It is possible to be approved for a payment but be subject to a waiting period before the payments commence. This could be for a number of reasons. Some of the more common reasons are listed below.

Income Maintenance Period

An income maintenance period most often applies where a person leaves a job and is paid out a lump sum termination payment, such as a payout for unused long service leave or unused annual leave, or a redundancy payment.

The payout means that there will be a period of time (which is usually the same period of time that the person received the payout for) where the Centrelink payments that the person would otherwise be entitled to are reduced to nil. For example, if a person received a payout for four weeks’ unused annual leave, it is likely that their income maintenance period would be a four week period.

Income maintenance periods are covered by the relevant sections of the Social Security Act 1991 (Cth) that apply to the particular payment. For example, income maintenance periods as they apply to the Disability Support Pension are addressed in section 1064 of the Social Security Act 1991 (Cth).

Liquid Assets Period

Centrelink will consider any funds readily available to a person (their liquid assets) when they apply for certain payments, such as JobSeeker Payment and Youth Allowance. Depending upon the amount of funds the person has, and their personal circumstances, Centrelink may impose a liquid assets period of between one and 13 weeks. During this period, the person will be precluded from receiving the payment they have applied for and would otherwise be eligible for.

See Social Security Act 1991 (Cth) ss 14A (definition), 549A, 575A, 598, 676.

Newly Arrived Residents Waiting Period

Most newly arrived residents in Australia are subject to a 104 week waiting period before they can access certain Centrelink payments, including JobSeeker Payment and Youth Allowance. As of 1 July 2018, the Commonwealth Government has announced an intention to increase this waiting period from two to four years, although this has not yet been implemented.

For all waiting periods, some exemptions may apply, and a person may be granted an exemption or waiver of the period, particularly if they are suffering from severe financial hardship or are otherwise particularly vulnerable.

See Social Security Act 1991 (Cth) ss 7(4B), s 23(1).

The application of a waiting period is a decision that can be reviewed, should the person to whom it applies disagree with its application – see Challenging a Centrelink decision.

Newly arrived residents who are waiting to resolve their immigration status may be able to access assistance through the Status Resolution Support Services Program (SRSS Program). The assistance can include financial assistance (such as a Status Resolution Support Services Payment), accommodation, education and health care assistance.

More information on the SRSS Program including eligibility can be located on the Department of Home Affairs websiteor via the Services Australia - SRSS Payment website.