✓ For Applicant Agencies
Welcome to training for your new online Portal for creating, applying for and managing family violence Flexible Support Packages (FSPs).
FSPs deliver personalised and holistic responses to assist adult and child victim survivors experiencing family violence to transition from crisis and establish long-term sustainable arrangements to improve their safety, well-being and independence in recovery from family violence.
Individualised packages provide flexible brokerage to victim-survivors to purchase a range of tailored and practical supports based on their case management/support plan.
Table of contents
Why are we moving online?
What's different?
What are the key benefits of using the FSP Portal for me?
What about privacy and security?
Portal demonstration video
Why are we moving online?
Family violence flexible support packages (FSPs) deliver personalised and holistic responses to assist adult and child victim survivors experiencing family violence to transition from crisis and establish long-term sustainable arrangements to improve their safety, well-being and independence in recovery from family violence.
We have listened to both applicants and providers of this package who have told us that current practices for applying for, assessing and administering the FSP program are inconsistent, onerous, time-consuming and don’t provide quality data.
Family Safety Victoria (FSV) has partnered with Our Community to develop a new online portal that will support the entire, end-to-end process of applying for, assessing, approving and acquitting FSP funds. It provides a framework to support a consistent and more efficient approach to providing FSPs across the network of practitioners engaged in this work.
The Portal has been co-designed in close and extensive consultation with an informal sector working group consisting of FSP Provider and Applicant agencies. This co-design approach has enabled the delivery of a solution that is fit-for-purpose and user-friendly. The following principles have guided our thinking:
- Consistent and streamlined processes across the state for practitioners applying for FSPs on behalf of victim-survivors.
- Improved equity of access to FSPs for victim-survivors of family violence.
- Reduced administrative burden for FSP provider agencies.
- Improved data quality to support demand management, service design and planning and outcomes measurement.
What's different?
The new portal means that you will now have one pathway to apply for FSPs – via an online form.
Apart from being online, the biggest change is that the online form may feel longer than the paper form you may have filled out before. As we were designing the portal, we heard that one of the biggest delays to getting decisions made and funding to victim-survivors was the need to seek more information depending on the types of support requested. For example, if funding was requested for the purchase of a car, the provider would have to come back to you to find out more about the vehicle or for funding toward rent or mortgage they may ask for more information about the lease or mortgage arrangements.
To streamline the back-and-forth conversations and seeking of additional information, we have created an online form that will ask you the additional questions needed, depending on the items requested.
So instead of you applying for the FSP and then hearing back from the Provider that they need more information before they can process your application, it means that when your application is submitted, it is more likely that the Provider will have everything they need to make a decision quickly on your proposed package.
There will also be a more standard way of collecting key information with lots of tick-box options to choose from rather than having to write up everything from scratch. This means less typing for you and better data for us. Don’t worry, we understand tick box options can’t completely explain every scenario. There are still free text areas of the form that allow you to fully explain the victim survivors’ circumstances.
What are the key benefits of using the FSP Portal for me?
You will have:
- A central dashboard of all your FSP applications.
- Ability to manage workers involvement on each FSP.
- Ability to reassign a package if a worker leaves or changes jobs.
- Ability to collaborate with colleagues.
- Ability to share a FSP – e.g., to seek team leader approval.
- A place that automatically links all related online forms to the FSP they relate to.
The online application will ask you for more information as you fill it out meaning it is more likely the Provider will have everything they need to make a decision quickly on your proposed package.
There is lots of built-in guidance as you complete the form including links to other sources of support that might benefit the victim survivor.
You will be able to provide additional information, request variations to the package and submit invoices for payment all through the portal. By doing so, all transactions about a package are linked and stored together in one place.
What about privacy and security?
The Portal is a secure password-protected environment and has been thoroughly tested to ensure that the data you enter is secure. Additional security has been added by requiring Multi-factor Authentication when you log in.
The design of the system and the type of information to be collected have been extensively workshopped to ensure only the essential information will be captured. For example, the victim survivor’s address will not be collected as a matter of course. This information may only be required if a package item needs to be delivered.
Once your FSP application is submitted only the Provider Agency you are applying to can see it, not other Providers. Family Safety Victoria does have a small group of system administrators with visibility across the system, including client-identifiable data, for system support purposes only. These staff are not permitted to use information contained in the portal for unrelated purposes or to share the information with any third parties.
Central reporting on data across all providers is restricted to only de-identified data. So personally identifiable data about your client is highly secure. Our Community’s SmartyGrants service and tech team provide technical assistance to both Applicants and Providers in the event of a technical problem occurring. They may ask for temporary access to your application if you are experiencing a technical issue to assist you in troubleshooting the problem. All service officers are required to undergo a police check and to sign confidentiality agreements as part of their employment. All access to an application by a service officer is logged and date-stamped by the system. Tech support staff are not permitted to access your records other than in their capacity as technical support.
You will need to have your client's informed consent before completing an application on the portal. The FSP Program Requirements contain further information that can be provided to victim-survivors on privacy and security to enable informed consent.
Portal demonstration video
This recording is a high-level overview of the online FSP Portal. It is recommended that for training you step through each article in this help hub as this video is more of a wider-ranging overview.
Transcript
Welcome to Country - 0:05
Well, hi, everyone.Thanks for joining us today. I’m ___. I’m at Family Safety Victoria. And I oversee the flexible support packages program, and also the personal safety initiative. And we’re also joined today by _______, and a few of her colleagues from Our Community, so Our Community have been contracted to build the portal for us and for all of you. So just before I start the meeting, I just wanted to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the lands on which we’re all gathering today. And I’ll pay my respects to their elders past and present, but also extend that respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people here with us today.
