Hi everyone just wanting some advice on how to claim paid parental leave through centrelink.
I'm currently working part time and 6 mths pregnant.
I've read the online instructions but have no idea what to do still.
My work is registered with centrelink so all good to go their end.
My questions are: 1. Should I wait till the end of financial year to claim so it's easier or do it now? If I do it after financial year- will I get paid less cos I won't have worked as much?
2. Do I HAVE to do it three months prior to birth or would it matter if I did it one month prior?
3. Do I put down my due date as when I want to get paid or when I go maternity leave?
Thanks hope this makes sence :-)
5 Replies
You have to tell your work and fill out forms through work then contact centrelink and find out how long your allowed to claim, usually its only 12 months and you have to be working in the same place for 12 month or more and working a certain amount of hours..
I work casual i didnt meet the requirements of paid maternity leave so I've only taken 6 months unpaid leave. I filled in forms to get approved by work before contacting centrelink and letting them know as well they would have sent me forms to fill out that match the forms you filled them out to match your work and they will let you know when they have been approved and when your payments start and how much..
Good luck.
Go and talk to them. It's been a few years since I claimed and mine wasn't through work so I'm not sure how it works when you do it through an employer but:
Put your claim in ASAP. Just get it done as soon as you can. I'm fairly sure they don't pay you until you provide proof of birth (the midwives at the hospital will sign a form for you to send or take into Centrelink) but you get all the preliminary stuff out of the way - Centrelink take a while to process stuff so the earlier you can do it, the better! Before or after EOFY shouldn't matter. The eligibility is working for a certain portion of the 12 months prior to the birth so as long as you meet that criteria (which it sounds like you do) it won't matter when you claim.
Firstly - congrats!
I assume you are talking about the 18 weeks PPL from Centrelink?
There is a form on the website that you can fill out and send in. It's sooo much easier to fill it in online. You can fill this out before baby is born so Centrelink have more time to do what they need to do. Once baby is born you will get a proof of birth (not the birth certificate) that you take to Centrelink to complete the application. Keep in mind that it can take a few weeks for the payments to be processed so don't rely on it straight away. :)
Yes that's the payment I'm talking about thanks :)
1. You can claim to start it whenever you like as long as it starts and finishes with 12mths of bubs birth
2. You can do it either, I did mine 2 mths before my baby was due which made it so much easier once baby arrived using the centrelink app- you no longer need to head into centrelink or medicare with all that paperwork!
3. You just go through all the online claim process, it will ask you when you due date is and when you would want the ppl to start. Payment will/ can only start after baby has arrived ( and takes a few weeks to process after proof of birth)
Congratulations:)