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Victoria’s base carer allowance for level 1 (age group 0-7) is the lowest of any state/territory in the table (see summary below in Table 1) Victoria’s first age payment range is widest of any jurisdiction (0-7). This means that Victorian carers have to wait until a child turns 8 before they get an age-related payment increase.
A Victorian carer gets substantially less per fortnight for a 7-year-old child compared to carers in other states:
Three states (NSW, Queensland, Tasmania) have a three-tiered payment structure based on the needs of the child or complexity of the placement.
NSW offers the simplest and most comprehensible payment structure with 3 levels of payments according to complexity and payments for ages which are roughly aligned to educational stages (eg 0-4 pre-school, 5-13 primary school, 14-15 (middle school) and 16-17 (senior high school).
Most states index payments for inflation/cost of living on 1 July of each financial year with the exception of Queensland which indexes payments on 1 January each year.
All payment amounts for all states in the tables below are fortnightly.
Table 1: fortnightly base rates of each state/territory for first age range [1]
|
State/territory |
Amount |
Age range |
|
ACT |
$601.69 |
0-4 |
|
Queensland |
$567.14 |
0-5 |
|
NSW |
$540 |
0-4 |
|
Tasmania |
$451 |
0-4 |
|
Western Australia [1] |
$440.45 |
0-6 |
|
Victoria |
$427.05 |
0-7 |
Table 2: fortnightly base rate of each state for second age range
|
State/territory |
Amount |
Age range |
|
ACT |
$674.34 |
5-14 |
|
NSW |
$609 |
5-13 |
|
Queensland |
$611.10 |
6-10 |
|
Western Australia |
$530 |
7-12 |
|
Tasmania |
$516 |
5-11 |
|
Victoria |
$441.92 |
8-10 |
[1] South Australian payment rates have not been included because payment structures include complexity loading which makes comparisons difficult. Fortnightly base may include other regular payments such as clothing and pocket money allowances.
No contingency to increase the allowance in the last budget
Despite years of advocacy by carers and peak bodies, as well as a KPMG report on the Allowance (that the Government has kept cabinet-in-confidence) which provides evidence of the shortfall, carers are still bearing the true costs of care.
We are demanding better
We will send a letter to Minister Blandthorn and Treasurer Pallas demanding a better outcome for carers. See here.
We invite you to add your name to this petition to show that we’re not alone in expecting better for carers and the children and young people in their care. Please sign the petition here.
