Centrelink

During the month of March, Centrelink have released their bi-annual benefit review. Fortunately, many of the changes have been advantageous for entitlement recipients, most notably an increase in the Age Pension rate.

What does this mean. Quite simply it will mean that you may be entitled to a little more income from Centrelink, and in a few remote cases, applicants who were once denied access to financial assistance may now be eligible to claim a Centrelink Benefit. However, please do not go spending all of your pennies at once, as the increases merely represent an in the cost of living and are therefore slender. As many of you are currently in receipt of a Centrelink benefit, we thought it would be appropriate to share some of the important changes.

From 20 March 2014, the following changes will be in action;

The full Age Pension entitlement will increase by $15.70 per fortnight for singles and $23.8 per fortnight for couples
Single homeowners are now able to have $758,750 in assessable assets before they are no longer eligible for the Age Pension, while couple homeowners are now permitted $1,253,000.
The income free area will increase from $62 per fortnight to $100 per fortnight for those in receipt of Newstart Allowance, Widow Allowance, Partner Allowance or Sickness Allowance.
Remember, you do not need to do anything to claim these increases, it will automatically be added to your benefit.

Centrelink issues several types of concession and health care cards, which provide a range of benefits to card holders.

You may be eligible for the benefits below without realising it so we encourage you to contact us to make sure you are not missing out on anything (you may even be able to get more than one at the same time!).
1. Pensioner Concession Card
2. Low Income Health Care Card
3. Commonwealth Seniors Health Care Card

The Paid Parental Leave scheme provides a government-funded entitlement for working parents.

Parental Leave Pay will be available to working parents who meet the eligibility criteria. You will have access to Parental Leave Pay if you are the primary carer of a child born or adopted from 1 January 2011. If you are eligible, you will be able to receive Parental Leave Pay at the National Minimum Wage, for up to 18 weeks.

There are many types of concession cards that can benefit you to help reduce daily ongoing costs.

The Commonwealth Seniors Health Card is available for you if you have reached Age Pension age but do not qualify for a Centrelink or DVA pension. Provided that your taxable income is below $50,000 pa for a single or $80,000 pa combined for a couple, you may be eligible. No asset test applies.

Preparations for funeral expenses are not something everybody wishes to consider. However there may be benefits in planning and paying for some aspects of your funeral.

Pre planning can eliminate the worry of paying for a funeral in future. For many people this is not a concern. However should you wish to explore pre planning the following should be considered.

If you are in receipt of Centrelink pension you should consider the consequences of making a gift. Whilst you can gift or transfer assets to any value you choose your rate of pension or allowance may be affected if you exceed the allowable gifting amount.

The allowable gifting amount is $10,000 each financial year to a total of $30,000 in any five consecutive financial years. This amount applies regardless if you are a single person or couple.