New to Australia: what you can get now, and what you're waiting for

Carer Adjustment Payment

Federal program · Carers

A one-off payment of up to $10,000 for a child younger than 7 affected by a catastrophic event

If a child younger than 7 in your care was diagnosed after a catastrophic event, ask Services Australia about Carer Adjustment Payment — it sits beside Carer Allowance and almost nobody is told it exists.

Timing: You must claim within 2 years of the first time a doctor diagnosed the child's condition.

Handled by: Services Australia (Centrelink) — Phone the Disability, sickness and carers line and ask to claim Carer Adjustment Payment

Where the official source is unclear: The $10,000 figure is published verbatim on the how-much page this item links to, but it is a ceiling: the same page says "How much you get depends on your family's circumstances" and the Department of Social Services assesses each claim case by case. No minimum is published anywhere, so we cannot tell you what a family like yours would actually receive.

Official page · last checked 2026-09-10

Leaving Violence Program

Federal program · If money is tight

Up to $5,000 of support: up to $1,500 of it as cash, the rest as goods and services. Separately, safety planning, risk assessment and referrals to other services for up to 12 weeks.

Apply through the national provider, Telstra Health, or through one of the four First Nations-led Regional Trial providers if you are near Broome, Cairns, Darwin or Dubbo. If you would rather not apply yourself, many organisations can lodge an application with you — the department calls these 'agency referral pathways'.

Timing: No fixed closing date, but two clocks matter: the change in your living arrangements must have happened in the past 12 weeks (or be planned, with a date), and you cannot receive this again within 12 months of a previous payment under this Program or the earlier EVP or TVP trials.

Handled by: Department of Social Services — delivered nationally by Telstra Health — online application, or via an organisation using an agency referral pathway

Official page · last checked 2026-08-06

Tertiary Access Payment

Federal program · Education & work

A one-off payment of $3,000 or $5,000, depending on how remote your family home is

If you're an outer regional, rural or remote school leaver who has to move away to start tertiary study, you may be able to claim the Tertiary Access Payment to help with the cost of relocating.

Timing: Claim time limits apply for the year you move to study — lodge in that window, not later.

Handled by: Services Australia (Centrelink) — myGov → Centrelink online claim; phone via the Youth and Students line if you can't claim online

Official page · last checked 2026-07-28

Stillborn Baby Payment

Federal program · Family

A one-off payment, currently $4,326.57

If your baby was stillborn and you don't get Parental Leave Pay for that child, you may be able to claim the Stillborn Baby Payment.

Timing: You have up to 52 weeks from the date of delivery to claim. If you couldn't claim in time because of a severe illness related to the birth, or because you applied for Parental Leave Pay and couldn't get it, Services Australia asks you to tell them rather than assume it's too late.

Handled by: Services Australia (Centrelink) — myGov → Centrelink online claim; if you can't claim online, call the Child bereavement and Double Orphan Pension helpdesk

Official page · last checked 2026-07-27

Double Orphan Pension

Federal program · Family

Base rate $81.60 a fortnight (about $2,120 a year) per eligible child

If you care for a child whose parents have both died — or one has died and the other can't care for them in specific circumstances (long-term prison, hospital, a refugee whose parents are outside Australia) — you may be able to claim the Double Orphan Pension.

Timing: No fixed deadline, but it's paid from your claim date.

Handled by: Services Australia (Centrelink) — paper claim form — no online claim ('You can’t claim online'); submit the completed form and documents via your Centrelink online account / Express Plus app, by post, or at a service centre; or claim via the helpdesk

Official page · last checked 2026-07-21

Child Dental Benefits Schedule

Federal program · Family

Up to $1,158 per child of free dental over 2 calendar years

Ask your dentist to bulk-bill CDBS. Services Australia checks eligibility each January and keeps checking during the year; if your child is eligible they send a letter.

Timing: Use it before the 2-year window closes.

