Claiming payments for children entrusted to care as part of the process of adoption or surrogacy 007-07010010

Customers with children in their care due to adoption or surrogacy arrangements may claim:

• Family Tax Benefit (FTB)
• Parental Leave Pay (PPL), or
• Child Care Subsidy (CCS)

FTB can include Newborn Supplement (NBS) and Newborn Upfront Payment (NBU) if customers are not eligible for PPL.

An adoptive parent and a gaining parent are different to foster parents and relatives with long term care. Services Australia needs evidence to confirm the care of the child/ren.

Customers can claim PPL for an adopted child if the child was initially entrusted to the customer's care for the purpose of adoption before they turn 16 years of age. They can also claim FTB for the child.

The agency will automatically assess the customer for NBS and NBU, if they:

• claim PPL and FTB within 12 months of the child entering care, and
• are not eligible for PPL

For a second or subsequent child entrusted under an adoption process, the lower rate of NBS is payable. The higher NBS rate is payable if multiple children are entrusted under the same process of adoption.

Adoption is a legal process and the customer needs to provide proof of adoption from an authorised party.

To be eligible for PPL for an adopted child, an authorised party must have placed the child in care for the purpose of the adoption. For example, PPL is not payable if:

• the child was initially placed with the claimant as a foster child or under an informal arrangement, and
• the process of adoption commenced after this date

If a child is adopted, more than one person may be eligible and payable for PPL or FTB (including NBS/NBU). For example, for PPL one claimant may be the birth mother and another claimant the adoptive parent.

For children adopted on or after 1 July 2023, where both the customer and their partner are included as adoptive parents in the adoption documentation, the first adoptive parent (ADP) to claim is the Approval Giver. The second or subsequent adoptive parent (included in the adoption documentation) to claim is an Approval Seeker.

Where only one parent is included in the adoption documentation, they are the adoptive parent and Approval Giver. In these scenarios, their partner’s relationship to the child is generally Partner of Adoptive Parent (APP) and they will be an Approval Seeker.

Customers can claim PPL and FTB for children entering care as part of a surrogacy arrangement.

Surrogacy is an agreement between the surrogate and the gaining parents. Gaining parents need to provide proof of the surrogacy arrangement. This includes proof that the surrogate has relinquished care of the child following the birth.

For FTB (including NBS/NBU):

• Any claimant meeting eligibility requirements including having care of the child may still be paid. For example
• one claimant may be the biological father/partner of the surrogate and claiming for a period before the child has left the care of the surrogate, and
• another claimant might be the partner of the gaining parent

For NBS eligibility, assess using the entrusted to care (non-parent) criteria.

For PPL:

To be eligible for PPL, the surrogacy arrangement must be agreed before the child is conceived.

In surrogacy arrangements, more than one person may be eligible and payable for PPL or FTB (including NBS/NBU) for the child. For example, for:

• PPL, the gaining parents can claim up to the maximum entitlement of PPL days if they meet the eligibility criteria
• The birth mother (surrogate) can also claim PPL for the same child and, if they meet the eligibility criteria, can receive PPL for the period immediately following the birth. This is to enable the birth mother to take time off work for maternal recovery. The birth mother who is relinquishing care of the child cannot share their PPL entitlement with any other person and is able to claim up to:
• 20 weeks (100 days) for children born between 1 July 2023 and 30 June 2024
• 22 weeks (110 days) for children born on or after 1 July 2024

For children entrusted to care as part of a surrogacy arrangement on or after 1 July 2023, where both the customer and their partner are included as gaining parents in the surrogacy agreement, the first gaining parent to claim is the Approval Giver. The second or subsequent gaining parent (included in the surrogacy agreement) to claim is an Approval Seeker.

Where only one parent is included in the surrogacy agreement, they are the gaining parent and Approval Giver. In these scenarios, their partner’s relationship to the child is generally Partner of Gaining Parent (GPP) and will be an Approval Seeker.

For more information about Australian surrogacy and overseas surrogacy requirements see the Commonwealth Attorney-General webpage Surrogacy in Australia.

Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander customers may have a child entrusted to their care as part of their traditional law. For PPL, these care arrangements are generally treated the same as a foster care child.

Torres Strait Island customers who make a claim for payments because they have a child or children entrusted to their care as part of a kinship care arrangement must provide evidence to support the change of care arrangement. This would include Family Court documents such as a parentage order or adoption papers.