Transport, as the administrator of the fuel card
scheme, how is the eligibility criteria of one fuel card per couple assessed
and monitored from a compliance perspective?
(2) What staffing
resources are dedicated to the administration of the fuel card scheme in the
Department of Transport? Can the minister please advise by FTE staffing numbers
and position levels.
Hon
ALANNAH MacTIERNAN replied:
I thank the member for the
question.
(1) Application
lists for fuel cards are sent to Centrelink for confirmation through a data-matching
process using the applicant's name and Centrelink customer reference
number, to ensure that only one fuel card is provided per couple.
(2) Currently,
two FTEs are allocated to the administration of the fuel card scheme—a
coordinator, who is employed at level 3, and an administration officer, who is
employed at level 2.