New portal saves time and delivers better data - 0:53
So welcome to the first information session for the new flexible support packages online portal for applicant workers. We had a session last week with our FSP providers. But I recognise that some of our providers might have joined in this session as well to get your applicant side of the portal. So apologies if some of this information is repetitive for you all. Um, so before we get into the actual system, I thought I’d just start with some background information and then hand over to _____ to give you a demo of how everything is shaping up in the portal. As you’re aware, flexible support packages play an important role in system. And this the importance of this initiative as highlighted in the Royal Commission to family violence and recognised by practitioners across the state and also by victims survivors. However, many of our stakeholders have told us that the current practices for applying for, assessing and administrating the program are onerous and time consuming. And it also doesn’t provide us with the best quality data.
New portal reduces administrative burden - 2:03
So this is why we decided to build a new flexible support packages portal to support both FSP providers and also applicant, our staff in applying for packages on behalf of victims survivors. In time, we’re confident that the new portal will improve the FSP process by streamlining different parts of that process. And you’ll see how all that fits together in the online system when _____ gives you a look gives you a demo, but also provide consistency across the state. So as you’re probably aware, every local areas doing things a bit differently and our current guidelines are quite a high level. So hopefully that the new portal will streamline some of those processes and provide consistency across the state. It will also reduce the administrative burden for FSP providers, which will mean quicker response for applicants and for victims survivors as well.
Portal designed by the people that will use it - 3:06
So both FSP providers, and applicant agencies contributed to the design and development of the portal and participated in user testing. Applicants were given the opportunity to particularly use a test the online application form. We also ran a dedicated session with applicants on the customer development for the applicant site. I realise that not not all of you may have made it to that session or were able to participate in the user testing. So this information session will be probably your first look at the system. A working group was also established in 2019, which included FSP providers as well as some applicant agencies. And this working group has really been instrumental for shaping up online forms. In addition to building the FSP online portal, we’re also updating the FSP program requirements. So there’ll be a lot of change and change management over the next coming months. The application form that you will get to view on shortly will align with the new FSP program requirements. And both the portal, and FSP program requirements will come into effect from the first of October. Your local FSP providers will be the main conduit for distributing information to applicant agencies and applicant staff. So that’s including information on the new FSP program requirements and on the implementation of the FSP portal. Um, I think that’s probably all from me, so I’ll hand over to ______ to start demo. Thank you.
Portal demo introduction – 4:56
Thanks ______. Welcome everyone. It’s really great that you’ve been able to join us today and thank you ____ for such a good overview of the background. What I’m going to be doing today is taking you through a collection of things from the training that we’re going to have available for you to use and also through a preview of your new working environment. So I’ll start with just sharing my screen.
Learning resources – 5:33
So we’re very conscious that this change is going to be something new for you all to be working with, and a change in how you’ve been applying for flexible support packages. So what we have done is prepared a thorough training resource for you so that you can access this at any time you need it, as you start to work through applying for your first FSP. Using the online portal. The idea of this resource is that we couldn’t possibly expect you to just come to this session today and then leave you to sort of go off and work it out. So we wanted to provide an ongoing resource that you can tap into anytime needed. So what we’ve developed is an environment here where you can come and learn about the portal and learn about the things that you need to do all you’re working with it. This first getting started section is the most important part for us to get started with today, understanding how you become registered for the portal and how organisation as an applicant agency needs to be set up in the portal, then this section how to, we’ll be the part that you’ll be able to come back to later and be able to use as you need it. We’ve also got an ongoing knowledge base that we will continue to prepare. As we mentioned at the beginning of the of the chat conversation in the in the session today, we will be taking questions via the chat that we’ll be able to to then develop into frequently asked questions to help address the particular questions that you’ve got, we’ve tried very hard to build material around the basic information that we think you’re going to need to know. But we also want to be able to be responsive to your questions and make sure they’re answered.
Overview - 7:43
So the training is nice and easy to work through small pieces of information that you can come into. And just see the bits and pieces that you need. At the time, we’ve tried to make that nice and user friendly for you to only have what you need in front of you at the time and not be having to trawl through lots of information, small pieces here to guide you to find the information that you need. We’ve given a little bit of an overview here, giving you that background that ____ shared earlier about why we are moving online, and what’s going to be different and to talk about how the online portal might benefit you. So your new online portal is going to give you a central dashboard for all of your FSP applications.
The portal allows you to work as an organisation and as a group, and allows you to be able to manage how you work as an organisation by providing access to various workers at the level that they need to do their job to two groups of applications allows you to manage that workforce also to collaborate with colleagues. So for example, if you have a scenario where you need to, you need to share an application with a team leader for their approval before you submit it. The system allows you to do that electronically. And I’ll take that take you through that in a moment. And it’s a place that allows you to have everything that you need in relation to FSPs in one place, and we’ll be showing you that today. Registering for SmartyFile. This is a process that I’m going to take you through today, but I encourage you to come back here and read it thoroughly before commencing to try to register yourself or register your organisation and when we go into the system demonstration, I’ll explain to you why that’s so important. Throughout the training, we have got training videos so this will allow you to see exactly what it is you need to do, come back and replace sections that you need to. There are captions available for people that need captions for accessibility reasons. And there’s also transcripts available for videos as well.
Web-links used to share application forms – 10:34
On the How to side, there is lots of information about how to choose your flexible support package provider. As ____ said, the providers are going to be the primary conduit for all information in relation to FSPs. And accessing the online application form for each of those providers is talked about through this section and how you go ahead and do that. So each provider will have their own individual web link to be able to access their particular application form. So once you have selected an FSP provider, you’ll need to go to them and ask them for their link to their application form to go ahead and complete a flexible support package. But this information will take you through all of that in in detail.
It’s 2 Portals – Applicant portal and separate provider portal – 11:35
So I will move now into the actual working environment and show you what it looks like. So the FSP portal has two parts to it, it has the applicant side and it has the provider side. And they’re quite different environments that they look different and behave differently. And designed to allow you to work in the way that is best for being an applicant or being a provider. So on the applicant side, the first step in getting signed up and organising for your organisation to have access to the portal is creating a SmartyFile profile. So this is the piece of functionality that was custom developed to be able to allow you to work as a group. Prior to this piece of functionality, the way that the SmartyGrants application process worked and SmarterGrants is the software that we’ve used behind the provider side of receiving online applications. And the way that worked was an individual applicant would start an application and apply for it. And only they would ever be able to see their own application and what applications they have submitted nobody else in their organisation will be able to see their applications.
