Over the past few years, we’ve heard that people with lived experience have had conflicting advice over whether they have to declare their participation income to Centrelink and/or the Australian Tax Office (ATO), and whether this would affect any income they currently get from Centrelink, or any services they access, or might need to access in the future.

👋 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝘄𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲

We are a group of people from not for profit (NFP) and government organisations who are working together to advocate for some clarity from Centrelink and the ATO about whether or not participants need to declare income from paid participation. We are called the Consumer Participation Practice Network and are based in Victoria, Australia.

❓ 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼 𝘄𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝘆 ‘𝗣𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻’?

Co-design workshops, focus groups, document reviews, program evaluations, sharing your story (via speaking engagements or in writing), being on a committee or Consumer Advisory Group, participating in research and evaluations, or any other way that you are invited to share your lived experience expertise with a service provider.

📜 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘄𝗲 𝗱𝗼 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻?

We are in the process of building an evidence base for change for this work and would love to know more about your experiences (if you're comfortable sharing them with us, of course). All the information gathered here is private - we will not share your name or contact details at any stage.

What we are interested in doing is sharing what we learn with others. This will mean using the general data and themes we gather, which might include sharing some of your quotes. We will not be sharing any information that identities you in any way.

⏱️ 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲?

Depending on how much you share with us, the survey may take 10-15 minutes to complete.
We have four sections: A bit about you, your participation in activities, how payments work, payments and benefits. We use multiple choice questions.

❓ 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝘂𝘀?

Contact participation@mindaustralia.org.au and we will call you back