From the category archives:

Government Benefits

FTB Supplements 2009-10

July 25, 2010
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I took a large number of calls last week sorting out confusion surrounding what people like to call “bonus” payments. I’m referring to the Family Tax Benefit Part A and Part B Supplements. 
How much is it?
For the 2009-10 year, the maximum payments are $711.75 per child (part A) and $346.75 (part B).
How Do I Get it?
Generally, if [...]

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Carer Supplement Payments 2010

July 1, 2010
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 One of the most common Centrelink questions I receive this time of year has to do with the Carer Supplement payments…
who qualifies for it, how much will it be and when is it paid?
 
$600 Carer Supplement
From today,  more than 500,000 carers across Australia will receive a $600 Carer Supplement, as part of the Australian Government’s [...]

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New Education Requirement for FTB Part A

July 1, 2010
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From 1 July 2010, new education participation requirements will be introduced for Family Tax Benefit (FTB) Part A for young people aged 16 to 20. 
This means that around 300,000 children aged from 16 to 20 will need to be enrolled in a full-time course leading to Year 12 or equivalent qualification, or have completed the [...]

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More Flexibility for Pensioners

July 1, 2010
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From 1 July, pensioners can receive advance payments of up to a maximum amount of $1,005.75 for singles and $758.10 for each member of a couple in a six month period. This is a significant increase on the previous maximum advance of $500 a year for singles and each member of a couple. 
Part-rate pensioners will [...]

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The New Income Tests – will you still get your rebate?

June 1, 2010
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As you’re  probably aware, there have been some changes to income tests which affect your eligibility to certain tax rebates and government benefits. We now have to get used to terms like ‘adjusted taxable income’, ‘rebate income’ and  ‘income for surcharge purposes’.
But wait, there’s more…  the income tests for HELP amd SFSS repayments, Mature Age Worker Tax Offset [...]

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Family Tax Benefit & Tax Returns

April 29, 2010
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We are seeing more and more people lately who have found themselves cut off from household Centrelink payments until  they or their partner lodge overdue tax returns.
If you receive Family Tax Benefit and you or your partner have outstanding returns for any year you were receiving FTB, don’t wait until your payments are stopped and you’re unable to [...]

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Changes to Youth Allowance on the way

March 17, 2010
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Apparently the Government have finally reached agreement regarding the passage of the Youth Allowance bill in the Senate (I posted a bit about this way back in July when it was first announced). This should see more than 150,000 students start to receive new scholarships from April 1st. It’s worth noting that a few changed have [...]

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Centrelink Deeming Rates to Change

March 10, 2010
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As the economy recovers from the global economic crisis, rates of return on investments are also beginning to increase.
As a result, the deeming rates, which are used to assess income from a range of financial investments held by pensioners and other income support recipients, will also increase on 20 March from the record low levels [...]

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Pensions To Increase Later This Month

March 10, 2010
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Approx. 4 million Australians will receive an increase in their pensions and other income support payments from 20 March due to indexation.
Pension payments will increase by $29.20 a fortnight for singles on the maximum rate, and $44.00 a fortnight for couples combined on the maximum rate.
Following these increases, total pension payments for those on the maximum rate, [...]

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New Education Requirements for FTB A

December 7, 2009
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From today, around 273,000 families will receive a letter from Centrelink to explain new requirements for Family Tax Benefit Part A for children aged 16 to 20.
Legislation passed by the Parliament last week will make participation in education or training a requirement for payment of Family Tax Benefits for young people aged 16 and over. 
From [...]

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Miss out on a bonus payment?

November 27, 2009
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If you did not receive a payment as part of the Economic Security Strategy (ESS) in December 2008 or the Household Stimulus Package (HSP) in March to April 2009, you may be eligible for payments under administrative schemes announced by the Government.
Eligibility has been extended to include around 2,000 families and carers in respect of [...]

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Family Tax Benefit Supplements

August 12, 2009

 
One of the most common Centrelink-related questions this year seems to concern the FTB supplement…. or as most people call it the ‘$600 per child’ payment.
 The Family Tax Benefit Part A and Part B Supplements are an increase in the annual rate of FTB paid at the end of the financial year after you and your [...]

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Options for Claiming Family Tax Benefit Have Changed

August 5, 2009

I know I have posted this before but many people still seem unaware that you can no longer lodge an annual lump sum Family Tax Benefit claim through the Tax Office with your tax return.
If you receive FTB as fortnightly payments, this change to claiming will not affect you.
It’s unfortunate because, let’s face it, the reason most people [...]

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Centrelink Online Services Now Available for Carers

August 1, 2009

 
Carers who are Centrelink nominees -  that is, as person nominated by a customer to handle their Centrelink affairs - can now register to do Centrelink business for themselves and the person they care for online.
Nominees can register for online services at www.centrelink.gov.au.
Once registered, you may be able to:

subscribe to receive letters online
update address and bank details [...]

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New Student Income Support Estimator

July 3, 2009

 
The Minister for Education, Julia Gillard today released a student income support estimator to help students plan their future study. Check it out here.
The estimator allows prospective students to enter their parents’ income level and family type to gain an estimate of the level of support they might expect to receive under the Rudd Government’s [...]

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