Eligibility for Stillborn Baby Payment (SBP) 007-04060000

Customers should be encouraged to claim online or they can lodge a Claim for Bereavement Payment (FA008). The FA008 is issued by the hospital and contains a doctor/midwife declaration, used as verification of the stillbirth.

Claims must be lodged within 52 weeks of the stillbirth. This period can be extended if necessary due to severe illness associated with the stillbirth, or when PPL is rejected.

Customers who have lost or not issued the FA008 by the hospital may lodge a FA008M downloaded from the website or issued by a Service Officer. As the FA008M does not have the doctor/midwife declaration, the customer must provide other suitable evidence, such as:

• a letter (on letterhead) from a medical practitioner familiar with the circumstances, or
• a letter (on letterhead) from the hospital

A customer may be paid SBP for a stillborn child if all of the following are met:

• The child would have been a Family Tax Benefit (FTB) child of the customer had the child been born alive and at any time within 26 weeks of the delivery would have been eligible for FTB except that their rate is nil
• The customer or their partner would have been the child's primary carer (at birth, had the child lived)
• The customer or their partner has not received PPL for the child
• The customer meets Australian residence requirements
  Note: SBP is only payable to Norfolk Island residents for a child delivered on or after 1 July 2016, providing they meet the Australian residence requirements and other eligibility criteria
• Income test requirements:
• their combined income estimate for the 6 months beginning from the date of delivery of the stillborn child does not exceed the Stillborn Baby Payment income limit, or
• their 6 month income estimate exceeds the Stillborn Baby Payment income limit but they are eligible for FTB Part A for another child within 52 weeks of the stillbirth

If SBP is paid under the FTB Part A eligibility test it is subject to the FTB reconciliation process.

Stillborn children delivered before 1 January 2021

There are 2 SBP rates. A higher rate is paid for the customer's first stillborn child and for each stillborn child of a multiple birth. A lower rate is paid for a second or subsequent stillborn child.

If a customer has a multiple birth and 1 of the children is stillborn, the customer may receive the higher rate of SBP for the stillborn child and PPL for the other child(ren).

Stillborn children delivered on or after 1 January 2021

From 1 January 2021 there is a single rate of SBP. The single rate is paid for each stillborn child delivered on or after 1 January 2021.

The new rate is equivalent to:

• the higher rate of NBS/NBU, and
• the FTB Part A bereavement payment for 14 weeks at the FTB Part A under 13 maximum rate

If a customer has a multiple birth and 1 of the children is stillborn, the customer may receive:

• SBP for the stillborn child, and
• PPL for the other child(ren)

If a customer is eligible for SBP and they die before they are paid, another person can be paid SBP if they claim within 52 weeks of the customer's death (this period may be extended in special circumstances). Eligibility is based on the deceased customer's income and other circumstances.