Before ParliamentFamily & Community Introduced in the House of Representatives, 01 Jul 2026

Computers could approve Centrelink advances

A long list of fixes to the rules for Centrelink, family payments, child care, child support and paid leave for new parents. It touches millions of families, mostly behind the scenes.

Official name: Social Security and Other Legislation Amendment (Technical Changes No. 2) Bill 2026

Who it affects

• People on Centrelink payments or Family Tax Benefit: Asking for money early would be quicker, because the hardship test before approval goes.
• Families who owe money to Services Australia, which runs Centrelink: If your tax refund is taken to pay a family payment debt, you could ask for that decision to be checked.
• Parents who pay or get child support: Your child support could be worked out sooner. It would use tax figures sent before your tax return is fully checked.
• People who do not have to send in a tax return: If you get Family Tax Benefit, you would need to confirm your income within 12 months. That is the same as people who send one in.
• New parents on Paid Parental Leave: The super, or retirement savings, paid on top of your leave pay would be worked out only on the pay you were truly owed.
• People who use urgent payments: The limit of 10 urgent payments in 90 days would kick in as soon as the 10th one is paid.

Computers now make Centrelink decisions

Every few years the government passes a bill to fix small problems in the welfare laws. This is one of those bills. It has nine parts.

Most of the changes come from one big shift. Services Australia is the agency that runs Centrelink and child support. It now makes many decisions by computer. Some of the old laws were written for a person making a judgment call. The bill rewrites those laws so the computer decisions are clearly legal.

The bill also confirms some things the agency has done for years. It says those past decisions count. People keep their normal rights to challenge them.

Advances without hardship test

An advance is when Centrelink pays you some of your future payments early. You then pay it back through smaller payments later. Families often use them for car registration or back to school costs.

Right now, the government must be sure that paying the advance back will not cause you money hardship. The government's notes on the bill say this is very hard to judge. Almost everyone on welfare is under some money pressure already. A computer cannot make that call.

Part 1 removes the hardship test for advances. It covers Centrelink payments, Family Tax Benefit Part A and Mobility Allowance. Mobility Allowance helps some people with disability get around. The other tests are simple yes or no checks that a computer can do.

It also says you can apply in person, online or by phone. You could choose to pay an advance back faster. If you are doing it tough, you could ask for smaller payments back. That would use a simpler test of money hardship.

For Mobility Allowance, one rule goes. That is the rule that you must keep qualifying for 26 weeks. If you stop getting Mobility Allowance, the rest of the advance can be taken back, like other advances.

Changing decisions during review

If you disagree with a Centrelink decision, you can go to the Administrative Review Tribunal. It is an independent body that checks government decisions. It is like a court but less formal. It has a first review and a second review.

Child Care Subsidy is government help with child care fees. Right now, once your Family Tax Benefit or Child Care Subsidy case reaches the second review, the government cannot change the first decision. That stays true even if new facts turn up. One example is your real income from the tax office.

Part 2 would let the head of the welfare department change the decision in that case. But only in a few cases. There must be new facts, or facts that were missed, that change what you are owed. The tribunal then reviews the new decision.

Family Tax Benefit and data

Family Tax Benefit is paid during the year. It is based on your guess of your income. After the year ends, the government checks it against your real income. This is called balancing. You might get a top-up, or you might owe money.

The tax office sends Services Australia income figures just before your tax return is fully checked. The agency has used these early figures for years. Part 3 makes it clearly legal to use them. It says past decisions made with them count.

It also changes the rules for people who do not have to send in a tax return. They must still tell Centrelink their income. They have 12 months, or up to 24 months in special cases. If they miss that, they could be told they are not owed Family Tax Benefit for that year. Telling Centrelink later lets them get it back.

The Single Income Family Supplement is a payment for some families with one main income. It gets the same income test as other family payments. It would ignore money taken out under the First Home Super Saver scheme. That scheme lets people save for a first home inside their super.

Child Care Subsidy checks

Part 4 does the same thing for Child Care Subsidy. The yearly check on your subsidy would usually start when you send in your tax return. It would use the early tax figures.

If better income figures arrive later, the agency must do the check again. Past checks done this way are confirmed as counting.

Child support

Child support is worked out partly on each parent's income. Sometimes a parent has no recent tax figures. The official in charge of child support then sets a stand-in income figure.

Part 5 lists the ways that official can set that figure, in order. It starts with the early tax figures. That lets the computer do it when no judgment call is needed. New ways could be added later in the government's detailed rules.

It also confirms past child support decisions made with early tax figures or by computer. Another small change lets senior staff publish the yearly child support figures. Most of this part starts on 1 July 2027. That gives time to update the computer systems.

Challenging a taken refund

If you owe a family payment debt, your tax refund can be used to pay it. Right now the head of the tax office makes that decision. You cannot ask for anyone to look at it again on its facts.

In September 2025, the head of the tribunal said this was a problem. The tribunal said these decisions can ignore a person's situation. One example is when a plan to pay back the debt is already in place.

Part 6 hands the decision to the head of the Department of Social Services, the welfare department. That means you could ask the department to check it first. Then you could go to the tribunal. The department head could also list groups of people who should never have refunds taken. That could be for hardship or other reasons.

Super on parental leave

Since 1 July 2025, people on Paid Parental Leave also get a super payment. It is worked out from the leave pay they got that year.

Sometimes the government later finds a person should not have been paid for some days. Maybe they went back to work early. The current law could still count those days when it works out super, if the pay went through a boss. Part 7 says only pay the person was truly owed counts.

It also says a boss only owes a debt when the government paid them more than they had to pass on to the worker.

Urgent payments and fixes

A new law already lets people ask for an urgent payment of $20 to $200. It comes outside the normal fortnightly cycle. You can get 10 of these in 90 days. After that you must talk to Services Australia first.

Part 8 says that block starts as soon as the 10th urgent payment is paid. Under the current wording it only starts when you ask for an 11th. It also says exactly when a payment counts as paid.

Part 9 fixes wrong references in the rules about granny flats. It also makes clear which review rights cover the Income Apportionment Resolution Scheme. That scheme sorts out how income is shared between payments.

Waiting in the House

The parts start at different times. Parts 2, 3, 7 and 9 start the day after the bill becomes law. Part 4 starts just after Part 3. The advance payment and refund review changes start on a day the government picks, within 12 months. Most of the child support part starts on 1 July 2027.

The bill went into the House of Representatives, Parliament's main house, on 1 July 2026. The House passed it on 9 September 2026 with one change from the government. It went to the Senate, Parliament's second house, on 14 September 2026. On 12 October 2026 senators voted for the main idea of the bill. They then started going through it line by line. The Senate still has to finish that stage and hold a final vote.

Its journey through Parliament

Official sources

• Bill page on aph.gov.au
• Text of the bill
• Explanatory memorandum

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