Family Tax Benefit (FTB) child of a person 007-07040050

A child may still be an FTB child during a temporary absence.

A separate procedure applies if a change of care has occurred without the previous carer's consent.

A child under 18 years of age can be an FTB child of a person if:

• the person has legal responsibility for the child's day-to-day care, welfare and development
• the person has family law order or parenting plan that states the child is to live with or have contact with the person, or
• the child is not in the care of anyone else with legal responsibility for the child

FTB can be paid for a child living away from home (for example, to study), as care may continue to be provided. See the References page for a definition of care, especially for older children.

Non-parent carers may be eligible

Grandparents and persons who are not the parent of a child may be eligible for FTB for the child if the child is in their care.

Careful consideration is needed to assess whether another person, including the child's parent, has legal responsibility for the child or whether a change in care has occurred. Evidence may need to be requested to assist with a change of care determination, see Evidence to support the actual care arrangements. For further information on grandparent carers, refer Eligibility for Family Tax Benefit (FTB) for grandparent carers.

FTB cannot be paid to another person simply because the child's parent would not be eligible for FTB, for example, due to income test.

A person caring for child in a group home would not be eligible

An employee of a private or state run group home would not be eligible for FTB for a child they are caring for in the group home.

This is because the body responsible for the group home, not the employee, has legal responsibility for the day-to-day care, welfare and development of the child. If that body is an Approved Care Organisation, they may be eligible to receive FTB for the child.

A person cannot be paid FTB for their partner's child if the person has been assessed as single under Section 24 of the Social Security Act. See Treatment of a partnered person as single under Section 24 new determinations.

Is the child in the person's care?

• Yes, go to Step 2
• No, child is not an FTB child of the person, but may be an FTB child of another person. Procedure ends here

FTB can be shared between eligible customers if shared care arrangements exist, as long as the customer has at least 35% actual care.

• Yes, go to Step 3
• No, and actual care is
• at least 14%, they are considered a Regular Care Child. The customer is not eligible for FTB for the child but may be eligible for ancillary benefits including:
  -Rent Assistance (RA) component of FTB Part A
  -Child Care Subsidy (CCS)
  -Health Care Card (HCC) (FTB income threshold applies)
  -lower threshold for the Medicare Safety Net (FTB Part A income threshold applies)
  -Remote Area Allowance (RAA) paid with income support payments
  Go to Step 3
• less than 14%, the child is neither an FTB child nor a Regular Care Child of the customer, but may be an FTB child or Regular Care Child of another person. Procedure ends here

• Yes, go to Step 4
• No, the child is not an FTB child of the person. Procedure ends here

• Yes:
• they cannot be an FTB child of their partner. Procedure ends here
• they may be an FTB child of another person (for example, their parent). Go to Step 5
• No, go to Step 5

Although FTB may be paid for a young person aged 16-19 years, a check should be made to see if the family would be better off financially if the young person claimed a payment in their own right, for example, Youth Allowance (YA).

See the Resources page for a link to information for families with children aged 16 years and over, and a comparison of full-time study requirements for FTB and YA.

From 1 January 2020 changes apply, see disqualifying payment for further information.

For information about other options, see Identifying the most beneficial payment for trainees or Australian Apprentices.

Note: for a child aged 16-19 years of age - if the Child General Circumstances (CHG) screen shows 'DVA' (Veterans' Children Education Scheme) and the coding has not been end dated, a DVA clearance should be requested to ensure the child is no longer receiving the disqualifying payment. For shared care cases, a DOA DOC may be recorded if clearance is required by the DVA Clearance Team.

For more information about the DVA clearance process, see Completing Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) clearances and income coding.

The DVA coding should not be deleted unless the clearance shows the coding is incorrect and should never have been coded.

Does the child receive a disqualifying payment?

• Yes, go to Step 6
• No:
• for young persons aged 16-19 years, go to Step 7
• for children aged under 16 years, go to Step 8

A full-time secondary student aged 16 years or over cannot receive both a Veterans' Children Education Scheme payment (VCES) or Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act Education and Training Scheme (MRCEAETS) and be an FTB child. In shared care arrangements, where one parent/carer is receiving VCES or MRCAETS for a child, this does not preclude the other parent/carer from claiming or continuing to receive FTB for this child. Both parent/carer's can be paid their shared care percentage of the payment they elect to receive. The DVA Clearance Team must be contacted to provide clearance in shared care cases.

DVA customers may benefit from claiming FTB for a student child aged 16 years and over, particularly where the family is entitled to receive FTB Part B.

These customers should be encouraged to compare their DVA payment/s to their potential FTB rate using the online estimator options.

If the customer asks for more information about the additional educational assistance available through the DVA, they must be referred to the Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA).

If the customer (see Note:) advises they would like to:

• Cancel the disqualifying payment and have their parent/guardian claim FTB - go to Step 7 to check whether the child could be considered an FTB child if the precluding payment were cancelled
• Continue receiving the disqualifying payment, continue with this process

Note: the DVA education allowance for full-time secondary students aged between 16 and 18 years is paid to the person entitled to be paid FTB on the student's behalf (generally the parent/guardian). Therefore, the child does not need to give permission for the DVA payment to be cancelled.

Ensure the Child General Circumstances (CHG) screen reflects that the child is in receipt of a disqualifying payment.

In Customer First:

Before coding the details of the precluding payments on the CHG screen, code the Child in Customer Care (CHC) and Change Child (CCH) screens for each relevant child.

On the CHG screen, code the following fields on the first available blank line (if the details are not already coded):

• Event Date: the date of commencement of the other payment
• Other Payment: Valid codes are:
• 'DVD' (DOP paid by DVA)
• 'DVA' (Veterans' Children Education Scheme)
• 'APA' (Postgraduate Awards Scheme)
• 'DPP' (Dependant Precluding Payment)
• 'LMP' (Labour Market Program)
• Complete the DOR: (Date of Receipt) and Source: fields and press [Enter]
• Record details on a DOC and finalise activity on the Assessment Results (AR) screen

Procedure ends here.

For FTB Part A to be paid, a young person aged 16-19 years must:

• be undertaking full-time study in an approved course leading to Year 12 or an equivalent qualification (includes repeating students)
• have an acceptable adjusted study load, or
• have an exemption

If they complete Year 12 or an equivalent qualification, FTB Part A can be paid up until 31 December, or for 28 days after the course end date if the course ends before November.

Apprentices, other than school based apprentices, do not meet the requirements to receive FTB.

FTB Part A can be paid up until the end of the calendar year in which they turn 19 years if the above criteria are met.

FTB Part B can be paid up until the end of the calendar year they turn 18 years if they remain in full-time secondary study.

Are education/study requirements for children aged 16-19 years met?

• Yes, go to Step 8
• No, the child is not an FTB child. If the child is not already in receipt of their own payment, check if the child is entitled to a payment (for example, Youth Allowance (YA)), or a Low Income Health Care Card (LIC). Procedure ends here

• If the customer wishes to cancel:
• Youth Allowance (YA) and their parent/guardian claim FTB instead, cancel YA from date paid to plus 1 day in Customer First. FTB can only be granted to the customer for periods the child was not receiving YA. The ability to pay FTB retrospectively is overridden by the child's entitlement to YA during the same period
• A Veterans' Children Education Scheme payment (DVA), see Claiming Family Tax Benefit (FTB) instalments for children in care other than a newborn or adopted child
• Check person's eligibility for FTB and invite claim. See Initial contact by customers claiming payments for families
• Advise customer they must provide proof of the child's birth if this has not already been given to Services Australia