Help for grandparents caring for children 007-02070000

Grandparents may get family assistance if they:

• have day to day care and responsibility for a grandchild, or
• have shared care of a grandchild with another person

They must have at least:

• 35% actual care of the grandchild for family assistance payments
• 14% or more actual care for Child Care Subsidy
• 65% or more actual care and make decisions about the care, welfare and development of the child for Additional Child Care Subsidy (ACCS) (grandparent)

Grandparents may not be able to get family assistance if the parent of the child also lives in the same household. This is unless they have legal responsibility.

A grandparent may get:

• Family Tax Benefit (FTB) Part A and Part B
• Newborn Supplement (NBS) and Newborn Upfront Payment (NBU). Services Australia can assess this with an FTB claim for a newborn child or a child entrusted to care as part of the adoption process
• Child Care Subsidy (CCS)
• ACCS (grandparent)
• Child Care Benefit (CCB) and Child Care Rebate (CCR) for care provided before 2 July 2018
• Child support
• Health Care Card (HCC)

For child care before 2 July 2018, see Child Care Benefit (CCB). For historical purposes only as customers cannot claim GCCB as a lump sum payment.

Family Tax Benefit (FTB) for grandparent carers

FTB Part A - grandparents do not need to take action to get child support to get more than base rate of FTB. However, any child support they do get may affect their rate of FTB Part A.

FTB Part B - a grandparent can continue to get FTB Part B for a child up to the end of the calendar year the child turns 18. The child must be in full-time secondary study.

Child care

Child Care Subsidy (CCS) - Grandparents not on income support may get up to 100 hours of subsidised care per fortnight. They will not need to meet the CCS Activity Test in relation to the grandchild.

ACCS (grandparent) - Grandparents on an income support payment may get paid for up to 100 hours of approved care per fortnight. They will not need to meet the Activity Test in relation to the grandchild.

Additional assistance - Customers not eligible for ACCS (grandparent) can apply for ACCS (temporary financial hardship). This will assist with child care fees (for all children in their care).

Child care before 02 July 2018

CCB for approved care can be paid for up to 50 hours per week per child free of the work/training/study test to an eligible grandparent who has primary care of a grandchild.

CCR - Grandparents may also be eligible for a CCR if they have out of pocket child care expenses for Approved care.

The customer or child may get:

• Parental Leave Pay (PPL)
• Double Orphan Pension
• Parenting Payment (PP)
• Youth Allowance (YA)
• ABSTUDY

Grandparents eligible for an income support payment as the principal carer of a dependent child may:

• get a higher rate of payment
• get additional concessions
• have reduced mutual obligation requirements

Formal foster carers cannot get PPL. This is because formal foster care is the responsibility of child protection agencies.

Grandparents who get a pension or benefit will have a Pensioner Concession Card (PCC) or HCC. If they are also eligible for FTB for a child in their care, the child can be added to their PCC or HCC.

If they do not get a pension or benefit but receive FTB Part A fortnightly at the maximum rate, they will get a HCC. This will include the children in their care.

Customers who are not entitled to a HCC can test their eligibility for a Low Income Health Care Card (LIC).

A foster child HCC is available to grandparent carers caring for children through:

• a private arrangement, or
• formal care arrangement (arranged by state or territory child welfare authority)

There is no income or asset test for this card and it will issue in the name of the child.

Carer Allowance (CA) and/or Carer Payment (CP) may be payable if the child:

• has a physical, intellectual or psychiatric disability or
• if the child being cared for is a profoundly disabled child

Non-parent carers who have taken on the parental responsibilities for a child may also benefit from the services of Grandparent, Foster and Kinship Carer Advisers. Advisers:

• provide tailored information about Centrelink, Medicare and Child Support payments and support services specific to the circumstances of individual families
• arrange appointments for non-parent carers with specialist staff, including social workers, Financial Information Service (FIS) Officers, and
• arrange referrals to federal, state and community service providers

The Resources page contains links to the Grandparent, Foster and Kinship Carer Adviser Line and to the Grandparent, Foster and Kinship Carer Advisers intranet page and contact details.