As part of your claim we’ll ask for information about the person you care for.
The person you care for must meet all of the following:
- have a disability or medical condition likely to last at least 6 months, or have a terminal illness
- need constant care in their home, your home or in hospital.
Constant care means you provide care for a large amount of time daily. This roughly equates to a normal working day. This care stops you from working full time.
Not every person with disability or medical condition needs constant care. As part of your claim we’ll ask you to detail the type of care that is needed. It can include things like:
- physical help, such as needing to be lifted or help to get dressed
- guidance, such as support shopping and taking the right medication
- supervision, to support independence and safety.
We assess care needs for adults differently than we do for children under 16. The questions we ask you during the claim help us to determine if you're eligible.
The treating doctor of the person you care for will need to complete a medical form. As part of your claim, you’ll also need to tell us about the care you provide. In some cases we may be able to use existing medical information we have. We use this information you give us to help us understand the care needs of the person you care for. When you start your claim, we’ll tell you if we need an updated medical form.
You may still be able to get Carer Payment if you’re caring for multiple people who have a lower care need.
Children with short term or episodic conditions
You may still be eligible for Carer Payment if you care for a child younger than 16 who needs either:
- a lot of care for a short term condition
- care on an episodic basis for 3 to 6 months.
A short term condition is likely to be a one off and last for at least 3 months.
An episodic condition is likely to happen from time to time.
People with 2 or more carers
We understand the person you care for might have high care needs and need more than one carer. You can share the caring responsibilities with another person and you can both claim this payment. Each carer will need to submit their own claim, as we review each claim individually.