Centrelink's "Utilities Allowance"

[CrazySingleMama84]

Has anyone receieved the $100 that was supposed to be paid to ALL Pensioners by June 30th? Apparantly it's a "Utilities Allowance".

My Dad and I are both pensioners (Dad being aged pension, myself being single parent) and neither of us have received it, yet my neighbour, dad's neighbour and another friend (PPS and aged pension respectively) have.

Dad enquired at Centrelink and their response was that they were sending it out in "batches" at to not overload the banks :confused:

As a side note; both my Dad's neighbour, my neighbour, and my friend received letters, and theirs all went in on the 30th June despite it not being their pay-days.

[jessgray]

nope my DP gets parenting payment partnered i dont think he is entitled to it :confused: but i have heard of it. my mum got it on the 30th june :)

[Shelly68]

The batches that centrelink are talking about may be surnames beginning with A-D this week, then E-H etc etc.

Is your surname at the start, middle or end of the alphabet?

[lippintyna]

When Centrelink says "batching" it is done randomly. It is the same with the FTB A /B Supplements for single ISP (income support payment) customers. There is no rhyme or reason to it. It doesn't go by alphabet, postcode, age etc.

Basically the system in Canberra selects a certain amount of customers to be paid that night from the pool of total people to be paid, and issues those out.

As far a the Utilitise Allowance, my understanding is that it is for people who are of AGE Pension Age and receiving a Income Support Payment (not necessarily age pension) people only. As you Dad is receiving AGE I would get him to give them a call on 13 23 00.

[CrazySingleMama84]

As far a the Utilitise Allowance, my understanding is that it is for people who are of AGE Pension Age and receiving a Income Support Payment (not necessarily age pension) people only. As you Dad is receiving AGE I would get him to give them a call on 13 23 00.

Yes I've been told about that one. The one I am talking about was announced by Mr Costello in this years budget. There was a massive write up in the newspaper and lots of media attention about it; that ALL pensioners would receive an extra $100 by the 30th June, irregardless of what pension you were on.

Centrelink denied to me this morning that any such announcement was ever made in the budget. I have the newspaper page here in front of me. And I now know of 4 people on PPS like myself who received an extra $100 on the 30th of June. :mad:

My dad also enquired about his this morning being on an aged pension and was also told that he is not eligible to get it. :no:

[lippintyna]

I have just had a look on the FACS website and clicked on the BUDGET 06/07 link. Under "Massive Boost to Support for Australian Families" there a section which is talking about the Utility Allowance you are speaking of.

Older Australians will also benefit from measures recognising their contribution to society.

To assist with the cost of household bills, the Government will provide by 30 June 2006 an additional one-off payment equal to the maximum rate of Utilities Allowance ($102.80) to each household with a person of Age or Service Pension age eligible for Utilities Allowance on 9 May 2006. A $102.80 payment will also be provided by 30 June 2006 to each self-funded retiree eligible for the Seniors Concession Allowance on 9 May 2006.

Older Australians - payment of one-off bonus
Why is this important?
This payment recognises the contribution to society made by older Australians.


Who will benefit?
Households in receipt of Utilities Allowance and recipients of Seniors Concession Allowance will receive a one-off payment of $102.80.


What have we done in the past?
In 2004-05 the Government introduced Utilities Allowance for older Australians on income support to provide additional assistance with household bills, and the Seniors Concession Allowance for holders of the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card in recognition of the fact that this group does not receive concessions from most State and Territory governments.


When will the initiative conclude?
Payment will be made by 30 June 2006.

Did Centrelink staff explain to him why he is not eligible? Is it because he lives with you and doesn't have bills in his own name? (this is only an example) If he has not received a satisfactory explanation as to why he is not eligible then I would be advising them of their reference material for the budget announcements and getting someone to explain it further.

As far as the PPS side of things, there is nothing to indicate there was such a payment for them. I work for the FAO section of Centrelink (therefore AGE is not my area of expertise) and I am not aware of any such payments for PPS, PPP or FTB customers.

[Tarnya]

I just rang Centrelink and asked and as mentioned above it is only for Age pensions or disability pensions for the aged, it is not for anyone receiving Parenting Payment - Single or partnered.

[jessgray]

my mum gets part PPS coz she has shared custody of 2 of my siblings with their dad (the rest of us live away in our own places) and she gets the disabilty payment too. is that why she got the $100

[lippintyna]

There was a one off $600 payment for people who are receive CDA for someone they are caring for. This was payable before the end of June. This, IMO is what she would have received a portion of.

[jessgray]

no my mum doesnt get a carer's payment.

[lippintyna]

Does she get Carer's Allowance? There is a difference between Carer's Allowance and Carer's Payment.

[jessgray]

no she gets the disability payment not a career's payment she gets a part payment of the parenting for when my siblings stay with her.

[CrazySingleMama84]

Well my Dad found out why he's not entitled to it. He hasn't been on an aged pension for 12 months :banghead: He only swapped from disability to aged pension in November last year.

lippintyna just to give you an answer to your example; no it wouldn't have had anything to do with my Dad living with me and not having bills in his name because he lives on his own. Although in saying that he only lives 7 houses from me so it's close enough to living with me :laughing:

[lippintyna]

no she gets the disability payment not a career's payment she gets a part payment of the parenting for when my siblings stay with her.


Your mum would get partial FTB not PPS if she shares the care of your siblings. You can only get 1 ISP (Income Support Payment). So if she is receiving Disability Pension, then she would not be entitled to PPS. However as she shares the care of her children with an exptr then she would be entitled to a portion of the FTB payments.

No idea what the $100 payment would be. I would suggest that she contacts Centrelink and asks what they $100 was for. :confused:

Mummy&Tai: Glad that you got the issues resolved for your Dad. It was just a suggestion as to if that may be a reason he wasn't entitled due it. As I don't work in AGE section I wasn't sure if that could be a reason or not. Again glad that all was sorted.:wave:

[Shelly68]

Wouldn't your father then be entitled to a pro-rated amount if he switched over part way through the year.

Doesn't seem fair is he's not (entitled to part payment) does it?

[jessgray]

no my mum does get PPS its not very much its like less then $50 a fortnight and her FTB is $42.