Who can get it

You must meet all of the following conditions:

• care for a child aged 15 years or under at least 35% of the time
• care for a child aged between 16 years and 19 years at least 35% of the time and who satisfies study requirements
• meet the residence rules
• not get another Centrelink payment for the child, or an Orphan Pension from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs.

You also need to have claimed Family Tax Benefit for the child, or you have claimed but can’t get it. This could be because either:

• your family’s income is too high
• the child gets an education payment, such as ABSTUDY.

There are no income or assets tests for Double Orphan Pension.

Additional rules

In addition to these conditions, one of the following must also apply.

Both parents have died

Both of the child’s parents or adoptive parents have died.

One parent has died

One of the child’s parents has died and the other parent is either:

• in prison for at least 10 years
• in custody and could be sentenced to 10 years in prison
• in a psychiatric institution or nursing home for an indefinite period
• whereabouts are unknown.

Find out more about the death of a loved one.

Child is a refugee

The child is a refugee who hasn’t lived in Australia with either or both parents, and whose parents either:

• are outside Australia
• whereabouts are unknown.

More information

We have extra assistance available if you’re a grandparent caring for your grandchildren. Find out more about support for grandparent carers.

We have helpful information to help you with raising kids. We also have payments for carers, and support for non-parent carers.