The Department of Social Services (DSS) has released a draft of proposed new legislation aimed at simplifying the way that employment income is reported and assessed for social security purposes.
In a statement, the Department said the changes would make reporting easier for payment recipients, meaning people would receive the right amount of income support and be less likely to incur a debt.
The Government is to introduce the Simplifying Income Reporting and Other Measures Bill early this year, with the changes scheduled to begin from 1 July.
The Department said that currently, payment recipients must make a calculation to report their, or their partner’s earnings based on the number and value of shifts they had worked – which might be different to what they had actually been paid.
“Under this change, people will be able to refer to their, or their partner’s payslip in order to report employment income to Centrelink,” the Department said.
“This will make reporting easier so that people get the right amount of payment.”
From July, the Australian Taxation Office will begin providing Centrelink with Single Touch Payroll data, where an individual has been established as a mutual client.
“This information will be used to assist people to report their employment income,” the Department said.
It said the change would affect anyone who had to report their employment income for social security purposes, including partners of payment recipients.
The Department said affected payments would include ABSTUDY, Age Pension, Austudy, Carer Payment, Disability Support Payment, Farm Household Allowance, Jobseeker Payment, Parenting Payment, Special Benefit and Youth Allowance.
