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Home Organising How can Centrelink help my family?

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How can Centrelink help my family?

Understanding and navigating Centrelink can be difficult and confusing. Below are some tips about Centrelink and other options that may be relevant to you and your family. 

We understand families are under high amounts of pressure and stress during the course of their child’s cancer treatment and beyond.

Tips for accessing Centrelink services and payments

Centrelink Social Workers can assist you with information, short term counselling, and referrals to support services.

You can speak to a Centrelink Social Worker if you are experiencing:

  • Family and domestic violence
  • Thoughts of suicide or self-harm
  • Being a young person without support
  • A personal or family crisis
  • Mental health concerns
  • A natural disaster and how it has affected you

  • Often the more supporting documents you can provide to Centrelink the more efficiently they can process your application.
  • Centrelink works from an evidence perspective so the more evidence you provide, like official letters, doctor’s certificates, legal papers, payslips, medical information, etc… the quicker your claim can be processed and approved.

Ask for a temporary Medicare or Health Care Card while waiting for your application to be processed. This will allow you to get discounts while waiting the 6-8 weeks (or longer) that applications usually take to be finalised. You can also access your Health Care Card in the digital wallet on the Centrelink App.

  • Make sure whenever you contact a Centrelink office you have your Customer Access Number (CAN) and PIN which will generally be the same as you Customer Reference Number (CRN).
  • If you are a customer using Centrelink Services, call your regular payment line and request the service centre you wish to book an appointment with.
  • Otherwise, you can call Centrelink for assistance, but you may be on hold for at least one hour or longer. If you do need to call Centrelink, 8am and 3pm are often the best times or ringing before the opening time which will put you in the queue.

You might be eligible for more than one Centrelink benefit, or you may be eligible for a different payment you do not know about. Try the ‘Payment Finder’ tool on the Centrelink website. It is a good first step in exploring your eligibility to Centrelink options.

Click here to go to Centrelink’s Payment and Service Finder Tool

There are additional resources available if you identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander, including the Centrelink Indigenous Call Centre. You can call them Monday-Friday, 8am-5pm on 1800 136 380.

Click here to see more payments and supports for Indigenous Australians

If you give constant care to someone who has a severe disability or illness, you may be eligible for the carer payment. Constant care means you provide care for a large amount of time daily. This is roughly equal to a normal working day. This care stops you from working full time.  The carer payment is means-tested.

Click here to see Carer Payment.

A supplement that you can apply for separately to the Carer Payment. This fortnightly payment is for you if you give support and care to someone. The Carers Allowance is not assets tested but it is INCOME TESTED (see link below).

  • with a disability
  • with a medical condition
  • who is frail aged

Click here to see the Carer Allowance.

A one-off payment of up to $10,000 to support families in financial hardship after a catastrophic event affecting a child younger than 7 years old. This payment is for you if you give full time care to a child younger than 7 who has been affected by a catastrophic event. These may include;

  • childhood stroke
  • diagnosis of a severe medical condition, such as childhood cancer
  • car accident or other accidents

You will need a doctor to diagnose your child with a severe medical condition. You must claim within 2 years from the first time a doctor diagnoses your child’s condition. To get this one-off payment, you and your partner must not be able to get an income support payment from Centrelink. This includes Carer Payment and JobSeeker Payment.

Click here to see Carer Adjustment Payment.

An annual payment if you have caring responsibilities and get certain carer or Department of Veterans’ Affairs payments.

This is an annual payment of up to $600, paid automatically if you get:

  • Carer Allowance
  • Carer Payment
  • Department of Veterans’ Affairs Partner Service Pension and Carer Allowance
  • Department of Veterans’ Affairs Carer Service Pension.

You need to be getting one of these for a period that includes 1 July to be eligible for Carer Supplement.

This payment doesn’t add to your taxable income.

Click here to see Carer Supplement

A card that can allow you to access bulk-billed doctor visits, cheaper medicine under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), and lower your threshold for the Medicare Safety Net. Depending on your state or territory, you may also be able to access discounts on electricity and gas bills, property and water rates, public transport and motor vehicle registration.

Click here to see Low-Income Healthcard Card requirements.

A two-part payment that helps with the cost of raising children.

To receive this, you must:

  • have a dependent child or full-time secondary student aged 16 to 19 who isn’t getting a pension, payment or benefit like Youth Allowance
  • care for the child for at least 35% of the time
  • meet an income test

Click here to see if you qualify for the Family Tax Benefit.

An additional supplement if you are receiving certain other Centrelink payments.

Click here to see Energy Supplement details.

Make sure to remember…

Follow up missed calls

Follow up any missed calls from Centrelink by ringing back on the relevant phone number. This depends on the claim you have applied for. If you miss a call, there is a high chance that your claim will have additional waiting periods or be cancelled altogether. Click here for a list of relevant phone numbers

If your claim is rejected

If your claim is rejected, you have the right to ask why it was rejected and appeal the decision. You may have the option of resubmitting your claim with additional evidence or editing your answers. If this option is not successful, you can get additional support from the Commonwealth Ombudsman. 

Redkite is here to help you

Connect with a Redkite Social Worker over the phone, via email or over video and together we can support you to apply for these payments and find more ways to help you and your family that are specific to your circumstances. 

Find out more about Redkite’s financial support services available for families facing childhood cancer.

Learn more

Please note: This tip sheet aims to give you some information and options when looking into Centrelink claims and benefits. If you want or need more specific information or help, please look up the Centrelink website or speak to a Financial Advisor regarding your situation as not all the options mentioned may be beneficial or applicable to you. 

Redkite is here if you need someone to talk to. you are not alone

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We’re ready to help. Please call us on 1800 REDKITE (Mon – Fri 9am – 7pm AEST), or fill out the form below.

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