Recognise twins as a multiple birth

Currently, twins are not recognised as a multiple birth by the Australian Government, in particular by Centrelink.

There is a multiple birth allowance, but it's only payable to parents of triplets or more. Twins are the most common multiple birth to occur, and they do come at double the cost to their parents, yet the Australian Government do not recognise them as a multiple birth for Centrelink payments.

The word 'multiple' means 'more than one', not 'three or more', yet this is apparently what the government takes it to mean. Twins do have a greater cost than singleton babies. Parents of twins have double the nappies, formula, clothing, childcare costs, food, and every other cost associated with raising young children. Some families even have to buy a larger car to accommodate their twins.

As at the first of January 2012, the Multiple Birth Allowance is $136.64 per fortnight for triplets, and $182.00 per fortnight for quadruplets or more. A multiple birth allowance of even $100.00 a fortnight would assist greatly in helping parents of twins with their day to day costs, as it does to parents of triplets and higher order multiples.