Household Stimulus Package 101-03060000

A person was entitled to the Back to School Bonus if, on the 3 February 2009, they were an eligible:

• Family Tax Benefit (FTB) Part A recipient, with an eligible FTB child aged between four and 18 (inclusive)

or

• Carer Payment (CP) or Disability Support Pension (DSP) recipient under 19 years of age

HSP Administrative Scheme

The Back to School Bonus paid under the HSP Administrative Scheme was established to assist foster and non-parent/kinship carers who gained care of a child shortly after the announcement of the HSP. The Administrative Scheme also allowed people who temporarily lost care of a child due to special circumstances to receive a payment when they were not eligible on 3 February 2009.

Entitlement under the HSP Administrative Scheme may apply when a recipient was entitled to FTB Part A for an FTB child aged between 4 and 15 years of age, and that child entered their ongoing care during the period 4 February 2009 - 31 March 2009, and one of the following applied:

• the recipient was entitled to FTB Part A for the child at some time during the period 1 November 2008 - 2 February 2009, and there were special circumstances relating to why the recipient was not entitled to FTB Part A for the child for 3 February 2009 (for example, due to a temporary loss of care of the child), or
• the recipient was entrusted with the ongoing care of a child under a formal foster care arrangement, or
• a non-parent carer recipient (such as a grandparent) was entrusted with the ongoing care of a child due to an inability or failure of the child's parents to provide care for the child

A person was entitled to the Single Income Family Bonus if, on the 3 February 2009, they were an eligible FTB Part B recipient.

HSP Administrative Scheme

The Single Income Family Bonus paid under the HSP Administrative Scheme was established to assist foster and non-parent/kinship carers who gained care of a child shortly after the announcement of the HSP. The administrative scheme also allows people who temporarily lost care of a child due to special circumstances to receive a payment when they were not eligible on 3 February 2009.

Entitlement under the HSP Administrative Scheme may apply when a recipient was entitled to FTB Part B for an FTB child aged under 16 years of age, and that child entered their ongoing care during the period 4 February 2009 - 31 March 2009, and one of the following applied:

• the recipient was entitled to FTB Part B for the child at some time during the period 1 November 2008 - 2 February 2009, and there were special circumstances relating to why the recipient was not entitled to FTB Part B for the child for 3 February 2009 (for example, due to a temporary loss of care of the child), or
• the recipient was entrusted with the ongoing care of a child under a formal foster care arrangement, or
• a non-parent carer recipient (such as a grandparent) was entrusted with the ongoing care of a child due to an inability or failure of the child's parents to provide care for the child

A person was entitled to the Training or Learning Bonus if, on the 3 February 2009, they were eligible for:

• FTB Part A, with a full-time student aged between 21 and 24, or
• Youth Allowance (YA) (students and Australian Apprentices only), Austudy, ABSTUDY Living Allowance who are over 16 or if independent (any age) (including ABSTUDY boarders where term payments are made and Residential Cost Option students), Veterans Children's Education Scheme (VCES), Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act Education and Training Scheme (MRCAETS), Sickness Allowance (SA) or Special Benefit (SpB) (under Age Pension age as at 14 October 2008 and did not receive an Economic Security Strategy (ESS) payment), or
• YA, Newstart Allowance (NSA), Sickness Allowance (SA), Parenting Payment (PP) partnered, Widow Allowance (WA), Partner Allowance (PA) or Department of Education, (PES) and qualified for an EdEP on or after 1 January 2009, or
• FTB Part A, with a full-time student aged between 19 and 20 or receives YA (students and Australian Apprentices only), Austudy, ABSTUDY Living Allowance who are over 16 or if independent (any age) (includes ABSTUDY boarders where term payments are made and Residential Cost Option students), VCES, MRCAETS in Semester 1 2009 and had not already received a HSP.