Applicant agencies working as a group – 13:10
So one of the important things for flexible support packages is the concept of applicant agencies being able to work as a group and being able to work with a team of case workers and working with a team leader, for example. And so what we’ve developed here is a new piece of functionality called SmartyFile that allows you to set up a an organisation and then assign users within that organisation, and then decide how those users can interact with the FSP applications that belong to that organisation.
How to create an organisation profile using Smartyfile – 13:44
So let me show you what it looks like to create a new organisation. I’ve got two example ones built here, which we’ll go into in a minute. But I just want to show you the screen for setting up in your organisation. So the first thing that would need to happen is that an ABN is entered. The reason that we’ve used an ABN is part of setting up this structure is to make sure that organisations that join here are who they say they are so that we don’t have applications being submitted by the wrong people, for example. Now, with with regard to the ABN, we can only use an ABN once. And I’m aware that for many of you, you have large organisations that have a centra organisation, but also have lots of offices in regional locations and separate teams.
First step, make someone the Administrator – 14:50
And so one of the complexities around our initial setup here is that we’re going to need to get every applicant agency to identify one person In the first instance, to be their administrator for there SmartyFile, this process of setting it up, once it’s set up, responsibility can be devolved out across the organisation’s. And we can help you to set up your smaller groups. But the first step is registering this ABN first, and then we go from there. So once an ABN is entered, and you click the lookup button, the system actually goes to the Australian Business register and pulls back all of the data from the Australian Business register in relation to that ABN. So now if I come back to my my organisation’s page, oops, I have to log in again. With me, there we go. Now, I should just clarify that this is just a test environment that I’m doing this example in. So occasionally, little lumps and bumps like we just saw happen in that sort of test environment, because it’s not the real environment.
Using ABN with organisation profile – 16:44
Okay, so let’s just go into this applicant agency now that you can see, we’ve got an ABN set up. So once this example, applicant agency has been set up, this grey box will be all pre-filled from the Australian Business Register, so there’s nothing for you to enter there, it’s nice and simple. You can then put some contact details in, if you wish, adding in key contact people within your organisation. And that could be the person who is the head of your organisation. None of this is necessarily required in this this scenario, but if it’s useful for you to have that information registered, it’s there for you.
Administrator adds users – 17:32
Then coming across here, once your administrator whoever the person is that your organisation has identified to do the initial setup and get you going, then comes into the users space. And within the the users area. They will be an administrator in the first instance, as you can see, I logged in there as admin at example. And then I can go ahead and I can add users in my organisation can add a new user by entering their email address and assigning them roles.
Available roles – 18:14
So let’s look at the roles that are available. What’s the roles that you can assign to a new user allow you to do is to actually manage how each individual user within your organisation can see the applications that that your organisation has. So an administrator by default has access to everything. So they get to see the entire organisation’s information that’s in this portal, an author role is able to do everything except manage the organisation so they can’t go and manage users and things like that. So this might be a good role for a team leader, etc.
Contributor role – 19:02
A contributor is a much more limited role that has been built into the system that may or may not be useful for you in, in the scenario of what you do. But if you have somebody that you just want to be able to have them edit and view items, but you don’t want to allow them to start an application or submit one on behalf of your organisation. That’s what that rolls for.
Viewer role – 19:28
There’s also a viewer role. So you might have somebody in finance or some area that you would like to be able to just view information but not have any edit rights over anything. And then you’ve also got the ability to create a custom role that you would like how you would like your organisation to be able to interact with applications. I’m just going to come back to my other organisation now where I have some users with roles set up. So I have created pretend names in here, imagine that this is actually my name ______. That’s what this name should be. I have just created pretend names in, in the shape of the type of roles that you might have just to help you to see, see how it might all work for you. So, in this example, I’ve set up a caseworker. So this caseworker might be Minnie Mouse caseworker, and I’ve decided to set her up as an author, and give her access to all of the applications in that entire organisation. So this submission access option allows you to give limited or full system access to people. So they are able to see all of the applications all of the FSP applications in in your entire organisation, or you can choose to give them a limited view.
Limited view – 21:05
And what a limited view means is only those applications that they have started or that they have had shared with them. And it’s using this piece of functionality that we can actually set up teams for you. So those organisations that have those smaller regional offices and want to contain FSPs, just to each of those regional offices, we will be doing that through using limited access. So you, what you would do in that instance, is provide each of those workers with limited access, and then ask them to share accordingly with their team members, as per what an applicant can see.
The ability to submit or not – 21:51
Then, you’ve also got the optional Submit. So the ability to submit, one of the ways that this feature can be useful for you is if you would like to have a scenario might be you’ve got a probationary case worker that started with you, they’re learning, you’re quite happy for them to start an application, but you want to make sure that somebody else’s check the application before it’s submitted. And so you might for that role, give them, not give them the ability to submit. And they then have to go to another supervisor who can then submit the application for them. So that’s how that role can work. Now little pencil button here allows me to go in and edit my roles and edit my users. So that is fairly, fairly intuitive, I hope. I hope it’s something that you’ll be able to see easily enough when you get into it.
Multi-factor authentication – 22:52
The other thing to be aware of is that we have multi factor authentication enabled for your account. So what that will mean for you is you will need to download an authenticator app of some such to your phone and use that every time you log in to the system. And that’s for security of the type of data that’s being collected. The other thing just to quickly mention in relation to users and setup is, as I said, it can be changed at any time. So when a when a user changes roles or leaves your organisation, it’s quick and easy to remove them from this, from their privileges. So that’s all I will to be done.
