Proof of Care Centrelink Non-Parent Carer

Why Centrelink Needs Proof of Care

For Family Tax Benefit, Services Australia assesses actual care and the minimum threshold is 35%. ACCS Grandparent has a separate 65% ongoing-care test and day-to-day decision requirement. Other payments have their own eligibility and evidence rules. If you have a court order — Children's Court, Family Court or Section 79 Guardianship — that order is usually sufficient. A certified copy helps establish your legal authority and the care arrangement.

But many grandparents and kinship carers do not have court orders. The child arrived through a private family arrangement, and there was no DCJ involvement, no court hearing, no caseworker. For informal carers, the proof-of-care requirement is where claims succeed or stall.

The Statutory Declaration

A statutory declaration is a formal statement under the Oaths Act 1900 (NSW) that can help document your account of the care arrangement. Centrelink assesses it alongside the other evidence you provide.

Your statutory declaration should cover:

• Your full name, address and relationship to the child
• The child's full name and date of birth
• The date the child came into your care
• A factual description of how the child came to live with you (you do not need to go into painful detail — "the child's parent was unable to continue providing care due to health issues" is sufficient)
• That the child lives with you full-time at your address
• That you are responsible for the child's food, clothing, school attendance, medical care and daily supervision
• Whether the biological parent has any ongoing contact with the child, and if so, how often

Keep it factual. You are not making a legal argument — you are stating facts about where the child lives and who looks after them.

Get the declaration witnessed by a Justice of the Peace (free at most NSW local courts, some pharmacies and some community centres), a solicitor, or any person authorised to witness statutory declarations in NSW.

Supporting Documents

The statutory declaration is your primary document. Supporting evidence strengthens the claim:

School records — an enrolment confirmation letter or report card showing your address and your name as the primary contact or emergency contact. Ask the school office for a letter on school letterhead confirming the child is enrolled from your address.

Medical records — a letter from the child's GP confirming you bring the child to appointments, or immunisation records showing your address. If the child has been added to your Medicare card, the Medicare card itself is evidence.

Centrelink records — if you have contacted the Grandparent Adviser line (1800 245 965), ask the adviser to record your non-parent carer status and note any reference number.

Utility or tenancy records — if you have recently changed your household composition for any official purpose (public housing, council rates), those records can corroborate the child's presence.

Letters from third parties — a neighbour, family friend, church leader, community worker or family support service who can confirm the child lives with you. These carry less weight than institutional records but add to the overall picture.

Keep Your Evidence Focused

Text messages and social media posts can be evidence in a care assessment, alongside documents such as school or health records. Keep statements factual and distinguish what you know directly from what others have told you. Evidence of the care arrangement is central to the assessment.

The NSW Oaths Act Requirement

In NSW, statutory declarations must comply with the Oaths Act 1900. The key requirement is that the declaration is in writing, signed by you, and witnessed by an authorised person. There is a standard statutory declaration form available from the NSW Justice website, but you can also write your own on plain paper as long as it includes the prescribed wording at the top (declaring that the contents are true and that you understand it is an offence to make a false declaration).

Most JPs will have blank statutory declaration forms available. If you write your own, the JP will check that it meets the format requirements before witnessing it.

Competing Claims and Disputed Care

If the biological parent disputes your claim — perhaps they are still receiving FTB for the child and do not want payments transferred — Centrelink will assess the evidence from both sides. Your proof-of-care portfolio is what determines the outcome.

In a disputed claim, the strongest evidence is institutional: school enrolment at your address, GP records under your care, Medicare card transfers. A statutory declaration alone, without supporting institutional evidence, may not be enough to override an existing parent claim.

If the dispute is ongoing, ask the Grandparent Adviser line whether a referral to Centrelink Social Work Services is appropriate.

The NSW Kinship Carer Support guide includes a proof-of-care dossier checklist and statutory declaration reference — a printable organiser designed to help you build the evidence folder before you call Centrelink, so nothing is missing when the adviser asks for documentation.

See more New South Wales guides →