Guest Guest26110 Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 I have an Australian passport as I was born in Australia and my four children also have a passport via descent. My husband is the only person who will need to get a visa. I was wondering does anyone know if we could claim any benefits of any kind as soon as we land, just until we find jobs. Three of my children are under 16. Thanks for any advise. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest treesea Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 Australian citizens do retain automatic access to all benefits and allowances. When you apply, you put yourself as the main applicant and apply for your OH as your spouse. In this way, he will benefit from your eligibility. It's important you make sure you put yourself as the main applicant. You may have to show that you ahve resided in Australia at some time in the past for at least two years. There is a possibility your spouse may not get certain benefits nowadays, until he has been there for two years, though I think the guidelines on this are not black and white. Even if worse came to worse and you couldn't show that, you should still be eligible for the special benefit in cases of extreme hardship (though hopefully you will never need this). These websites should be able to give you all the info you need: Centrelink (for Newstart allowance) and www.familyassist.gov.au for family benefit parts A and B. You could write to them online to clarify eligibility. I also recommend checking out this one for registering with medicare: Medicare Australia For personal possessions, you might want to check Australian Customs online site: Customs home page One good thing they have these days which they didn't have when I was there is the education tax refund, which sounds generous enough to be worth looking into. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eera Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 I was born and raised in Australia, lived here 'till 13 then moved to the UK. When I arrived back I was told I couldn't claim benefits for 2 years as I hadn't paid tax here. I also had a hell of a time getting a Medicare card as I couldn't prove I had left the UK for good. Dunno whether that's state-specific though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest treesea Posted June 12, 2009 Share Posted June 12, 2009 Yes, that rings a bell. Something about having to have paid taxes in Australia for at least ten years to get a state pension and full benefits, if you want to claim benefits as soon as you return. Was that for the dole, or for other benefits like family benefit parts A and B? A couple of years ago, my OH was fancying moving back to Australia, and I went online to Coentrelink's site and went on their chat line and kept the transcript. The lady said to me it would be fine and I would be eligible on arrival. It could be a cheap and worthwhile step to try to assess your eigibility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest oggie1 Posted June 12, 2009 Share Posted June 12, 2009 hi I was also born in Australia came to England 3o years ago went back 5 years ago with my 5 children 3 under 16 i was able to claim for them and did not have any trouble getting tax number we are on our way back over to Brisbane at the end of the year Rowena Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt R Posted June 12, 2009 Share Posted June 12, 2009 Hi I recently enquired about the same thing with centrelink and recieved an email stating that as long as i could prove that i was residing in Aus i.e renting/working that i would be able to claim family benefits. If you want i could try and dig out the email and forward it on if you like. Cheers....Matt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ABCDiamond Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 I have an Australian passport as I was born in Australia and my four children also have a passport via descent. My husband is the only person who will need to get a visa. I was wondering does anyone know if we could claim any benefits of any kind as soon as we land, just until we find jobs. Three of my children are under 16. Thanks for any advise. :-) Child Benefits, called Family Tax Benefit (FTB), will be available to you immediately, as it is also available to all Permanent residents, whether Citizen or not, (subject to income limits). The same will apply for Rent Assistance, if you are eligible for FTB. As far as unemployment benefit is concerned, that would be "Newstart Allowance". However, the Centrelink page on "Newstart Allowance residence requirements" is not very clear and, in my opinion, is showing incorrect, or misleading, information. Newstart Allowance residence requirements To lodge a Newstart Allowance claim you must be an Australian resident and in Australia on the day. To qualify as an Australian resident you must be living in Australia as: an Australian citizen, or the holder of a permanent resident visa, or a New Zealand citizen who was in Australia on 26 February 2001, or for 12 months in the 2 years immediately before that date, or was assessed as "protected" before 26 February 2004. A PR needs 2 years here before they are eligible, so that bit above is misleading, as it doesn't mention that. In their defence though, it only says you can lodge a claim, not that it will be accepted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fish.01 Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 Child Benefits, called Family Tax Benefit (FTB), will be available to you immediately, as it is also available to all Permanent residents, whether Citizen or not, (subject to income limits). The same will apply for Rent Assistance, if you are eligible for FTB. As far as unemployment benefit is concerned, that would be "Newstart Allowance". However, the Centrelink page on "Newstart Allowance residence requirements" is not very clear and, in my opinion, is showing incorrect, or misleading, information. Newstart Allowance residence requirements A PR needs 2 years here before they are eligible, so that bit above is misleading, as it doesn't mention that. In their defence though, it only says you can lodge a claim, not that it will be accepted. Yeah, it would be clearer if that page referred new permanent residents to this page: Have you recently moved to Australia to settle? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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