My submissions area – 23:43
So that is your initial setting up of your organisation. The next part of the system is your My Submissions area. And clicking on this My Submissions button will take you through to your list of applications. So we’ll go and have a look they’re now how that environment, your mind working environment is going to work for you. So most of your caseworkers are not going to be interacting too much with this part of it. Your primary working space is going to be this one. So as you can see, what I have here is I have a list of all of the dummy applications that I’ve created for the purpose of making a an example. And this list view has a sort of summary of an FSP I can also then expand that for you out. So log me out again bear with me.
How to search – 24:53
There we go, that’s better, just come down here to one, I’ve got some other stuff in, where is it, here we go, this one. So I can have an expanded view, that tells me all of the other online forms that I have attached to this particular application. So I can have my expanded view, or my more compact view and that’s up to you. I’ve got the ability within this screen to search for things so I can type in my own name. I could type in a colleague’s name looking for applications that I’ve shared with a colleague, etc, etc. I also have the ability to do an advanced search, which allows me to set some more information around what it is I’m searching for in the system.
How to list sort – 26:05
I can also sort my list, and sort by due date, submitted date, etc, etc. So I’ve got options in there to help me to organise the information that I’ve got in front of me at any given time. with the, with the system, the other thing to understand is that it is the submission of an online application that creates this record in the system. And it also creates an ID number, a unique identifier for your application. And every provider will have their own little numbering system. So if you happen to go to a couple of different providers, for example, you might have one that is your main provider for your DHHS area. But you might also be working closely with another provider that provides specialist services statewide. And so for each of them, they’ll have their own numbering system. And this little link up here will combine the numbering the individual ID plus a unique identifier that you create for your application.
Search naming convention – 27:21
And what we have suggested as a way for doing that to make it easy for you, in this view to be able to sort by family group, and be able to sort by client is to use a configuration of the clients name, the quarter this application relates to and the financial year. And by doing that, you’d be able to do a search on your clients name and find all of the FSPs that they might might have had over various support periods and ending various quarters during the time that you’ve been working with them. So now coming into this individual application to give you a little bit of a look at what what we’re seeing here. So what we have in here is the original application that was submitted. And if I want to see that I can click on it, anything that’s blue in here as a hyperlink.
Looking at the application form – 28:35
And as you can see, I’ve got a view of a submitted application. So what that means is, once you’ve submitted an application, you can’t change it, you can’t edit it, but you can view it, you can always come back here and see what it is that you’ve submitted. All right. And so the application form is going to be the biggest change for you in terms of what is different to how you’ve done things before. And a lot of work has gone into this application form to try to to design it in a way that achieves all of the things that ____ spoke about at the beginning, which is streamlining the process for providers, and also for being able to collect really good data. So you’ll see that what we’ve got various pages through the application is we have information about demographic data. We’ve got information about any children that’s been collected. Got information about the family violence situation, the housing and finance situation. Then we’ve got a detail page on the cost items. And I’ll show you in a moment how that works. We’ve also got this page called additional questions.
How and why smart forms reveal other questions – 30:05
Now, when you’re filling out the online form, there are lots of areas where, depending on what answer that you provide to a question. Another question might then appear. So for a good example of that is, if in any of the information about the client or the children, there’s an indication of a disability, then the NDIS page will become available for you to complete. If not, this page won’t be relevant. So it’s that sort of thing that happens throughout the form. With the package cost items, this is a particular one that we’ve done quite a bit of work on. Because in the workshopping of the solution, we identified that one of the things that can slow down the providers being able to make a quick decision and get the funding to you as quickly as possible for your client is needing to get additional information depending on what is being asked for.
Supplying additional information – 31:06
So a couple of examples that I’m aware of is an example might be where you’ve asked for locks and security items for a property. And then when the provider has received your application, they need to know some more information about the property. So they need to know if it’s an owned property, is it rented, if it’s rented? Does the landlord know when Have they given their approval? Those sorts of things. Or another example might be the purchase of a vehicle. So the next question that a provider might ask you, if you’ve asked for a vehicle is does the client have a driver’s license? Have they got the means to ensure the vehicle? How are they going to be able to continue to maintain the vehicle if we if we purchase it, etc. So what we’ve actually done is workshopped a lot of those scenarios, and workshopped the usual questions that tend to occur. And we’ve built them into this additional questions page. And so depending on what’s asked for in the package cost item page, additional questions will then start to appear in this next additional questions page. And I’ll take you through that in a little bit more detail when we go into a live application. But I just wanted to set that scene about some of the work that we have actually done.
Other online forms available to you – 32:36
So now coming back to my submissions back into my record, the other online forms that you’re dying to have available to you, depending on what happens during the life of your project and your FSP package will be various things could happen along the way, such as you needing to change the package during the support period. If during that support period, you need to change the package, there is an online package variation request form, this is a much shorter form, but it gives you the opportunity to select what it is that you’re going to change. And then make a request for that. So if you do need to change it, you need to contact your provider and ask them to attach a package variation request form to your record, they be able to do that from their end.And then this form would appear in your record, you’ll be able to select from the key things that you might need to change. And if you can see when I select the pages that become available to you change up here.
Change package cost items – 33:58
So let’s say I was going to change package cost items in this case, I then get the ability to go into the form and do that. I’m just going to click through and move through to the package cost items which have now been made available for me to change. So this is an example of how the package cost items are set out in the application form. And so in this area we have, because it’s a variation, we asked you to indicate what it is you’re changing. And you’ve got the option here to you know, there’s no change, we still need that one or I was actually able to get this item on sale for $900. So I can reduce it down to $900. whatever the case might be for the particular scenario that you have available. And so that’s how the variation works.
Appeal form – 35:04
Coming back again, to my submissions. The package variation request, we’ve talked about, going to jump this one for a minute and come down here to an appeal form. So if, in the scenario of the decision making process, the provider makes a decision not to support one of the things that you have asked for or not to support it to the level that you’ve asked for, and you want to appeal that decision, there is an appeal form being built into the system. So again, that’s a matter of making the request to the provider and saying, please send me an appeal form to complete. And this one just gives you the ability to outline what it is you’re appealing, and why and submit it. And that then allows the provider at their end to go ahead and make a decision. So nice and simple. And we’ve also got an additional information request form.
