If you’re one of the millions of Australians who rely on Centrelink payments, there’s some good news on the horizon.
From 1 July, a fresh round of indexation will see an increase to a range of social security payments and thresholds, putting a little extra in the pockets of eligible Australians.
While the increases may not be huge, every bit helps when it comes to keeping up with the ever-rising cost of living.
What’s changing and who benefits?
This latest indexation round will benefit around 2.4 million Australians, including families, pensioners, carers and new parents.
The government adjusts these payments twice a year to help ensure they keep pace with inflation and the cost of everyday essentials.
Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek summed it up: ‘From 1 July, millions of recipients of social security payments will see more money in their bank accounts. Payments like the Family Tax Benefit help cover the costs of raising children for many Australian families, and indexation is a crucial way to help families when cost of living rises.’
Family Tax Benefit: What’s new?
If you receive the Family Tax Benefit (FTB), you’ll notice a modest increase:
- FTB Part A: The maximum fortnightly payment will rise to $227.36 (an increase of $5.32). For children aged 13 or over, the rate jumps to $295.82 (up $7).
- FTB Part B: The maximum rate increases to $193.34 per fortnight (up $4.48). For families with children over 5, the rate will be $134.96.
These changes are designed to help families manage the ever-increasing costs of raising children, from school supplies to groceries and everything in between.
Support for new and growing families
- Newborn Supplement: First-time parents will receive an extra $48 over 13 weeks, with the supplement increasing to $2,052.05.
- Multiple Birth Allowance: For those welcoming triplets, the allowance rises to $196.56 per fortnight. If you’re lucky (or brave!) enough to have quadruplets or more, the payment increases to $261.94 per fortnight.
Pensioners and asset/income thresholds
While the actual payment rates for the Age Pension, Disability Support Pension, Carer Payment, JobSeeker and Youth Allowance won’t change this time, there are important updates to the income and asset thresholds.
This means you may be able to earn or own a little more before your payment is reduced or cut off.
- Single age pensioners: Can now earn up to $218 a fortnight (up $6) and still receive the full pension. The maximum income before your pension cuts out is now $2,516 per fortnight.
- Couples: The combined limit is $380 per fortnight for the full pension, and $3,844.40 per fortnight before payments stop.
- Asset limits: Single homeowners can have assets up to $321,500 and still receive the full pension, while couples can have up to $481,500. The part-pension cut-off is now $704,500 for single homeowners and $1,059,000 for couple homeowners.
Paid Parental Leave: Higher income limits
If you’re planning to take Paid Parental Leave, the annual income limits have also increased:
- Individual limit: Now $180,007 per annum.
- Family limit: Now $373,094 per annum.
Why does indexation matter?
Indexation is a vital part of Australia’s social security system. It’s designed to ensure that payments don’t lose their value over time as prices rise.
While the increases may seem small, they add up over the year and can make a real difference, especially for those on fixed incomes.
For a full breakdown of the new rates and thresholds, visit the Services Australia website.
Your say: Will this make a difference for you?
We know every dollar counts, especially in today’s economic climate.
Are you one of the millions set to benefit from these changes? Will the extra cash help with your household budget, or do you think more needs to be done to support Australians on fixed incomes? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below—your voice matters!
Also read: Centrelink debt repayment changes hit Australia Post on 12 June
As a recipient of the Age Pensioner, this rise in July will not help in any way. In fact the last rise in March of $7 was a joke, as at the same time my Private Health fund increase by $15 per month, so how is that helping us. The Govt knows our private health funds go up by at least $15 to $20, if not more, in April every year, and they do nothing about it. I truely am disappointed with the Govt and their treatment of us on fixed incomes. They even ask us homeowners to put solar on our roofs, but the buy back is only a quarter of what we have pay for buying back from Synergy. Unfortunately, here in WA we cannot shop around for power deals like our Eastern Staters. If the Govt wants to help, at least pay us the same for our power as we do for theirs. Sorry for ranting but it pisses me off.
Here in Nth Qld we don’t get a choice of power supplier either and the current solar feed in tariff is 12c a kw/hr but we pay 30c a kw/hr for imported power. I think the solar tariff is being reduced to 8c a kw/hr next month.
Anyway I have 14kw of batteries on order for installation in July when the new federal subsidy of 30% begins. That means most of our excess solar power will be used recharging the battery by day which should see us through the night. So no more buying power at all and no more blackouts when the grid fails.
We have 12kw of panels on our roof.
I still have one teenager I get FTB for at the maximum rate and the $7 rise will barely keep up with inflation. It’s good that the payments are indexed but sad when governments tell us we are getting a rise when this is not a rise in real terms.
I find the clickbait headings very frustrating….For example this one “Centrelink payments rise for millions from July—how much more will you get?” I made the assumption (wrongly) that this would have information about how much pensions would rise……
At least we’re getting rises because eventually the cost of living will fall – imagine how crap it would be if the LNP were in ? We are getting help with Pharmaceuticals, Electricity as well 👍
The LNP couldn’t be worse than this Labor mob. Posing as politicians that are only concerned with their own welfare, hence a massive increase in their wages recently. As a pensioner my rent has increased by 20%, food by 25%, electricity bill by 23%, car insurance by 25%, private health cover by 10%, fuel by 10% over the past 3 years. The cost of living will never fall under this massive spending by the existing government on “renewable energy”that is sending the country broke. Wake up.
Spot on
Any increase in the renumeration of the Federal Politicians is NOT controlled by the Politicians, and thet have NO say in the amount, but it is done by an independent statutory body, the Renumeration Tribunal !!!
As for the paltry increases in the Age Pension, which do not even cover the actual increases in the cost of living, and, also, we do not get any compensation for our “Out Of Pocket” payouts, caused by the price rises, over the previous 6 months !!