JobSeeker Payment - single, with dependent child

What Is This Payment?

JobSeeker Payment for single parents is the federal income support stream for sole parents whose youngest child has aged out of Parenting Payment Single. In the rule database it is tagged as a monetary primary Federal benefit in the JobSeeker Payment cluster. Tags on this rule include unemployment, working_age, centrelink, single, and parent. The entitlement scope is per person and ongoing, with assessment running each reporting fortnight.

The administering body is Services Australia. Intake channels are the Centrelink online account inside myGov, a service centre visit, or a phone claim. For most single parents, the transition into this rule is automatic once the youngest dependent child turns 8 and PPS payment ends. Centrelink runs a system handover so the new claim does not start with a fresh waiting period in the typical case.

Within the JobSeeker cluster this rule sits between Parenting Payment Single (which pays $1,047.30 base while the youngest is under 8) and the no-child JobSeeker rule (which pays $808.70 from the same age 22 floor). The single-parent rate of $866.00 sits in between because the formula recognises the cost of a dependent child while still treating the recipient as available for paid work, subject to a partial mutual obligation regime.

How Much Can You Get?

The amount block is defined as a formula paid fortnightly. Base is $866.00 per fortnight. The rule note records this as the March 2026 official value confirmed against the Services Australia rate page. Annualised across 26 fortnights, the unreduced figure equals about $22,516.00 per year. The display period is yearly, but the assessment mechanics operate fortnightly.

The income test runs in two cumulative steps identical in shape to the no-child rule. The first step taps in at income_fortnightly = 150: every dollar of personal income between $150 and $256 reduces the payment by 50 cents. The maximum reduction in the first band, hit at $256, is 50 percent of $106, equal to $53.00. The second step taps in at $256 and applies a 60 cent reduction in the dollar.

The cumulative mode means both bands stack. At $500 of fortnightly income the reduction is $53.00 (band one) plus 60 percent of $244 ($500 minus $256) which is $146.40, summing to $199.40 against the $866.00 base, leaving $666.60 payable. The cut-out point happens when the cumulative reduction reaches $866.00, which occurs around $1,611 per fortnight: $53.00 in band one plus 60 cents on roughly $1,355 above $256.

The amount floor cap is minimum $0. There is no negative payout path. If the two-band reduction equals or exceeds $866.00, the estimated JobSeeker amount for that reporting fortnight is zero.

You can audit any estimate with a five-step recipe. First confirm the base $866.00. Second compute band one as min(income, 256) minus 150 times 0.5. Third compute band two as max(income minus 256, 0) times 0.6. Fourth sum the two reductions. Fifth subtract from $866.00 and clamp at zero. The order matches the YAML mode: cumulative, the two thresholds, and the two reduction rates.

The rule stores empty multiplier, empty reduces_if, and empty date_windows. Importantly, child support payments received from another parent are NOT counted in income_fortnightly for this rule; child support has its own assessment under the Child Support Scheme. Family Tax Benefit Part A and Part B are layered on separately and do not reduce this base. Commonwealth Rent Assistance is added on top, not nested inside the base.

Eligibility Conditions

The eligibility block is an all set, so every item must pass.

1. Age floor: age >= 22. Younger single parents route to the Youth Allowance job-seeker rule.
2. Below Age Pension age: meets_age_pension_age = false. At Age Pension age (currently 67) the case routes to Age Pension single.
3. Residency status: in australian_citizen, permanent_resident, special_category_visa, other_eligible_visa.
4. Presence: living_in_australia = true.
5. Partner status: partner_status = single. Partnered parents route to the partnered JobSeeker rule.
6. Dependent children: dependent_children = true. Without a dependent child, the case routes to the no-child rule paying the lower base of $808.70.
7. Assets: assets_total < 314000. Single homeowner cut-off; the non-homeowner figure of $566,500 is not separately encoded in version one.

Required fields for assessment are explicit: age, residency status, partner status, dependent children, fortnightly income, total assets, and living-in-Australia status. The rule does not require child age separately because the routing distinction (under 8 versus 8 or older) is enforced through the excludes.any block listing parenting_payment_single as a blocking payment.

The exclude block lists five payment values: Age Pension, Disability Support Pension, Parenting Payment Single, Parenting Payment Partnered, and Austudy. The PPS exclusion is the most consequential here: while the youngest dependent child is under 8, PPS is the active payment, and PPS receipt blocks JobSeeker single with child during that period. Once PPS ends (because the youngest turned 8), this rule activates as the natural successor.

The conflicts list also names AU_FEDERAL_JOBSEEKER_SINGLE_PRINCIPAL_CARER_EXEMPT, the alternate JobSeeker path that exempts the parent from mutual obligations under specified child-focused circumstances (for example, caring for a child with significant medical needs). That conflict means a single parent on the principal-carer-exempt path cannot also be assessed under this standard with-child rule in the same evaluation pass.