Information that goes between applicant and provider – 36:18
So what happens with this one is if after you have submitted your application, the provider does need some additional information, even though we’ve tried to build the form to capture everything that we need in the first instance, then they will attach an additional information request form, the system whenever your provider attaches a new online form for you will email you and let you know that there is a new form to complete and give you a link to come back into this environment to be able to access it and complete it. So you’ll get that notification from them, saying there’s additional information to provide and you’ll get this little form that just says look on this on this item, we need some additional information, can you please provide a quote for the item is what I’ve put into this example. You’ll then have the ability to respond, here’s the quote that you asked for, and also upload the information, if it’s a document that needs to be provided, and then missing that, that information then goes back to the provider to be able to make that final decision.
Payment request form – 37:36
Okay, one last one to have a look at. The other type of online form that you will have available to you is a payment request form. So when it comes time for you to submit your invoice, you’ll now be doing that through the portal. And each of the providers will be choosing their own preferred method for doing that, whether they just asked you to upload the invoice or whether they actually asked you to provide some additional detail around the invoice. So depending on which provider you’re talking to at the time, you’ll either get this invoice upload form or the invoice full details form, I’ll just give you a quick look at those. This one’s very simple, what’s the invoice for and upload it and you can add as many invoices as you like by clicking the Add more button. So you can see I’ve got a another one popped up there. These little red warnings pop up whenever I haven’t filled out a field that I should have filled out because this is just demo one, I’ve not put anything in here, I’ve got my red warnings, saying you haven’t put anything in there. So I’m gonna close that one. And have a quick look at the more detailed one. With the more detailed one, the provider might actually ask you to put some information in about the supplier as well as uploading the invoice.
Application form preview available now – 39:23
Okay, now I’m just going to quickly come to a live application form. Now to show you a little bit about that. Now that we’ve sort of looked at how your environment as a whole would work. When you come to the link that has been provided to you by the provider for their particular application form it will look like this. So you’ll be able to start a new submission or preview the form depending how available the link is to us. So we might be issuing you with the link in the next couple of weeks. That allows you to preview the form, but you won’t be able to actually go ahead and start submitting it yet. We haven’t got an exact date for that yet. But we will make sure that you are informed when the preview is available. You can also download a preview form. But I wouldn’t recommend you necessarily do that because there is a lot of content in the online form that won’t be very well reflected in a downloaded copy, things like drop-down choices, etc. I’ll show you what I mean. Let’s go in and start a new submission. Oh, hold on. Sorry about that clicked on the wrong thing. Going into one, I’ve done it before.
Check if application received from right place – 41:14
So you’ll be asked for a little bit of general information, I’m not going to go through this form in in its entirety, I just want to show you some of the key things. So the applicant agency information will be asked for and this is just so that we can double check that applications that have been received are from the right place. And it’s just one of those security things in within the next six months, we anticipate that this information will all be able to be pre-filled into your form. So you don’t even have to do it. So everything that’s in your SmartFile account will be able to be fed straight into this online application form and allow you to complete it, which is really good.
The client information section – 42:04
I’d like to show you a couple of key things in the client type the client information section. So one of the questions we ask about here is client type. And that’s because we’ve tried to build the online form in a way that will cater for a scenario where a person under 18 is actually the primary applicant. So we’ve done a lot of work on workshopping scenarios to try to make sure that most scenarios that we’re doing that your you’ve got to deal with can be catered for in this form. So in the scenario where a person is under 18, and applying in their own right, some of the things on subsequent pages change to suit that versus if it’s an applicant. In the first instance, we’ve also catered for the scenario where the person is under 18, but might also have a child of their own or siblings. So that’s all catered for in the online form as well.
Limiting personally identifiable information – 43:18
One of the deliberate decisions has been to limit the personally identifiable information that is collected about the client in terms of their address and contact details. So all that we are asking for in here is the client name. And we’re not asking at this stage for address or telephone number, etc. If that information is needed by your provider later for things like issuing vouchers or for delivering of items, then that will be handled separately from this application form itself. We didn’t want to be collecting that information by default, only if it was absolutely necessary. So the package family group title, this is the one I was telling you about before where we suggest you use convention of the client name, the quarter and the financial year, because it shows up here in your system. It’s the one thing that you won’t be able to remember all your unique identifiers, numbers, but you will be able to remember your client name. So it’s the one thing that you’re going to have as a search field in your list view. So it’s really important that you, that you do that.
Add in other unique identifiers – 44:51
Then there’s an ability in here for you to add in any of your other unique identifiers via other systems that you have. For example, We’ll SHIP etc. So you can put those other codes in there to allow you to be able to cross reference FSP packages with your other case management tools. You’ll be asked whether or not a client has had a flexible support package. And if yes, some information will be asked about that.
Improving information collection – 45:24
We’ll have a quick look at some of the demographic information that’s being collected. So this information is allowing for some of the data collection that is being mapped as something that was a an item to improve by having an online portal. So we collect a bit of information and then depending on again, on what’s answered, there’s the availability to to ask more questions, if needed. So one example of that is where we have clients that identify as Aboriginal and or Torres Strait Islander, for example, we’ll just select the top one, I should say there’s always wherever we have the ability to do so we’ve got the options in there for prefer not to say and don’t know, so that your clients have the right to choose how much of their information they wish to share. So when selecting that, indigenous language options now become available for them to be able to choose. Again, prefer not to save, I don’t want to nominate that. But for you to be able to identify which indigenous language group they identify with. So that’s based on Austlang, which is a data set held by AIATSIS.
