Grandparent Carer Pension and Payments in South Australia

Your Pension Does Not Shrink When a Grandchild Arrives

The most important thing to know: receiving child-related family payments through Centrelink does not reduce your Age Pension or other main income support payment. Family Tax Benefit, ACCS (Grandparent) and Double Orphan Pension are assessed independently — they sit alongside your pension, not on top of it.

Many grandparents delay claiming because they fear it will trigger a review that cuts their pension. It will not.

Which Income Support Payment Fits Your Situation

Centrelink provides several main income support payments for carers. You can only receive one at a time, so the question is which one pays the most in your circumstances:

Age Pension — if you are 67 or older and meet the means test. Most grandparent carers in South Australia are already receiving this. Adding a grandchild to your care does not change your Age Pension rate, but it opens the door to child-specific payments on top.

Parenting Payment Single — available if you are under Age Pension age, you are single, and you are the principal carer of a child under 14. PPS generally pays more than JobSeeker and has a higher income-free area. If you are a younger relative (an aunt, older sibling or family friend) raising a child alone, this is likely your best main payment.

Carer Payment — if the child has a severe disability or medical condition that requires you to provide constant care. Carer Payment is means-tested and cannot be combined with Parenting Payment — you receive one or the other.

JobSeeker Payment — the default working-age income support. If none of the above applies, this is your safety net while you sort out the care arrangement.

What Stacks on Top

Regardless of which main payment you receive, you can also claim:

Family Tax Benefit Part A — paid per child, tiered by the child's age, income-tested against your family income. This is the primary child-cost offset.

Family Tax Benefit Part B — a household-level payment for single-income families or sole carers. One payment per household, not per child.

Double Orphan Pension — non-means-tested, paid when both parents are deceased or one parent is deceased and the other is long-term incarcerated, medically incapacitated or uncontactable.

Carer Allowance — $162.60 per fortnight (rate from 1 January 2026), paid on top of your main income support if you meet the care criteria and your combined adjusted taxable income with your partner is under $250,000 a year.

ACCS (Grandparent) — if you are a grandparent on income support with a child in approved childcare, this covers up to 100% of fees for 100 hours per fortnight with no activity test.

Tax Implications

Family Tax Benefit, ACCS, Double Orphan Pension and Carer Allowance are all completely tax-exempt. They do not go on your tax return and Centrelink does not count them when assessing your other payments.

Your main income support payment (Age Pension, Parenting Payment, Carer Payment, JobSeeker) is technically taxable income, but the low-income tax offset and senior tax offset usually reduce your actual tax to zero.

If you also receive DCP Carer Support Payments as a statutory carer, those are classified as non-taxable expense reimbursements under ATO Taxation Determination TD 2006/62. They do not count as income for any purpose — not for tax, not for Centrelink means testing, not for loan applications.

The Payment Stack in Practice

A typical SA grandparent carer on the Age Pension might receive: Age Pension + FTB Part A + FTB Part B + ACCS (if the child is in care) + Carer Allowance (if the child has a disability). If the child's parents are both deceased, add Double Orphan Pension. If the carer is a statutory carer under a DCP order, add Carer Support Payments.

Working out which combination applies to your household — and making sure you have claimed everything — is where most carers lose money. Our SA kinship carer guide maps the full payment stack for every arrangement type, with the claim sequence and evidence checklist for each.

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