How to claim

Complete the following steps to claim Special Benefit. Before you start, check if you can get it.

You don’t need to call or visit a service centre to establish your identity and claim a payment. Read more about the easiest way to claim a payment.

Steps to claim Special Benefit

  1. Visiting a service centre
     

    1. Get ready to claim

    The easiest way to claim is online.

    To claim online, you need a myGov account linked to Centrelink. If you have a correspondence nominee they can claim online for you. They’ll need to have their own account.

    If you or your nominee don’t have a myGov or Centrelink online account you’ll need to set them up.

    If you’re a parent claiming on behalf of a child you can’t do the claim online.  You’ll have to use the Claim for Special Benefit form.

    If you can’t claim online for any other reason, you can also use the Claim for Special Benefit form.

  2. Gather Documents
     

    2. Get your documents ready to claim

    You’ll need to get some supporting documents ready to help answer some of the questions in the claim.

    Due to coronavirus (COVID-19), you won’t have to give us any of the following documents:

    • employment separation certificate
    • bank statements
    • proof of rental arrangements, like a rent certificate or lease agreement.

    You must get a medical certificate if you’re sick or injured and can’t do your usual work or study for a short time. You’ll need this at the time you claim.

  3. Claim online
     

    3. Make your claim

    1. Sign in to myGov and go to Centrelink.
    2. Select Payments and Claims from the menu, then Claims, then Make a claim.
    3. Select Get started from the category that best describes your circumstance.
    4. Answer all the questions. Each screen has information to help you complete the claim.
    5. Submit your claim.

    When you're ready:

    Sign in to myGov

    If you’re not using the online claim, fill in and sign the Claim for Special Benefit form. The claim form guides you through the questions and tells you what documents we need. This includes any other forms you may need to complete.

  4.  

    4. Track your claim

    After you submit your claim online, you’ll get a receipt telling you:

    • your claim was submitted
    • the ID number of your claim
    • the date we estimate your claim will be complete
    • a link to track its progress.

    You can track the progress of your claim online. Sign in to myGov and go to Centrelink, or use the Express Plus Centrelink mobile app.

    We’ll also let you know the result of your claim. We'll send a letter to either your:

    If you don't get electronic letters, we'll send you a letter in the mail.

    If we need more details we’ll ask you for them.

    If you think we’ve made a mistake you can ask us to review our decision.

Page last updated: 24 June 2020