Handled by: Services Australia (Medicare) — no claim to lodge — check the child's eligibility in myGov → Medicare (History and statements → Child Dental Benefits Schedule), then the dentist bulk bills against CDBS

Where the official source is unclear: The qualifying payment list is published, but it is split by who receives the payment in a way that is easy to misread — and several widely-copied summaries flatten it into one list. Confirm your child's eligibility in myGov before you book, not after.

Official page · last checked 2026-08-03

Departing Australia Superannuation Payment — claim your super before it drifts to the ATO

Federal program · Quick wins

The super your Australian employers paid for you, less DASP tax — the published rates are 35% or 45% for most components, and 65% for working holiday makers

Before you leave Australia, get your identity documents certified and check your employer actually paid your super — you cannot claim until after you have gone, but the preparation only works while you are still here.

Timing: Your fund transfers the money to the ATO as unclaimed super once BOTH are true: "it has been 6 months or more since you left Australia" AND "your visa has ceased to be in effect". It is still yours after that, but you then claim it from the ATO instead.

Handled by: Australian Taxation Office — DASP online application system (start it before you leave)

Official page · last checked 2026-09-11

International social security agreements — overseas years counting toward an Australian payment

Federal program · Seniors

Can turn a refused claim into a paid one by counting years you spent in another country toward Australia's residence test

If you have lived or worked in another country and fall short of Australia's residence requirement, say so when you claim — an agreement may count those years. It applies to the Age Pension, Disability Support Pension, Carer Payment, Parenting Payment single and Double Orphan Pension.

Timing: No published deadline — but a claim not made is a payment not backdated.

Handled by: Services Australia — Centrelink International Services — Claim the payment through myGov or its usual payment line and declare your overseas residence; Centrelink International Services handles claims for a pension from another country

Official page · last checked 2026-09-11

Lost & ATO-held super

Federal program · Quick wins

Super that's yours, sitting lost. Anything from nothing to tens of thousands — you won't know until you look.

myGov → ATO → Super: search and consolidate in minutes.

Timing: No deadline.

Handled by: ATO — ATO online services via myGov — track, find and consolidate super (no form, no fee)

Official page · last checked 2026-09-10

Medicare Entitlement Statement — full Medicare levy exemption

Federal program · If money is tight

Removes the 2% Medicare levy from your tax bill for every day of the year you were not entitled to Medicare

If you were not entitled to Medicare for part or all of a financial year, apply for a Medicare Entitlement Statement from 1 July, then claim the full levy exemption on that year's tax return.

Timing: You can apply from 1 July each year. Services Australia says applications submitted before that date "can't be accepted or processed — unless you're leaving Australia". If you are leaving, you can apply from 1 July for the CURRENT financial year, up to 4 weeks before you go.

Handled by: Services Australia (statement) and the ATO (the exemption itself) — Apply for the statement through myGov or the paper form from 1 July, then claim exemption category 3 on your tax return

Where the official source is unclear: Two agencies, two pages. Services Australia publishes who can get the statement (the page this item links to); the ATO publishes the 2% levy and the exemption categories. We link to the statement because that is the step with the 1 July deadline — the tax return comes after.

Official page · last checked 2026-09-10

Medicare Safety Net — register as a family

Federal program · Health

Higher Medicare rebates once your family passes the annual threshold

Individuals with no dependants are tracked automatically. Couples and families need to register once — by form or by calling the Medicare program line — even if you're all on one Medicare card.

Timing: One-off registration. Thresholds reset every 1 January: Original Medicare Safety Net $594.00 for everyone; Extended Medicare Safety Net $2,699.10 general, or $861.20 if you hold a concession card or get Family Tax Benefit Part A.

Handled by: Services Australia (Medicare) — register your family/couple by the 'Medicare Safety Net couples and families registration and amendment form' or by calling the Medicare program line — individuals with no dependants are registered automatically

Where the official source is unclear: The figures are published but the three safety nets are presented separately across different pages, so almost every third-party summary conflates them — ours did too until 2026-07-21. The thresholds are also on a JavaScript-rendered page we cannot re-check automatically, so this one needs a human look each January.

