Latest news with #ServicesAustralia
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Pay increase for millions of Australians: Here's what to expect
Millions of Australians will receive a cash boost when minimum wage, superannuation and paid parental leave changes come into effect next month. From July 1, the minimum wage will be increased 3.5 per cent, from $24.10 per hour to $24.95 per hour, affecting more than 2.6million Aussies. The new rate will total $948 per week, based on a 38-hour work week, after the Fair Work Commission decision handed down earlier this month. Nearly 10million Aussies will also get an automatic boost to their retirement savings next month, as the superannuation guarantee rate rises from 11.5 per cent to 12 per cent. It means employers will pay, on average, an extra $317 into employees' super accounts each year. In total, that could mean an extra $132,000 in super for young Australians by the time they retire. The federal government will also start paying super on its paid parental leave scheme, with the change applying to parents who receive parental leave pay on or after July 1. The scheme is also expanding, with the amount of government-funded leave increasing from 20 weeks to 22 weeks on July 1 - part of the Labor government's plan to expand it to 26 weeks by July next year. Also from July 1, Services Australia payments will be indexed (adjusted in line with inflation) by 2.4 per cent. Paid Parental Leave, Family Tax Benefit A and B, the Newborn Supplement, and Multiple Birth Allowance will all receive a modest increase, affecting about 2.4million Australians. For example, a family receiving Family Tax Benefit A will pocket an extra $5 a fortnight. Parents with triplets will receive an extra $120 a year, while first-time parents of a newborn child will pocket an additional $48 over 13 weeks. Minister for Social Services Tanya Plibersek described indexation as a 'crucial way to help families when cost of living rises'. 'Millions of recipients of social security payments will see more money in their bank account,' Plibersek said.
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Millions of Aussies are set to get a cash boost within days as Albanese government goes ahead with huge changes
Millions of Australians will receive a cash boost when minimum wage, superannuation and paid parental leave changes come into effect next month. From July 1, the minimum wage will be increased 3.5 per cent, from $24.10 per hour to $24.95 per hour, affecting more than 2.6million Aussies. The new rate will total $948 per week, based on a 38-hour work week, after the Fair Work Commission decision handed down earlier this month. Nearly 10million Aussies will also get an automatic boost to their Super next month, as the superannuation guarantee rate rises from 11.5 per cent to 12 per cent. It means employers will pay, on average, an extra $317 into employees' Super accounts each year. In total, that could mean an extra $132,000 in Super for young Australians by the time they retire. The federal government will also start paying Super on its paid parental leave scheme, with the change applying to parents who receive parental leave pay on or after July 1. The scheme is also expanding, with the amount of government-funded leave increasing from 20 weeks to 22 weeks on July 1 - part of the Labor government's plan to expand it to 26 weeks by July next year. Also from July 1, Services Australia payments will be indexed (adjusted in line with inflation) by 2.4 per cent. Paid Parental Leave, Family Tax Benefit A and B, the Newborn Supplement, and Multiple Birth Allowance will all receive a modest increase, affecting about 2.4million Australians. For example, a family receiving Family Tax Benefit A will pocket an extra $5 a fortnight. Parents with triplets will receive an extra $120 a year, while first-time parents of a newborn child will pocket an additional $48 over 13 weeks. Minister for Social Services Tanya Plibersek described indexation as a 'crucial way to help families when cost of living rises'. 'Millions of recipients of social security payments will see more money in their bank account,' Plibersek said. However, asset limits and income thresholds will also increase by 2.4 per cent. That means some Aussies will become ineligible for JobSeeker Payment, Youth Allowance, Austudy, ABSTUDY Living Allowance, Parenting Payment, Special Benefit and Parenting Payment Single. The July indexation will not impact youth and student payments, which are indexed each year in January.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Centrelink issues urgent deadline warning for lump sum payment: 'You may miss out'
