Reproduced from Centrelink's "A Guide to Australian
Government Payments 1 January - 19 March 2010"
Pensioner Concession Card
Automatic Issue Health Care Card
Claim Required Health Care Card
Pension Supplement
Commonwealth Seniors Health Card
Seniors Supplement
Telephone Allowance
Utilities Allowance
Pensioner Concession Card
A Pensioner Concession Card is automatically issued to:
- All age pensioners, Department of Veterans' Affairs Service
pensioners and war widows receiving income support supplement.
Income support pensions include Age Pension, Disability Support
Pension, Wife Pension, Carer Payment, Parenting Payment (Single),
Bereavement Allowance, and Widow B Pension;
- Newstart Allowance, Parenting Payment (Partnered) and Youth
Allowance (job seeker) recipients assessed as having a partial
capacity to work or who are a single principal carer of a dependent
child;
- Older benefit recipients, that is: People aged 60 years or
over who are receiving Newstart Allowance, Partner Allowance,
Widow Allowance, Parenting Payment (Partnered), Sickness Allowance,
or Special Benefit, and have been in continuous receipt of one
or more of these payments (or an income support pension) for
nine months or more.
- Participants in the Pension Loans Scheme who are qualified
to receive a part-rate pension.
Once people are no longer qualified for these payments, they
must generally stop using their Pensioner Concession Card. However,
in some instances, certain people can retain their Pensioner Concession
Card for a short period after returning to work. These provisions
are designed to assist people to make the transition from income
support to work.
- Disability Support Pensioners retain their
Pensioner Concession Card for 52 weeks after losing qualification
for the pension due to employment of 15 hours or more per week
or because of the level of earnings from employment.
- Wife Pension Recipients retain their Pensioner Concession
Card for 52 weeks after qualification for payment if their partner
has been receiving Disability Support Pension, and their partner
loses qualification for the pension due to commencing employment
of 30 hours or more per week, or because their partner's income
from employment causes them to lose qualification for Disability
Support Pension.
- Older Benefit Recipients (as defined above) retain
their Pensioner Concession Card for a further 26 weeks if their
payment stops due to the person or their partner commencing
employment, or due to the level of earnings from this employment.
- Parenting Payment (Single) Recipients retain
their Pensioner Concession Card for 12 weeks after losing entitlement
to Parenting Payment (single) due to an increase in income due
to employment. A Health Care Card is issued for the balance
of 26 weeks, i.e. a further 14 weeks provided the recipient
has been in constant receipt for the past 12 months of either:
- an income support pension (except for a Special Needs
Pension), or
- an income support benefit (other than Austudy or Youth
Allowance paid to students).
- Newstart and Youth Allowance Recipients (job seekers):
- Retain their Pensioner Concession Card for 52 weeks after
losing qualification due to employment income, if they have
been assessed as having a partial capacity to work, or
- Retain their Pensioner Concession Card under the same
provisions as Parenting Payment (single) recipients (see
above), if they are the single principal carer of a dependent
child.
A Pensioner Concession Card extension is also available, under
certain circumstances, to people under age pension age who remain
qualified for certain payments during a nil rate period under
the Working Credit scheme.
Automatic Issue Health Care Card
The Health Care Card is automatically issued to people who are
not qualified for a Pensioner Concession Card who are receiving:
- Newstart Allowance, Partner Allowance, Sickness Allowance,
Special Benefit, Widow Allowance and Youth Allowance (job seeker
only).
- Parenting Payment (partnered), Exceptional Circumstances Relief
Payment, Farm Help Income Support and those entitled to receive
the maximum rate of Family Tax Benefit Part A by fortnightly
instalments.
- Mobility Allowance.
- Carer Allowance paid to parents/carers in respect of a child
with a disability. The card is issued in the child's name. Other
parents/carers of children with a disability who do not receive
Carer Allowance may receive a Health Care Card subject to less
stringent disability-related eligibility criteria.
Once people are no longer receiving these payments, they must
generally stop using their Health Care Card. However in some instances,
people can retain their Health Care Card for up to 26 weeks after
returning to work. This provision is designed to assist people
to make the transition from income support to work. The provision
applies to long-term recipients of Newstart Allowance, Sickness
Allowance, Partner Allowance, Special Benefit, Widow Allowance
and Youth Allowance (job seeker). Former long-term recipients
of Parenting Payment (single), Newstart Allowance and Youth Allowance
(job seeker) who are a single principal carer of a dependent child
also qualify for a Health Care Card extension (in addition to
a 12 week Pensioner Concession Card extension).
A Health Care Card extension is also available, under certain
circumstances, to people who remain qualified for certain payments
during a nil rate period under the Working Credit scheme.
Claim Required Health Care Card
Specific types of Health Care Cards can be claimed in the following
circumstances:
- A low-income Health Care Card is available on application
to people with income below certain levels. Once eligible, the
qualifying income limits may be exceeded by up to 25 percent
before eligibility for the card is lost. The income test applies
to average weekly gross income for the eight weeks immediately
prior to applying for the card. Income limits for the period
20 September to 19 March 2009 are:
| Single |
$452.00 pw |
| Couple (combined) |
$753.00 pw |
| Single or couple with one child |
$787.00 pw |
| For each additional child add |
$34.00 pw |
These limits (except for the child add-on) are indexed twice
yearly, in March and September, based on movements in the Consumer
Price Index.
