The Australian government provides assistance to those people who are engaged in caring for someone with a disability or who are severely ill or frail aged through two major types of assistance, namely Carer Payment and Carer Allowance.
Carer Payment and Carer Allowance
While the carer payment and carer allowance are both in place to provide financial support for a carer, they do differ in certain ways in eligibility and payment structure.
The Carer Payment is a payment fortnightly to individuals who are carers and provide full-time care to someone with a disability, medical condition, or because of frailty.
Carer Allowance is an additional payment to provide financial support for a person caring for someone with a disability, medical condition, or someone who is frail aged. Unlike the Carer Payment, the Carer Allowance is not asset means tested but has an income test.
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Eligibility for the Carer Payment and Carer Allowance
For a person to be eligible for the Carer Payment, the following conditions must be met:
- Care Duration: The carer has to continuously care for a period of at least six months.
- Primary Care: You must be considered the principal carer for the person you are caring for. That would mean you are providing most of their care or support.
- The person you care for must have a severe and continuing disability or illness. This means it noticeably affects their daily life and is likely to last for a long time.
- Relationship: You must be in a particular relationship with the person you care for. For instance, this may be spouse, partner, parent, child, or other close family member.
- Age – both carer and cared for may have to be over certain ages, depending on country of residence
- Income and Assets – there may be income and assets tests for eligibility to Carer Payment; these are generally less strict than the tests for Carer Allowance
- Work Restriction-the carer cannot study or work for more than 25 hours in a week
Carer Allowance
- For someone to qualify for a Carer Allowance, there are two basic points that a person has to achieve:
- Duration of Care: The carer is meant to be on the ground daily and care for a person who is in need for more than 12 months or has a terminal condition.
- Income Test: The income of the carer and his household should be less than $250 000 per year.
- Usual Care: You must provide usual care for a person for whom you are caring. That is, you provide care on a regular basis, but not necessarily as the primary carer.
- Disability or Illness: The person for whom you care should have a disability or illness that propagates into their daily life. The disability or illness does not have to be severe or continuing but must result in your heavy dependence on that person.
- Relationship: No particular relationship is usually necessary for Carer Allowance
- Work: You will potentially need to satisfy work conditions for this payment such as not working or working a certain minimal amount of hours.
Differences between the Carer Payment and Carer Allowance
Carer Allowance and Carer Payment Amount:
| Feature | Specifics | |
| Carer Payment | Carer Allowance | |
| Type of Care | Full-time primary care | Regular care |
| Payment Amount | Up to $1,064 per fortnight | $153.50 per fortnight |
| Eligibility Criteria | Income and assets test | Income test only |
| Work Restrictions | Limited to 25 hours of work per week | No restrictions on work |
| Duration of Care Required | At least 6 months | At least 12 months |
| Relationship with Person Being Cared For | Must be a spouse, partner, parent, child, or other close family member | Can be any relationship |
| Assessment | May require an assessment | May require an assessment |
| Payment Frequency | Fortnightly | Fortnightly |
Carer Payment and Carer Allowance Payment Amounts
The Payment Amount for carer payment is:
- As of recently, for single carers, the maximum rate is $1,064 per fortnight; there are higher rates for couples. This is to cover the basic cost of living for which the care responsibility has been placed upon them.
Payment amount for carer allowance:
- The Carer Allowance is $153.50 a fortnight. This payment covers the extra cost of caregiving that would involve medical consumables or transport.