Please help me understand Centrelink payments

So DF and I are working out a rough budget for after bub is born, as we will be moving when bub is 3 months to a much more expensive area (we moved to a cheaper area a year ago, but it's not where we want to be with a baby, we want to be back with our family). We are extremely good budgeters, eat very well and cheaply etc etc. Currently I am working, earning not a lot, $180-$500 p/f depending on how many shifts I take, and as of Feb I'll be on the full indipendant rate of youth allowance. DF is a full time student, also on the the full rate. We get about $80 rent assist atm too. By the time bubs arrives, DF will be working, and doing the same shifts as me, so he'll replace my income. After 6ish months I plan to go back to work too, so shortly after the baby bonus finishes, to replace that loss and then we'll both be working.

So based on that, what payments are we eligible for? I've heard the names around BB, family tax benefits a and b...are there others too? What are they, what is the rate (going loosely of that info) and are we eligible? Going from our income from working and our youth allowance (which btw will I lose when I have bub?) we can live very comfortably for our lifestyle, so $$ isn't an issue for us, but we would like to start saving for a car in the new year, so knowing a rough estimate would be a huge help (and also just to have all the payments explained) :) Thanks ladies!

Are you working for someone? Do you not qualify for paid mat leave next yeaR?

I am SOOO leaving this up to BG!!!!! :lol:

Haha yes, BG where art thou??

Sunshine, I work for quite a large company as a casual, but I only started a few months ago so I won't have been there long enough to qualify for mat leave unfortunately. They will hold my job for six months though, so I can return at the same position and pay.

why not try the rate estimator online? Just put in the info you wrote here and it will give you a fair estimate

Ahhh good stuff Lulu! Mwwwa! :heartbeat:

But I'd still like a human type explaination lol, the Centrelink jargon makes my head spin, I seriously have soo much respect for the people who work at CL or know about it, it baffles me most of the time!

as Lu said, the estimators will give you more accurate figures than me (you'll need to estimate your income from income support and employment for ftb purposes)

ftba - if you're on income support (youth allowance or parenting) you'll automatically get full rate, approx 160 per fn. if you're not on income and your estimate (combined) is over 45k ish for the full financial year, your entitlement may reduce
ftbb - will be paid depedent on your income esitimate for the full financial year (use the estimator for this one) - it will be anything up to 136ish per fn, depending on your estimated income for the lower income earner (whichever of you this is
parenting payment - if you are currently on youth allowance, your income will be low enough to apply for parenting payment (paid at higher rate than youth allowance). it's just been outlined in another thread the amounts, but it's up to 424 if you have no income, your DP less than 800 per fn. it will vary depending on what you're both earning. if you qualify for this payment, you'll qualify for max ftba
rent assistance. approx 130 (a bit more but i'm rounding from laziness lol) per fn is the max with one child. it will depend on how much rent you're paying (again, the estimator will tell you this)

when you go back to work, if you need to use child care, you will qualify for max rate child care benefit if you're on ppp. if you're both working/studying 15+hours per week, you'll have up to 50 hours subsidised each week. if less than 15 hours, you'll get up to 24 hours subsidised care per week (most long day care places charge a 12 hour day) - this reduces the amount you have to pay to the child care each day/week. if you are both working/studying at least an hour a week, you will qualify for the child care rebate as well (each quarter, you'll receive half of what you've paid in child care fees rebated, to a max of about 7.5k each year)


hope that helps!

Wow thanks BG!! Although my brain has melted a bit from that! We have a really friendly team of people at our local CL so I think I'll also go in and discuss it with them also, but from what you've said we will qualify for all of those payments. So my youth allowance will change to the parenting payment, which is very compareable to YA (including rent assist DF's YA is $485 p/f, so about $400 without rent assist). Soo helpful!

DF will lose RA - it will only be paid to you once as a family unit, but his youth allowance rate of payment may change once he has a child (not sure on that one)

don't go into the office unless it is notorious for being clear of people - if you start asking q's about what happens after the baby arrives they will point you at the phones set up in there to call the call centre. you can call fao at any time to discuss your circs and for help running through the estimator etc - but my suggestion is to avoid mondays - they are torture to try getting through!

i was just about to reply to this thread, but read BGs post and i dont think il bother....she explained it stacks better than i could!!! :)

Haha yep, we'll go in early morning. On a Wednesday. Lol. There are a few people there who are so lovely and willing to help, but I'd understand if they pointed me to the phones :lol:

Wait...I just added up those payments as Im sure we'll qual for all and DF won't be going over 800 pf...136, 160, my parenting payment 424, DF's about 400, 130 rent assist...so VERY approx $1340 pf without the baby bonus...that doesn't seem right? Like, too much?

you won't get the full 136 as ftbb will be based on the lower income earners total income

but everything else, yeah, sounds about right.

ooh, don't forget his payment will be impacted by his earnings much sooner - if he is no longer studying, he'd have to be on new start, and after 62 in earnings, his payment will start reducing

Okay, cool. Wow that's a lot more $$ than we work with now, and we do really well budgeting wise! Even if everything varies a bit, even if varies by 600, that's a whole lot more per month than now :) I think I'll news to get online and clue up a bit. Thanks sooo much for your help BG :loveshower:

:) BG has given a very good run down!!

PZ I know the staff at your local office and there are some super friendly, helpful people there - they should be able to give you some rates charts and lots of information if you go in to see them. They won't put you on the phone unless you actually need to make a claim - it is absolutely not their process to put you on the phone to make a general enquiry. Alternatively, I'm at the next closest office to you and we have some amazing staff if you ever need to come in and see someone face to face. Avoid the next two weeks if you can - they will be absolutely flat out processing new claims up until Christmas and catching up on other stuff the week after.

xxx

Thanks babe! I was actually wondering of you were at my one...might pop into yours hehe :think: And yeah, I wouldn't walk into CL in the next two weeks if you paid me, wayyyyyyy too many people for a little enquiry lol!

your office must be well-staffed EP - we often get customers saying they're in the office for an enquiry and they've been put on the phone to ask!

PZ, i'm not in an office - i hide in a call centre a couple of hours out of Melbourne. i get to deal with customers all over Australia (and ofte overseas too).

the one big advantage of calling a call cente is that once you have a person on the line, you have them for however lomg you need them, even for a general enquiry - i know friends in the office have to get customers in and out quickly as there are often long lines of people waiting...

And the call centre people are friendly too! I always feel bonded with them after a long enquiry hahaha :rofl:

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your office must be well-staffed EP - we often get customers saying they're in the office for an enquiry and they've been put on the phone to ask!

the one big advantage of calling a call cente is that once you have a person on the line, you have them for however lomg you need them, even for a general enquiry - i know friends in the office have to get customers in and out quickly as there are often long lines of people waiting...

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not well-staffed at all - but we have very good queue management and appointment wait times. It is absolutely not acceptable for us to put a customer on the phone for a general enquiry...nor at any of the offices in our area, as far as I'm aware. I have worked in both environments (call and face-to-face) and have definitely found that I am able to be more thorough and explain more in the face-to-face environment, but of course that's just my experience!! :)

we have been told it's protocol for the offices to put people on the phone for general enquiries - maybe there are offices that are getting hammered a lot more (country offices etc) - i dunno - just going on what we've been told (and are experiencing). i couldn't do face to face locally (we have one of the highest unemployment rates locally in Vic, maybe Au - or at least it used to be) - i prefer the call aspect personally

anyway, that is totally OT from the original post - glad we could help you with our waffle PZ