There is no assets test for the low-income Health Care Card.
- A foster child Health Care Card is available, on application,
to assist foster children and carers. The card can be claimed
by the foster carer on behalf of the child. The foster child
Health Care Card is issued only in the name of the child, and
can only be used to obtain concessions on services used by the
child. The foster child Health Care Card is not means tested.
- An ex-Carer Allowance Health Care Card is available, on application,
to 16-25 year old full-time students with a disability or a
severe medical condition. The card can be claimed by students
who were in receipt of a Carer Allowance Health Care Card on
the day before their 16th birthday. The ex-Carer Allowance Health
Care Card is issued in the name of the student and is not means
tested.
Certain residence requirements must be met to
qualify for any type of Health Care Card; contact Centrelink for
details.
Pension Supplement
- A Pension Supplement is added to the regular fortnightly payment
made to recipients of Age Pension, Carer Payment, Wife Pension,
Widow B Pension, Bereavement Allowance, Disability Support Pension
(except if aged under 21 without children) and to certain other
income support payment recipients if the person has reached
age pension age.
- The maximum Pension Supplement combines the value of Telephone
Allowance, Utilities Allowance, the GST Supplement and Pharmaceutical
Allowance and an additional amount. It is currently $56.10 a
fortnight for singles and $84.60 a fortnight for couples, combined.
- The minimum Pension Supplement is an amount below which the
Pension Supplement does not fall until income or assets reach
a level that would otherwise reduce a total pension including
Pension Supplement to nil. The minimum amount is currently $30.20
a fortnight for singles, and $45.60 for couples combined.
- A Pension Supplement basic amount (former GST Supplement)
is paid to recipients of Parenting Payment (Single) under age
pension age and to those eligible for Pension Supplement who
are absent from Australia for more than 13 weeks. Pension Supplement
above the basic amount can only be paid to those pensioners
who live in Australia. The basic amount is currently $19.60
a fortnight for singles and $32.80 for couples, combined.
Commonwealth Seniors Health Card
The Commonwealth Seniors Health Card is targeted at self-funded
retirees of Age Pension age who do not qualify for an Age Pension
because of assets or income levels.
To qualify for a Commonwealth Seniors Health Card a person must
make a claim for the card, and meet the following criteria:
- not be receiving an income support pension or benefit or a
Department of Veterans' Affairs service pension or income support
supplement, and
- be of Age Pension age, and
- must be living permanently in Australia and be:
- an Australian citizen, or
- a holder of a permanent visa, or
- New Zealand citizen who arrived on a New Zealand passport.
- available to newly arrived migrants after 104 weeks in Australia
as an Australian resident or Special Category Visa holder (some
exemptions may apply).
- must be in Australia to retain card.
- have an annual adjusted taxable income of less than $50,000
for singles; $80,000 for couples (combined income); and $100,000
combined or $50,000 each for couples separated by illness, respite
care or prison. An amount of $639.60 per year is added for each
dependent child. There is no assets test.
Seniors Supplement
Seniors Concession Allowance and Telephone Allowance for holders
of the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card have been combined into
a Seniors Supplement. The last quarterly payments of Seniors Concession
Allowance and Telephone Allowance for Commonwealth Seniors Health
Card holders will be made soon after 20 September 2009. The rate
of Seniors Supplement is $785.20 a year for single cardholders
and $592.80 a year for a cardholder who is partnered. The Seniors
Supplement will be paid quarterly in December, March, June, and
September. The first quarterly payment was paid soon after
20 December 2009.
Telephone Allowance
Telephone Allowance is a quarterly payment to assist with the
cost of maintaining a telephone service; it is not paid to assist
with the cost of telephone calls.
Telephone Allowance is paid to telephone subscribers who receive
the Disability Support Pension and who are aged under 21 years
without children and to Parenting Payment (Single) recipients
who are under age pension age. Telephone Allowance is also paid
to telephone subscribers who receive certain social security allowance
payments and are in specific circumstances.
A higher rate of Telephone Allowance is payable to recipients
of Disability Support Pension who are aged under 21 years without
children if they or their partner have a home internet connection.
The current rate of Telephone Allowance is $93.60 per year ($23.40
per quarter). The higher rate of Telephone Allowance is $140.80
per year ($35.20 per quarter) for home internet subscribers. This
amount is shared between both members of an eligible couple. The
payment is made in January, March, July and September each year.
For most pensioners and other income support recipients who have
reached age pension age, the value of Telephone Allowance has
been either added into the Pension Supplement (page 22) or forms
part of the rate paid under transitional arrangements. The last
quarterly payment of Telephone Allowance for these recipients
will be made soon after 20 September 2009.
Utilities Allowance
Utilities Allowance is a quarterly payment to recipients of Widow
Allowance and Partner Allowance who are under age pension age,
and to Disability Support Pension recipients (under 21 without
children) to assist with meeting the cost of utilities bills.
The payment is made in March, June, September and December each
year and is adjusted to increases in the Consumer Price Index
in March and September. The current annual rate is $522.00 for
singles and $261.00 for each eligible member of a couple.
For most pensioners and other income support recipients who have
reached age pension age, the value of UA has been either added
into the Pension Supplement (page 22) or forms part of the rate
paid under transitional arrangements. The last quarterly payment
of UA for these recipients will be made soon after 20 September
2009.
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Pty Ltd unless otherwise stated.
