Parenting Payment

 

Over the years, Centrelink has been cutting down on the people who can get Parenting Payment.  For people who start to get Parenting Payment now, they will lose it when their youngest child turns 7

 

People who were receiving Parenting Payment at 1 July 2006 are entitled to keep receiving it, so long as their youngest child is under 16 years old, and they are "fulfilling participation requirements".  In most cases "participation requirements" are doing so much paid work that you don't qualify for Parenting Payment because your income is too high.  Now, what is not well known is that homeschooling also satisfies "participation requirements".

 

So as long as you are registered homeschooling your kid under 16, and you were receiving Parenting Payment at 1 July 2006, you continue to be eligible for Parenting Payment.

 

See Centrelink website.  http://www.centrelink.gov.au/internet/internet.nsf/MultiFilestores/mclw029_0603/$File/mclw029_0603en.pdf has the brochure "changes to Parenting Payment from 1 July 2006".  On page 2 of that brochure, see under the heading "are there any exemptions?", the second dot point is "are providing home schooling as a registered home schooler".

 

Obviously, this is a really, really good reason to register your home schooling if your kids are the relevant age.

 

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