Will i lose much do you think?

i wasnt sure where to put this ..maby should have put it in the work section:doh:

I might be going back to work...(ARGHHH SCARY LOL)
Mum says the aged care facility which she co-manages need some help in the kitchen, where ill most likely be working alongside the cook.( that is if i do start working there)

The hours would be 7.30am-1.30pm (casual)
so they wouldnt be long shifts and i could do 1 shift or 5 shifts a week if i wanted, and id only be working for a few months if that as their having someone take over the kitchen next year.

my questions
-Would i lose much of my centrelink payments?
-is it worth even going back?( i think my main reason for accepting to work isnt just because of the money but i wouldnt want to be losing too much money either IYKWIM)

you can run an estimate on the c'link site
i'd do that

The way they set it up there isn't much incentive to work until you *have* to when your last child turns 6 or 8.

I work 12 hours a week and drop almost $100 a week in benefits. Add to that creche and after school care and I'm not that much ahead.

BG - if you're a single parent, at what age of the youngest child, does the parenting payment single stop and job start (is that what its called?), start ? I also receive a carers payment for my youngest - does that effect staying on the PPS ?

I would get the hourly rate info first, then plug it into the rate estimator.
Take into account your CC fees (ouch!)

There is a fine line between going backwards and forwards - the part time thing can be hard...

xoxoxo

carers allowance is not impacted in any way by returning to work

if you don't have child care fees (so have rellos that can look after kidlets) it works out ok - but if you factor in child care fees, often you aren't better off until your kids start school. you have to factor in tax, travel, child care etc

things that will impact how much you "lose"

firstly - working credits - for each fortnight that you've not worked since your child was born, you've accrued working credits (to a maximum of 1000) - with these, when you DO return to work, once you hit the threshold for reducing payment due to earnings. for each dollar over that threshold, one working credit will be used, until you run out of working credits. this allows you to have a "transition" period where your earnings don't impact your payment

when your working credits are gone, your income starts affecting your payment. when you hit the threshold (i think it's around 150 if you only have one child, but it's 4am and i'm too tired to look it up!), your payment starts being impacted by 40c for every dollar over that threshold. when it hits the next threshold (which i can't recall sorry - haven't worked in months lol) - it then takes 60c in the dollar. IF you earn enough to be getting no payment at all (which is full time hours at most places) - you have six fortnights in a row where you income has to be too high to get payment before you are considered to be full time employed and the payment stopped. in that six fortnights you keep your pension card and full ftba etc

this is for parenting single only - parenting partnered is different

PPS is a payment you can remain on until your youngest child is 16 - BUT, once that child turns six, it becomes an "activity tested" payment. as the primary carer for a young child, you are not expected to return to work full time when they turn six, but you are expected to engage in activity to bring you back into the workforce and ultimately make you more employable. in the past, you were left until your youngest was sixteen, put on newstart and expected to find your way. it was shown that this wasn't working (well DUH!) and people had been out of the workforce too long so were simply not employable due to no current skills - a lot changes in sixteen years! so now, when your youngest is six, you're expected to start building your skills again. this may be through part time work, part time study, part time training, starting your own business (though there are expectations of how much you need to be earning per hour put in, or it's not considered a viable business - and you need to be doing a minimum number of hours each week)

HTH

My concern is, because Alex has autism, i'm not sure when I will be able to work full time. I work part time at the moment, but the thought of full time teaching with both kids in before and after care is *freaking* me out.

So when the youngest child turns six, is that when they contact you with regard to re-entering the workforce/training etc ?

Also - with the carers allowence, do I need to send them updates about his progress/assessments etc ?

if there is any change, you need to send details - so it's always best to provide info - you will be sent periodical reviews that your carers need to fill in anyway to ensure you still qualify

when your youngest child turns six, you will be contacted about re-entering the workforce. if you're already working part time, you are probably meeting your obligation - but at the moment it is voluntary - when he turns six, it becomes compulsory. you will be asked to sign an activity agreement saying you will work x amount of hours per week - and if you dont you're not meeting your obligation and will agree to look for work (or something like that) - they do take into account that sometimes you ahve time off (seasonal shuts of some shops etc, sick children) so it's not like one week will impact you...

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PPS is a payment you can remain on until your youngest child is 16 - BUT, once that child turns six, it becomes an "activity tested" payment. as the primary carer for a young child, you are not expected to return to work full time when they turn six, but you are expected to engage in activity to bring you back into the workforce and ultimately make you more employable.

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another C'link employee here - under Welfare to Work (I think introduced in 2006?), unless you are a 'grandfathered' PPS customer (i.e. on PPS before the new rules), you will no longer be eligible for PPS once your youngest child turns 8. When your youngest child turns 6, there is a requirement that you either be looking for work (i.e. reporting job searching efforts) or working/studying for 15 hrs p/w. Once your youngest turns 8, you would transfer over to Newstart Allowance, still with the 15 hrs p/w or job search requirement - the only difference is a lower rate of payment (and a less generous income test, meaning income from work will have more of an impact on your payment. You would remain eligible for Newstart Allowance with 'Principal Carer' status (the 15 hrs p/w requirement, rather than looking for full time work) until your youngest turns 16. Once your youngest is 16, you may still be eligible for Newstart Allowance, so long as your income from part-time/casual work is below the income threshold (about $775 gross p/fortnight at the moment) and you are actively looking for work :) Hope that hasn't caused any confusion and is clear enough to get your head around! I find it pretty confusing myself and its my job!!