You can act for someone as an individual or on behalf of an organisation. The person you act for must authorise you to act for them.
The type of acting arrangement depends on what the person you’re acting for needs help with. They may want you to help them a little or a lot.
Correspondence and payment nominees
You can act for someone as their nominee, to help them with their Centrelink business.
You can be a correspondence nominee, a payment nominee or both.
If you are an organisation, you can apply for Nominee Services in Business Hub. Read more about Centrelink Organisation Nominee Services.
As a correspondence nominee
When you are a correspondence nominee, you can do the following things:
- ask us questions about their Centrelink payments and services, including aged care costs
- tell us about changes to their circumstances
- respond to requests for information
- update their income and assets details
- come to appointments with them
- complete and sign forms and statements for them
- get copies of their letters from Centrelink about their aged care costs
- claim payments and services for them.
If you submit an online claim for JobSeeker Payment or Youth Allowance, you must book an appointment with us. The person you’re acting for must attend the appointment. You can attend the appointment too, if they want you to.
You can use our online guides to help you complete the following tasks online for them:
- claim a payment online
- report employment income
- request a document such as an income statement, payment summary, Centrelink statement and rent certificate
- upload and submit a document to us
- request a replacement concession card
- update their income and assets
- add a Centrepay deduction or update or suspend a Centrepay deduction.
What you must do
As a correspondence nominee you must:
- tell us about any change in circumstances for you or the person you’re acting for within 14 days, or within 28 days if you’re outside Australia
- tell us about any changes that may affect your ability to be their nominee.
You’re at risk of not meeting your obligations if you don’t:
- respond to a request
- tell us about changes in your or their circumstances
- arrange for them to attend an appointment for a JobSeeker Payment or Youth Allowance for job seekers claim that you submitted on their behalf.
As a payment nominee
When you act for someone as their payment nominee, you get their Centrelink payments and use them only for their benefit.
As a payment nominee you must:
- use their Centrelink payments only for their benefit
- act in their best interest
- tell us about any changes that may affect your ability to be their nominee
- keep records on how you spend their money.
We can review spending records at any time. Legally, you must give us this information if we ask for it. If you don’t, you may get a fine.
Person permitted to enquire or update
You can act for someone as a person permitted to enquire or update.
As a person permitted to enquire
As a person permitted to enquire, you can ask us questions about the Centrelink payments and services of the person you’re acting for. You can ask:
- about their Centrelink payments and aged care costs
- why a payment has stopped and what you need to do.
As a person permitted to enquire, you can’t:
- make updates to their payments and services
- act or make decisions for them
- sign forms or statements
- get copies of letters.
As a person permitted to update
As a person permitted to update, you can ask us questions and make some updates to their Centrelink payments and services. You can:
- ask about Centrelink payment amounts and aged care costs
- ask why a payment has stopped and what to do
- ask about changes to payments and aged care costs
- tell us about a change in circumstances for you or the person you’re acting for
- give us information to update payments and services.
As a person permitted to update, you can’t:
- make decisions for the person you’re acting for
- sign forms or statements
- get copies of your letters.