Household worked through · rates of 20 September 2026
A couple with three children, renting on one income
Matt earns $58,000; Leah is at home with their children aged 3, 7 and 11. They rent privately for $700 a fortnight.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How we calculate
A couple with three children aged 3, 7 and 11, renting at $700 a fortnight on a single income of $58,000, receives about $1,202 a fortnight from Centrelink in 2026-27, and $3,391 of supplements after the tax returns. Their income is under the Part A free area of $69,131, so Family Tax Benefit Part A is paid at the maximum rate for all three children, plus Rent Assistance at the higher maximum for three or more children, $7,752.60 a year, about $297 a fortnight. Part B is paid in full because the parent at home has no income. The Part A supplement is paid as well, because the family income is under $80,000. Nobody receives a main payment: the parent at home could claim Parenting Payment partnered while the youngest is under 6, and the page shows what that would add.
More details: ages, assets, child care fees
What this household gets, per fortnight
$1,202
$34,724 a year, including $3,391 of FTB supplements paid after tax time
- Family Tax Benefit Part A$1,001
Method 1, Rent Assistance of $295 a fortnight included
- Family Tax Benefit Part B$200
Secondary earner test
Family income for FTB and CCS: $58,000 a year. How this is worked out.
Three children, the bigger Rent Assistance
Rent Assistance with Family Tax Benefit has two maximums: $6,858.35 a year with one or two children and $7,752.60 with three or more (Family Assistance Guide 3.1.4.30). The couple threshold of $7,993.50 a year applies either way. At $700 a fortnight the family pays well over the $703 a fortnight needed to reach the three-child maximum, so it receives the whole amount inside Part A. When the eldest stops counting for Family Tax Benefit, the maximum drops back to the two-child figure.
Under the free area, everything at the maximum
At $58,000 the family is below the Part A income free area, so no taper applies: three maximum child rates, the Part A supplement for each child at tax time, and the full Rent Assistance. Part A comes to $1,001 a fortnight including Rent Assistance, Part B to $200. For a family in this position, Family Tax Benefit is a large share of household income, and the Part A supplements alone are worth $2,913 a year.
A pay rise to $90,000
If Matt's pay rose to $90,000, the family would be $20,869 above the free area. Method 1 would take 20 cents of each of those dollars, first from Rent Assistance, which sits above the base rate, and the Part A supplements would disappear because income passes $80,000. Family Tax Benefit would fall to about $1,042 a fortnight. The household still gains from the rise, but the gain is noticeably smaller than the pay rise itself.