Baby bonus and FTB payments - when they commence after birth.

[DaintreeDream]

I was just wondering if anyone could advise how long it is generally taking for the first baby bonus payment and FTB (A&B) to commence after baby arrives if forms are lodged straight away and FTB are already being received for previous children.

[chippyrabbit]

Anywhere from 2-6 weeks. The general rule seems to be about 3 weeks.

[DaintreeDream]

Thankyou

[HotI]

it took 10 weeks for mine.

[DaintreeDream]

I have heard that it is taking a while to start, did you lodge yours straight away?

[Mildez]

Mine took about 3months by memory and I put them in when DD3 was 2weeks old.

[briggsy's girl]

The aim is around three weeks but a lot of the staff that were processing claims have again been taken away from that role to help people impacted by floods and fire over the last few weeks so processing times will likely be longer again over the next couple off this as they fight to catch up again

[HotI]

Mine was Jan last year, and there was a backlog for some reason then too.

[briggsy's girl]

Honestly, since the Floods-cyclone in 2011, there has been a lot of stuff going on in terms of emergencies (or high call volume) which stops the processing teams actually processing. It's as frustrating for staff as it is for customers when there is a backlog and we can't clear it. Possibly moreso given we deal with many of these cases each day. Very frustrating situation for all involved!

[luna moth]

9 weeks and 12 weeks here. But me having a baby seems to cause natural disasters, particularly flooding.

Should BB and FTB come in at the same time? Last baby I remember they didn't. This one I don't know, need to check my online letters.

[briggsy's girl]

they will start at the same time - first payment should be same day - but after that, your ftb will align with your normal ftb payment, and bb will be paid fortnightly from the date it was granted (so they may not be on the same day)

[RockingBaker]

7 weeks with DS2. It was only 2 weeks with the triplets though.

[DaintreeDream]

Do they backpay the BB to when the baby was born if it takes 7 weeks?

I really need a new pram, would have loved to buy one before baby arrives but I have to wait for the BB.

[chody47]

I'm pretty sure they back pay it to whenever you wanted you start date to be.

[Fuzzywuzzy]

No, they back pay FTB but the BB starts from the processing date. Mine took 2 weeks with DD2 a year ago but I have friends who lodged 1 month before me and their payment took almost 3 months to come through

[MLR1901]

I was at C link the other day to find out about applying etc, they advised they are back logged so approx 30 days behind in first payment.

[briggsy's girl]

It can be more than 30 days. For a while last year it was up to 60

Bb isn't back paid. You get your instalments from the date it's granted and they got for the 13 instalments. Ftb is back paid to date of birth.

[AndiE]

We got ours really quickly. Applied for it online mid Jan and first payment from memory came through just shy of 2 weeks later. Much more quickly than we expected.