Residence assessment for customers claiming Family Tax Benefit (FTB) and Parental Leave Pay (PPL) 007-05020020

To be eligible for FTB or PPL, a customer must be residing in Australia and satisfy one of the following:

• have Australian citizenship
• hold a permanent visa
• hold a Special Category visa (subclass 444, either protected or not)
• hold a visa subclass 403 (granted under the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) stream and the person has been approved for Family Accompaniment) - FTB Only
• hold certain temporary visas that qualify customers for some payments and be in Australia

A customer who is outside Australia temporarily is generally considered to still be residing in Australia.

A Newly Arrived Resident's Waiting Period (NARWP) applies to some family assistance and PPL payments.

Residence requirements for FTB

FTB customers must meet the above residence requirements:

• at the date of claim, and
• throughout the entire period they receive FTB, including for backdated periods

Customers must also satisfy a 52 week NARWP for FTB Part A, or be exempt from the NARWP. There is no NARWP for FTB Part B.

FTB children must also meet residence requirements. An FTB child must be one of the following:

• an Australian resident
• a Special Category visa holder living in Australia, or
• living with the adult

In deciding whether a child is 'living with' the individual, the ordinary meaning of 'living with' is used, that is, is residing, dwelling or occupying the same address. The living arrangement must have a degree of permanence, for example, a short visit with a child who is still residing overseas is not likely to constitute 'living with'. For more information, see Family Tax Benefit (FTB) child of a person.

The customer's partner does not have to meet any residence requirements for the customer to be eligible for FTB. However, if the partner is to be included on the customer's FTB maximum rate Health Care Card (HCC), they must meet the residence requirement for FTB and provide proof of their eligibility.

Residence requirements for PPL

Claimants must meet the above residence requirements on the:

• Pre-birth claims - date they lodge their claim
• Post birth claims - date of birth/entry into care and on each of their PPL days

Claimants who lodge a pre-birth claim and do not meet the residence requirements may lodge a new claim on or after the child’s birth/entry into care if they meet the residence requirements on the day the child is born/entered their care.

Claimants are not required to meet the residence requirements between PPL days.

Approval Seeker (for example, father and partner) payability is not dependent on the Approval Giver (for example, birth mother) meeting the residence requirements. However, the Approval Giver is still required to provide approval for the Approval Seeker to receive up to the maximum number of PPL days for the child.

Note: a PPL child does not have to meet any residence requirements for the customer to be eligible for PPL. However, if a child is overseas and the PPL claimant is living in Australia it may be appropriate to discuss who has care of the child.

If a PPL claimant ceases to meet the residence requirements at any point after their PPL is granted, for example their qualifying visa is cancelled, they will cease entitlement to PPL from their last day residentially qualified plus 1 day. See Changing Australian residence details for family assistance and Parental Leave Pay (PPL) customer/child.

New Australian residents claiming FTB Part A and PPL are subject to a NARWP if their first permanent resident or Partner Provisional visa (PPV) (subclasses 309 or 820) is granted on or after 1 January 2019.

To serve the NARWP the customer must be physically present in Australia for the relevant period (52 weeks for FTB Part A and 104 weeks for PPL), as an Australian resident or as the holder of a specified visa subclass.

This means before the customer becomes payable, they must meet the following waiting periods:

• FTB Part A (including all additional and ancillary benefits and payments) - one or more periods totalling at least 52 weeks
• PPL - one or more periods totalling at least 104 weeks which must be completed before the child’s date of birth/entry into care

The NARWP does not apply to FTB Part B.

Periods outside Australia do not count as residence in Australia for serving the NARWP regardless of the qualifying visa type.

