Counting leave and redundancy payments
From 20 September 2006, Centrelink implemented changes to how the 'Income Maintenance Period' is applied.
An Income Maintenance Period is the time that a Centrelink customer may be expected to support themselves if they have received leave or redundancy entitlements from an employer, prior to any income support payments being paid.
Under an Income Maintenance Period, 'pay out' of leave entitlements is treated as income for a period equal to that for which is was paid (e.g. two weeks annual leave would result in a two week Income Maintenance Period).
In cases of redundancy, the redundancy payment is divided by the person's weekly wage to determine the number of weeks in the Income Maintenance Period. Any portion of the redundancy payment that is 'rolled over' by the employer into superannuation fund or a similar approved fund is exempt from the calculation.
The Income Maintenance Period applies to people receiving NewStart Allowance; Youth Allowance; Partner Allowance; Mature Age Allowance; Widow's Allowance; Austudy and Parenting Payment. From 20 September 2006, the Income Maintenance Period will also apply to people receiving or applying for, the Disability Support Pension.
For more information, call Centrelink on 13 2850 or visit The Newstart waiting periods page on the Centrelink website.