Doug PollardRainbow Report on Centrelink
April 22nd 2009 05:38
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If you're retrenched, will you still be eligible for benefit?
Join us on The Rainbow Report, Joy 94.9FM (streaming at www.joy.org.au) between 7-8pm AEST Thursday April 23, by calling 61 3 9699 2949, email onair@joy.org.au or SMS 0427 JOY 949.
This Thursday we devote the show to Centrelink.
With more and more people becoming unemployed thanks to the global recession – yes, we can call it that, the PM and the Reserve Bank have used the R word - and with evidence to suggest that gays and lesbians are among the first to be retrenched, more and more of us are likely to be turning to Centrelink for help.
As everyone ought to know by now, from July 1 Centrelink will treat same-sex relationships exactly the same as opposite-sex de facto relationships. That means, for example, that if you’re one half of a couple and claiming benefit, your partners income will be taken into account when assessing your eligibility for payment.
Centrelink has been running adverts to let everyone know of the change – you may have seen the two toothmugs with two sets of toothbrushes, with the caption, “Couples Are Couples.”
Do you understand the changes to your Centrelink benefit calculations for same sex couples that will happen from July 1? What do you think they are?
Are you in a relationship with someone? Are you or your partner claiming benefit due to age, disability, unemployment or for any other reason? Do you realise you might no longer be entitled to benefits after July 1?
Call us between 7-8pm AEST Thursday on 61 3 9699 2949, email onair@joy.org.au or SMS 0427 JOY 949 to put your questions and comments direct to the man responsible for implementing these changes, Hank Jongen, the General Manager of Centrelink in the studio.
Also in the studio will be Dale Nelson, from the Welfare Rights lobby, Andie Noonan, from Southern Star, and Adam Christou from Joy.
We’ll begin with looking at the issue of “who is a couple.”
Almost all social security entitlements provided by government assume that heterosexual couples are financially interdependent. Basically if you are in a relationship that the government recognises, the government says that you are financially supported by your partner and provides less support. Persons who are married or in a relationship similar to marriage are paid at the (lower) couple rate. But how does Centrelink define a couple?
It’s a bit confusing.
“A same-sex de facto relationship is where two people of the same sex are living together (or usually live together) and are members of a couple.
“Establishing whether two people are members of a couple involves consideration of financial aspects and social aspects of the relationship, nature of the household, presence or absence of a sexual relationship, and nature of the commitment.
“Evidence relating to these factors is considered, although not all factors need to be present for a decision that a person is in a de facto relationship to be made.”
Centrelink says they’ll treat us the same as heterosexual de factos.
As a rule of thumb, Centrelink treats a man and a woman couple as a de facto couple if they sleep together more than twice a week.
As a rule of thumb, Centrelink treats a man and a woman as a de facto couple if they’re living in the same house, even if they’re separated or divorced. They may treat you as two individuals for a short while after your separation – usually no more than 3 months. After that, one of you has to get out – or go back onto couple benefit.
These rules will now apply to same-sex couples. Worried?
Join us on The Rainbow Report, Joy 94.9FM (streaming at www.joy.org.au) between 7-8pm AEST Thursday April 23, by calling 61 3 9699 2949, email onair@joy.org.au or SMS 0427 JOY 949 to put your questions and comments direct to the man responsible for implementing these changes, Hank Jongen, the General Manager of Centrelink
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