Navigating Centrelink

Applying for financial support from Centrelink can be daunting, so it helps to know as much as you can before you start. Patience and persistence is also required!

The advice below is a general guide to get you started, but you will need to consult Centrelink directly for advice about your particular situation.

Payment types

The two main forms of income support available for adults with an illness, injury or disability are Sickness Allowance and the Disability Support Pension.

Sickness Allowance is a short term payment for people who are employed or self-employed but are unable to work or study temporarily because of a medical condition. You must meet age, income and assets as well as residency requirements and provide a medical certificate from your doctor. You also need to have work or study to return to when you are better.

The Disability Support Pension is a longer term payment that is reassessed every two years. To be eligible for this payment you must be assessed as having a physical, intellectual or psychiatric impairment and be unable to work or be retrained for work for 15 hours or more per week. Your condition must be fully diagnosed, treated and stable for you to be assessed for this payment. This means that you have completed all reasonable recommended treatment and that your condition is unlikely to get better even with treatment.

To assess your eligibility for the Disability Support Pension, Centrelink requires specific medical evidence. You will need to attend a job capacity assessment where they will determine your medical eligibility, whether you can work, how much work you can do and the sort of help you might need to find and keep a job. Centrelink uses special impairment tables to measure and assess how a person’s ability to work and assign points accordingly. If you have only recently started treatment, it may be better to wait for a few months before applying for the disability support pension. You may also have to undertake a support program before you can claim which might include looking for jobs, studying, work experience or a rehabilitation. Because the assessment process can be complex, it is important that you provide as much medical evidence as you can to support your claim.

Other payments types include:

• Newstart Allowance – for people who are looking for work or participating in approved activities that may increase your chances of finding a job
• Special Benefit – for people in severe financial hardship, who are not able to support themselves and their dependants and are unable to receive another income support payment from Centrelink
• Age Pension – for people aged over 65
• Carer Payment and Carer Allowance – for carers who provide care in the home to someone with a disability, medical condition or who is frail aged.
• Bereavement Payment and Bereavement Allowance – short-term payment to help people adjust to changed financial circumstances after the death of a partner, child or the person they were caring for
• Continence Aids Payment Scheme – assistance for people who have permanent and severe incontinence to meet related costs
• Essential Medical Equipment Payment – assistance with costs of running essential medical equipment or medically required heating or cooling
• Mobility Allowance - assistance with costs of travel to and from home for paid or voluntary work, study or training where you cannot use public transport without substantial assistance
• Concession or Health Care Card –access to cheaper health care services, less expensive medicines and other concessions such as public transport.

Lodging a claim

Most claims for Centrelink payments now need to be lodged online. This requires that you create an online myGov account. You can then find out details about the payment and the eligibility criteria by looking up that payment on the website prior to lodging your claim. If you do not have computer access or need help creating an account or lodging a claim, Centrelink offices have computers and staff to provide support.

Different payments may require particular paperwork or supporting documentation. Once you are considered eligible for a claim, payments are usually backdated to the original claim date so it is important to start the process of lodging your claim as soon as you can. Taking a support person with you to appointments is helpful, as is keeping notes of all phone calls and interviews, along with any correspondence, in a dedicated notebook.

Appealing a decision

If you have made a claim for a payment and have been rejected, you are entitled to a full explanation of the decision and can request an internal review if you believe it is incorrect. If you disagree with a decision made after the internal review, you may then also lodge an appeal with the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. If you want to appeal a decision made by Centrelink, you should do this as soon as possible. If you do not appeal within 13 weeks of the Centrelink decision you will not receive back payments to the date of your original claim if you win your appeal. If you need help, the National Welfare Rights Network, a network of community legal centres, can refer you to legal advice.

Lisa Guy, Social Work Student, StrokeLine

StrokeLine is available Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm, Eastern Standard Time

Call 1800 787 653 or email strokeline@strokefoundation.com.au