Centrelink has reminded recipients of the Family Tax Benefit (FTB) that "time's running out" to make an important submission. People on the payment are able to claim it in fortnightly instalments or as a lump sum. If they do the latter option, they need to make a submission to Services Australia by June 30. This time limit applies to people who were on the payment for the 2023-24 financial year. "If you didn't claim FTB during the financial year, you need to do it now. If you don't, you may miss out on payments," Services Australia said. Centrelink cash boost coming from July 1 for millions of Aussie ATO superannuation warning as deadline for $30,000 deduction fast approaches Aussie mum's $1,200 electricity bill shock sparks warning for millions When you send in your claim, you'll have to confirm how much income your household had for that financial year. That includes your income as well as your partner's, even if they aren't on can submit your income by telling the government body or lodging a tax return with the Australian Taxation Office. The easiest way to tell Services Australia is online through the account linked to myGov. If you're using the app, select More from your home screen, then select Advise tax non-lodgement. If you can't confirm your income for a certain reason, you should call the Services Australia Families line to discuss your options. Services Australia general manager Hank Jongen told Yahoo Finance it helps them understand how much you are eligible to receive. "Most families tend to overestimate their income, so they get a handy top-up or supplement payment at the end of the financial year," he said. "You wouldn't leave money sitting on your front porch, would you? Yet, that's effectively what thousands of families are doing by not confirming their income with Centrelink." The annual income limits above which FTB Part A may not be paid for the 2023-24 financial year range from $117,348 to $206,858, depending on how many children you have and how old they are. If you share caring responsibilities for a child, Services Australia use your percentage of care to work out your rate. The government body has warned what can happen if you don't make your claim by the June 30 deadline. "If you don't do this within 12 months, we'll send you an account payable notice," Services Australia said. "This will ask you to pay back the full amount of FTB you got for the related financial year."Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data
The Guardian
5 days ago
- Health
- The Guardian
Kelly's jobseeker payments were cut off during a hospital stay for psychosis. It's far from an isolated case
Kelly was sitting up in her hospital bed. Through the haze of heavy medication, she was trying to tell the woman at the end of the phone line – an officer at Centrelink – what had happened. On 26 March, the 43-year-old had started experiencing psychosis and two weeks later, on 8 April, she was admitted to Macquarie hospital in NSW. 'I was completely out of my mind,' Kelly says. 'When I had the psychosis, I thought I was being poisoned and people were watching me. 'I couldn't even tell you my name. I didn't think my name was my name, I was completely just in another world.' While Kelly was unwell her sole source of income – her jobseeker payment – was suspended because she had missed a face-to-face appointment with her provider, CoAct. In March, Services Australia paused most of the payment cancellations because of concerns the IT system might not have been operating lawfully. But every month, payments for tens of thousands of recipients are still being suspended, government data shows. Between January and April this year, there were 157,680 payment suspensions. In February, the highest month for suspensions this year, for every minute, more than one recipient had their payments paused. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email Advocates allege the suspensions may be unlawful and have called for the federal government to overhaul the mutual obligations framework, where jobseekers are penalised if they don't fulfil tasks such as attending meetings and submitting job applications. In Kelly's case, her hospital doctors wrote four medical certificates but all of them were rejected. Kelly says Centrelink told her that psychosis wasn't a diagnosis but rather a 'medical symptom' and as such, did not count. So she called her job coach at CoAct and was told to attend a face-to-face appointment to get her payment restored. Kelly's driving licence had been revoked while she was under the Mental Health Act, so the hospital social worker drove her to the provider's office. She says that in the meeting, her job coach suggested she look for eight jobs a fortnight, instead of six, but her manager kept her plan as it was. 'I was getting my cognitive availability back slowly at that point. But I still didn't have it totally together, I was stuttering, and I was still trying to focus. 'I signed the document I couldn't even read, and left crying.' Kelly spent almost another week in hospital. During the two weeks, she had no income and was unable to pay her rent. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion Kelly's is not an isolated case. Last year, Guardian Australia revealed a Victorian-based welfare recipient had his payment suspended while he was in hospital after surgery to remove a brain tumour. He was also homeless. This week, the Commonwealth Ombudsman confirmed it had expanded the scope of its investigation into the legality surrounding payment cancellations, although it would not provide any more details. In March, the secretary of the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, Natalie James, said she had 'reasonable concerns that the system may not be operating in accordance with the law' and extended the pause on cancellations. Antipoverty Centre spokesperson Jay Coonan says the question of legality 'also surrounded payment suspensions'. 'We've heard of cases of people in ICU having their payment suspended,' he says. 