Residence rules

To be eligible for Parenting Payment you must meet the residence rules.

On the day you claim you must be all of the following:

To keep getting your payment, you must be living in Australia as an Australian resident.

There are exceptions if you are claiming under a Social Security Agreement.

When you need to wait

If you've recently arrived as a resident in Australia, you may have to wait 2 or 4 years to get this payment. There are some exemptions to this. Read more about the newly arrived resident’s waiting period (NARWP).

There is also a 2 year qualifying residence period for Parenting Payment. There are some exemptions to this. These exemptions are not the same as the NARWP exemptions. You should lodge a claim to see if you have served both periods or if you have an exemption from either or both.

How else you may meet the rules

If you’ve lived or worked in an agreement country you may be able to get Parenting Payment Single. Read about which countries have agreements with us.

Page last updated: 19 June 2023.
QC 39201