A person was entitled if they were:

• undertaking full-time study in a higher education degree by research program (masters or doctorate degree) during Semester 1 2009 and receiving for Semester 1 2009:
• an Australian Postgraduate Award (APA), or
• an Australian Postgraduate Award (Industry) (APA(I)), or
• National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) PhD Scholarship, or
• any other scholarship with a value of at least $20,427 in the 2009 calendar year, and
• living in Australia at the date of claim, and
• a citizen or permanent resident of Australia

A person was entitled to the Farmers Hardship Payment if, on the 3 February 2009, they were an eligible:

• Exceptional Circumstances Relief Payment (ECRP) (for farmers and small business), or
• Farm Help Income Support (FHIS)

Note: A zero rate of entitlement for the payment period including 3 February 2009 resulted in non-payment eligibility.

Eligible shared care recipients are paid a portion of the HSP entitlement based on the FTB Shared Care percentage payable as displayed on the Assessment Details (ASDT) screen.

For example recipients may share the care of a child 35%/65% (as per the FTB Shared Care (FSC) screen), however, they are paid FTB in the percentages of 25%/75% as per the ASDT screen. The HSP applicable is split according to the percentage displayed on the ASDT screen, not the FSC screen.

Note: HSP payments could only be made for FTB Part A children, not Regular Care Child (RCC) children.

The HSP payments were paid over the period:

• 11 March - 21 March 2009 - for all recipient eligible to receive the Back to School Bonus and Single Income Family Bonus
• 25 March - 3 April 2009 - for all FTB recipient eligible to receive the Training and Learning Bonus
• 25 March - 3 April 2009 - for all student recipient eligible to receive the Training and Learning Bonus
• 25 March - 3 April 2009 - for all recipient eligible to receive the Farmers Hardship Payment
• From 20 May 2009 - for all recipient eligible to receive the Training and Learning Bonus for Postgraduate Scholarship Holders

Note: the Training and Learning Bonus - Administrative Scheme payment was paid to eligible recipient as and when the student status of the recipient's child was confirmed with the recipient.

HSP assessments are processed by the Families Ongoing Entitlement Team and enquiries can be emailed to them. Service Officers are not permitted to take payment action themselves. The Resources page contains a link to the Families Ongoing Entitlement Team contact details.

The HSP payments are displayed on the Payment Summary (PS) and Payment Detail (PD) screens. They are identified on the PD screen as follows:

• BSB - Back to School Bonus
• SIB - Single Income Family Bonus
• TLB - Training and Learning Bonus
• ASB - Training and Learning Bonus under the Administrative Scheme Bonus
• FHB - Farmers Hardship Payment

From the Families One Off Payment Task Selector (FOPTS) screen, information pertaining to the four HSP payments and previous one off family payment information is available.

Information relating to a particular one off bonus payment can be found on the following screens:

• FOSBSB - Back to School Bonus
• FOSSIB - Single Income Family Bonus
• FOSTLB - Training and Learning Bonus
• FOSASB - Training and Learning Bonus - Administrative Scheme

If the recipient's government payment was being income managed - the HSP payment are income managed at 100%.

Debt information

The HSP bonus payments were not used to recover any Social Security or Family Assistance debts and having a debt had no effect on entitlement to HSP bonus payment.

No debts will be raised where a person has received the ESS payment and it was subsequently found that the person and/or child should not have attracted the payment, unless the person knowingly made a false or misleading statement, or knowingly provided false information.

HSP debts will need to be raised manually.

HSP bonus review process

Recipients can request a review of the non-payment of a HSP bonus payment.

Service Officers must ensure they fully discuss with recipients the reason they were ineligible for the HSP bonus payment before recording a request for review. The reason the recipient was ineligible must also be included in the DOC.

See also: Request for an explanation or application for a formal review.

Household Stimulus Package advice letters

Letters about the HSP bonus payments were sent to recipients advising of the payment and were triggered at the same time the payment was made. These letters do not include the payment amount or the names of the child/ren.