How Does the Family Tax Benefit Work? Part A, Part B, and Claims

The Family Tax Benefit is an Australian government payment, administered by Services Australia through Centrelink, that helps families with the cost of raising children. It has two parts. Part A is paid for each eligible child, and Part B is paid once per family to give extra help to single parents, grandparent carers, and single-income couples. How much you receive depends on your family’s income, the ages of your children, and how much of their care you provide.¹

You can take the payment as fortnightly instalments during the year or as a lump sum after the financial year ends. Either way, Services Australia reconciles what you were paid against your actual income once your tax return is lodged.

Who Qualifies

You and the child must be living in Australia on the day you claim, and you generally need Australian citizenship, a permanent visa, a Special Category visa, or one of a small set of temporary visas such as a partner provisional or temporary protection visa. The child must either live with you or hold one of those visa types independently.²

The child must be a dependent aged 15 or under, or a full-time secondary student aged 16 to 19 who isn’t already receiving a payment like Youth Allowance. You also need to provide at least 35 percent of the child’s care, which works out to roughly 128 nights a year or 5 nights a fortnight. Court-ordered parenting plans, parenting orders, and written agreements between parents all count as evidence of care.¹³

How Part A Pays

Part A is per child. For the 2025–26 financial year, the maximum fortnightly rates are $227.36 for a child aged 0 to 12 and $295.82 for a child aged 13 to 15 or a 16-to-19-year-old who meets the study requirements.⁴

Two income thresholds shape what you actually receive. If your family’s combined adjusted taxable income is $66,722 or less, you get the maximum rate. Between $66,722 and $118,771, the payment reduces by 20 cents for every dollar over the lower threshold. Above $118,771, the reduction steepens to 30 cents per dollar until the payment reaches zero. Between the two thresholds you may drop to a base rate of $72.94 per child per fortnight, but that base rate is not a floor: once income crosses the higher threshold, the base rate itself starts reducing toward nothing.⁵

On top of the fortnightly amount, families may receive a Part A supplement of up to $938.05 per child, but only after end-of-year balancing confirms your actual income.⁴

How Part B Pays

Part B is one payment per family, and the amount depends on the age of your youngest child. If the youngest is under 5, you can receive up to $5,040.65 a year (about $193.87 a fortnight). If the youngest is aged 5 to 18, the maximum is $3,518.60 a year (about $135.33 a fortnight).⁶

The age limits are different depending on your family situation. Couples can only get Part B while their youngest child is under 13. Single parents and grandparent carers stay eligible until the youngest turns 18, provided any child aged 16 to 18 meets the study requirements.⁷

For couples, the higher earner (the “primary earner”) must earn less than $120,007 a year for the family to qualify at all. If they do, the payment amount is worked out from the lower earner’s income. The secondary earner can earn up to $6,935 a year before Part B begins reducing, then it drops by 20 cents per dollar over that amount. Part B cuts out entirely once the secondary earner reaches $34,438 (if the youngest is under 5) or $26,828 (if the youngest is 5 to 13). Single parents don’t face the primary earner limit, but if they have a partner, the secondary earner test still applies.⁸

Fortnightly Payments or a Lump Sum

Most families take FTB as fortnightly instalments because the money arrives as expenses do. To be paid that way, you give Services Australia an estimate of your adjusted taxable income for the current financial year, and that estimate sets your rate. If your circumstances change during the year, the system uses “mandatory continuous adjustment” to automatically revise the rate.⁹

The lump sum option waits until after the financial year ends, and Services Australia won’t process it until you and your partner have lodged your tax returns or notified Centrelink of your adjusted taxable income. Whichever option you choose, the Part A and Part B supplements are never paid fortnightly. They only come after year-end reconciliation.⁹

Balancing at the End of the Year

After each financial year, Services Australia compares what you were paid against what you were actually entitled to once your income is confirmed. You’ll get a top-up if you were underpaid, a debt if you were overpaid, or no change.¹⁰

Overpayments are recovered through debt offsetting: Services Australia withholds from future FTB payments, supplements, top-ups, and can take amounts from your tax refund through the ATO. Even if you have a formal repayment plan in place, offsetting can still run alongside it.¹⁰

One trap catches families every year. If you or your partner don’t lodge a tax return by the end of the lodgement year, and don’t notify Centrelink of your income if you weren’t required to lodge, you lose your entire FTB entitlement for that financial year and everything you were paid becomes a debt.⁹ Underestimating income during the year has a smaller but similar effect: higher fortnightly payments now, a debt later.

