Hello everyone.
A common misunderstanding from customers is the belief that Services Australia can see people’s bank balances. Often people don’t think they need to tell us about changes because they assume we already know.
We don’t have the ability to see these things. It’s up to you to let us know of changes to your circumstances within 14 days. If you don’t tell us, we may pay you more money than you’re entitled to and you’ll have to pay the money back.
So, what changes do you need to tell us about? A great starting point is to look at the letters you get from us, either online or in your letter box. They outline what you need to notify us about. Please make sure you read them.
You need to let us know about a change to your address, going overseas, changes to your relationship status or stopping and starting work.
If you’re working, it’s important you report what you’re paid each entitlement period. You also need to let us know about changes to your financial assets like your bank balances and shares. You don’t need to tell us every time your bank balance changes, but you do need to tell us if the balance of your combined financial assets increases by more than $2,000. You also have to tell us if the value of your other types of assets go up by $1,000. If you’re getting a part-rate of payment, it might be in your interest to let us know of any reductions in your asset values as well.
Shares are a bit different to other financial assets. We automatically update the values of your shares twice a year on 20 March and 20 September, so you don’t have to tell us of any increase in the market value of your shares. We’ll take care of that two times each year. But remember, you can ask for a revaluation at any time.
You do need to tell us if the number of your shares have changed, that is, if you’ve bought or sold some, or if you’ve been given new shares through something like a dividend reinvestment scheme.
In addition, if you own property that’s not your principal home and you have a loan or mortgage against it, you should update this balance on a regular basis as well. In most cases, the mortgage you hold over the property (or a portion of it) may impact the property’s assessable value. We assess the value of your property at the time of application, and then automatically revalue your property on the anniversary of your claim, based on the movement of property prices.
Telling us about changes is easy using your Centrelink online account through myGov. You can also report your income using the Centrelink reporting line on 133 276.
You can find out more by going to our website, servicesaustralia.gov.au and searching for ‘update details’.
Until next time.
Hank Jongen
General Manager
Services Australia
