If you have savings or other 'liquid assets' over $5 500 you will have up to a maximum of 13 weeks to serve a “Liquid Assets Waiting Period”. That is, your first payment will be delayed. Make sure you apply as soon as possible so that you can start serving any waiting period sooner rather than later.
$5,500 if you're single with no dependants. $11,000 if have a partner or you're single with dependants.
If you get Youth Allowance as a job seeker you can earn money and still get your payment. We'll start to reduce your payment if your income is more than $150 a fortnight. Your payment will reduce by 50 cents for each dollar of income you have between $150 and $250.
In addition to funds received that are held in a financial investment, the value of insurance or compensation payments that have been applied to build, repair or renovate the building or plant can be exempt from the assets test.
Many people believe Centrelink has access to your bank account and will take it into consideration for your payment rate. This isn't true. Centrelink can't access your bank accounts to determine up to date figures. They're basing your assessment on the last amount you gave them.
While it's true that Centrelink doesn't have direct access to your bank account information, there are consequences for deliberately not telling Centrelink about changes in your circumstances.
If you're leaving Australia to travel or live in another country, you need to tell us. Travelling outside of Australia may affect your payments. You can only add your travel details one trip at a time. You'll need to wait until you return from your first trip before you can add a new one.
We look at the type and value of any assets you or your partner own in and outside of Australia. The value of your assets is what you'd get if you sold them at market value. We'll deduct any debt you owe that your asset is security for, from its market value.
Keeping your asset values up to date in Centrelink via your MyGov account allows you to optimise your age pension payments and helps to avoid any over-payments.
1 You must declare all gross employment income paid in the last 14 days up to and including your reporting day. 2 You must declare your gross employment income. This is the amount paid before tax and other deductions. This can be found on your payslip.
You have savings or other money
If you or your partner have liquid assets over certain limits, you may have to wait 1 to 13 weeks. Liquid assets are any funds readily available to you or your partner. This includes money owed by your or your partner's employer. Read about liquid assets waiting periods.
Some benefits are affected by the amount of money you have in savings, such as cash in a savings account, or investments in shares. These benefits are called means-tested benefits. Find out more about which benefits are affected by savings or a lump sum payout, such as redundancy pay or compensation.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) are responsible for determining what saving are included or excluded in a benefits claim and this can be based on your personal circumstances. For more information you should contact the DWP or the Universal Credit helpline.
In short, there is no limit on the amount of money that you can put in a savings account. No law limits how much you can save and there's no rule stating that a bank cannot take a deposit if you have a certain amount in your account already.
For your Special Benefit claim you must provide bank statements for the last 3 months for all accounts you have. This includes any overseas accounts. If you have a partner, we'll also require bank statements for all accounts held by them. You'll also need to confirm your identity and provide a tax file number.
Centrelink do not normally tell you if they are investigating you. The initial phases of their investigation will be discreetly conducted by cross checking your financial information from your bank, ATO and even employer.
Centrelink has the power at this point to request details of your accounts from your bank. This information will be sent in an encrypted form to specialised staff, who will review them.
You can request a Statement of Debt for any 5 year period going back to 1998. You can make more than one request.
If your payments can continue while you're outside Australia and you intend to be away for: less than 12 months, we'll continue to pay you every 2 weeks into your Australian bank account. more than 12 months, we'll pay you every 4 weeks into your Australian or overseas bank account.
If you leave Australia to live in another country, your payment will stop when you depart. If your travel is short term, your payment will stop when you depart, unless you're travelling for an approved reason. To get Special Benefit while you're overseas, you must travel for an approved reason.
In most cases your payment will stop after 6 weeks of travel overseas. This includes the Energy Supplement you may get with your Carer Payment. If you can get Carer Payment after 6 weeks, you'll get an outside Australia rate. You won't get the Energy Supplement.
Can the government find out if you have a bank account? The federal government has no business monitoring small cash deposits and how Americans pay their bills and has no right to snoop around in private checking accounts without a warrant.