on this page
If you don’t tell us when changes happen, you may be doing the wrong thing.
You need to tell us if any of the following happen:
- you change or correct your name
- the child receives an orphan pension from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs
- your personal circumstances change
- you don’t meet the residence rules
- you change your address
- your care arrangements change
- you or the child leave Australia even for a short time.
You’ll also need to tell us if:
- the surviving parent leaves prison, hospital, or a nursing home
- the surviving parent was found not guilty of the crime they were held for
- the surviving parent is found guilty but gets less than 10 years in jail
- the child is adopted
- you or the child finds out where the surviving parent is
- the refugee child’s parent comes to Australia
- the child aged between 16 to 19 stops meeting the study rules for Family Tax Benefit (FTB).
How and when to tell us
You need to tell us if your circumstances change within 14 days. If your Centrelink online account is linked to myGov you can tell us online. To do this, sign in to myGov and select My details.
If you don’t have a myGov account or a Centrelink online account you’ll need to create them.
It’s never too late to report a change.
If you change or correct your name
It’s important to tell us if you change your legal name.
If you don’t tell us
If you don’t tell us about changes in your life, we may pay you too much. If this happens, you must pay the money back. Find out more about Centrelink debts and overpayments.
If you don’t tell us when your circumstances change, you could be committing fraud.
Find out more about how to avoid committing fraud.