Queensland: government money with a deadline

Programs that pay real money but only if someone applies — and that have a closing date nobody official reminds you about.

Every entry checked against its official government page. Most recent check: 2026-09-10. This sheet goes out of date — the current version is always at benefitsradar.com.au

  1. Parental Leave Pay

    $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.

    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.

    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 · checked 2026-07-31

  2. First home vacant land transfer duty concession

    No stamp duty on vacant land you buy to build your first home on, with no price cap

    Timing: Build, move in with your belongings and live there daily within 2 YEARS OF SETTLEMENT — QRO states this time cannot be extended. Your contract must also be dated 1 May 2025 or later for the full, uncapped concession, and from 1 August 2026 you must be an Australian citizen, permanent resident or specified foreign retiree.

    QLD Government · checked 2026-07-27

  3. Home concession (even if you have owned before)

    Up to $7,175 off your stamp duty

    Timing: You must move into the property within 1 year of settlement to keep it. From 1 August 2026 you must be an Australian citizen, permanent resident or specified foreign retiree.

    QLD Government · checked 2026-07-21

  4. First home transfer duty concession (established homes)

    Up to $24,525 off your stamp duty, and nothing to pay at all under $700,000

    Timing: No closing date. But from 1 August 2026 you must be an Australian citizen, permanent resident or specified foreign retiree to claim any home concession.

    QLD Government · checked 2026-07-21

  5. First home (new home) transfer duty concession

    No stamp duty at all on your first home, with no price cap

    Timing: Your contract must be dated 1 May 2025 or later. Separately, from 1 August 2026 you must be an Australian citizen, permanent resident or specified foreign retiree to claim any home concession — temporary residents lose access from that date.

    QLD Government · checked 2026-07-21

  6. Carer Adjustment Payment

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

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

    Services Australia (Centrelink) — Phone the Disability, sickness and carers line and ask to claim Carer Adjustment Payment · checked 2026-09-10

  7. Family Tax Benefit — lump sum claim

    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.

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

    Services Australia (Centrelink) — myGov → Centrelink online claim (lump sum FTB); phone or post via the Families line if you can't claim online · checked 2026-08-03

  8. Commonwealth Rent Assistance

    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.

    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.

    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 · checked 2026-07-29

  9. School Transport Assistance Program for Students with Disability

    A taxi or minibus service, public transport fares, or an allowance paid to you for driving them — depends on your situation

    Timing: No published window, but the assessment takes time, so start well before the term you need transport for.

    QLD Government · checked 2026-07-22

Full personalised list — benefitsradar.com.au · A free 2-minute check turns a rough household description into a list with the deadlines attached. No account, no login, no Centrelink details, no myGov.

We never say anyone is eligible. We show what the published threshold is and link the official page; the decision is always the agency's. We also keep a list of schemes that have closed, so nobody is sent chasing a program that ended years ago.

Benefits Radar is independent and not affiliated with any government agency. Something wrong or missing? hello@benefitsradar.com.au

Printing this? It fits one A4 page. Please don't run off a large batch — the figures and dates move, and a stack of sheets printed today will be quietly wrong in a few months. The web version is always current.