What are allowances and rebates?

Various government departments and organisations offer bereavement payments for Australian residents. The main source is Centrelink and the following are some of the areas you can expect assistance with.

• Married Pensioner: Surviving partners receive a further 14 weeks of their spouses pension, usually paid in a lump sum.
  
  
• Single Pensioner: The estate receives one full pension payment after the persons death.
  
  
• Carer’s Pension: Entitled to a further 14 weeks pension following the death and this is paid in fortnightly payments. If the Deceased was single/ widowed/divorced there may be an additional lump sum payment.
  
  
• Sole Parent Pension: Entitled to a further 14 weeks pension following the death and this is paid in a lump sum.
  
  
• Widow’s Allowance: If the surviving wife is over 50 and she has no recent experience in the workforce, she may be entitled to regular payments.

Please note that entitlements can change without notice.
Where possible, Hills Family Funerals will seek to obtain individual information for clients, but in financial matters the Privacy Act can prevent us from making these inquiries. Depending on the history of the Deceased and the State in Australia they were in when they died, additional allowances may be payable through other institutions, including the Department of Veterans Affairs, trade unions, some private health funds, insurance companies and the Transport Accident Commission (VIC).
If you are an immediate family member of a homicide victim there are other organisations you can call. e.g. Victim Support Service.