Is my friend's child eligible for a payment?

[ann]

Hi,

I'm actually just wondering if a friend's son is eligible for a payment. He's 19 and living at home, in a house with his mother. She earns ~40,000 a year but wants him to start paying board. He hasn't been successful in finding a job so he hasn't been paying her anything. I suggested that he at least goes on 'looking for work' payments while he is actually looking for work, to help support his mother. However, he is adamant that he is not eligible for payment due to his mother's income and the fact that he still lives at home.

I actually have my doubts that he even went into a centrelink office, but I didn't want to say anything in case I was wrong.

I know there is a number of things involved, but surely he is eligible for some amount of payment? If anybody can bring some sort of confirmation to this, I will certainly convince his mother to force him to get his butt into an office.

[Pandora]

I would have thought he was eligible for newstart if he is looking for a job.
He is either thinking of youth allowance which he probably wont get, not newstart as this would involve him looking for work - is he actually doing this.

The other thing is if he feels to proud to go on payments which is a seperate issue,

[briggsy's girl]

he is right
until age 21, unless he is deemed independent (workin at least 18 months since leaving high school, earning approx 17k in that time) his eligibility for pA\ayment, whether he lives with them or not, is based on parental income

[briggsy's girl]

I would have thought he was eligible for newstart if he is looking for a job.
He is either thinking of youth allowance which he probably wont get, not newstart as this would involve him looking for work - is he actually doing this.

The other thing is if he feels to proud to go on payments which is a seperate issue,

until 21, you either get yuth/student or yoth/job seeker - same as newstart but still based on parental income

[Glamourcide]

^ Cheers BG, that's exactly what I was thinking... had the same problem when I finished high school and was having trouble finding work, my parents were pretty damn p-ed to discover Centrelink expected them to pay for me until I was 21 In the end they had to 'kick me out' so I could get a payment and look after myself until I found some part-time work, it sucked.

[ann]

same as newstart but still based on parental income

So, based on a parental income of ~$40,000 a year - do you think he would be eligible for any payment at all?

The other thing is if he feels to proud to go on payments which is a seperate issue

As for the pride thing, yeah I sort of got that feeling from the situation and/or sheer laziness. But, she happily accepted that they denied him eligibility. So before telling her (politely) that I think her son is full of it and that she should tell him to get his butt into an office, I wanted to check if people in similar circumstances are normally eligible or not.

Just to summarise:
He's 19.
Currently looking for work.
Lives with one parent who earns approximately 40k.
He's NOT independent.
His mother needs him to pay board.

I would call and check with centrelink myself, but I'm sure they wouldn't be capable of answering a "hypothetical" question.

Thanks for your responses

[briggsy's girl]

the parental income thresholds for youth allowance (dependent rate) are extremely low. i think 40k would be over the threshold to get payment to be honest.

and yes, c'link and all it's youth and student officers, will answer hypothetical questions.

there is more to it than JUST the income - they take into account the family assets, parental income and the family actual means test. it is changing from July 1 for the parental income test to be more generous so it's worth enquiring then - not sure exactly how it will impact your friends son

taken from the c'link website for the current period of time:

Income test

If your parent/s taxable income for the 2008/09 financial year is $33,300 or less (plus additional amounts for each dependent child other than yourself), your payment will not be affected by the income test.

If your parent/s have other dependent children, their taxable income can increase by the following amounts before it affects your payment:

* $1,230 for the first other dependent child aged under 16
* $2,562 for each additional dependent child aged under 16
* $3,792 for each dependent child:
o aged between 16–24 in full-time study, or
o aged between 16–20 and seeking employment, or
o who receives a boarding allowance or second home allowance under the Assistance for Isolated Children Scheme[4]
* $7,585 for a tertiary student getting living away from home rate of Youth Allowance where there are 2 such children in the family.

The rate of payment payable is reduced by $1 for every $4 of income over these amounts.

After applying the parental income test, a personal income test is applied.

In some circumstances (where parental income decreases or increases substantially) your parent/s income in the current tax year is used.

it is based on individual circumstances, but yes, what he is saying is right - if max rate is payable at an income of less than 33k, it would reduce significantly and possibly cut out eligibility completely if the income is at 40k. it is designed to support the children of extremely low income families (usually with parents on income support themselves).



this information is all available on the c'link website

[mummy of 3 boys]

i dont know exactly what the rate is but i can inform u when me and all my sisters turned 16 we were entilted to a centrelink payment only because my mum was on disability payment herself.

my older sisters DF is 20 and doesnt live at home and is not classified as independant ,his parents STILL have to pay his way if this helps you understand he is more then likely telling the truth until either had a child or become married or been working for 18 months straight fulltime or earned a certain amount of money in a certain time frame to be entilted to be classed as Independant!

