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5.1 Claims processed

In 2018–19, the department processed more than 3.5 million claims for Social Security and Welfare. Compared with 2017–18, the volumes of claims finalised remained steady across most payment types.

In 2018–19, Age Pension claim numbers returned to levels seen in previous financial years, after a legislative change decreased claim numbers in 2017–18.

Table 8: Claims finalised for each payment type, 2017–18 and 2018–19

Claims finalised 2017–18

Claims finalised 2018–19

Payment type

Total

Granted

Rejected

Total

Granted

Rejected

ABSTUDY

32,000

25,000

7,000

30,000

24,000

6,000

Additional Child Care Subsidy (ACCS)(a)

N/A

N/A

N/A

115,000

91,000

24,000

Age Pension

127,000

95,000

32,000

209,000

160,000

49,000

Assistance for Isolated Children Scheme

7,000

5,000

2,000

7,000

5,000

2,000

Bereavement Allowance

1,400

1,000

400

1,400

1,000

400

Carer Payment and Carer Allowance

236,000

149,000

87,000

218,000

137,000

81,000

Child Care Benefit (CCB)(a)

389,000

357,000

32,000

53,000

43,000

10,000

Child Care Subsidy (CCS)(a)

N/A

N/A

N/A

376,000

352,000

24,000

Crisis Payment

79,000

73,000

6,000

86,000

80,000

6,000

Dad and Partner Pay(b) (c)

104,000

93,000

11,000

108,000

97,000

11,000

Disability Support Pension

104,000

31,000

73,000

91,000

34,000

57,000

Double Orphan Pension

300

200

100

300

200

100

Family Tax Benefit(b)

552,000

406,000

146,000

562,000

428,000

134,000

Low Income Card

283,000

205,000

78,000

182,000

139,000

43,000

Mobility Allowance

9,000

4,000

5,000

7,000

3,000

4,000

Newstart Allowance

562,000

424,000

138,000

549,000

426,000

123,000

Paid Parental Leave(b) (c)

297,000

273,000

24,000

334,000

306,000

28,000

Parenting Payment

142,000

82,000

60,000

135,000

84,000

51,000

Pensioner Education Supplement (incl. ABSTUDY Pensioner Education Supplement)

43,000

37,000

6,000

34,000

29,000

5,000

Seniors Health Care Card

43,000

29,000

14,000

58,000

41,000

17,000

Sickness Allowance

28,000

15,000

13,000

35,000

14,000

21,000

Special Benefit

10,000

5,000

5,000

10,000

5,000

5,000

Stillborn Baby Payment

1,500

1,000

500

1,500

900

600

Widow Allowance

2,500

2,000

500

200

100

100

Youth Allowance (incl. Jobseekers and Students) and Austudy

351,000

240,000

111,000

356,000

242,000

114,000

(a) Child Care Subsidy commenced on 2 July 2018 and replaces the CCB and Child Care Rebate (CCR) with a single, means‑tested subsidy.

(b) Claim volumes have increased from those previously reported because of a change in business rules for claim identification.

(c) Claims for this payment can include a pre and post‑birth component, each of which is processed separately and counted in its own right. Therefore, the figure reported does not equal the number of customers who are granted payment within the relevant financial year.