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September 4th, 2024

Comparative care allowance rates per jurisdiction in Australia

Victoria’s base carer allowance for level 1 (age group 0-7) is the lowest of any state/territory in the nation.(see summary below in Table 1)

Victoria’s first age range level is also the widest of any jurisdiction (0-7). This means that in Victoria a child has to turn 8 before tan age-related allowance increase is applied to support their care.

A Victorian home based care placement receives substantially less per fortnight towards the costs of care for a 7-year-old child compared to other states:

  • ACT—$250

  • Queensland—$213

  • NSW—$190

  • Northern Territory—$122

  • Western Australia—$118

  • South Australia—$96

  • Tasmania—$86

Three states (NSW, Queensland, Tasmania) have a three-tiered payment structure based on the needs of the child or complexity of the placement.

NSW offers the simplest and most comprehensible payment structure with 3 levels of payments according to complexity and payments for ages which are roughly aligned to educational stages (eg 0-4 pre-school, 5-13 primary school, 14-15 (middle school) and 16-17 (senior high school).

All payment amounts for all states in the tables below are fortnightly.

Table 1: fortnightly base rates of each state/territory for first age range

State/territory

Amount

Age range

ACT

$620

0-4

Queensland

$611

0-5

New South Wales

$564

0-4

Northern Territory

$531

0-5

South Australia

$499

0-4

Tasmania

$466

0-4

Western Australia

$478 (incl. clothing allowance)

0-6

Victoria

$446

0-7

The amount the Victorian carer allowance falls behind other states continues as age-based increments occur.

Table 2: fortnightly base rate of each state for second age range

State/territory

Amount

Age range

ACT

$696

5-14

Queensland

$659

6-10

NSW

$636

5-13

Northern Territory

$568

6-9

Western Australia

$564 (incl. clothing allowance)

7-12

South Australia

$542

5-12

Tasmania

$532

5-11

Victoria

$462

8-10

The FCAV has recorded the Care Allowance rate over the past 4 financial years for the first age bracket (0-7) at Level 1. This includes the indexation rates that have been applied to the Care Allowance rates over the timeframe:

Year

Care Allowance

Level 1 child 0-7 per fortnight

New rate

Percent increase

Amount increase per fortnight

Inflation (CPI)

 

Increase if indexed to CPI

Real value decline per fortnight

2021

$410

$418.68

2%

$8.68

3.8%

$15.58

$6.90

2022

$418.68

$427.05

2%

$8.37

6.1%

$25.49

$17.12

2023

$427.05

$435.59

2%

$8.54

7.0%

$29.89

$21.35

2024

$435.59

$446.47

2.5%

$10.88

3.6%

$15.68

$4.80

Total

 

 

 

$36.47

 

$86.64

$50.17

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