06
FAME ‘Munting Parangal’
THE Filipino Australian Movement for Empowerment Inc will
celebrate its 6th anniversary with
a ‘Munting Parangal’ to honour
all Filipino-Autralians who have
ventured to run for political office in New South Wales.
The celebration will be held
on July 12 at the Blacktown Arts
Centre along Flushcombe Road,
Blacktown.
The FAME is a non-partisan lobby and advocacy group
working for the political empowerment of the growing Filipino-Australian community. The movement was borne
out of a passion to see a FilipinoAustralian succeed in the political arena. FAME has recognised
two Filipinos who won seats in
the local councils, Irene Broad
and Jess Diaz.
All honourees and their families, media and dignitaries are invited to this event which is supported by the Blacktown City
Council.
FAME president Mr Rod
Dingle will appreciate to hear
from Filipinos who took great ef-
THE MESSAGE. BRINGING INTO FOCUS FILIPINO PRESENCE IN AUSTRALIA
www.kalatas.com.au | Volume 4 Number 8 | May 2014
COMMUNITY
fort and courage to run for a political seat in federal, state or local council elections.
NOTICE OF REGISTRATION AND ELECTION
ALL citizens of the Philippines abroad, who are not otherwise disqualified by law, at least eighteen (18) years of age on the day of the elections, and who are registered overseas voters, may vote
for President, Vice-President, Senators and Party-List Representatives.
For the May 9, 2016 elections, the filing of application for registration/certification shall be
from May 6, 2014 (Philippine Time) to October 31, 2015 (Philippine Time).
For details, please contact the Philippine Consulate General in Sydney through Tel. No. (02)
92627377, Fax No. (02) 92627355, or Email: [email protected].
WELCOME
to a regular
TALKING HUMAN SERVICES
RVICES
column with Department
of Human Services
General Manager, Hank
Jongen. Here you can find
out important information
Department of Human Services
about the Australian
General Manager
Government Department
of Human Services, which
includes Centrelink, Medicare and Child Support.
HANK
JONGEN
Child Care Rebates
Last month, I reminded families about the importance of lodging tax returns. Keeping the focus on families, this month I have some information for the 300,000 parents who receive Child
Care Rebate.
Child Care Rebates for the first quarter of 2014 (January to April) were paid into the bank accounts of eligible parents over a fortnight starting from April 16.
Families who have already chosen to receive quarterly Child Care Rebate payments don’t need
to do anything to receive this payment.
However, if by May 2 your payment has not appeared in your bank account, there are a couple of convenient ways for you to check whether your payment has been issued without visiting an
office or calling to speak to someone on the phone.
You can use Centrelink Online Services or the Express Plus Families app to view your Child
Care payments. The app also means you can take care of a range of other Centrelink business at a
time and place convenient to you – for example, updating contact details.
I know many families work hard to a balance a tight budget, so families should be aware there
is also an option to receive your Child Care Rebate fortnightly, or even weekl y, depending on how
often your child care service lodges its attendance.
You have until the end of June to change the way you receive your rebate for the upcoming
2014-15 financial year.
The Child Care Rebate helps families with the cost of child care, covering 50 per cent of outof-pocket child care expenses up to an annual limit of $7,500 per child.
To find out more about Child Care Benefit and Child Care Rebate, you can visit
humanservices.gov.au/families.
To find out more about online accounts and Express Plus apps, you can visit humanservices.
gov.au/online
Until next time,
Hank Jongen
Department of Human Services General Manager