Customers may not have to serve the NARWP if they:

• Have a general exemption from the NARWP, for example where the customer is a family member of a refugee
• hold, or have held a Special Category visa (SCV) subclass 444
• hold a Remaining Relative (subclasses 115 and 835) or Orphan Relative (subclasses 117 and 837) visa
• hold a Pacific Engagement (subclass 192) visa – FTB only
• were granted a visa providing qualification for FTB or PPL before 1 January 2019
• are receiving a social security benefit, social security pension, Farm Household Allowance (FHA) or PPL
• hold or have held a certain temporary protection type visa (subclasses 060, 070, 449, 785, 786 and 790)
• have held visa subclass ZB 951, which was granted before 1 July 2015 and was granted for certain purposes relating to human trafficking or slavery

PPL

To be eligible, claimants must have served, or be exempt from, the NARWP on:

• the date of birth/entry into care, and
• their PPL days

For children born or adopted on or after 1 July 2023, the Approval Giver (for example, birth mother) is not required to meet the residence requirements, including serving the NARWP, for the Approval Seeker (for example, biological father or partner of birth mother) to be eligible for PPL. However, the Approval Giver is still required to provide approval for the Approval Seeker to receive up to the maximum number of PPL days for the child.

Note: where a person is receiving an income support payment the day before a continuous block of PPL days of at least 10 consecutive weekdays, they will be exempt from the NARWP for the whole period. This includes weekend days in that period.

Claims with a 309 or 820 visa granted on or after 1 January 2019

For a person who holds or has held a 309 or 820 visa, the NARWP starts on the day the person:

• lodges an application for the relevant visa, and
• is present in Australia

Note: in some cases, if the application date is before 1 January 2019, the system is not calculating the NARWP from the correct start date for FTB claims.

A person can generally claim and be granted FTB while temporarily outside Australia. A person will not be eligible for FTB if they are overseas and any of the following apply, the customer is:

• overseas for more than 6 weeks and absence is not due to deployment. See Discretion to extend portability period
• the holder of a certain temporary protection-type visa
• the holder of a Partner Provisional type visa (PPV) (subclass 309 or 820) and is not overseas for an approved reason (for example, acute family crisis)
• the holder of a PPV and has been overseas for any reason for more than 6 weeks

A person can generally claim and be granted PPL while temporarily outside Australia. A person will not be eligible for PPL if they are overseas and any of the following apply, the customer:

• has been absent for more than 56 weeks (short returns to Australia do not affect the original date of departure)
• is the holder of a certain temporary protection-type visa
• is the holder of a Partner Provisional type visa (PPV) (subclass 309 or 820) and is not overseas for an approved reason (for example, acute family crisis)
• is the holder of a PPV and has been overseas for any reason for more than 6 weeks

To be eligible for SBP, a claimant must have otherwise been eligible for FTB if the child was not stillborn, within 26 weeks starting on the day of the child's delivery. Therefore, the residence requirements described in this procedure for FTB also apply to SBP claims.

If an SBP claimant is not able to meet the FTB residence requirements within 26 weeks of the date of the child's delivery, but the claimant or their partner become eligible for FTB for another child within 52 weeks of the stillbirth, they may be eligible for SBP under the FTB Part A eligibility test.

Customers are not required to serve the NARWP for SBP.

For further information, see Eligibility for Stillborn Baby Payment (SBP).

Proof of the customer's residence status is required to ensure residence requirements are satisfied.

Customers who arrived on a Special Category visa (New Zealand citizens who arrive in Australia using their NZ passport) do not usually have any evidence to support their visa status.

The customer's visa can often be verified directly via the Immigration Datalink with the Department of Home Affairs.

Child residence details

FTB and PPL claims:

• do not ask for the child’s legal residence details (whether they are an Australian citizen or what visa they hold). These details do not need to be obtained, however do code child residence details if they have been provided
• do ask for the child’s country of birth. The answer will populate on the child’s Country of Residence (CHCRES) screen

The new claim process will attempt a datalink with the Department of Home Affairs. If successful, the datalink will automatically record a customer and child's visa and movement information from 1 September 1994, and grants of Australian citizenship where available.

Where the datalink is unsuccessful, residence information will be recorded manually. If the Department of Home Affairs has provided the information, it will take precedence over any conflicting information provided by the customer. When the Department of Home Affairs record matches with Centrelink, ongoing updates to movement information and visa changes will be automatically recorded.

The customer must provide and verify information about residence prior to 1 September 1994, where necessary. Ask customers to provide a passport number to help verify the Department of Home Affairs information.