$250 cash payments for income support recipients
The Government will pay two $250 economic support payments for eligible income support recipients and concession card holders. The payments will be made from November 2020 and early 2021 to eligible income support recipients and concession card holders, including:
- Age Pension;
- Disability Support Pension;
- Carer Payment;
- Family Tax Benefit, including Double Orphan Pension (not in receipt of a primary income support payment);
- Carer Allowance (not in receipt of a primary income support payment);
- Pensioner Concession Card (PCC) holders (not in receipt of a primary income support payment);
- Commonwealth Seniors Health Card holders; and
- eligible Veterans’ Affairs payment recipients and concession card holders.
The $250 cash payments are tax exempt and will not count as income support for social security purposes. These cash payments follow the two $750 stimulus payments in April and July 2020 for social security and veteran income support recipients and concession card holders.
Paid Parental Leave: alternative work test
The Government announced in the Budget that it is also supporting new parents whose employment was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic by introducing an alternative Paid Parental Leave work test period for a limited time.
Under normal circumstances, parents must have worked 10 of the 13 months prior to the birth or adoption of their child to qualify, but that is being temporarily extended to 10 months out of the 20 months for births and adoptions that occur between 22 March 2020 and 31 March 2021. This measure is estimated to allow about 9,000 mothers to regain eligibility for Parental Leave Pay and allow a further 3,500 people to claim Dad and Partner Pay.