When we pre-fill your information

There are some things you need to know about income, Single Touch Payroll (STP) and other details we pre-fill into reports for you.

Pre-filling your reports

We’re working hard to improve the way we do business with you. This includes making reporting easier for you.

We’ll pre-fill details we already have for you. This saves you entering all your details yourself. We get this information from the Single Touch Payroll (STP) reports your employer sends to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) when they pay you. This may be weekly, fortnightly or monthly.

The information we pre-fill from STP reports can include any of the following:

  • the amount of each pay component, such as wages, overtime and allowances
  • the date you are paid for each period
  • dates of each employer pay period, such as a weekly, fortnightly or monthly pay cycle
  • details of reportable fringe benefit and salary sacrificing arrangements.

We don’t get all the information the ATO has about you. We only get the information we need to administer the social security system.

Read our Single Touch Payroll (STP) protocols on our data matching activities page for more information about the data we get.

What information we pre-fill if you cease work

If you stop work while getting a payment from us, some information about this might pre-fill in your employment income report. This includes things like the date and reason you stopped work.

You may still need to ask your former employer to complete an Employment Separation Certificate if we need more information. This helps us pay you the right amount. If you need to do this, we’ll tell you when you complete your employment income report.

Checking pre-filled information in your employment income report

It’s important to check the information we pre-filled before you submit it and continue with your report. We recommend checking your payslip if you find any information you didn’t expect.

Once you confirm the pre-filled information, we use it to work out your rate of payment, the same way as income you might add yourself. You have control of your information, so it’s important you check and update it if needed. By pre-filling the details your employer reports, we are making it simpler for you to report and ensure that you get the right rate of payment.

Changing pre-filled information in your employment income report

If the pre-filled information isn’t right, you can edit it before you submit it and continue with your report.

If you find an error after submitting your pre-filled data, you must contact us to update the information. Before you contact us, you’ll need to upload evidence, such as a payslip. You can do this using your Centrelink online account or the Express Plus Centrelink mobile app.

You should then call us on your regular payment line.

Don’t wait until your next reporting day to tell us if you need to update the pre-filled information you submitted.

Page last updated: 6 December 2023.
QC 61747