Services Australia may pay a lump sum to a partner, keep paying a carer for a time, or pay the last instalment of a single person’s payment into their account. Which of these applies depends on the survivor’s circumstances, their relationship to the person who died, and when Services Australia learns of the death. If the person who died was getting a payment, it asks to be told within 28 days.
General informationThis is general information, not financial advice. Services Australia’s page what help there is when an adult dies is the official place to check. Services Australia also suggests speaking with one of its Financial Information Services Officers before making any final decisions.
When the person was a partner
A surviving partner may be paid a lump sum bereavement payment to help with the move to a single income. Services Australia describes the payments by the support each person was getting:
| What the survivor was getting | What may be paid |
|---|---|
| Both partners on an income support payment for at least the previous 12 months, or on a pension | A lump sum, usually the couple’s combined rate less the survivor’s new single rate, worked out over 14 weeks starting on the day the partner died |
| ABSTUDY Living Allowance, or Farm Household Allowance, for 12 months or more | A lump sum bereavement payment |
| Getting or claiming JobSeeker Payment or Youth Allowance when the partner died, with both partners Australian residents at the time | A lump sum bereavement payment, when both of those conditions apply; a survivor who is pregnant is paid a further amount |
| No income support needed: the partner had registered for the Pension Bonus Scheme, with Services Australia or DVA, and died before successfully claiming Age Pension and Pension Bonus | Pension Bonus Bereavement Payment, based on the bonus the partner would have received; a claim can be made up to 26 weeks after the death |
For the extra amount in pregnancy, Services Australia asks for medical evidence, including the expected date of birth, and for a phone call on the survivor’s payment line if it has not already been told about the pregnancy. A partner who was not getting any Centrelink payment may be able to claim one, such as JobSeeker Payment or Youth Allowance.
When the survivor was their carer
Carer Payment can keep going for up to 14 weeks after the person cared for dies, and a lump sum bereavement payment may also be paid, depending on circumstances. Services Australia says the 14 weeks give time to apply for another income support payment if one is needed.
Someone on Carer Allowance may get a lump sum of up to 14 weeks of it. For that, all three of these must apply:
- they were getting Carer Allowance for the adult who died;
- they get an income support payment, and it does not include an extra payment when someone dies;
- they were not getting Carer Payment.
When the person lived as a single person
No extra lump sum is paid when a single person dies. What happens to their own payment depends on its kind:
- An allowance, such as JobSeeker Payment, stops on the day of death. The final payment covers up to the day before, and the executor of the estate can draw it from the person’s bank account.
- A pension is paid for the whole fortnight in which the person died, into their bank account, where the executor can reach it. Then it stops.
The survivor’s own payment afterwards
Age Pension, reassessed as single
When a partner dies, Services Australia reassesses the survivor’s income and assets as a single person, and the Age Pension continues only if they are within the single thresholds. If it cannot continue, Services Australia says it will give the date it stops. A review of a decision to stop it should be asked for within 13 weeks of being told. Asset Hardship provisions exist for people in severe financial hardship whose assets mean they get no Age Pension, or only a little.
Mutual obligations
For people on JobSeeker Payment, Youth Allowance, Parenting Payment or Special Benefit, a death may bring an exemption from mutual obligations or activity test requirements. Services Australia says the exemption may last up to 13 weeks from the death of an immediate family member, up to 14 weeks from the death of a partner, or for the rest of the pregnancy if the survivor was pregnant when their partner died.
An inheritance
For someone on a Centrelink payment, money inherited from an estate counts as an asset under the assets test and could change the payment.
Cards with the person’s name on them
A new Medicare card, concession card or Health Care Card is not sent automatically when a partner listed on it dies. A new Medicare card, without the name of the person who died, can be asked for on the Medicare program line, 132 011 , and a digital Medicare card drops the name straight away. A replacement concession card or Health Care Card is requested through a Centrelink online account; without a request, the old details stay on the card until it expires.
What Services Australia needs to hear, and when
The death, within 28 days, if the person who died was getting a payment, so their records are updated and they are not overpaid. Services Australia also says it needs to know as soon as possible if either the survivor or the person who died was getting a payment, so the right amount is paid and no debt arises.
Changes to income and assets, within 14 days, for anyone getting a payment.
A pregnancy, if Services Australia has not already been told, where a partner has died and the survivor is on JobSeeker Payment or Youth Allowance, by phone on the payment line.
Any other change that may affect an Age Pension, after which Services Australia reassesses it.
If the person was getting payments from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, its own bereavement payments are set out in when a veteran dies. Time off work after a death is in compassionate leave after a death.