Carer Allowance Bereavement Payment: What Carers Are Entitled to After a Death

If you were receiving Carer Allowance for the person who has just died, your payment will stop — but you are not left with nothing. Centrelink provides a bereavement payment specifically for carers in this situation, and many eligible people do not claim it because they simply do not know it exists.

This post explains what the Carer Allowance bereavement payment is, how it is calculated, how to claim it, and what other bereavement payments you should check for at the same time.

What Is the Carer Allowance Bereavement Payment?

Carer Allowance is a fortnightly supplement paid to people who provide daily care for someone with a disability, medical condition, or who is frail aged. When the care recipient dies, the Carer Allowance does not simply stop at the next payment — you are entitled to a lump-sum bereavement payment equivalent to up to 14 weeks of Carer Allowance.

This payment recognises that caring arrangements end abruptly at death and that carers need time to adjust their finances and living arrangements. The 14-week period is calculated from the date of the care recipient's death.

To be eligible for this bereavement payment, you must have been receiving Carer Allowance for the person who died. If you were providing care but not yet receiving the allowance at the date of death, you will not qualify for the bereavement lump sum — though you may still be eligible for other Centrelink support discussed below.

How to Claim the Carer Allowance Bereavement Payment

Contact Services Australia (Centrelink) as soon as practicable after the death. You should notify Centrelink of the death regardless — it is a requirement, and your Carer Allowance will be cancelled when you do so. At the same time, advise Centrelink that you are claiming the bereavement payment.

Services Australia will need:

• The deceased's full name and date of birth
• The date of death
• The death certificate (once issued)
• Your own Centrelink reference number and payment details

The bereavement payment is generally processed alongside the cancellation of your ongoing Carer Allowance. It is not a separate, complex application process — but it will not be triggered automatically unless you notify Centrelink of the death and confirm you are claiming the entitlement.

If you are in Queensland, the death certificate is issued by the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages. The standard fee is $56.20 per certificate through the official portal at qld.gov.au/rbdm. Order several copies — you will need one for Centrelink, one for the estate administration, and likely one for each financial institution holding assets in the deceased's name.

Other Bereavement Payments to Check at the Same Time

The Carer Allowance bereavement payment is one of several bereavement-related payments that may apply depending on your relationship to the deceased and the payments you were both receiving.

Standard Centrelink bereavement payment. If both you and the deceased were receiving an eligible income support payment or pension for at least 12 months prior to the death, you may also be entitled to the standard bereavement payment. This is a separate, larger lump sum calculated over a 14-week period, covering the difference between what you were receiving as a couple and what you will receive as a single person. It provides a transitional buffer while Centrelink reassesses your rate of payment as a single.

These two payments — the Carer Allowance bereavement lump sum and the standard bereavement payment — are assessed on different eligibility criteria and can apply simultaneously.

Pension Bonus Bereavement Payment. If the deceased had been registered under the Pension Bonus Scheme but died before claiming the bonus, you as the surviving partner may be able to claim the Pension Bonus Bereavement Payment. This is a tax-free lump sum that, depending on the number of years accrued and the circumstances, can be substantial — up to $55,411.60. This is an easily missed entitlement because it depends on a scheme registration that many older Australians were enrolled in without being fully aware of the implications.

JobSeeker Payment. If you are under Age Pension age and were not receiving income support prior to the death, you may now be eligible for JobSeeker Payment. Since March 2020, following the closure of the separate Bereavement Allowance to new claimants, JobSeeker is the primary income support payment for working-age Australians in bereavement. Importantly, JobSeeker includes specific bereavement exemptions from the standard mutual obligation and activity test requirements for a defined period. You are not required to be looking for work immediately after the death to receive JobSeeker during the bereavement period.

Carer Payment reassessment. If you were receiving Carer Payment (which is separate from and larger than Carer Allowance) in addition to Carer Allowance, Centrelink will also need to reassess your entitlement to Carer Payment. Depending on your circumstances, you may be eligible to transition to the Age Pension or another applicable payment rather than having Carer Payment simply cancelled.

The Note About Bereavement Allowance

The old Bereavement Allowance — a standalone payment for recently widowed people — was closed to new claimants on 20 March 2020. If you have read older information online or received outdated advice suggesting you apply for Bereavement Allowance, this is no longer available as a separate payment. People who were already receiving it prior to March 2020 may still be on it, but new claimants are directed to JobSeeker or the Age Pension depending on age.

The Carer Allowance bereavement lump sum is a distinct payment from the old Bereavement Allowance and remains fully available.

DVA If the Deceased Was a Veteran

If the person you were caring for was a veteran receiving a Disability Compensation Payment from the Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA), the surviving partner is entitled to a bereavement payment from DVA equivalent to six fortnightly pension instalments following the death. This is separate from and in addition to any Centrelink entitlements.

Contact DVA directly alongside your Centrelink notification. Do not assume that notifying one agency informs the other — they operate independently.

When to Notify Centrelink

There is no benefit in delaying the notification to Centrelink. The 14-week bereavement period begins from the date of death, not from the date you notify Centrelink. However, you need to notify Centrelink promptly so that your ongoing payment rate is correctly adjusted and the lump sum is triggered.

Delay in notification also means delay in any income support reassessment — which affects how quickly your new payment rate as a single person takes effect.

The practical priority in the first week after a death is:

1. Notify Centrelink of the death and claim the bereavement payment
2. Order multiple copies of the death certificate
3. Identify any other agencies that need to be notified (DVA, ATO, Medicare, private insurers)
4. Begin the estate administration process in parallel

These are not sequential steps. They need to happen simultaneously because multiple deadlines are running at the same time.

If you are also managing the estate — which, as a spouse or close family member, you likely are — the Queensland Survivor Benefits Navigator consolidates the benefits claiming process with the estate administration checklist. It covers bank account access before probate, the property transfer process through Titles Queensland, and the tax obligations that fall on the estate. Get the complete toolkit here.

What Documentation to Have Ready

When contacting Centrelink about the Carer Allowance bereavement payment, it helps to have the following on hand:

• Your Centrelink Customer Reference Number (CRN)
• The deceased's CRN if you know it
• The date of death
• The death certificate (bring a copy when visiting a service centre, or upload through myGov)
• A copy of the will if relevant to your living arrangements or income

You do not need probate or any court documents to claim the Carer Allowance bereavement payment. This is a federal entitlement administered by Services Australia directly.

Summary

If you were receiving Carer Allowance for the person who died, you are entitled to a lump-sum bereavement payment equivalent to up to 14 weeks of Carer Allowance. Notify Centrelink promptly, bring the death certificate, and confirm that you are claiming the bereavement payment at the time of notification — it will not be triggered automatically.

At the same time, check whether the standard Centrelink bereavement payment, the Pension Bonus Bereavement Payment, or a DVA bereavement payment applies to your situation. Each is assessed separately, and each adds to the income replacement buffer available during the months following the death.

The Queensland Survivor Benefits Navigator maps every applicable benefit against your specific circumstances and provides a consolidated notification checklist so nothing is claimed late or missed entirely.

See more Queensland guides →