Anyone have any idea?

[gemfyre]

If you declare you are living together as a couple (i.e. defacto) to Centerlink, but you are both financially independent (i.e. you own your own stuff, no joint ownership), does Centerwank still treat you as 1.5 people instead of 2 (and pay you accordingly - i.e. less).

Comments

[tigernic.livejournal.com]

Sorry sweetie, but even if you declare that you are both financially independent, they will still see you as a couple and pay you less. You don't need to own anything together to be declared as a couple. When I moved in with Ashley, we declared ourselves as defacto (and we had our own stuff) and we each got separate payments put into our own INDIVIDUAL bank accounts, so you won't have to worry about your pays being combined in one account unless you want it that way. You guys will get paid less though as they decide that your payments are based on what your partner is earning. That's how i eventually got really screwed over once Ashley started working, so your pay will probably go down depending on how much Matt earns from his delivery driving job. Hopefully you should still be ok though. If you have any more questions, please feel free to ask =)