Hope this helps you :-)

[e_p]

Youth Allowance would be the most applicable payment and his eligibility will be based on his mum's 08/09 tax return - if her taxable income for that year was around $40,000, then he would likely be eligible for payment. He will not be entitled to rent assistance as he lives with mum. He will be required to lodge fortnightly forms to show he is looking for work, as well as attend job seeking appointments with a Job Services Australia provider (job agency). The call centre staff can help you with general enquiries regarding eligibility - you don't need to give personal information. He should also be aware that if he has not completed year 12 or equivalent (Cert II), he will be required to undertake some study or training to be eligible for Youth Allowance, but he can be given a period of time and a referral to a specialist service to help him find a course of interest and get enrolled. To claim, he should get on the phone to the call centre immediately to be paid from the earliest date - no point attending an office as they will direct him to the phone to make a claim - he will need to provide proof of birth (birth cert or passport) plus an additional 100 points of identification (drivers license, medicare card and ATM card), a quarterly bank statement (plus something showing his account balance on the day he contacts Centrelink, such as an internet banking print out or ATM receipt printed on the appropriate date showing the account number), a form called a Mod JY (which covers the parents income details...he can download this from the website or the call centre staff can post it to him), his tax file number and his mum's tax notice of assessment for 08/09 - those are the basic requirements for a claim to be assessed, obviously if there are other details such as real estate, trusts, shares, compensation, self-employment for him or his mum, further documentation will need to be provided but the call centre staff will be able to help there.

HTH!

[PumpkinZulu]

Just wanted to put in that I'm still classed as dependant on my mum...even though I pay all of my own bills, live out of home, am studying and paid for all of my own books etc. Thank goodness DF has a better income!

[e_p]

maximum youth allowance for a 19 y.o living at home is approx $248.00 p/f - he will have some reduction in his payments but I am almost 100% sure the cut off is above $40,000 - even if he is entitled to $100 only (I think it will be more than this but don't want to disappoint), he will get a concession card and when the rules change from 1st of July, he will (I think - haven't yet had training!) receive maximum rate as the parental income cut off for maximum rate will rise to $44,165 per annum (parental income over that amount will reduce the young person's rate of payment)

[e_p]

Just wanted to put in that I'm still classed as dependant on my mum...even though I pay all of my own bills, live out of home, am studying and paid for all of my own books etc. Thank goodness DF has a better income!

PZ - have you and DF been living together for more than 12 months? If so, you may be classed as independent due to living in a defacto relationship for more than 12 months.

[PumpkinZulu]

PZ - have you and DF been living together for more than 12 months? If so, you may be classed as independent due to living in a defacto relationship for more than 12 months.

hmm we have...but not according to c/link iykwim. Was a mistake on our part, I can tell you...but we're getting married soon so it won't matter for much longer.

[~clover~]

PZ - have you and DF been living together for more than 12 months? If so, you may be classed as independent due to living in a defacto relationship for more than 12 months.

I was going to say the same thing here. Thats how I was classed as independant when I moved out of home.
PZ - if you can get 2 people to sign a form to say you've lived with him for more than 12 months, you should be able to do it. We had to, as we had me still living at home til then.

My sister, at 20, has had all these same issues with cl over the last 18 months. She was living & working in QLD (over 90 minutes from home), so was allowed to be on living away from home, but now she's moved back here, she's back to living at home, even though she doesn't, simply coz she's within 90 minutes of home. She has a job now & her own rent to pay from Monday, so we hope things will change, or she'll get the second job she's hoping for.

[mummy of 3 boys]

this is good info to know, but i bet it wont make a difference to my sisters DF as they havent been living defacto for 12 months and umm both his parents are pharmacist so they surely earn more then $44k a yr!

Hmm i feel sorry for her!

[Pandora]

Was it always like that?
When I finished yr12 in 1995 (wow im old!) most of my year level igned up for newstart the day after their last exam.
An most of them would have had parents on at least that amount.

[e_p]

Was it always like that?
When I finished yr12 in 1995 (wow im old!) most of my year level igned up for newstart the day after their last exam.
An most of them would have had parents on at least that amount.

not sure Pandora - I haven't been around the traps for that long to know whether the rules have changed - they do change dramatically at various times so it's very likely that they have

[e_p]

hmm we have...but not according to c/link iykwim. Was a mistake on our part, I can tell you...but we're getting married soon so it won't matter for much longer.

make sure you take that marriage certificate in as soon as possible after your wedding - your then DH will also need to complete a Mod P (partner details form) to have your files linked and your independent and away from home status coded onto your file - you'll see a dramatic increase in your payments, and will qualify for rent assistance.