Smart form pages add themselves – 47:06
Child page will fall out depending on what questions you are, ask and answer throughout the form and you’ll be able to get information about the children collected there. Now, I’ll just jump back a page because I realised I didn’t take a piece of information over here. Actually, it is back here. With me, do they have a child or children? Yes. Now coming to the children’s page. Okay, so now that I’ve ticked Yes, for children, we’ve got information about the children. And one of the other deliberate decisions that was made was that while we are interested in collecting data about the the child, where they are a recipient of the package, where they are not a recipient of the package, there’s no need to collect that information to make that simpler for you if the client is going to be the primary recipient of the support offered through the package, and not their children, but they happen to have children. And that’s important to telling the story that you need to tell, you can say that they have three children, for example, but you can say that they are not going to be recipients of package per se children. And you can just provide some information about the children that you think is relevant for the package. If on the other hand, the children are going to be recipients of the package. Then the more detailed questions about the children become available.
Family violence area – 48:49
Okay. Now, I’m going to now skip through to a family violence area. So this gives you an opportunity to set out information about the perpetrator and the situation that has been happening and the risk level in accordance with MARAM. Information about whether or not there’s an IBO and risk assessment information. Now, you’ll notice there’s no way here to upload the risk assessment. Another deliberate decision has been not to actually ask you to upload risk assessments and safety assessments and things like that into this portal per se. But just to provide the high level information, the provider needs to make a decision and that’s been a policy decision from FSV
Housing and finance page – 50:01
The housing and finance page allows you to indicate the situation for them in regards to employment and housing.
Package cost items – 50:18
And then coming across to the package cost items, we looked at that earlier in the variation form. So with this area, you are able to add as many package items as you like. So I’ve got one in there. And if I wanted to add another one, I can add more. And I now have another item that I can add, over which cost items have been grouped into key areas, suddenly, you cannot select from them.
There’s always an other, if we don’t have the particular item that you need in the list, you’ll always find other at the bottom of each of the lists. And this site grouping and categorising underneath these key areas will help with data analysis, etc. Once this information has been collected, and then you can select who’s going to be the beneficiary of that particular item. And you can also select the client goal that you think that that relates too.
Answers feed into acquittal report – 51:33
Now one of the things that all of this does is helps to feed into the large acquittal report at the end of the quarter that providers need to provide to FSB. So that’s why we’re collecting all of this information along the way. And you’re also able to describe here, why you need that item. So it’s important to not just have ticking boxes, the tick boxes and drop down to try to make those parts quick and easy for you. But we’ve also always provided free text spaces for you to be able to tell the story how you need it to be told. And put in that nuanced information that’s important to the provider making the right decision for you. You can enter your amount in here and add GST. If GST applies, if not, you can put a zero in the GST field, and then that system and adds it up for you. You can upload a quote if you’ve got it. Or you can put a link to an online store for that particular item. If that’s the case, as you continue to add in the items that you need, your package will total up and you’ll get a nice total at the end. At the end, I’m going to jump over the additional questions because we talked about that before. At the end on this package summary page, you’ll be able to have a quick overview glance of your package, what it looks like. And be able to see that in a summary view, you’ll also be able to maximise it. So if you’ve got quite a lot of items in your package, you can pop it out like this, have a look and see the overall summary of the package you’ve put together so you can check it before you go ahead and submit.
Attach other information – 53:43
There’s also a place here to attach any other information you think is important. But remember that the preference is not to upload the risk assessments and those sorts of very detailed documents any longer. You’ll then have to make a couple of declarations and then go ahead and submit the review and submit button will flag with you any questions you might have changed? I mean missed. So as you scoot through here will tell you that you’ve missed questions. Now there’s going to be a lot of them in here because I’ve just dummied up a quick example. So I’ve missed loads of questions. But anything that you have missed, you can click on go to page, go back and fill it out. And once you’ve cleared this page of any read errors, you’ll be able to go ahead and submit. And so that’s a an overview of the new portal and how it might work and a very high level overview of the application form and how that might work.
So I might just ask now, if that _____ if there’s been any questions that you’d like me to address before we wrap up.
Q&A
Q: Can this all be done in the one form now? – 55:01
Yeah. Hi, ____. There’s a couple here. I think the questions are about to blow up. So let’s get this started, here’s one from ____. She’s asking, Can I clarify? Does this eliminate having to do a separate form for an adult and children recipients? If both children and mother are beneficiaries? Can they all be done in the one form now?
A: Yes
Q: Is there a time limit on applications? - 55:31
A: That’s a matter for the provider agency that you’re working with. So it’s not something that there is a fixed time period built into the system in any way. So where those scenarios occur, it’s a matter of having a conversation with the provider. And working around those I am aware that some providers like to set a period that they’d like to see the package completed by whether it’s three months or a month or what have you, for each providers, different preference, but it’s not something that’s fixed in the system itself. Hope that answers the question.
Q: What does being a beneficiary actually mean?
Yeah, so just sorry. For example, furniture security upgrade benefit both the client and her children, do we need to exclude the children in this instance?
A: I think that’s probably a question that I’ll take offline and take up with the policy people. And I think it’s probably a really good one for us to build a frequently asked question around. Thanks for that.
Q: Does this mean that individual organisations no longer make the payments for the goods or items, and then lodge an acquittal for the reimbursement?
A: No, that’s not necessarily what it means. So all of those processes I should do them now. are still the same. It’s just that we’re doing it all via the online form. So where your provider asks you to provide an acquittal as such. You can do that using the upload form for the invoices, but we’re also looking at another online form that will assist people with acquittal. This was one of the ones that joined the workshopping not everybody does that particular process in the same way, so some just get the invoice and receipts sent to them, and others ask the applicant agency to provide more information in an in more of an acquittal type form. So we’ll have more information coming on on that process.
Q: Can you start an application and save it, then come back to it later?
A: Yes, you absolutely can.
Q: Can we apply for an FSP for something initially? And then add it add to it later? Or does it need to be all done in one go? Probably similar to ____'s question.
A: Yes. And if you look at the screen at the moment, you’ll see that I’ve jumped back into the application form, you can see there that I can save my progress. I can save and close. And I can come back to it later when I need to.
