Bereavement payments and support

Services Australia may pay a lump sum bereavement payment when your partner dies, if you were both getting an income support payment for at least the previous 12 months, or a pension, and in some other cases, such as for people getting JobSeeker Payment or Youth Allowance; carers, parents and some others may get help too. When you tell Services Australia about the death, it works out whether you are eligible and how much you can get, and free counselling and support lines are there as well.

Please note  General information, not financial advice. Services Australia decides eligibility, and what you get depends on your circumstances, your relationship to the person who died, and when you tell it about the death. Its pages what help there is when an adult dies and when a child dies are the place to check.

Payments, by situation

All of this is from Services Australia’s own pages, read on 7 October 2026.

If your partner died

You may get a lump sum bereavement payment to help you move to a single income, if you both were getting an income support payment for at least the previous 12 months, or a pension. It is usually the difference between what you would have got together as a couple and your new single rate, worked out over the 14 weeks from the day your partner died.

There are other routes to a lump sum when your partner dies. You may get one if you’re getting or claiming JobSeeker Payment or Youth Allowance when your partner dies and you were both Australian residents at the time; on that route, if you’re pregnant, Services Australia says it pays an extra amount on top, and to get it you need to give medical evidence, such as when your baby is due. You may also get one if you’ve been getting ABSTUDY Living Allowance or Farm Household Allowance for 12 months or more.

If you aren’t getting a Centrelink payment, you may be eligible for an income support payment such as JobSeeker Payment or Youth Allowance.

If your partner had registered for the Pension Bonus Scheme and died before successfully claiming Age Pension and the bonus, you may be eligible for the Pension Bonus Bereavement Payment. You can claim up to 26 weeks after their death.

If you cared for them

If you got Carer Allowance for the adult who died, you may get a lump sum of up to 14 weeks of it, if you get an income support payment that doesn’t include an extra payment when someone dies and you don’t get Carer Payment.

If you got Carer Payment, you may keep getting it for up to 14 weeks after their death, and may also get a lump sum, depending on your circumstances.

If the person was single

There are no extra lump sum payments when a single person dies. A single person’s allowance stops on the day they die; a single pensioner’s regular payment covers the fortnight in which they died. The executor can reach these through the person’s bank account.

If your child died

Family Tax Benefit bereavement payment can be paid for up to 14 weeks after a child’s death, as fortnightly payments or a lump sum. If you are single and it was your only qualifying child, Parenting Payment, or the higher JobSeeker Payment or Youth Allowance rate for a single principal carer, can continue for up to 14 weeks. If you were getting Carer Payment for the child, it may continue for up to 14 weeks.

If a baby was stillborn, the family may get Parental Leave Pay for up to 26 weeks, or the Stillborn Baby Payment as a lump sum. Claims must be made within 52 weeks of the date of delivery.

If you have mutual obligations

If you get JobSeeker Payment, Youth Allowance, Parenting Payment or Special Benefit, you may be exempted from mutual obligations: for up to 13 weeks after the death of an immediate family member, or up to 14 weeks after the death of your partner, or for the length of the pregnancy if you were pregnant when your partner died.

Veterans’ families

If the person or their partner was getting payments from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, the defence force may help with some of the funeral costs, or arrange the funeral service.

Two practical points. Medicare, concession and Health Care cards are not reissued automatically when a partner listed on them dies; you can ask for a new one. And if you think Services Australia owed money to the person who died, the executor or administrator can ask it to check, using its Executor/Administrator Request for information form.

Help paying for the funeral

Some state governments help when a family cannot cover funeral costs. Moneysmart’s guide for First Nations families lists, among others:

• Funeral AssistanceSA, for South Australians on pensions, benefits or low incomes;
• the Coroners Court of Queensland, for Queensland residents who can’t cover funeral costs;
• the WA Department of Communities’ bereavement assistance program;
• the Magistrates Court of Tasmania, which provides a publicly funded cremation without a service when the family cannot pay for a burial or cremation;
• the ACT Revenue Office, for ACT residents who can’t cover funeral costs.

The same guide lists funeral assistance from many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations and land councils, by state. It also notes that if someone who depended on you dies, you may be able to access your own super early to cover their funeral, and suggests talking to your super fund or a financial counsellor first.

The person may also have left money for this: a prepaid plan, a funeral bond, insurance or super. Moneysmart suggests asking the executor, a solicitor or the funeral provider if you’re unsure, and contacting each provider to find out what they can pay and what documents you’ll need. Services Australia’s Financial Information Service is a free service that can inform you about financial matters, and the National Debt Helpline offers free financial counselling.

People to talk to

Services Australia suggests talking to your doctor or local community health centre, who can refer you to support and counselling services. These services are listed by Services Australia and Moneysmart; each number is as shown on the service’s own website.

• 13 11 14Lifeline, crisis support, 24/7
• 1300 22 4636Beyond Blue, any time of day or night
• 1300 78 99 78MensLine Australia, 24/7
• 1300 845 745Griefline, weekdays 10 am to 8 pm AEST/AEDT

Services Australia also has social workers you can speak to by phone. It lists Grief Australia’s online resources, Headspace for young people, Solace Australia for people who have lost a partner, and The Compassionate Friends for parents, siblings and grandparents after the death of a child of any age.

If you haven’t yet told Services Australia about the death, that step and the others are on when someone dies: the first steps.