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LW072KAR.1206
PAGE 1 OF 3
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WORKING CREDIT–WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
LW072KAR.1206
PAGE 2 OF 3
Department of Human Services
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WORKING CREDIT–WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
LW072KAR.1206
PAGE 3 OF 3
Department of Human Services
Working Credit—What you need to know
Working Credit aims to encourage you to take up work by allowing you to keep more of your
payment from us when you first start a job. Working Credit also makes it easier for you to get
payments and benefits back if a short-term job ends.
Who can get Working Credit?
You may benefit from Working Credit if you are under age pension age and get one of these
payments:
• Newstart Allowance
• Youth Allowance—job seekers, not full-time students
• Mature Age Allowance
• Widow Allowance
• Partner Allowance
• Parenting Payment
• Sickness Allowance
• Bereavement Allowance
• Disability Support Pension
• Carer Payment
• Wife Pension
• Widow B Pension.
Note: if you are a full-time student and get Youth Allowance, Austudy or ABSTUDY, you may be
able to use the Student Income Bank instead of Working Credit.
How does Working Credit work?
When you have little or no income you will automatically build up working credits—there is no
need to apply or fill out forms.
When your total income (including income from paid work and investments) is less than
$48 per fortnight, you build up working credits. One working credit equals one dollar. You can
collect up to 1000 credits, and for every credit you have you can earn one extra dollar before your
Centrelink payment is reduced. For example, if you have 450 working credits, you can earn an extra
$450 before your Centrelink payment is affected.
If you are on a payment that is usually cancelled as soon as you start full-time work (such as
Newstart) you use up your working credits to keep more of your payment before it is cancelled.
This means you could get some or all of your Centrelink payment, in addition to your pay, when
you first start work.
LW072.1206
PAGE 1 OF 3
Working Credit lets you keep your concession cards and other benefits for a period of time
after you start working.
Even after you have used up all your working credits and receive no payments from us, you may be
able to keep your concession card and some other benefits for up to 12 weeks. If you are a single,
principal carer of dependent child/ren you may be entitled to a Health Care Card for a further period
of up to 26 weeks.
Working Credit makes it easier to get back onto payment if your job ends in less than
12 weeks.
If your job ends, or if your wage drops within 12 weeks, and you have continued to report your
fortnightly earnings to us, you can get straight back onto payment without having to fill out an
application or attend an interview.
Kev is on Newstart Allowance and has built up 1000 working credits. After completing a TAFE
course, Kev finds full-time work as a car detailer.
He calls Centrelink to tell them he is starting full-time work. The Customer Service Officer explains
that if he keeps reporting his earnings each fortnight he can still get some of his Newstart
Allowance until he has used up all his working credits.
Who works out your payment?
We will automatically work out your payment for you, taking into account the amount you earn
before your payment is reduced and your working credit balance. We look at your earnings each
fortnight to work out your payments. This means that we need to know how much you earn (before
tax) in each Reporting Period.
Your Reporting Period may be different to your pay period at work. Contact us for more
information about your reporting period.
WORKING CREDIT—WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
LW072.1206
PAGE 2 OF 3
Department of Human Services
How to find out more
Visit humanservices.gov.au for more information or contact us in any of the following ways.
Employment Services (Looking for work 22 and over)
132 850
Youth and Students (Looking for work under 22)
132 490
Families and Parents
136 150
Disability and Carers
132 717
Indigenous Call Centre
136 380
To speak to us in a language other than English
131 202
Complaints and Feedback
Freecall™ 1800 132 468
Australian Government Services Fraud Tip-off Line
131 524
TTY* enquiries
Freecall™ 1800 810 586
TTY* Customer Relations
Freecall™ 1800 000 567
*TTY is only for people who are deaf or have a hearing or speech impairment. A TTY phone is
required to use this service.
For information in languages other than English visit humanservices.gov.au
Note: calls from your home phone to ‘13’ numbers from anywhere in Australia are charged at a
fixed rate. That rate may vary from the price of a local call and may also vary between telephone
service providers. Calls to ‘1800’ numbers from your home phone are free. Calls from public and
mobile phones may be timed and charged at a higher rate.
Disclaimer
The information contained in this publication is intended only as a guide to payments and services.
It is your responsibility to decide if you wish to apply for a payment and to make an application,
with regard to your particular circumstances. This information is accurate as at June 2012. If you
use this publication after that date, please check with us that the details are current.
WORKING CREDIT—WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
LW072.1206
PAGE 3 OF 3
Department of Human Services