Reproduced from Centrelink's "A Guide to Australian
Government Payments 1 January - 19 March 2010"
Basic Conditions of Eligibility
Residential Requirements
Basic Rates
Income Test
Assets Test
Basic Conditions of Eligibility
- Paid to families following the birth (including stillbirth)
or adoption of a child, where the eligibility requirements for
Family Tax Benefit for the child (disregarding the income tests)
are met within 26 weeks of a child's birth, or in the case of
adoption, within 26 weeks of the child being entrusted to the
claimant's care.
- Parents are required to formally register the birth of their
child as a condition of receiving the Baby Bonus. This requirement
does not apply to parents whose child is stillborn, adopted
or born outside Australia.
- Payable to:
- a parent of the child, or
- families who have care of a newborn child within 26 weeks
of the child's birth, and are likely to continue to have
care of the child for no less than 26 weeks, or
- families who have a child entrusted to their care for
adoption before the child is 16 years of age.
- The claim must be made within 52 weeks of the child's birth,
or in the case of adoption, within 52 weeks of the child coming
into the person's care.
Residential Requirements
Claimant must be living in Australia and be:
- an Australian citizen, or
- the holder of a permanent visa, or
- a New Zealand citizen who arrived on a New Zealand passport,
or
- holder of a temporary visa, subclass 070, 309, 310, 447,
451, 695, 785, 786, 787, 820 or 826 or a holder of a Criminal
Justice Stay Visa issued specifically for the purpose of
assisting in the administration of criminal justice in relation
to the offence of people trafficking, sexual servitude or
deceptive recruiting.
Basic Rates
- Baby Bonus is a payment of $5,185 per eligible child and is
paid in 13 fortnightly instalments.
- The payment is made into a bank, credit union account or building
society account. Baby Bonus cannot be claimed through the tax
system for births after 1 July 2004.
- For a multiple birth, the Baby bonus is paid for each eligible
child: for example, $15,555 is paid for triplets.
Income Test
- Baby Bonus is an income tested payment which is payable to
families whose estimate of combined income is $75,000 or less
in the six months following the birth of a child or the child's
entry into care.
Assets Test
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Pty Ltd unless otherwise stated.