Official page · last checked 2026-07-24

Medicare while your permanent residence application is pending

Federal program · Health

Medicare cover backdated to the day you lodged your permanent residence application — without it you pay the full price of every GP visit, test and prescription

If you have lodged a permanent residence application, enrol in Medicare now — you do not have to wait for the visa to be granted.

Timing: No published deadline. Cover starts from the date you applied for permanent residency, so enrolling later does not lose you the earlier period — but you cannot claim anything back until you are actually enrolled.

Handled by: Services Australia (Medicare) — myGov → Medicare enrolment, or the Medicare enrolment form

Official page · last checked 2026-09-11

Carer Allowance

Federal program · Carers

$162.60 a fortnight — about $4,227 a year, ongoing

Claim via myGov — huge numbers of eligible carers simply don't know this exists.

Timing: Backdating is limited: every fortnight you wait is lost money.

Handled by: Services Australia (Centrelink) — myGov → Centrelink online claim (treating health professional completes a medical report); phone via the Disability, sickness and carers line if you can't claim online

Official page · last checked 2026-07-17

Family Tax Benefit — lump sum claim

Federal program · Family

Often thousands per child per year. Our figure is the published maximum annualised: $235.48 a fortnight for a child aged 0-12 (×26 = $6,122.48) plus the FTB Part A supplement of up to $970.90 per child — about $7,093 a year. Teenagers attract a higher rate and Part B is extra.

If you didn't receive FTB fortnightly last financial year, you can still claim it as a lump sum via myGov.

Timing: Hard cutoff: 30 June of the year after the financial year ends. Families who never claimed get zero reminders.

Handled by: Services Australia (Centrelink) — myGov → Centrelink online claim (lump sum FTB); phone or post via the Families line if you can't claim online

Official page · last checked 2026-08-03

Carer Payment

Federal program · Carers

Up to $1,200.90 a fortnight (about $31,200 a year) for single carers, including the Pension and Energy supplements

If you give constant care to someone with a severe disability or illness (or who is frail aged), you may qualify for Carer Payment — a full income-support pension, not the same thing as Carer Allowance.

Timing: No fixed deadline, but payment runs from your claim date, not from when the caring started.

Handled by: Services Australia (Centrelink) — myGov → Centrelink online claim; else Disability, sickness and carers line, service centre, or booked face-to-face appointment

Official page · last checked 2026-07-21

Parental Leave Pay

Federal program · Family

$200.94 a day before tax, or $1,004.70 per 5-day week. Births/adoptions from 1 July 2026 attract up to 130 days (26 weeks) across BOTH parents, which works out at $1,004.70 x 26 = about $26,122 - but if you have a partner when you claim, 20 of those days are reserved for your partner to use, so one partnered parent claiming alone would get 110 days (about $22,103). Services Australia publishes a list of exemptions that let one parent take ALL the days - among them family or domestic violence, a partner who has died, is in prison, or whose whereabouts are unknown, and a child expected to be in hospital for at least 18 weeks. You apply for an exemption by calling the Centrelink families line after you claim. A single parent can take all 130. The 1 Jul 2025-30 Jun 2026 cohort gets 120 days (24 weeks), 15 of them reserved. The rate follows the financial year you take the leave in, not the year the child was born.

Having a baby or adopting? You can claim Parental Leave Pay — up to 26 weeks (130 days) at the national minimum wage. You can lodge the claim up to 3 months BEFORE the due date.

Timing: Hard deadline: at least one parent must claim within 52 weeks of the birth or adoption. You can also claim up to 3 months early to line up your start date. Miss the window and the payment is gone.

