Benefits for dependants

We provide income compensation and funeral expense benefits to eligible families.

If you are a dependant spouse, you will continue to receive support for life, or until you remarry or enter into a de facto relationship.

Eligible dependants include:

  • Spouses
  • Children aged up to 16 years
  • Full time students aged up to 21 years
  • Other family members such as grandparents, parents or siblings may be considered dependants in certain circumstances.

Receiving a benefit for a dust disease

You may be able to receive benefit payments if:

  •  Your family member was an existing member of our scheme (icare Dust Diseases Care) and they passed away due to any cause
  • Your family member did not join the scheme and passed away specifically due to a dust disease.

The criteria to determine how much you receive in compensation varies between the two scenarios. Please read the section below to learn more about how compensation payments work.

If your family member did not apply to join the scheme in their lifetime, and they passed away from a condition not relating to dust disease, unfortunately we are unable to provide compensation to you.

Calculating your benefits

Your compensation benefit can come in two forms, a lump sum payment of up to $403,450 and compensation paid fortnightly of up to $332.80 per week depending on the factors below. Additional amounts may also be payable for dependent children and full-time students between the ages of 16 and 21.

The amount you can receive is indexed and changes biannually. These rates apply between 1 October 2023 to 30 March 2024.

  • You are an eligible dependant and you were wholly dependent on your late family member immediately before their death
  • Your family member passed away due to a dust disease
  • Your family member's exposure to the dust that caused the disease occurred wholly while employed in NSW.

The full benefit is proportionally reduced if:

  • You were only partially dependant on your late family member
  • Your late family member did not pass away due to the dust disease
  • Your late family member was not living with a disability level of 100 per cent related to the dust disease
  • Your late family member was aged 66 years or more at the time of their death.

Receiving other benefits

If you are already receiving government benefits (like a pension from Centrelink or from the Department of Veterans Affairs), you may find those benefits are reduced when you begin receiving weekly benefits from us. This is because our benefits might be assessed by them as income.

You must tell Centrelink or the Department of Veterans Affairs if you receive a payment from us. We recommend that you contact the Centrelink Compensation Recovery Team or the DVA to discuss your individual circumstances.