getting a payment early

[Pandora]

Is it possible to get a payment early as a one off? (FTBA+B)
What are the requirements to qualify for this to happen?

[briggsy's girl]

no, you can't get it early.

you have to change your pay date long term (and even then it's not a full payment that first time - you're paid each fortnight in arrears - if you change your paydate forward - so wed instead of fri, that first pay will only be 12 days, not 14 as there have only been that many days in the fn) - you can't swap and change it

if you're concerned about pay days over christmas, they will happen early to ensure that no payments are missed due to public holidays. for those that need to report earnings, make sure you take notice of what dates you are due to report for that fn - it may be that you need to report early to get paid on the right day

[Kitt3n]

I have been wondering this too.

can you get an advance and have less fortnightly payments ?

[briggsy's girl]

if you receive at least base rate of ftba (about 50 a fortnight) you can get an advance once in every six month period
it equates to half of the base rate of payment for each fortnight between when you receive the advance, and the end of that six month period (either june 30 or dec 31) - an advance would not be viable at this point. it's at it's max jan 1 or july 1, and reduces each day from then on.

[~clover~]

BG do they still do the EBT card?

[Kitt3n]

Thanks BG, great to know - we have insurance due in January

[briggsy's girl]

EBT cards are only for income support customers that can prove an extreme and unexpected need (ie medication, broken appliance) - they are not easily approved. in the call centres, we did training on what we could and couldn't authorise - I have only every authorised one - all others were referred to charities for assistance with food parcels etc. normal bills not being paid doesnt count. the one i approved was a person who had a child unexpectedly enter her care with nothing at all - the paperwork for ftb had been lodged, but it takes time to process - so there was a reason for it that she couldn't have forseen. have not approved for any other reason

and yeah, it doesn't apply to ftb, only income support (so parening payment etc

[~clover~]

Ok. Wasn't sure if it was still around.
I knew it was for absolute emergencies & not easy to get.

[briggsy's girl]

ooh, i should clarify - some offices won't do EBT cards as such - it can be authorised to do an early part payment of income support into your bank account (normal 2 day turnaround) and this is the normal method of payment.

[Pandora]

thanks for the info
most helpful, changing the regular payment date will work out fine.

[e_p]

"bjrose: BG do they still do the EBT card?"

As of the 21st of December, EBT cards will be a thing of the past too! As of about May this year, all requests for EBTs and pay advances (not including the 6 monthly FTB advance and the 12 monthly income support advance) for emergency situations (we're talking life threatening medical situations, or fire/flood) are assessed over the phone by a call centre operator...at the moment, if the call centre officer is able to verify the situation and the urgent payment is approved, you would be sent into a local office to collect an EBT card, or the payment is deposited into your bank account (24-48 hours before the payment lands). From the 21st, the money will be paid direct to your bank account within one hour - no more EBTs issued (unless the banks payment systems are offline)

In case you lovely people aren't aware, for those on Parenting Payment, Newstart, DSP, Carers payment, Age pension, Austudy, Youth Allowance and Sickness allowance - there is an advance payment of $500 you can apply for once every 12 months - you need to have been receiving your payment for 3 months, and have no outstanding debts/overpayments, and must be able to afford the repayment of $38.50 for 13 fortnights...lots of customers I see use it for car rego, christmas presents or back to school costs - worth keeping in mind if you meet the eligibility...and even better you can log onto the Centrelink website and apply online

[~clover~]

"bjrose: BG do they still do the EBT card?"

As of the 21st of December, EBT cards will be a thing of the past too! As of about May this year, all requests for EBTs and pay advances (not including the 6 monthly FTB advance and the 12 monthly income support advance) for emergency situations (we're talking life threatening medical situations, or fire/flood) are assessed over the phone by a call centre operator...at the moment, if the call centre officer is able to verify the situation and the urgent payment is approved, you would be sent into a local office to collect an EBT card, or the payment is deposited into your bank account (24-48 hours before the payment lands). From the 21st, the money will be paid direct to your bank account within one hour - no more EBTs issued (unless the banks payment systems are offline)

In case you lovely people aren't aware, for those on Parenting Payment, Newstart, DSP, Carers payment, Age pension, Austudy, Youth Allowance and Sickness allowance - there is an advance payment of $500 you can apply for once every 12 months - you need to have been receiving your payment for 3 months, and have no outstanding debts/overpayments, and must be able to afford the repayment of $38.50 for 13 fortnights...lots of customers I see use it for car rego, christmas presents or back to school costs - worth keeping in mind if you meet the eligibility...and even better you can log onto the Centrelink website and apply online

I didn't think it could be applied for over the phone at all. Well not now. I haven't spoken to anyone about it since I used it 5 years ago, but I thought it was only an office thing & it was totally up to the office to approve it. Noone on the phone could. Well thats what it was.

With the once a year $500 advance, isn't that only for people on Single Parenting Payment? I was told that years ago. Maybe I'm mistaken again. I tried asking about it once & was told that

[briggsy's girl]

the advance payment is fro all income support payments (ppp, pps, newstart) provided you meet qualifying limits

applying for EBT's or emergency payments has been over the phone for at least 18 months now - it was in place several months before i fell pg and got too sick to work! the change to immediate bank payments is new - and about time!

[~clover~]

Well I have to say that thats a bonus! I've pretty much never lived in the same town as a centrelink office, lol.

Does the 24 hour thing include disaster recovery payments? Such a shame its not already in place, since I have a claim being processed.

[e_p]

applying for EBT's or emergency payments has been over the phone for at least 18 months now - it was in place several months before i fell pg and got too sick to work! the change to immediate bank payments is new - and about time!

yeahh it's great news - we got the notification just this week that its going ahead! lots less traffic through the doors for us and saves lots of running around for people in the middle of an emergency situation! BG not sure when you went on mat leave but from about April/May this year, an initiative was introduced for all EBT requests to be done over the phone - has made for huge improvements in the environment in offices IYKWIM!

[e_p]

Does the 24 hour thing include disaster recovery payments? Such a shame its not already in place, since I have a claim being processed.

If you mean bushfire/flood recovery payments - unfortunately I dont think so, though it could definitely be put to good use in that area! Claims for the disaster recovery payments are assessed by a specialised team who upon grant would send the funds direct to your bank account, though I'm not sure how long it takes for them to process a claim

[briggsy's girl]

i started LWOP due to severe MS in october or november last year - and we'd been doing EBT and emergency payment requests over the phone for several months by that point...

[~clover~]

Thats ok I was told up to 2 weeks coz of the number of claims being put in atm & they are prioritising them, so its just a waiting game. Have no idea which way its even going to go.