Parenting payments for seperated couples question

Hello I was just wondering if anyone had come across this scenario my ex wife and I are seperated and live apart we have two boys 2 and 4 which we have 50/50 custody and split all expenses evenly we both earn about the same amount .We both get ftb A and ftb B but because we had 50/50 we get half the rate each which is fair however when applying for centrelink parenting payment as we both well and truly meet all aspects of earning limits and assetts etc centrelink claim that only one parent can be the designated carer and get all the benefits of parenting payment and a pensioner concession card and the other parent gets neither i asked if they could just pay us both 50% off what we should get to reflect the 50% custody and they said no there is a different rule for parenting payment to family tax benefit this does not seem fair as my ex and I are more than happy to get 50% rather than one or the other get everything and the other miss out entirely seeing as we have split up amicably and share custody and cost exactly 50/50 was just wondering if anyone else had come across this or new what we should do now thanks Jason

it's definitely only possible for one parent to get "primary carer" status for a child/children. if you have 50/50 shared care, it would then look at your financial situation to see who has the greater need for the additional support. there is no way to share the PCC, or the single parent payment. if your incomes are low enough to qualify for parenting payment chances are that your income is low enough for your income estimate to give you the ftb health care card. yes, it may seem unfair, but if income support payments were split, at what point does it become workable/unworkable? if it is allowed for 50/50 care, should it be allowed for 60/40, 70/30?
income support payments are a form of welfare to help those who can't support themselves. given you have 50/50 care, there is a significant amount of time your children aren't in your care, so the theory is that you have ample time to be able to work and support yourself and your children, with the aid of the family tax benefit. if you're on a very low income, you can look at options like newstart to supplement your income...

To Briggys Girl
thanks for your reply so what you are saying is that if my ex's earnings are $500 per year greater than mine then I will be deemed as being the parent with the greater need and get the parenting payments fortnightly plus the pensioner concession card giving me discount off my shire and water rates saving me approx $1000 yr plus discount on my phone line rental and whatever else you can get pensioner card discounts on so in effect many many thousands of dollars better off than my ex in the end result does not seem fair to me . For the sake of earning $500 less annually that parent is rewarded with thousands of dollars of payments and discounts ...........the other parent may get newstart which pays much less and as the other has been deemed the primary carer will only get a health care card so no discounts off rates etc .Why if family tax can be split surely it is not that complicated to work out a percentage and apply it to parenting payment how hard can it be to work it out if both parents meet all the requirements in regards to income and assets what ever it may work out to so what if its 62%-38% 74%-26% there are many other agencies able to do calculations such as child support etc of course some people may think the current system is fair but i ask how would you feel if you were in the same situation and your ex was getting all the benefits despite your earnings being similar just makes parents that are trying to be fair with each other and take responsibilities for looking after the kids resent the other if there getting benefits and the other is not

This is going to sound incredibly naive of me, so hopefully BG or someone can clear it up, but Jason, say what you just said did happen, could you not simply pay 50% of the payment you receive to your ex? You seem on pretty civil terms and you seem to want to make sure things are fair. Just don't know about the legalities of it, but I assume you could just do that? :dunno:

jason, it's just the way it is. In fact in these situations it's "first in first served". Whoever applies first will get it. I also think you will find it's not necesarily "thousands" of $$ in discounts.

I sure if your split is amicable, you should be able to come to some sort of agreement between yourselves?

ETA - it's got nothing to do with what BG thinks or feels - it's just the law.

I agree with BG and Lulu - it's the law. If you and your ex are working together for the benefit of the children, which you seem to (and good on you, it's the best thing for the kids!) then perhaps she could pay you the 50% of the SPP. Or both of you could work during the week when you don't have the children, to enable you to improve your prospects and not need the "benefits" which are there to support struggling families.

If you're referring to Child Support percentages, and you say you have the same income, then there shouldn't be Child Support payable.

Otherwise, if you want the law changed, you can lobby your local Federal Member of Parliament. However it's been this way for a long time.

Good luck with the shared parenting.

as the others said, it's law. it's not something that can be changed based on someone wanting to - if you have an issue, go to your local member. in the mean time, you have to understand that the parent with "higher needs" for it doesn't necessarily go on annual income. there are a lot of factors taken into account that are dealt with by a local consultant. as has been said, generally it's first in best dressed HOWEVER, it can be appealled as you need to be the PRIMARY carer. when it comes down to it, given you're both having 50/50 care, neither of you is primary carer....