Is there a Waiting Period for Sickness Allowance?
A waiting period of seven days is generally applied before payment starts, except:
- where a person received a social security pension or allowance from Centrelink or a Service Pension from Veterans' Affairs within 13 weeks of claiming Sickness Allowance, or
- if serving the waiting period would cause financial hardship, or
- in special circumstances where the person's partner has recently died.
Note: Other waiting periods may also apply as detailed below.
Apart from refugee and humanitarian entrants and the former holders of certain temporary visas, newly arrived migrants have a two year waiting period.
If a person received leave entitlements including annual leave, long service leave, sick leave, leave loading, maternity leave or redundancy payments from their previous employment, they may have to serve an 'income maintenance period'. Income maintenance periods are generally applied from the date leave entitlements are received for the period covered by the leave.
If a person or their partner ceased seasonal, intermittent or contract work in the 6 months prior to claiming and earned money above a certain level from that work, they may have to serve a ‘seasonal workers preclusion period’.
If a person has liquid assets on the day they became incapacitated they may have to serve a 'liquid assets waiting period'. This waiting period may be for up to 13 weeks.
A liquid assets test waiting period can only be served once every 12 months. It can be served at the same time as the income maintenance period. For more information, contact Centrelink on 13 2717.