More help for families:
(1) boosting family payments

Family Tax Benefit, Part A

There will be an increase of $600 a year in the maximum and base rates of FTB (A) for each dependent child.

The $600 increase will be made available as a lump sum following the end of each financial year at the time that reconciliation of entitlement for the previous year occurs.

If required, the lump sum payment will be available to offset any overpayment of FTB that a family may have incurred during a previous year.

With this package, total assistance to families will have increased by over $6 billion a year since 1996. The base rate of family assistance has increased from less than $600 per child in January 1996 to almost $1,700 per child in July 2004 (see chart above), a real increase of over 100 per cent.

2003-04 lump sum payment to families

As well as the ongoing increase in FTB (A), all families receiving or eligible for FTB (A) in 2003-04 will receive an immediate lump sum payment of $600 per child. This will be paid to eligible families before 30 June 2004, at a cost of over $2 billion.

Most families will receive $600 before 30 June 2004 and be eligible for a further $600 per child after their 2003-04 reconciliation of entitlement – an additional $1,200 per child over the next 12 months.