Please help ?

Hi All,
Im a 17 year old girl, who is 18 weeks Pregnant.
My partner (ex partner) left me when he found out.
He wants nothing to do with me or our unborn child, even after the birth, as he has made that quite clear.
I do not work, as i have to take it easy because i suffer from Anxiety and Depression and dont want it esculating.

I am just wondering what kind of support i can get from Centerlink when Bubs born ?
I will not be asking for child support from him, as he will not be signing the birth certificate
I have herd about the $5,000 baby bonus and that i will receive it in $385 fortnightly payments. But im not sure roughly about the single parenting payment.

Any help on this would be muchly appreciated.

sounds like you have done your homework already not enough to live on


my advise you may not want it
it took 2 to create this baby don't just let him walk away that easily make him contribute even if he does not see the child he still needs to contribute not just walk away you can't just walk away why should he

maybe if he did not want to have a child he should have taken more responsibility in the first place

Hi hun, welcome to BB :)

Glad you're getting started on doing your homework. First things first though, I'm pretty sure that you will have to push your ex for child support, as the government isn't keen on paying for dads who won't stand up to their responsibilities - and you don't want to have to be punished for your ex's lack of care for his child. Besides that, he should be signing the birth certificate as his child deserves to have that legal record and knowledge of his/her parentage, if that makes any sense?
So I would definitely advise trying to talk to your ex about that - if he wants nothing to do with you and the baby, that's his loss, but you and the baby shouldn't be penalised for that - as Counting Days says, he helped make this baby, he should have some part in its life, even if that is purely financial support.

As far as I am aware (and bear in mind I'm definitely not an expert), you will be unable to receive assistance until after the baby is born, but yes, you will be entitled to the baby bonus in instalments (this applies to everybody, not just those under 18, as of January 1 this year). As a single parent, you will also be entitled to the single parent pension, but I'm unsure as to how much this is per fortnight and I could be wrong, but I think the amount you receive also depends on your individual circumstances - and again, I think the amount *may* be reduced if you are not in an agreement with the Child Support Agency and your ex, and not receiving any help from him.
You should also be entitled to Family Tax Benefit (there are two parts, A & B, I think as a single parent you will receive both, but then again I'm not 100% on this), and there are things like Immunisation Allowances and I think a Maternity Allowance (I remember receiving this, I couldn't tell you what it's for or how much it is though).

The best advice I can offer you is to either check out the Family Assistance Office website, or even better (as most of that stuff is barely understandable jargon to most of us!) make an appointment with Centrelink to go in and talk face-to-face with somebody about your options, your entitlements, and how to go about applying for these things - again, most of this stuff you can't do anything about until baby is actually born, so try not to stress too much as you have plenty of time to work things out, but having some knowledge of what you can expect is never a bad thing.

It may also be helpful for you to speak to someone at Centrelink about some form of support during your pregnancy - it's very tricky, but if you have medical conditions that prevent you from working (and I know from experience that it's really hard to get a job once you're showing, an employer doesn't want to waste time and money training you only to lose you in a few months), you may be entitled to some kind of allowance like Youth Allowance or even a disability pension... but again, it's quite hard to access those kinds of payments, especially as a minor and if you have your parent/s around (because you're not classed as an independent so everything goes on what your parents earn etc), so I wouldn't get your hopes up.

Good luck with everything, I hope you're taking it easy and keeping in regular touch with your GP regarding both your pregnancy and your mental health - I've suffered depression and anxiety disorders for years so I know how hard it can be adding a pregnancy on top of all that! It is totally doable though, just try to stay positive and keep yourself surrounded by good people who care about you and will support you. We here at BB are always good for a sympathetic ear and information so don't hesitate to stick around! :)

congrats on ur pregnancy...i think the fortnightly single parenting and family tax a+b adds up to about 1000 to 1100 per fortnight plus you would get the extra for the baby bonus for the first 6 months a fornight...i thinkk they do make you get dad to sign the birth certificate because they do make you claim child support and the pension isnt enough to live of so every dollar he has to fork out will help.......you can also claim rent assistance,not sure if u live at home otherwise if you do not sure how it works in regards to things....theres like 150-200 immunisation payment when there 18 month needles are done...but i would definatly go in for a chat or look it up on the centrelink website.....when i was pregnant i was on looking for work allowance but kept handing in letters from my doctor about my depression and things.....but i was living out of home so not sure how that would work if your at home.....

good luck for the future and i hope everything works out for you

hey, i was in almost exactly the same situation as you, 17, pregnant, single, suffering depression and wanting to get all the info i could! i've had my little man now, so i'll tell you what i recieve, it may be different to you though.

Centrelink:
I recieve the baby bonus, as you've said, in $385 fortnightly instalments.
I also recieve Parenting Payment - single, at about $575
Also, there are the Family Tax Benefits A & B at about $151 and $128 respectively.

So all in all it's about $850 a fortnight + the baby bonus for those 13 fortnights.
I don't know what your housing situation is like, but you would be entitled to rent assistance if you are renting. There is also an allowance available if you are studying.

Child Support:
centerlink say there has to be some action taken on your part here. if you don't take child support action, or don't get an exemption in (i think) 13 weeks, your payments will be affected.

Birth Certificate:
my oh-so-wonderful FOB didn't sign the cert either, basically what i did was give all the details to BDM and they attempted to contact him. which means they send him a registered letter, if he signs for the letter, or signs the forms in the letter, he'll be on the birth cert. if he does nothing about the letter ie. doesn't pick it up, he won't.. and my guy chose the latter lol
if you really really don't want him on their for whatever reason, your other option is to pretty much lie.
say that FOB was a one night stand, you don't have any details etc. etc. i'm not advocating this though, it can cause a few issues if you're found out etc.
i don't know your situation though. it may be for the best.

um, i think thats about it!

let me know if you want to know anything else, i might be able to help!

good luck with your pregnancy!!

love emma.

hey hun
i was looking into this just earlier as not sure whats happening with me and DP and wantd to know what sort of benefits i could receive if single
not including baby bonus and if your not working, it works out to about 900 a fortnite...then as the other girls have said u get baby bonus every fortnite for first 6 months
if ur renting and paying over a certain amount u will get abt $60 a week towards rent too

but unfortunately u cant get anything until after baby is born, unless you apply for the dole and u will have to do the usual looking for jobs thing unti your about 34 or 35 weeks i believe
best of luck

p.s. forgot to add theres a calculator on the ATO website just go to the ato website and type in 'rate estimator' in the search thingy. itll only work on current dates so for estimation just put in yesterdays date as babys birth date so itll give you an estimate. GL

hey my son doesnt have a dad (reasons id rather not explain) and i get around 950 afortnight but thats with 130 ish a fortnight in rent ass as i pay 200 a week but with out rent ass it will be avout 820 and im underestimating here for you...unless you lie about not knowing who the father is then he has to sign it i think but just talk to c-link.. good luck hunni!! all the best!!!

i was going to say exactly what bubbleandme said....

good luck hun xxx