What are you entitled to from Centrelink and how to apply?

So at this point in time im 33 weeks pregnant and have already inquired with centrelink if Im entitled to anything like a low income payment while im only getting 10-15hrs a week if Im lucky and they told me I cant get anything until I have 5 weeks to go. So seeing as that isnt too far away what kind of help am I looking for from centrelink as I just get passed from one department to the other??

I actually wont have any work come the next couple of weeks anyway as there isnt any available hours at my job.

Any help would be great centrelinks website just throws me in circles and 25 minute waits on the phone only to get disconnected are rather frustrating!!

Hi, do you have any other kids? I think, and I am not 100% sure that you would only be entitled to family tax benefit if you have other kids otherwise you have to wait till bubs is born. It's absolute crap I know but thats how they work. This is why I am working right up till 36 weeks as even though I get a small amount of family tax benefit for my other 2 kids we cannot really afford to live without my wage but will have to make do for a couple of weeks till after bubs is born and I can get paid parental leave. The only way to apply for the payments is to either sit on the phone for an hour, do the website applications or actually go to centrelink and even then I think it usually takes a couple of weeks to process the claim and start receiving anything. They never make it easy thats for sure. Good luck, I always hate dealing with them.

Yeah no other kids this is the 1st one. Thought if I get it done a little earlier it may come through when I need it!!

Yeah no other kids this is the 1st one. Thought if I get it done a little earlier it may come through when I need it!!

Hi Storyoftheyear_07, my name is Rahul and I work at the Australian Government Department of Human Services in a team that responds to enquiries about Centrelink on social media sites like this one.

I'm sorry you were having difficulty navigating the Centrelink website but we're gradually moving information from here to humanservices.gov.au which will hopefully make searches easier. There's information already here specifically related to births and I've included a link below to this:

http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/Taxonomy/Catalogue#birth-and-adoption

There are a number of payments and services available to parents, including Paid Parental Leave, Baby Bonus and Family Tax Benefit. These are all paid after the baby is born. You can enter your details and find out what you may be entitled to using the online estimator at http://humanservices.gov.au/estimators

For before the birth, Newstart Allowance is a payment that you could test your eligibility for, but generally you must be considered unemployed. You mentioned you won't have earnings in the next few weeks so it'd be a good idea to call our Employment Services line on 13 2850 to test your eligibility again if your circumstances have changed. It's good to note that you may still be considered unemployed for Newstart Allowance if you're working casually and meet certain requirements.

To receive Newstart Allowance, you must normally satisfy activity test requirements such as be looking for work. If you are expecting though, you can apply for an exemption. This is normally granted six weeks prior to the expected birth of your child. If you are experiencing health problems outside this period of exemption, you can discuss with us about having an earlier exemption applied. There's more on Newstart Allowance at the link below:

http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/services/Centrelink/newstart-allowance

Hope that helps and best wishes for the birth.

Hi Storyoftheyear_07, my name is Rahul and I work at the Australian Government Department of Human Services in a team that responds to enquiries about Centrelink on social media sites like this one.

I'm sorry you were having difficulty navigating the Centrelink website but we're gradually moving information from here to humanservices.gov.au which will hopefully make searches easier. There's information already here specifically related to births and I've included a link below to this:

http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/Taxonomy/Catalogue#birth-and-adoption

There are a number of payments and services available to parents, including Paid Parental Leave, Baby Bonus and Family Tax Benefit. These are all paid after the baby is born. You can enter your details and find out what you may be entitled to using the online estimator at http://humanservices.gov.au/estimators

For before the birth, Newstart Allowance is a payment that you could test your eligibility for, but generally you must be considered unemployed. You mentioned you won't have earnings in the next few weeks so it'd be a good idea to call our Employment Services line on 13 2850 to test your eligibility again if your circumstances have changed. It's good to note that you may still be considered unemployed for Newstart Allowance if you're working casually and meet certain requirements.

To receive Newstart Allowance, you must normally satisfy activity test requirements such as be looking for work. If you are expecting though, you can apply for an exemption. This is normally granted six weeks prior to the expected birth of your child. If you are experiencing health problems outside this period of exemption, you can discuss with us about having an earlier exemption applied. There's more on Newstart Allowance at the link below:

http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/services/Centrelink/newstart-allowance

Hope that helps and best wishes for the birth.

Seriously? You're paid to do this? C/link needs to put their efforts back into JCAs, not social media. Sheesh.