Coronavirus and Centrelink: Your questions answered
If you lose your job or part of your income because of the coronavirus pandemic, you could be eligible for government help. Here’s what you need to know.
When does my Centrelink money come in?
31 March:
Welfare recipients will start receiving the first $750 economic support payment from 31 March. Most people should expect to get the money by 17 April. If you received or are set to receive a government payment from 12 March to 13 April, you’ll be eligible for the $750, which will automatically be transferred into your account. Concession card holders and Australian veterans also qualify. For a full list of who is eligible, go to: https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/individuals/news/750-one-economic-support-payment
When the Morrison government announced this payment on 12 March, it estimated about 6.5 million Australians would receive the $750, most of whom would be pensioners.
27 April:
A temporary, fortnightly $550 coronavirus supplement will be paid (for up to six months) to welfare recipients from 27 April. This will come on top of your existing income support payment/s. You’ll automatically receive the supplement if you’re on the jobseeker payment, partner, widow or sickness allowance, wife pension, youth allowance for job seekers and for students and apprentices, austudy, ABSTUDY, the parenting payment, farm household allowance and special benefit.
The government will continue to pay the coronavirus supplement to you for each fortnight you’re on at least one of the eligible payments.
What happens if you only start receiving a Centrelink payment after 27 April?
If your claim to begin receiving one of the eligible payments is approved, you’ll also start getting the supplement.
13 July:
A second $750 economic support payment will be made on 13 July. The same eligibility criteria applies as for the first $750 payment (if you’re getting an eligible government payment or have an eligible concession card or if you’re a veteran on 12 July). BUT if you’re on the coronavirus supplement you won’t get this $750.
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What’s a crisis payment?
The government will make a one-off crisis payment to you, based on one week of your base income support payment rate, if you’re in severe financial hardship and need to self-isolate or are caring for someone self-isolating.
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How do I create a Centrelink account?
If you’ve lost your job or income because of the coronavirus pandemic but have never received a government payment, you will need to create a Centrelink account and register an intent to claim for a payment.
The easiest way to do this, according to the government, is to logon to your myGov account (this will likely be linked to Medicare and/or the Australian Taxation Office). If your account is not already linked to Medicare or the ATO, you need to link to one first before registering your intent to claim. More information can be found here.
If you don’t have a myGov account, you’ll need to create one and link it to either Medicare are the ATO.
Once you’ve registered your intent to claim (you only need to do it once), Centrelink will contact you to tell you the next steps to start your claim.
Payments will be backdated from 23 March if you registered an intent to claim between 23 and 29 March and submitted your full claim by 19 April and it is approved.
If you register an intent to claim on or after 30 March and your full claim is approved the payment will begin from when you registered your intent to claim.
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Can I access my super?
From April 20, some Australians affected by the coronavirus pandemic will be able to access up to $10,000 of their superannuation in 2019-20 and a further $10,000 in 2020-21.
Eligibility requirements (and they are quite strict) can be found here.
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What is a CRN?
A Customer Reference Number is required when you deal with Centrelink. You can use your CRN to apply for payments and services, create an online Centrelink account through myGov and record or update your information.
Most people get a CRN when they claim their first payment or register their details with Centrelink.
In order to get a CRN, you’ll need to call Centrelink on 132 850. You can prove your identity over the phone.
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Is there an income test for the coronavirus supplement?
There is an income test for the jobseeker payment, which means you must pass that test to be eligible for the coronavirus supplement.
Under the previous arrangement, if your partner did not receive a pension, your jobseeker payment reduced by 60 cents for every dollar they earned over $994 per fortnight.
More information: Income test for JobSeeker Payment, Partner Allowance, and Widow Allowance
In other words, if your partner earned about $48,000 or more annually, you were not eligible for the jobseeker payment and therefore you were not eligible for the coronavirus supplement.
The partner income test threshold has as of March 30 been lifted from $48,000 to $79,788.80. That means your partner can earn up to $3068 per fortnight before you are no longer eligible for any of the jobseeker payment (and therefore coronavirus supplement).
This is a temporary change and will only operate over the six months the coronavirus supplement is available.
A single with no dependants receives a jobseeker payment base rate of $565 per fortnight.
Source: Services Australia
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