Handled by: Services Australia (Centrelink) — myGov → Centrelink online claim (can pre-claim up to 3 months before the birth); if you can't claim online, call the Families line

Official page · last checked 2026-07-31

Austudy

Federal program · Education & work

Single, no children: $677.20 a fortnight; single with children: $854.20 (rates from 1 January 2026)

If you're 25 or older and studying full-time or doing a full-time Australian Apprenticeship, you may be able to claim Austudy for income support while you study.

Timing: No fixed deadline, but payment starts from your claim date — claim as soon as your course or apprenticeship starts.

Handled by: Services Australia (Centrelink) — myGov → Centrelink online claim; phone via the Youth and students line if you can't claim online

Official page · last checked 2026-07-28

Bereavement Payment

Federal program · If money is tight

A one-off lump sum, roughly the difference between your old couple's payment and your new single rate, worked out over a 14-week period

If your partner died and you were both getting an income-support payment or pension, you may get a lump sum Bereavement Payment to help you adjust to a single income.

Timing: Services Australia doesn't publish a claim deadline for this on the page we read. The amount is worked out over the 14 weeks starting the day your partner died — tell them as soon as you're able. (A separate 26-week limit applies to the Pension Bonus Bereavement Payment.)

Handled by: Services Australia (Centrelink) — no standalone claim — tell Centrelink about the death (myGov → Centrelink or phone) and SA works out what you're eligible for

Official page · last checked 2026-07-27

Commonwealth Rent Assistance

Federal program · Renting

Up to $257.88 a fortnight (about $6,704 a year) with 1 or 2 children and $291.48 with 3 or more; $219.40 single, or $206.80 a couple combined. The single sharer rate is lower again at $146.27. All of these are MAXIMUMS — you only reach them if your rent is high enough, and below that the payment tapers by 75c for every $1 of rent above a minimum, down to nothing.

If you rent and get an eligible payment — such as Age Pension, JobSeeker, Parenting Payment, Carer Payment or Disability Support Pension — or Family Tax Benefit Part A at more than the base rate, you may get Rent Assistance paid on top, but only once Centrelink has your current rent details. Many renters miss it because they never lodged their rent.

Timing: No fixed deadline, but it isn't backdated far — update your rent details in myGov as soon as your rent changes or you start a qualifying payment.

Handled by: Services Australia (Centrelink) — automatic — 'If you’re eligible, we’ll pay it automatically with your regular payment. You don’t need to apply.' SA checks when you claim an eligible payment or update your address/accommodation details in myGov → Centrelink

Official page · last checked 2026-07-29

Commonwealth Seniors Health Card

Federal program · Seniors

Cheaper prescriptions, a lower Medicare Safety Net threshold and extra state concessions — the card most self-funded retirees don't realise they can get

If you're over Age Pension age (currently 67) but don't get the Age Pension, apply for the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card through myGov — self-funded retirees knocked back on the pension's assets test very often still qualify for this.

Timing: No deadline, but it isn't backdated — apply as soon as you're eligible.

Handled by: Services Australia (Centrelink) — myGov → Centrelink online claim; else form or the Older Australians line ('You don’t need to go to a service centre')

Official page · last checked 2026-07-28

Crisis Payment

Federal program · If money is tight

A one-off payment equal to about one week of your income-support payment rate

In an extreme situation — leaving home because of family or domestic violence, released from prison or psychiatric confinement, or arriving as a humanitarian entrant — you may be able to claim a one-off Crisis Payment.

Timing: Very tight claim windows that differ by situation (often within 7 days of the event) — check the specific situation page and claim fast.

Handled by: Services Australia (Centrelink) — myGov → Centrelink online claim (claim within 7 days of the extreme circumstance); if you can't claim online, call the line for your regular payment or visit a service centre

Official page · last checked 2026-08-03

Essential Medical Equipment Payment

Federal program · Health

$203.00 a year for each piece of eligible medical equipment, and for medically-needed heating or cooling

If you hold a Commonwealth concession card and pay to run essential medical equipment (or heating/cooling for a medical need) at home, claim $203 a year toward the energy cost — for each piece of equipment.

