How to claim

You need to decide what to claim if your baby was stillborn. Your family may be able to get either:

• Parental Leave Pay
• Stillborn Baby Payment.

When deciding between the payments, there are some key differences.

Steps to claim Stillborn Baby Payment

1.  

   1. Get ready to claim

   The easiest way to claim is online.

   You have up to 52 weeks from your baby’s date of birth to submit your claim. Please let us know if you were unable to claim within this time because you either:

   • had a severe illness to do with the birth
   • applied for Parental Leave Pay but couldn’t get it.

   To claim online, you need a Centrelink online account linked to myGov. If you don’t have a myGov account or a Centrelink online account you’ll need to set them up.

   You may need to prove your identity with us before you start your claim.

2.  

   2. Get your documents ready to claim

   When claiming, we’ll tell you which documents you need to give us. This includes the Proof of Birth declaration on the back of the Claim for Bereavement Payment form.

   The doctor or midwife who was at the birth must complete the declaration. If you can’t give us the declaration, you can give us a letter on hospital letterhead from the doctor or midwife, who was at your baby’s birth. It should include:

   • your full name
   • the date and place of birth
   • the baby’s sex
   • the baby’s weight
   • the gestation period.

   Information you need

   Make sure you have all of this information for you and your partner when claiming:

   • your Centrelink Customer Reference Number if you’ve dealt with us before
   • your passport number, if you have one
   • the date you first arrived in Australia, if you weren’t born here
   • any dates when you lived outside Australia
   • your bank account details
   • your tax file number
   • your income.
3.  

   3. Make your claim

   If you can claim online

   If your Centrelink account is linked to myGov you can apply online.

   To do this:

   1. Sign into myGov.
   2. Select Make a claim or view claim status, then Make a claim.
   3. Under Families select Get started.
   4. Select Apply for Family Assistance (including Paid Parental Leave) then follow the prompts to complete your claim.

   Sign in to myGov

   If you can’t claim online

   If you can’t claim online you can claim by calling our Child Bereavement and Double Orphan Pension Helpdesk.
4.  

   4. After you claim

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

   • your claim was submitted
   • a receipt number.

   We’ll let you know the result of your application. We’ll send a message to your myGov Inbox.

   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.