Contact after the death of a partner 099-01010040

The surviving partner may be entitled to bereavement assistance through Services Australia, when a member of a couple dies, and:

• both members of the couple were in receipt of an income support payment from Services Australia
• the deceased partner was not in receipt of an income support payment at the time of the death
• neither member was receiving income support payments at the time of the death
• the surviving partner receives payments from the Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA)

For an end-to-end process information to assist staff confirm and record a death action when a person, nominee or an organisation (the notifier) contacts Centrelink, notifying the death of an adult, see Centrelink - Notification, confirming and recording a death.

The name of a deceased person who is of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander descent, is generally extremely sensitive information.

Staff must only ask for the Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander deceased person’s name when it is essential for the agency's purposes. In some cases, in Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander communities, it is important that close relatives are not asked to discuss, write down, or see written, the name of the Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander deceased person.

If such information becomes relevant, when a close relative is being interviewed, or asked to complete a form, consent must be requested to collect the information from another source, (for example, community council and/or hospital/clinic records).

For more details, see:

• Indigenous naming conventions
• Cultural considerations when someone dies

The surviving partner may be eligible for assistance from Services Australia. Assistance can include:

• Parenting Payment (PP) - for single customers with a qualifying dependent child/children who do not have the support of a partner
• Partner Bereavement Payment (PBV) can be paid to new claimants and existing customers on JobSeeker Payment (JSP) or Youth Allowance (YA), including:
• YA job seekers
• YA students
• YA apprentices
• dependent YA customers
• the customer will have their payment reassessed to the single rate

The surviving partner will not be entitled to a Lump Sum Bereavement Payment (LBP).

The surviving partner may be eligible for assistance such as:

• Parenting Payment (PP) - for single customers with a qualifying dependent child/children who do not have the support of a partner
• JobSeeker Payment (JSP) or Youth Allowance (YA) for working age customers whose partner has died and have bereavement provisions including:
• Partner Bereavement Payment (PBV)
• exemptions from waiting periods and participation requirements

Additional assistance may be available for the surviving partner. See:

• Death of one member of a pension couple
• Death of a member of a pensioner and allowee couple
• Death of a member of an allowee couple

Service Officers should identify if a customer is eligible for an income support payment and other products or services. When suggesting income support payment claims, staff must consider whether the pre-claim circumstance screen should be coded, see Intent to claim and vulnerable customers.

If the surviving partner is distressed at the time of advising about the death, consider a referral to the social work service.

If the person is unable to provide information to confirm their partner's death at the time of contact, a Service Officer must confirm the death before any action is taken.

The person notifying of the death should be advised that information used for Centrelink, Child Support and Medicare payments and services is transferred within Services Australia. However, additional contact with one of the agencies programs separately may be required to update relevant information, depending on individual circumstances.

If the surviving partner is in receipt of an income support payment and was a joint owner of the couple's assets, full ownership legally transfers to the surviving partner. However, the system will still only assess that the surviving partner owns 50% of the property until the surviving partner advises of the transfer of assets. A bereavement review may be conducted 16 weeks after the death of the partner to determine which assets have been transferred to the survivor.

If the surviving partner starts work, or is currently working, working credits may enable them to keep some of their income support payment while they are working. If their income reduces their fortnightly rate to nil and some of that income is employment income, they may remain current at nil rate for up to 12 fortnights and retain certain benefits.

Surviving partners receiving an income support payment that requires them to be partnered or caring for a person will continue to receive payments for the duration of the bereavement period. Payments that may be subject to this provision are Carer Payment (CP) - where the deceased is the care receiver.

At the end of the bereavement period, the customer must qualify for a payment in their own right. For example:

• Parenting Payment (PP)
• JobSeeker Payment (JSP)
• Youth Allowance (YA)

If the customer was receiving payments as a carer for their partner, and the care receiver was not in receipt of an income support payment, bereavement assistance may be available to carers, depending on:

• whether the carer receives Carer Allowance (CA)
• whether the carer receives an income support payment, and
• what type of income support payment is received

If the carer is in receipt of:

• CA only, the carer is not entitled to a bereavement payment
• Carer Payment (CP) only, the carer is entitled to a continuation of CP for the duration of the bereavement period. The carer is not entitled to a Lump Sum Bereavement Payment
• both CP and CA, the carer is entitled to a continuation of CP for the duration of the bereavement period. The carer is not entitled to a Lump Sum Bereavement Payment
• CA and an income support payment that is not CP, the carer is entitled to a CA bereavement payment

Staff can refer the notifier and relatives of the deceased to:

• a social worker, where appropriate
• Financial Information Service (FIS)
• Multilingual Phone Service (MPS)
• Indigenous Service Officers (ISO)
• information available on the Services Australia website including:
• Payment and Service finder
• What to do when a loved one dies page
• the contact details for state funeral assistance that may be available

For assistance with other department and agency processes, see:

• Child Support - Deceased Child Support customer management
• Medicare - Amend deceased persons Medicare enrolment requirements
• Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) - see Reporting the death of a veteran or DVA client on the DVA website

In most instances, Services Australia is unable to offer initial assistance because DVA has similar bereavement arrangements for their recipients. However, if the deceased partner was also a customer of Services Australia, some bereavement assistance may be payable through Services Australia, depending on the type of payments received by each member of the couple at the time of the death.

Customers should call the DVA general enquiries line.