Volume 11 Edition 1 – 30 January 2021

Financial Care Services, the specialist adviser to seniors in transition to new lifestyles

Centrelink help when you really need an adult carer at home with you all day.

Sadly not every adult is safe to stay at home alone for even a few hours. Seniors who are frail aged and other adults with severe disability or medical conditions could need intensive care and supervision throughout the day.

But not every frail senior fancies moving into residential aged care.
Living with family could be the preferred option for seniors who are cognitively good and able to walk short distances with the assistance of a strong adult.

Ready access to adult assistance for every physical challenge might be required to prevent falls and mishaps in the kitchen. These seniors could still enjoy the mental stimulation of living within the family. Younger able bodied adults could also function well within the family home whilst being supervised by a responsible person.

A family member often becomes the fulltime carer; the adult who puts their own life on ‘hold’ to be available to care for a parent, partner or adult child.

As a community, we support those who curtail their time out for work or study, in order to care for another adult.

Firstly, Carer Allowance is a modest fortnightly payment to the friend or family member who provides substantial daily care. The Carer Allowance is not intended as your primary income.

Secondly, Carer Payment is a fortnightly income support payment for when caring duties exclude the carer from fulltime work. The payment rates and financial means testing for Carer Payment are similar to those for the Age Pension.

Centrelink administer the Carer Allowance and Carer Payments.

Who qualifies for Carer benefits from Centrelink.

Claiming Carer benefits from Centrelink is a two-step process.

Step 1 is for the care recipient to qualify as needing a fulltime carer.
Their ‘care needs’ must be both intensive and extensive. Just needing serious help to get up, bathed and dressed is unlikely to qualify for a fulltime carer. Continuous supervision, with intermittent action, to prevent falls and/or inappropriate activity is likely to qualify for a fulltime carer.

Step 2 is for the preferred carer to qualify for the Carer benefits.
Both the Carer and the person being cared for must be citizens or permanent residents of Australia who are actually living in Australia.

Carer Allowance

Carer Allowance is an income supplement for people who provide additional daily care and attention for someone who is frail aged or has a significant disability or a medical condition.

Carer Allowance can only be paid to an Australian citizen or an adult who has been a ‘permanent resident’ for at least one year.
A recent immigrant would not qualify for Carer Allowance.

Carer Allowance is payable at $131.90 per fortnight in January 2021.

There is no assets test for Carer Allowance but there is an income test.
You are ineligible for Carer Allowance if you and your partner have a total combined ‘adjusted taxable income’ of $250,000 a year.
Remember ‘adjusted taxable income’ is the taxable income that you report on your annual Income Tax Return plus some ‘adjustments’ for ‘income like items’ that are excluded from your taxable income. Your superannuation counts in these ‘adjustments’.

Carer Allowance can be paid in addition to wages, or another income support payment.
You could be paid Carer Allowance in addition to your Age Pension.

Carer Payment (also known as ‘carer pension’)

Carer Payment is a Centrelink fortnightly income support payment paid to carers who personally provide care for someone with a severe disability or medical condition and, because of the demands of their caring role, cannot work full time.

Caring duties might be for a period of several years but not a whole working life. Therefore carers are allowed some ‘off duty’ time to prepare for fulltime work when their care duties are over.
Carers may be away from their carer duties for 25 hours per week for work or study without losing their Carer status. But your earnings from work are counted in your ‘income’ for the Carer Payment ‘Income Test’.

To qualify for Carer Payment both the carer and the care recipient must be living in Australia.
If you are not an Australian citizen then you cannot claim Carer Payment until you have a completed a ‘waiting period’ of two years as a ‘permanent resident’ of Australia.

Help with Centrelink challenges is available from Christine Hopper at Financial Care Services, the specialist adviser to seniors in transition to new lifestyles.

Christine has neat handwriting just right for inserting your data into small printed spaces. She helps clients complete Centrelink forms.
Christine could help you with collating your supporting documents and then mailing your form to Centrelink.

Christine at Financial Care Services your independent adviser

Financial Care Services is an independent advisory service specialising in retirees of modest means and aged care entrants.
Our core values include working with clients in claiming DVA and Centrelink entitlements.

The team at Financial Care Services are here to answer your Age Pension questions and guide your understanding of aged care costs.

Assistance with completing the Commonwealth aged care means testing forms is available to clients of Financial Care Services.

Christine charges fees based on the work involved in advising you about pensions and aged care fee solutions.

To make an appointment for confidential, independent and professional advice about aged care, retirement lifestyle costs, granny flat or Age Pension issues please contact Christine Hopper or call +61 3 9808 0338.

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Disclaimer: The information contained in this newsletter is of a general nature only and does not constitute “financial advice”.
All eligibility for Commonwealth benefits will be determined by Centrelink or DVA, based on your personal position as documented and the legislation and Regulations in force at that time.

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