'We've heard of people who have been on their deathbed and their families have been working with social support in hospitals to try and stop this from happening.' In April, there were 877,355 registered people on Jobseeker, with the majority (625,140) receiving the full rate of $781.10 a fortnight. Coonan says suspensions are stressful, and could further throw people into poverty, even when they aren't in hospital. He wants the government to pause the whole system. 'The issue with mutual obligations is that these suspensions are [allegedly] happening unlawfully, and the department does not really, quite frankly, give a damn.' In a response, department spokesperson Hank Jongen said Centrelink had apologised to Kelly and had 'worked with her to resolve this matter'. 'We're committed to helping people access our payments and services whenever they need them, and we encourage anyone in a situation like this to please contact us so our staff can help,' he said. For Kelly, three more certificates from her own psychiatrist outlining her psychosis were sent in an attempt to get her mutual obligation paused while she recovered – the last one was finally accepted after she lodged a complaint. She is now recovering, but the episode and bureaucratic hurdles have left her exhausted and depressed. 'People seriously look down on Centrelink recipients,' she says. 'But anyone can find themselves needing their help.' CoAct were approached for comment.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
$100 million Powerball win sparks ATO, Centrelink warning for every Aussie: 'Trap'
Australians are being warned about the potential implications of winning the lottery following last night's $100 million Powerball draw. It was the biggest Powerball jackpot of 2025, and one lucky person walked away as the sole jackpot winner. However, there are a few stipulations worth considering as we get close to tax time and how a massive sum of cash like this can affect you. The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) had some handy advice. "You don't need to declare your winnings to us, and you won't pay tax on them," the tax office said. RELATED Major lottery warning after Aussie winners reveal what they spent their money on Centrelink cash boost coming from July 1 for millions of Aussies Aussie teen's job paying $300 per hour without a uni degree "But, any interest earned on the winnings will need to be included in your assessable income." If you were the sole winner of the jackpot and had it sitting in a savings account with a 5 per cent interest rate, you would generate around $5 million in just one year. Come tax time next year, you would have to pay tax on that immense amount of money. First Financial's James Wrigley told Yahoo Finance you should seek out advice from professionals if you win big as they can guide you into divvying up the money wisely before you spend it Australia doesn't always count lottery wins in its income assessment. This is because it assesses what you might earn on a regular basis and hitting the jackpot is stored under the "unlikely to happen again" and "hard to predict" categories. It's also because the money wasn't from "a service or work provided". But it depends on how you accept the payment. Lottery winners can usually either get it as a lump sum payment, or they can choose to have it spread out in regular payment intervals over several years. Services Australia will treat it as part of the income assessment if you pick the latter option because then it would be regular income, and that could drastically reduce how much Centrelink you receive. That's what happened to South Australian resident Frank Kemmler, who was kicked off his disability support pension after winning a $60,000 lotto prize. While he was stoked at the sudden influx of cash, he claimed he wasn't given an option between the lump sum or regular payments. The Adelaide man had to foot the bill for GP appointments and medication that was previously paid for by his pension. "I'm just trying to stop other people from falling into the same trap,' he told A Current Affair. 'These people that are buying these [lottery] tickets, there's no warning anywhere … to say that you're going to lose your pension. Centrelink recipients have been urged to tell Services Australia as soon as possible about their new financial situation. Even if you take a lump sum payment, your payments could still be affected. Depending on how much you win, the government body will include your lottery earnings as part of your asset test. If it's over a certain amount, combined with your other assets, your payments could be reduced or switched off. The winning numbers in Powerball draw 1517 on Thursday, 12 12 were 28, 10, 3, 16, 31, 14 and 21. The all-important Powerball number was 6. The person who won the entire $100 million jackpot purchased their ticket in Sydney's eastern suburbs. There were also six division two winners, who scored $282,415.55 each. In addition to them, there were 3,056,245 wins across divisions two to nine in the draw, and they have shared in more than $60.9 million of prize money. That's an average win of $19 each. Half of all Australian adults were expected to have bought a ticket for the megadraw. More than 10 million people bought a ticket for the last $100 million draw in November last year. If you didn't win, rest assured that scoring the grand prize has odds of one to 134 in to access your portfolio
