Aboriginal and Indigenous Kinship Care Centrelink Payments in Australia

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families have practised kinship care long before any government payment existed for it. When an Elder, aunty, uncle, or grandparent steps in to raise a child under cultural obligation, the Centrelink system can feel like it was built for a completely different kind of family. In many ways, it was. But federal payments are available to Indigenous kinship carers — the rules are the same as for any non-parent carer, with a few specific provisions that work in your favour.

Cultural Kinship and Centrelink's Definition of "Grandparent"

Centrelink recognises Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander kinship relationships that go beyond the biological grandparent definition. Under section 85CJ of the A New Tax System (Family Assistance) Act 1999, a person recognised by community custom as standing in a grandparental or senior family relationship to the child can qualify as a grandparent for the purposes of the Additional Child Care Subsidy (Grandparent).

This matters because the ACCS Grandparent stream — which can cover 100% of childcare fees up to 120% of the hourly rate cap — is otherwise restricted to biological, adoptive, or step-grandparents. For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander carers, cultural kinship standing is a valid pathway to this benefit.

To evidence cultural kinship, Centrelink may accept a statutory declaration from a community Elder, a letter from an Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation (ACCO), or documentation from a Recognised Entity involved in child protection decisions. This is not a formality — it's an established part of how Services Australia assesses care relationships for Indigenous families.

The 100-Hour Child Care Subsidy Rule

All families caring for an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child are automatically entitled to 100 hours of subsidised child care per fortnight, regardless of the carer's activity level. This overrides the standard activity test that otherwise limits subsidised hours based on how many hours you work, study, or volunteer.

This applies to the base Child Care Subsidy, not just ACCS. So even if you're a non-grandparent relative (an aunty or uncle) who doesn't qualify for the ACCS Grandparent stream, the child still gets 100 subsidised hours per fortnight at your income-tested CCS rate.

The 100-hour entitlement is linked to the child's Indigenous status on their Centrelink record. If you haven't confirmed this, update the child's details through myGov or ask a Centrelink service centre to add it.

Federal Payments Available to Indigenous Kinship Carers

Indigenous kinship carers can access the same payment pathways as other non-parent carers when they meet the rules for each payment:

• Family Tax Benefit Part A and B — requires 35% or more care of the child. No court order needed; evidence of actual care is sufficient.
• Additional Child Care Subsidy (Grandparent) — 100% fee coverage for grandparents or cultural-kinship equivalents on an income support payment, providing 65% or more care.
• Double Orphan Pension — $81.60 per fortnight, no income or assets test. Applies where both parents are deceased; one is deceased and the survivor is serving a prison sentence of at least 10 years, held in custody for an offence that could carry a 10-year sentence, in a psychiatric institution or nursing home indefinitely, or whose whereabouts are unknown; or the child is a qualifying refugee who has not lived in Australia with either parent and whose parents are outside Australia or unlocatable.
• Carer Allowance — if the child has a disability or medical condition requiring substantial daily care.
• Foster Child Health Care Card — no income test, covers concessional prescriptions and other concessions.
• Parenting Payment Single — if you're the principal carer of a child under 14 and you're single.

The key administrative step is proving you have actual care of the child. For informal carers, this means third-party evidence — a school letter, a GP letter, a statutory declaration. For carers where a child protection department placed the child, the placement documentation itself is the evidence.

Navigating Between State and Federal Systems

In many Aboriginal communities, child protection departments place children with kin through formal processes involving Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCOs) or Recognised Entities. If the child is in a statutory placement, you're likely receiving a state kinship care allowance — and that allowance is completely exempt from Centrelink income testing.

This means you can receive both:

• The state carer allowance from your territory's child protection department (non-taxable, not counted by Centrelink)
• Federal payments like FTB Part A, FTB Part B, and the Foster Child Health Care Card

The two systems don't cancel each other out. But they don't talk to each other either, so you need to claim from both sides separately.

For informal carers — where there's no child protection involvement and the arrangement is purely within the family — you access federal Centrelink payments only. State kinship allowances are generally reserved for carers with a formal departmental placement.

Getting Help

The Grandparent, Foster and Kinship Carer Adviser line (1800 245 965) handles calls from all kinship carers, including Indigenous carers in remote and regional areas. If you'd prefer to speak with someone face-to-face, Services Australia has dedicated Indigenous service officers at many service centres, and Centrelink agents visit remote communities on a scheduled basis.

State peak bodies also provide culturally specific support — for example, AbSec in NSW, the Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Protection Peak, and the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency.

The Centrelink Payments for Grandparents guide covers every federal payment available to grandparent and kinship carers, including the cultural kinship provisions and how to evidence informal care arrangements without a court order.

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