Timing: Claim once — you don't need to claim again for the same equipment. Re-claim only if you get another eligible machine or you move address.

Handled by: Services Australia (Centrelink) — myGov → Centrelink online claim; else paper form, the Disability and carers line, or a service centre

Official page · last checked 2026-07-28

Farm Household Allowance

Federal program · If money is tight

Single 22 or older, no children: $808.70 a fortnight; single with children: $866.00 (rates from 20 March 2026), plus an activity supplement up to a $10,000 lifetime limit

If you're a farmer or a partner in a farm business going through financial hardship, Farm Household Allowance gives you income support plus funded help to plan your next steps.

Timing: You can be paid for up to 4 years (1,460 days) in any specific 10-year period — the time you draw down counts against that cap, so it's a limited resource.

Handled by: Services Australia (Centrelink) — myGov → Centrelink online claim (combined partner claims supported; submit within 13 weeks of starting the claim)

Official page · last checked 2026-07-21

Health Care Card renewal

Federal program · Cards

Losing the card kills every rebate it unlocks

Your card usually renews itself: if you're still eligible when it's due to expire, Services Australia issues a new one before the current card ends. Official wording: "You don't need to do anything."

Timing: Every 12 months.

Handled by: Services Australia (Centrelink) — automatic — if you're still eligible, a new card is issued before the current one ends ('You don't need to do anything')

Where the official source is unclear: Services Australia confirms the Health Care Card renews itself while you stay on the qualifying payment, but does not state how far ahead the renewal window opens, whether you get a reminder, or what grace period applies if it lapses. Those three gaps matter most to exactly the people most at risk of losing the card.

Official page · last checked 2026-07-27

JobSeeker / Parenting Payment

Federal program · Income dropped?

$740.30 a fortnight partnered, $808.70 single with no children (rates from 20 March 2026)

Income AND assets tested (the family home is exempt). A stay-at-home parent with a child under 6 may qualify for Parenting Payment even if the other partner is building a business.

Timing: Payments start from your claim date, not from when you became eligible — and liquid-assets waiting periods can apply.

Handled by: Services Australia (Centrelink) — myGov → Centrelink online claim; phone via the Employment Services line if you can't claim online

Official page · last checked 2026-09-10

Low Income Health Care Card — the master key

Federal program · Cards

One card unlocks a chain of state rebates: energy, gas, public dental, glasses and more

The test looks only at your gross income over the 8 weeks before you claim — a level, not a fall — and there is no assets test. Savings, shares and account-based super are counted at a fixed deemed rate instead of what they actually earn or what you actually draw, so the income assessed here can be a long way from the figure you have in mind.

Timing: No closing date. The only window that matters is your own: the test looks at the 8 weeks before you claim, so the limits on this card are compared against that stretch, not against your year. Once granted the card runs for 12 months and has to be renewed. (If you receive certain payments like max-rate FTB Part A, a Health Care Card may arrive automatically.)

Handled by: Services Australia (Centrelink) — myGov → Centrelink online claim; else Youth and students line or a service centre

Official page · last checked 2026-08-19

Mobility Allowance

Federal program · Disability

Standard rate $122.80 a fortnight, or higher rate $171.70 a fortnight (rates from 1 January 2026)

If you have a disability that means you can't use public transport without help and you're working, studying, training or looking for work, you may be able to claim Mobility Allowance toward travel costs.

Timing: No fixed deadline, but it's paid from your claim date.

Handled by: Services Australia (Centrelink) — myGov → Centrelink online claim; else paper form, the Disability, carers and sickness line, or a service centre

Official page · last checked 2026-07-21

Pensioner Education Supplement

Federal program · Education & work

$62.40 or $31.20 a fortnight, depending on your study load and payment

If you already get a qualifying payment (like Parenting Payment Single, Disability Support Pension or Carer Payment) and you're studying, add the Pensioner Education Supplement on top to help with study costs.

Timing: No fixed deadline, but it's paid from when you claim while you study — claim as soon as your course starts.

