Family assistance over the age of 16 question

[Tinks]

Can someone explain to me how Family Assistance works once your kids are teenagers? I thought you could continue claiming FTB until your child finished high school but a friend of mine has a 16 yo and said she can no longer get FTB for her kids, that they had to apply for Youth Allowance.

Is that right?

[briggsy's girl]

they don't HAVE to apply for Youth Allowance, however they may be better off applying (financially speaking)

somewhere in the government wisdom, they think it costs less to raise a 16 year old than a 15 year old. the absolute maximum ftb you can get for a 16 year old is $51 (and some odd cents, but i'm gonna round for convenience). for a lower income family, even taking parental income into account, they may get more youth than the $51 (max youth for a child living at home at 16 is 208ish, parental income reduces that though) - the youth allowance can (and usually is) paid into the parent/guardian bank account as the "customer" is a minor. the more children over 16, the more the parental income is "spread" and the more youth allowance they'd get for the kids.

oh, yeah, for children over 16 they have to be studying towards or previously achieved year 12 or equivalent - if they haven't, you can't get ftb for them

hope that helps Tinks!

[Tinks]

Thanks BG. So FTB does continue if you're not eligible for Youth Allowance (I highly doubt we would be). I can't believe the payment is so low for kids of that age . I suppose they're able to get a part time job at that age anyway, which I'll be encouraging my kids to do.

Guillard said she was going to increase the amount paid to parents of 15-18 year olds. Do you know if that's really going to happen?

[briggsy's girl]

until May when the budget comes out, it's all speculation
if your kids are over 16, their income can also impact ftb entitlement. this financial year, if they earn 13009 or under, you get payment each fortnight, 13010 and you get nothing