The money that you have in Court does affect your income and assets test. It is best to ask your Client Services Officer to write to Centrelink on your behalf to declare the amount you have in the Court.

FIC will also do this each year when the annual tax statements are prepared. This is done so that you are more likely to get the correct payment amount.

Will my money in Court affect my partner’s Centrelink payment?

For Centrelink purposes, a person is considered to be your partner if you and the person are living together, or usually live together, and are either:

  • married
  • in a registered relationship
  • in a de facto relationship.

Centrelink recognises all couples, including opposite-sex and same-sex.

Centrelink will base your pension amount on your combined income and assets, regardless of which one of you actually receives the income or owns the assets.

If you have a preclusion period, your compensation will not be considered in your partner’s asset test during this time.

Is there anything else that I am entitled to?

There are lots of payments that Centrelink make, and everyone will have different entitlements. There are also specific eligibility rules for each pension or payment that you will need to check.

You might be entitled to the following:

Health Care Card

To be eligible for a Health Care Card you have to meet a low income test. A Health Care Card will entitle you to:

  • cheaper medicines
  • some concessions, like reduced energy, water and electricity bills, health care costs and public transport costs.

Commonwealth Seniors Health Card

The Commonwealth Seniors Health Card helps seniors with the cost of prescription medicines and some other health services if you do not qualify for Age Pension. In 2023, the qualifying age for the Age Pension depends on when you were born. The earliest qualifying age is 65 years and 6 months. Check when you may qualify for the Age Pension on the Services Australia site.

Disability Support Pension

You may get a Disability Support Pension if you are unable to work for two years because of illness, injury or disability, or if you are permanently blind.

To work out if you are eligible for the Disability Support Pension, Centrelink will usually ask for a report from your treating doctor or specialist on your disability, injury or illness. Sometimes, they might also ask for a ‘Job Capacity Assessment’.

Carers Payment or Carers Allowance

If you have a fulltime carer, they may be entitled to the Carer’s Payment or the Carer’s Allowance. There are different payments available depending on the age or disability of the person being cared for.

If someone is caring for you and applies for the Carer’s Payment, your funds held in Court may affect their entitlement. You can check this with your Client Services Officer.

Family Assistance

If you have a family you might be eligible for benefits, depending on your income and assets.

You might be eligible for: Parental Leave Pay; Newborn Upfront Payment; Newborn Supplement; Family Tax Benefit; Child Care Subsidy; or the cost of medical care.

Visit the Raising Kids section of Services Australia for more information.

You will need to apply to Centrelink for any pension or benefit. If you have problems at Centrelink, you can ask to see the social worker or disability support officer.

Working and entitlements

If you do up to eight hours of paid or volunteer work, or training or study, you might be entitled to a ‘Mobility Allowance’. This payment is for people who have a disability who need assistance to use public transport. If you qualify, it provides you with some money to pay for travel.

You should be able to get the Mobility Allowance as long as you are on a pension.