Q: Is the data correlated? And are there options for organisations to extract data from this platform?
A: That’s a fantastic question. So when we actually did the poor planning around the portal and the type of data collection that we would need to be doing, we identify the different needs in terms of data that might be useful for applicant agencies data that might be useful for provider agencies and data that FSB themselves want to collect. And we’ve got a suite of online reports that have been built behind the system that is going to actually extract that data out and that is a collection plan for applicant agencies. And we hope to be able to roll that out to you and provide some more information about that during the next month. Those report templates are currently been finalised in the oven.
Q: If you don’t know the details of the previous applications, if they are from other agencies, will we be able to search info on the website? I’m taking? Kathy means the portal or can we not fill them in?
A: Okay, great questions. So that would be under the end of this page, I think you can tick unknown, if you don’t know. And then at the provider side, they have gone a little bit more flexibility to search across other packages that that client might have had. Okay.
Q: Will agencies still fund packages after approval is given and then get reimbursed by FSV? Or do FSV? Pay directly?
A: I’m not sure I understand the question. So just to clarify, the funding will still be held by local FSP providers. So funding will be allocated to applicants through FSP providers. So there won’t be any instances where FSB will be funding a particular package. So all of those processes are not going to change will still apply to your local FSP provider. They’ll make a decision about the package and then transfer the funding to you in whatever way that’s currently done.
Q: Where does the client consent to submission of application via attached form?
A: Excellent. So that is here. Where is it at the front? I think? eligibility I think. So we ask that you get client consent. And and confirm that. This is laid out slightly differently. Now. This is an old demonstration form, I should say. But yes, there’s a place to record your client consent.
Q: Can I just confirm, did you say we don’t need to provide a merom assessment any longer road I did, I misinterpret that ____.
A: As part of the eligibility criteria for FSPs. And one of the key changes that we’re making in the new updated program requirements, which are survivors will need to have received American risk assessment. But that risk assessment doesn’t necessarily need to be attached to the portal, but it is at the front of the application form, you need to declare that the key eligibility criteria have been met. And that includes that, um, that they’ve received a risk assessment and that they’ve had a case support plan completed. So that’s part of the declaration that you make, but given that the key information required for the assessment is already captured in the form. Those items don’t need to be attached unless on a case-by-case basis where provided needs those documents to assess a complex package, then there might go ask for that separately.
Q: Can only one FSP application be made?
I would say in terms of I’m assuming what we’re talking about there is quite a client have two FSP applications at the same time, or could they have subsequent ones?
A: Yes, so they should only be one if this paper support period unless there are additional needs identified. But that all links back to the program requirements and does not really change from the current process. Thanks,
And if I could just quickly add to that with with what ____ said said they’re about if there are additional things identified during the support period, that’s where a variation could occur. And the variation form would help facilitate that. So rather than having to fill out a whole new application, you just need to update the one that’s already live and active.
Q: Sorry, I may have missed this. Are we still required to provide case plans and survey? If so, are they embedded or not?
A: Yes, as was saying before, those types of documents, so risk assessments and case plans are not needed to be attached to the application form. But in terms of case by so for every item that you are requesting, there’s a section in there that asks you to describe how this item is linked to the client goals, and how this item will support the client in achieving their goals. So those key bits of information should be transferred from the case plan into the application form itself.
Q: Will past FSP applications be collated in the question? Has client received a package before?
So I think the question is, if they’ve received a package before, then do you need to provide information about those past packages? And if that is the question, the answer is yes. If you’ve got that information to hand. Great, thanks, ____. But it’s a high level high level, how much and broadly, what was it for? Not not fully detailed?
A: Right. Thank you. _____'s just followed up with a question earlier. She’s added Sorry, just adding on to my previous question. I meant if the application is approved, and we submitted, I’m not quite sure. Sorry, I’m not quite sure I can link back to the original one. But Caitlin says, Sorry, just adding on to the previous question. I meant if the application is approved, and we submitted, and then a few weeks later, we need to add to something else in. That’s all cool.
Yes, that’s a variation. That’s where your variation form come into play. So if you need to do that, you need to contact the provider and say, can you please attach a variation form, and that variation form would be attached and it’s very much focused on package cost items, and not necessarily all of the other information. And then that allows you to make changes to the package and then allows the provider at their end when you submit it to make a decision on whether or not those additional items are okay.
Q: What might be the turnaround for invoices to be paid once an invoice has been uploaded?
A: So that one’s not a technical question that I can answer that’s going to depend on each provider's process and how they go through the process of paying invoices.
Q: How or where does it show the link to the care plan?
A: So in the package cost items, there’s a place here where you can fill out the information about how it all links together.
Q: Who are you referring to when you talk about the provider?
A: So there’s a flexible support package provided in every local DHHS area. We also have a few statewide providers. And there’s FSP providers are the organisations that you apply to to seek funding for a victim survivor.
Q: If a client is approved for an FSP to assist to move, will they be eligible for another package in the new area they moved to? Will the new areas agency be able to see the previous applications in a different area.
A: The lab is only eligible for one FSP per support period. And that’s not dependent on the location. So even if they had received an FSP and they moved to another area, they technically will not be eligible for applying for another facility. But they are only only in the circumstance where there are additional needs and additional risks that have resurfaced then you’d have to put in a special request on to that FSP provided to approve multiple packages in a support period. Um, but the providers as ____ was explaining before, any applications that have been previously submitted through the portal, they’ll be able to search against it and double check so applicants don’t ignore it. The victims hub has received a previous package they can click donor and if the provider wishes they can do a search in the system.
Q: Is there a link to access the portal to register?
A: Excellent. So provided agencies will be circulating a link to start that process of registration. And they will be able to share that with you in due course, the first step, a reminder once again, is that you, each applicant agency shouldn’t have all of their users rushing in straightaway. To try and register the first step needs to be identify one person in your organisation that’s going to set up the SmartyFile and assign the other users and then you can all begin individually registering.
Q: Can client applications be a working document as risk changes?