Conditions That Can Reduce or Stop Your Payment

Children up to age 19 must be up to date with their immunisations, on an approved catch-up schedule, or have an approved medical exemption to keep Part A. Personal or philosophical objections do not count as valid exemptions.¹¹

If you receive both Part A and an income support payment, your four-year-old must have a Healthy Start for School health check (covering height, weight, hearing, sight, and general wellbeing) and you must tell Services Australia about it before the child’s fifth birthday. Missing the deadline can reduce Part A by up to $35.28 per fortnight for up to 26 fortnights.¹²

If you’re getting Part A for a child from a previous relationship, you generally need to take “reasonable action” to obtain child support from the other parent, meaning applying for a child support assessment or having an agreement accepted through Child Support. You have 91 days from certain triggering events, including the child being born or entering your care, separating from the other parent, your care rising to 35 percent or more, or first becoming eligible for child support. If you don’t act, your Part A for that child drops to the base rate. Exemptions are available for family violence, fear of abuse, or unknown parentage, and may require assessment by a social worker.¹³

How to Claim

You claim online through myGov linked to Centrelink. Before starting, have these ready:

Tax file numbers for you and your partner. Centrelink cannot pay you without them.
An income estimate for the current financial year (combined adjusted taxable income).
Proof of birth or adoption if it’s not already on file.
Bank BSB and account number for direct deposit.
Child care and school details for older children in secondary study.

¹⁴

Sign in to myGov, open your Centrelink account, and find the FTB claim under Payments and Claims. Complete the fields, upload the documents, and submit. Keep the receipt number for any follow-up. Take your income estimate seriously: a low estimate means bigger fortnightly payments now, and a debt after balancing.

Payments That Ride Along with FTB

FTB recipients also get a small Energy Supplement. On Part A, it’s $3.50 per fortnight for a child aged 13 or under and $4.48 for a child aged 13 to 19. On Part B, it’s $2.80 per fortnight if your youngest is under 5, or $1.96 if they’re 5 to 18.¹⁵

When a new child joins your family through birth or adoption, you may also qualify for the Newborn Upfront Payment (a one-off $683 per child) and the Newborn Supplement, which pays up to $2,052.05 over 13 weeks for a first child, or $685.23 for later children. Both are tax-free, and you need to be eligible for at least the base rate of Part A to receive them.¹⁶

1
Services Australia. Family Tax Benefit
2
Services Australia. Residence Rules for Family Tax Benefit
3
Services Australia. How Your Percentage of Care Affects Your Child Support Payments
4
Services Australia. FTB Part A Payment Rates
5
Services Australia. Income Test for FTB Part A
6
Services Australia. Who Can Get Family Tax Benefit
7
Family Assistance Guide. Current FTB Rates and Income Test Amounts
8
Services Australia. Income Test for Family Tax Benefit Part B
9
Family Assistance Guide. FTB Payment Delivery Choices
10
Services Australia. Understanding Your FTB Balancing Outcome
11
Department of Health and Aged Care. Immunisations for Access to Family Assistance Benefits and Early Childhood Services
12
Services Australia. Healthy Start for School Health Check
13
Services Australia. Why You Need to Apply for Child Support While You Get FTB Part A
14
Services Australia. Supporting Documents for Family Tax Benefit Claims
15
Services Australia. Payment Rates for Energy Supplement on Family Tax Benefit
16
Services Australia. Newborn Upfront Payment and Newborn Supplement