How To Apply

Application metadata defines three channels: online, service centre, and phone. For parents transitioning from PPS at child age 8, Services Australia typically contacts the parent in advance and walks them through the online intent-to-claim form so the JobSeeker payment starts in the same fortnight that PPS ends.

Evidence requirements are explicitly listed in the rule:

• identity document (driver licence or passport plus secondary documents)
• tax file number
• bank account details
• proof of dependent children (birth certificate, court orders, or shared-care agreement)

Two practical tips help. First, lodge the JobSeeker claim before the youngest child turns 8 if you are on PPS, so the system can run a back-to-back transition without a payment gap. Second, ask Centrelink to assess whether the principal-carer exemption applies before signing the standard mutual obligation plan; the exempt rule has different requirements and is administratively distinct from this standard with-child rule.

Lodge your claim through myGov and Services Australia

Rule-Based Scenarios

Scenario 1: full base after PPS transition

Yusuf is 39, single, has one dependent son aged 8 who has just transitioned out of PPS. Total assets are $58,000. He has not yet returned to part-time work, so personal earnings are $0. The rule pays the full base of $866.00 per fortnight, equal to about $22,516.00 per year. He keeps Family Tax Benefit Part A on top, and the auto-issued Health Care Card carries pharmaceutical and bulk-billing concessions for both Yusuf and his son.

Scenario 2: middle band reduction with casual hours

Wendy is 36, single, with two children aged 9 and 12. Assets total $128,000. She earns $500 per fortnight in casual aged-care work. Band one applies $53.00 to the $106 between $150 and $256. Band two applies 60 percent of $244 ($500 minus $256), which is $146.40. Total reduction is $199.40. JobSeeker estimate is $666.60 per fortnight. With the casual wage of $500 on top, her assessed combined fortnightly cash flow rises by $300 over the no-earnings case.

Scenario 3: blocked by PPS receipt

Bruce is 33, single, with a daughter aged 5. He is currently receiving Parenting Payment Single because the youngest is under 8. The exclude block triggers on receiving_payment in parenting_payment_single, and JobSeeker single with child is not payable while PPS is active. The conflicts list also flags PPS as the routing destination for this profile. The case will become eligible for this rule when the daughter turns 8.

Scenario 4: above asset cut-off

Cameron is 44, single, with one teenager. He inherited cash and now holds $352,000 outside super. The eligibility check at assets_total < 314000 fails by $38,000. JobSeeker is not payable while assets remain above the cut-off. Cameron would need to draw down the savings (for example by paying off the mortgage on his principal home) before the position falls below the cut-off, after which a fresh claim could be lodged.

Common Mistakes

• Wrong rule while youngest is under 8: claiming JobSeeker single with child while still inside the PPS age window. The PPS rule pays $1,047.30 base and is the correct payment until the youngest turns 8. The exclude block on this rule is exactly engineered to prevent that double-claim.
• Counting child support inside personal income: adding child support received from the other parent into income_fortnightly. Child support is assessed by the Child Support Scheme and does not enter the JobSeeker income test fields, although it does interact with FTB Part A separately.
• Confusing the with-child base with PPS: assuming the JobSeeker with-child base of $866.00 matches the PPS base of $1,047.30. The PPS base is materially higher because PPS is pension-type, while JobSeeker is allowance-type with a different policy intent.
• Skipping the principal-carer exemption check: agreeing to a standard mutual obligation plan when the parent might qualify for principal-carer exempt status. The exemption is a distinct rule and applies differently to attendance at appointments, job search numbers, and approved activity types.
• Higher base read as cash difference: assuming the gap between $866.00 and $808.70 is a structural top-up for parenting. The $57.30 fortnightly difference reflects the rate table only; FTB Part A and CRA add separate amounts that are larger than the gap and are paid through their own rules.
• Reporting hours instead of dollars: entering activity hours in the income field. The income test field is income_fortnightly in dollars; hours of work are tracked separately for mutual obligation accounting and do not reduce the payment directly.

Related Benefits

The conflicts list and affects list record interaction with several adjacent payments. Use these links to navigate the surrounding rules in the single-parent income support stack.

• Parenting Payment Single (PPS) - the predecessor payment paid until the youngest dependent child turns 8; explicitly blocks this rule via the exclude list.
• JobSeeker Payment - single, no dependent child - the lower-base variant ($808.70) for single applicants whose dependent_children = false; the routing destination once the last child becomes independent.
• Family Tax Benefit Part A - child aged 0-12 - companion family payment that runs alongside JobSeeker for the cost of the child.
• Commonwealth Rent Assistance - single, 1-2 dependent children - directly enabled by this rule for renters with one or two children.
• Health Care Card (HCC) - auto-issued through the affects list, providing PBS and bulk-billing concessions for both parent and dependent children.
• Age Pension - single - the long-term routing destination once the parent reaches Age Pension age and meets_age_pension_age = true.

Frequently Asked Questions