More than 170,000 people who got Family Tax Benefit and 240,000 people who got Child Care Subsidy in 2023-24 need to confirm their income.*
Services Australia General Manager Hank Jongen urged families to act now before the 30 June 2025 deadline.
“If you haven’t confirmed your income with Services Australia for 2023-24 yet, time is running out,” Mr Jongen said.
“Families need to confirm their income for 2023-24 or lodge a tax return by 30 June 2025, so we can balance their payments.
“Most families get a top-up or supplement payment when we balance their payment, so act now and make sure you’re not missing out on any financial assistance.
“Families can confirm income for themselves and their partner (if they have one) by either lodging a tax return with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) or letting Services Australia know they don’t need to lodge. If you’ve already told the ATO you don’t need to lodge, you must still tell us too.
“If you don’t need to lodge a tax return, you can confirm your income in just a few minutes using your Centrelink online account through myGov or the Express Plus Centrelink mobile app.”
Mr Jongen said the consequences of missing the 30 June deadline can be costly.
“If families miss the 30 June deadline, their fortnightly Child Care Subsidy payments will stop and they’ll have to pay full child care fees from 7 July 2025,” Mr Jongen said.
“Families may have to repay all the Family Tax Benefit they received during the 2023-24 financial year, and their fortnightly payments may stop.”
Mr Jongen also reminded families who didn’t claim Family Tax Benefit during the 2023-24 financial year to lodge a lump sum claim online so they don’t miss out.
“Most families get their Family Tax Benefit in fortnightly payments, but there are some who choose to claim as an annual lump sum because it better suits their family’s needs,” Mr Jongen said.
“If this sounds like you, don’t leave your lump sum claim to the last minute. Take action now and claim online through myGov.”
*Services Australia data, 30 April 2025.
What is Family Tax Benefit (FTB)?
Family Tax Benefit (FTB) is a payment available to low and middle income families to help with the day-to-day cost of raising children.
Around 1.5 million families get FTB and in 2023-24 $17.1 billion was paid in FTB.
It has two parts:
- FTB Part A, which is paid per child
- FTB Part B, which is paid for the family.
The amount each family is paid is based on the family’s individual circumstances. Both payments are non-taxable payments that are income tested, but not assets tested.
Almost all families (95%) who get Family Tax Benefit choose to get it fortnightly. Around 5 per cent choose to claim the payment as an annual lump-sum.
For more information, go to www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/ftb
What is Child Care Subsidy (CCS)?
Child Care Subsidy is a payment to help people with the cost of child care.
It’s usually paid directly to child care service providers. The amount of CCS a family can get varies depending on the family’s income, how much they work or study, the type of child care they use, and the number of and age of the children.
Around 1.2 million families get CCS and in 2023-24, $14 billion was paid in CCS.
For more information, go to www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/childcaresubsidy
Why do people need to confirm their income?
Services Australia compares a family’s income estimate with their actual income at the end of each financial year.
This process is called balancing – it’s how we check they got the right amount of payment.
The financial year runs from 1 July to 30 June. After 30 June, we confirm the amount of income a person got during the financial year. We then compare this with the income estimate they gave us. We do this to check that we paid them the right amount of Family Tax Benefit and Child Care Subsidy.
Most families need to confirm their income so we can start the balancing process. However, not everyone has to do the same thing for us to balance their payments.
Most families get a top-up or supplement payment when we balance their payment.
For more information, go to: www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/balancing