To cancel Family Tax Benefit, tell Services Australia what changed in your circumstances. There is no standalone cancellation form. You report the change through your Centrelink online account via myGov, by phone on the families line, or in person at a service centre, and payments are stopped or adjusted from the date the change took effect.
Report the Change Online, by Phone, or in Person
The quickest route is online. Sign in to myGov, select Centrelink, and open the section for updating your circumstances. Income, care arrangements, address, and relationship status each have their own update path. Enter what changed and the date it happened, then submit. Save the confirmation screen. Services Australia sends a written acknowledgment to your myGov Inbox once the update is processed. The Express Plus Centrelink mobile app uses the same login and offers the same update functions.1Services Australia. How to Download and Set Up the Express Plus Centrelink Mobile App
If you’d rather speak to someone, call the Services Australia families line on 136 150, Monday to Friday, 8 am to 8 pm local time. Have your Customer Reference Number ready. The operator will take the details of the change and confirm how it affects your payments. Wait times can be long, so early morning or late in the day tends to work better.
You can also go into a service centre. Use the “Find us” tool on the Services Australia website to locate the nearest one. Bring photo ID and your CRN. It’s the slowest option, but useful if your situation is complicated or you want to talk through the financial effect of stopping payments before you commit.
What to Have Ready Before You Contact Them
Gather these details first so the update goes through cleanly:
- Your Customer Reference Number (CRN), which is nine numbers followed by a letter, for example 123 456 789A. It appears on any Centrelink letter and in your online account.2Services Australia. Centrelink Customer Reference Number (CRN)
- The exact date the change happened, not the date you’re reporting it. If a child moved out on 15 March, that’s the date Services Australia needs.
- An updated income estimate for the rest of the financial year if your income has changed. This lets the agency work out whether you’ve been over- or underpaid.
- Your myGov login, if you’re reporting online, with your Centrelink account linked. If it isn’t linked yet, you’ll need your CRN to do that first.3myGov. Link Centrelink
Report Within 14 Days to Avoid a Debt
Common reasons FTB should stop or reduce include a child leaving your care permanently, your income rising above the cut-off, a child aged 16 to 19 finishing or leaving secondary school, moving overseas permanently, or a change in your relationship status.4Services Australia. Income Test for Family Tax Benefit Part A
You are legally required to report changes that affect your payment within 14 days of them happening.5Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions. Charging Social Security Fraud – Variable Reporting Services Australia data-matches with other government agencies, so unreported changes tend to surface anyway.6Services Australia. Centrelink Data Matching Activities Reporting on the day the change happens is the safest habit: waiting weeks or months means being paid at the wrong rate the whole time, then facing a debt notice for the full overpaid amount.
Shared Care Is Not a Cancellation
If your child is now living between two households rather than leaving your care entirely, don’t cancel. Report the shared care arrangement instead. Both carers can receive FTB for the same child as long as each provides between 35% and 65% of the care. If your share drops below 35%, FTB for that child is paid entirely to the other carer.7Family Assistance Guide. 2.1.1.25 Shared Care of an FTB Child
The percentage is ideally what both carers agree to. If there’s a dispute, Services Australia works out the care percentage based on evidence of the actual living arrangements. Getting the split right from the start prevents both households from accumulating debts.
Short Trips Overseas Don’t Need Cancellation
FTB continues for up to six weeks while you or your child are outside Australia. After six weeks, payments stop automatically. If you return within 13 weeks of that stoppage, FTB restarts without a new claim, though you won’t be paid for the gap beyond the initial six weeks.8Family Assistance Guide. 2.1.2.40 FTB Portability
Stay overseas longer than 13 weeks after payments stop and FTB is cancelled completely; you’ll need to submit a new claim when you return. If the move is permanent, FTB cancels from your departure date, so report the departure the same way you’d report any other change.
What Happens After Payments Stop
After 30 June, Services Australia reconciles what you were actually paid against what you were entitled to based on your real income. This is called balancing, and it happens whether you cancelled mid-year or received FTB for the full year.9Services Australia. Balancing Family Tax Benefit
Balancing starts once you and your partner (if applicable) lodge your tax returns with the ATO, which passes your income details to Services Australia. If you don’t need to lodge a return, tell Services Australia directly. You have until 30 June of the following year to confirm your income. Miss that deadline and you can lose any top-up or supplements you were owed, and you may receive a debt for the full amount paid during the year.10Services Australia. Time Limits for Submitting Lump Sum Claims and Confirming Income for Family Tax Benefit
If balancing shows you were underpaid, a top-up is issued. The FTB Part A and Part B supplements are also paid at this stage rather than during the year.11Services Australia. Family Tax Benefit Part B Payment Rates Your balancing outcome arrives as a letter to your myGov Inbox or by post.
If You End Up With an Overpayment
If you were paid more than you were entitled to, whether from late reporting, an income underestimate, or a care change you didn’t flag in time, you’ll get a debt notice. This is one of the more common Centrelink debts because the overpayment can build quietly over weeks or months before balancing picks it up.12Services Australia. Understanding Your FTB Balancing Outcome
Services Australia can recover FTB debts from future FTB top-ups and lump sum payments, FTB supplements, and your ATO tax refund. These deductions happen automatically, even if you’ve set up a separate repayment plan. If repayment is difficult, call the Centrelink debt recovery line on 1800 076 072, Monday to Friday, 8 am to 5 pm, to discuss your options.13Services Australia. Repaying Money You Owe if You Get a Payment From Us