Change in age

A child's age may affect:

the family tax credit payable
the Best Start tax credit payable
the conditions of grant
the partner's obligations and
whether the child is still a dependent child

Conditions of grant

Payment of Emergency Benefit can be paid with certain conditions.

Generally, the conditions reflect the obligations or conditions that apply to the equivalent benefit such as job search, work planning and medical assessments.

It can also include paying Emergency Benefit for a specific period.

A change in a dependent child's age can affect conditions relating to job search, planning requirements and paying Emergency Benefit for a specific period.

These conditions should be reassessed when a dependent child turns 3, 14 and 18 to ensure they are still relevant to the client's circumstances.

Example

Kerry is the sole parent of 1 child and getting Emergency Benefit as they don't meet the qualifications for Sole Parent Support.

Because Kerry's daughter was under 3 when Emergency Benefit was granted, a condition of granting the benefit was to take steps to prepare for work.

When Kerry's daughter turns 3 the conditions of granting the benefit will be reassessed, and they may have a part-time job search condition assigned.

Partner's obligations

Depending on the age of the youngest dependent child a partner may have:

work preparation obligations when their youngest dependent child is under 3 years
work obligations and required to look for part-time work of 20 hours or more a week, when their youngest dependent child is aged between 3 and 13 years or
work obligations and required to look for full-time work of 30 hours or more a week, when the youngest dependent child is aged 14 years or over.