And we will need to update the FSP regularly due to ongoing needs while they are a ramp client. Instead of being approved for one thing such as psi, they’re needing to do an additional application for funding for school uniforms. Later on in a couple of weeks, once psi has been completed, should we take that offline that question?
A: So again, that comes back to that variation. So the intent is that that variation form, and I will see if I can find it again, in here to show you. This variation form allows you to have that situation of the living packages such so when you need to change things, you can come in here and say okay, now based on the additional information we have, we might have to update family violence risk assessment, review dates, we might have done a new review on that, we might have to update information around the child protection plan or package cost items and the various pages then become available. And the if I go to the package cost items page. This will be pre-populated with all of the information in the package that you’ve already put in. And so rather than having to redo an entire application, what you would then do is revisit the items that you have in here, markup the changes. So you can say I need a new item. Or I need some more money for this item. Or I no longer need this item based on it on a change, etc. And if I don’t need it any longer, I can change this down to zero. And so the package then updates accordingly, and you’re able to manage that ongoing situation as it evolves.
Yes, I’m happy to keep taking questions. I’m also conscious, we are overtime. So anybody that needs to drop off, Please be assured that we’re going to try to record a list of all the questions that have been asked today and use them to create frequently asked questions on the training portal. So you’ll be able to come back into the training environment, and come down to the FAQ section down there in the FAQ section and tap into questions that might have been asked in your absence here. So if you’ve got to go please feel free to go but I’m happy to hang on for as long as people need to ask questions.
Q: We’re a small organisation, and we find it difficult to use the reimbursement model. Can we request all payment be made directly by the provider?
That’s actually a matter for the provider in question. So their processes are something that that is a conversation with them and how they work. Yep. Great.
Q: Can a client have multiple FSP’s with different agencies at the same time?
For example, if a client is engaged with IHS case management, and a FSPs at the same time, can both agencies have current FSPs?
A: Ideally, this should only be having one flexible support package. So, but it is possible. Sorry, I’m just thinking through this scenario. So if they’re engaged with an integrated Family Service, then that integrated Family Service will be putting in an application for children, that’s okay, because children can receive a package in their own right. And the family violence agency may be putting in a package for the adult victims. And we just want to avoid an application for the same primary recipient, as they can only receive one package in a support period. But as I said before, if multiple agencies we might might be working with the family at the same time, while there should be certain level of information sharing might not be possible for you to know that another application has been submitted. So that’s why that question around. Do you know, if the client has received a previous package? That’s where you can answer that information?
Q: I work in a refuge setting. And we will often apply for FSP for household well-being items through our local provider, we currently submit a separate application to the provider for psi response purposes, to the region they may be moving to in brackets. If out of our area, will this be possible through the portal to have access with? Sorry? Well, this? Will this be possible through the portal to have access from multiple providers if required?
A: so you can apply for packages to multiple providers, that’s fine. As George was saying before, we just need to get that unique link from the providers that you’re applying to. So you’re not limited to the provider that you choose to apply to. But ideally, if if you’re if it’s an organisation working with a victim survivor, and they have psi safety, security needs and other support requirements as well, that should all be in the same application. But I think in this scenario, you might be applying to another ISP provider because the client might be moving to that area. So it can accommodate that too. You just need to get that providers unique link to make that application.
Q: ___ has a question repaste ai applications we are required to submit to FSPs during the same support period, one for the safety audit and one for the final installation. How do we do that?
A: Excellent question. So going forward, this can all happen in the same online form. So what you can actually do is, in first instance, fill out your application, asked for the funding for the safety audit as the first item and then come back and do a variation once all of that is finalised for the remaining items in the package.
Q: Our safety planning requirements specific to just merom? Or can organisational internal safety plans, assist as a requirement
A: you’ll be able to refer to the new FSP program requirements to clarify risk assessment and safety planning requirements. But yeah, so the answer to that question is yes, our safety files and risk assessments need to be aligned with moving forward.
Q: Is it still only 15% for FSP variation?
A: That’s yours. That sounds like a particular providers approach. Are you able to address that? Yeah, I’m not sure what the percentage refers to. But the threshold for variations is something that’s decided locally with FSP providers, you’ll be able to have a conversation with them around when to close a package or when to just make a variation with to an existing package.
Q: Is there an opportunity to apply for a second package after three months or six months?
Again, you’ll be able to refer to the FSP program requirements around eligibility, but ideally, it’s one package per support period. So it’s four periods, the active period where you’re engaged with the victim survivor, but there’s a definition in the program requirements for support period.
Q: Question is, if you are required to get approval from a team leader, how do you share it with them? And do they just acknowledge the approval? Or do they have to submit it?
A: Not my test environment is letting me down there is an ability to share applications. And that works by way of being able to select an option to share and then selecting the person that you want to share with there’s lots of detail actually around it in the training that shows you how to go ahead and do that. Yes, that process has all been streamlined and much, much it’s a sharing of information online easily, isn’t it? Yes. You’ve done there. You would you want to point to that, or now that’s okay. I will see if it’s here. While you asked me the next question. Yeah, I’ll just go. There’s a couple of other policy question policy related questions, but I’ll leave them I think NAS was entered with the keep an eye out for the new guidelines and policy stuff that’s coming out very, very soon. I think I think I’ve got everybody have I missed anybody. Anybody wants to throw a last question? I think I think that’s it. Nobody’s jumping in.
So sorry, ____. Um, could I make a quick clarification about the applying for one package in a support period? Yes, I think I may have relate that’s wrong. So either way you be able to refer to the new SSP program requirements, but the client victims have is eligible for up to $10,000 in a single support period. But that $10,000 can be split across multiple packages. So for example, if you’re applying for $5,000 at the start of the support period, and another $5,000 at the end it you can’t do that. So it’s not linked to the number of packages to be submitted, but the cap of the total funding what they receive in that support period.
Q: Does the client have to be an Australian citizen?
A: They can be on a temporary visa as well. And that information is collected in the form.