Handled by: Services Australia (Centrelink) — myGov → Centrelink online claim ('Apply for the Pensioner Education Supplement'), by phone, or by paper form

Official page · last checked 2026-07-27

Remote Area Allowance

Federal program · If money is tight

Single: $18.20 a fortnight; couples: $15.60 each; plus $7.30 a fortnight for each dependent child

If you already get a Centrelink income-support payment AND you live in a designated remote area, tell Centrelink your address — Remote Area Allowance is an automatic top-up you have to trigger by reporting where you live.

Timing: No fixed deadline, but it only starts once Centrelink knows you live in a remote area — so it's easy to go unpaid for months.

Handled by: Services Australia (Centrelink) — no separate claim described — paid as an add-on when you get an income support payment and live in an eligible remote area; keep your address current via myGov → Centrelink

Official page · last checked 2026-07-21

Special Benefit

Federal program · If money is tight

Usually the same rate as JobSeeker Payment or Youth Allowance, depending on your situation

If you're in severe financial hardship and can't get any other income-support payment (a common situation for some new residents in a waiting period), you may be able to claim Special Benefit.

Timing: No fixed deadline, but it's paid from your claim date — and it's a last-resort payment, so claim as soon as hardship hits.

Handled by: Services Australia (Centrelink) — myGov → Centrelink online claim; if you can't claim online, call the Employment Services line

Official page · last checked 2026-07-28

Youth Allowance

Federal program · Education & work

Students living away from home: $677.20 a fortnight; living at your parents' home (18+): $482.40; with children: $854.20 (rates from 1 January 2026)

If you're a full-time student or apprentice aged 16–24, or 16–21 and looking for work, you may be able to claim Youth Allowance for income support.

Timing: No fixed deadline, but it's paid from your claim date — claim as study, training or job-seeking starts.

Handled by: Services Australia (Centrelink) — myGov → Centrelink online claim (students & apprentices, and job seekers, have separate claim flows); phone fallback: Youth and Students line (students) or Employment Services line (job seekers)

Official page · last checked 2026-07-28

Age Pension

Federal program · Seniors

Single: up to $1,200.90 a fortnight (about $31,200 a year) including the Pension and Energy supplements; couples up to $905.20 each

If you're 67 or older and your income and assets are under the limits, you may be able to claim the Age Pension — even a part rate opens the Pensioner Concession Card and a chain of state concessions.

Timing: No fixed deadline, but payment starts from your claim date — it is not backdated to when you turned 67, so every fortnight you wait is gone.

Handled by: Services Australia (Centrelink) — myGov → Centrelink online claim ('The best way to claim is online'); combined partner claims supported; nominee or paper form as fallback

Official page · last checked 2026-08-03

Disability Support Pension

Federal program · Disability

Age 21+: up to $1,200.90 a fortnight (about $31,200 a year) including supplements; lower rates apply if you're under 21

If you have a permanent physical, intellectual or psychiatric condition that stops you working 15+ hours a week, you may be able to claim the Disability Support Pension.

Timing: No fixed deadline, but it's paid from your claim date — and the medical assessment takes time, so starting early matters.

Handled by: Services Australia (Centrelink) — myGov → Centrelink online claim; if you can't claim online, claim by paper form

Official page · last checked 2026-07-21

Hearing Services Program

Federal program · Health

Free or heavily subsidised hearing assessments and hearing aids/devices (money saved, not cash)

If you hold a Pensioner Concession Card (or are the spouse of one), or a DVA card, you can register for the Hearing Services Program and get subsidised hearing checks and aids — many pensioners get hearing aids fully covered.

Timing: No fixed deadline, but you have to register and choose a provider to start — nothing happens automatically.

Handled by: Hearing Services Program (Department of Health, Disability and Ageing) — online: the voucher scheme eligibility checker — 'If you are eligible, you will be directed to a page to complete your application'; then choose an approved provider

Official page · last checked 2026-08-21