Entitlements in oz when first here

[Blossom]

Ok, so leading on from the mechanic thread which seems to have headed off course, I thought I would start us off on a what you can claim and when forum.

 

As far as I know there is nothing you can claim on a temporary visa.

 

And for the first two years of pr there are only some things you can claim. Correct me if I'm wrong people, but I think these are the first home owners grant

Child benefit a and b (depending on income)

Rent assistance if you are eligible for another payment from centrelink (so in the first two years pretty much just if you have kids)

Maternity/fathers pay or baby bonus, depending on which one you are eligible for.

Child care rebate

 

Is that right? Are there any I have missed.

[mummytummy]

We're on a 457 and the only thing we have is a medicare card as UK and Oz have a reciprocal healthcare agreement

[star123]

To confirm, family assistance part A and part B plus top up supplements at end of tax year, school kids bonus if you have school age children, this is paid in two installments,January and July each year, again you have to qualify for this, rent assistance and child care fees if working and child care rebate,also clean energy supplements which are paid along side your family assistance part A and part B , the amounts you get totally depend on your family income for the year, how many children you have etc, medicare card which covers all doctor visits if they bulk bill and also for children you can use the school dentist service which is excellent, under five year olds are free, no cost at all, under 12 year olds its a one off fee of approx $42 for all treatment and teenagers get a teenage voucher worth about $165 for all check ups that year, so again hardly any cost involved.... :-) :-)

[star123]

And if your family income is below a certain amount you can also apply for the school card which pays your school fees, they base it on the previous tax year when you apply, can save quite a bit in fees if you have a couple of kids :-)

[star123]

And... Sorry ., again if you family income below a certain amount you will also be issued with a health care card, which means cheaper prescriptions, dentist visits etc, worth enquiring about especially if you arrive half way thru the tax year as your earnings will not be for a full year :-)

[Blossom]

Thanks very much. :-)

 

Do you get all of those things in the first two years of pr (if eligible)?

[star123]

Thanks very much. :-)

 

Do you get all of those things in the first two years of pr (if eligible)?

 

Hi, yes you do if on PR Visa and if income allows as in all assistance the more you earn the less you get, so its all swings and round-a-bouts :-)

[Blossom]

Cool. I hadn't realised there were so many things people could claim so soon. Certainly would make it easier for people with children.

[Ktee]

I had never even heard of a school card so thanks for the info. I'm presuming you only get this if at a government school?

[star123]

You can also use it against private school fees, not all private schools accept it but lots do :-)

[Rabeah]

A health care card will only be issued after serving the 104 weeks newly arrived resident's waiting period which affects migrants on a PR visa.

That means to wait 24 months before becoming eligible.

Also for redundancy payments the waiting period has to be served first before migrants get anything from centrelink, besides children benefit payments and rent assistance for children (not rent assistance for adults!).

[Blossom]

A health care card will only be issued after serving the 104 weeks newly arrived resident's waiting period which affects migrants on a PR visa.

That means to wait 24 months before becoming eligible.

Also for redundancy payments the waiting period has to be served first before migrants get anything from centrelink, besides children benefit payments and rent assistance for children (not rent assistance for adults!).

Don't they get maternity/the baby bonus in the first two years too?

[star123]

I have been here 18 months and have in the past been issued with a health care card...

[star123]

There are quite a few different health care cards and concession cards which all seem to have different eligibility requirements, still worth a check tho to see if eligible... Every little bit helps :-) :-)

[Blossom]

Something which just occurred to me. If people move over having sold their house bla bla bla, so have money in the bank, do they take that into account for the child benefits/ rent assistance etc, or is it just off your income?

[Guest vikkiann]

It must be income related Blossom because we have the money from our uk home tucked away and still get the benefits

[Guest Rachael M Bowen]

does it not also depend on the type of visa you have? we are going on the 189 visa and I'm sure we get concessions for medicare and school fees.

 

:unsure:ooooooooooohhhhhhh got me thinking now!!! best go read up again.

[Blossom]

does it not also depend on the type of visa you have? we are going on the 189 visa and I'm sure we get concessions for medicare and school fees.

 

:unsure:ooooooooooohhhhhhh got me thinking now!!! best go read up again.

The only difference visa wise is permenant or temporary. Temporary visas are not entitled to any of the benefits.

[Guest Adelaide_bound]

Is the Health Care card from Centrelink? Thinking we might need to apply for that, depending on the threasholds (especially if I get 'with child' )

 

Blossom - Baby Bonus (which has been drastically reduced and will be gone next March, but will be replaced with a smaller amount as a lump sum to Family Tax part A when the child is born (so similar just a different name then) and Paid Parental are both eligible before the 24 months thing if you are PR.

 

Does anyone know if you can go into Centrelink and actually talk to anyone about what you may or may not be eligible for? Will they volunteer stuff, or is it only if you know to ask the correct questions, like in the UK? We tried to do this just to register with them, but were only allowed to speak to someone on the phone, who wouldn't/couldn't do anything for us as we didn't want to claim unemployment benefit (as we aren't eligible for another 6 odd months) (we only wanted to register with them so we could access some of the free Cert III etc training courses etc....what a palaver...).

[Diane]

Certainly when my daughter, an Australian citizen who has finished school and is taking a gap year, tried to apply for any sort of jobseekers allowance they wanted to know the value of any assets that she or us as her parents owned, including any money in our purses, and all belongings (and I'm not just talking about large assets here such as cars or property!) Needless to say, we very uickly went over the very small limit they set so she was entitled to nothing, so I'm surprised if Centrelink will give benefits without finding how much you have in the bank first!

[bj27]

Does anyone know if you can go into Centrelink and actually talk to anyone about what you may or may not be eligible for? Will they volunteer stuff, or is it only if you know to ask the correct questions, like in the UK? We tried to do this just to register with them, but were only allowed to speak to someone on the phone, who wouldn't/couldn't do anything for us as we didn't want to claim unemployment benefit (as we aren't eligible for another 6 odd months) (we only wanted to register with them so we could access some of the free Cert III etc training courses etc....what a palaver...).

 

yes you can, the phone is nearly impossible cause you wait for an hour and then they say they can't help you. We went to the centrelink/medicare office and they helped us really well.

We came in a year ago on a 175, now 190, and were eligible for both medicare and centrelink payments (family tax benefit/rent assistance/childcare rebate). For that they didn't look at what we had in the bank, only the taxable income (including interest on savings accounts) is registered, as far as I know.

[Guest Adelaide_bound]

yes you can, the phone is nearly impossible cause you wait for an hour and then they say they can't help you. We went to the centrelink/medicare office and they helped us really well.

We came in a year ago on a 175, now 190, and were eligible for both medicare and centrelink payments (family tax benefit/rent assistance/childcare rebate). For that they didn't look at what we had in the bank, only the taxable income (including interest on savings accounts) is registered, as far as I know.

 

Thanks for that - think I'll try again in the school hols then or something (can I do a sit in if they won't talk to me? lol)

[bj27]

Thanks for that - think I'll try again in the school hols then or something (can I do a sit in if they won't talk to me? lol)

I had my kids with me as well, you do need to bring something to keep them occupied though, as ever since that visit they feel extremely bored as soon as we mention the word 'centrelink'....