A question to Aussie facepainters (about Centrelink)

I gotta ask this...

To any Australian face painters I have this query:

I live in semi-rural Australia and my face painting is infrequent at best - the occasional party or craft fair (although I have had a few more in the last couple of years). Thing is my general employment (office admin) is *very* erratic and I am mostly on Centrelink (a government employment agency who provides a dole) looking for additional work.

This gig isn't enough to act as full-time work and I doubt its wortwhile (yet) to get an Australian Business Number and start filling out mounds of paperwork for the occasional weekend. However, I really don't want to get offside of the government!

My question is this:

With this in mind how do I keep Centrelink happy? How do *you* (where applicable) keep Centrelink happy? What do you guys do? Advice please!

Okay. Even if it is regarded by taxation as still a hobby. You receive less than a certain income so you don't pay tax. Centre link don't see it in the same light. They regard it as income. You will need to ask them for a profit and loss form. They will treat it as a business even if you don't have an ABN. So make sure you include all expenses. Things like insurance that you pay annually are divided in quarterly amounts.profit and loss are submitted 3 monthly. I have your problem don't make enough or cover enough hours face painting to make Centrelink happy. I paint at our local market most weekends and do parties and corporate gigs. QOnly 10 hours at my other job. My husband receives a pension from them otherwise I would avoid them. But how much I earn decides what he and I would receive from them. If it wasn't for that I would avoid dealing with them. Full time work in rural areas unless you have lots of qualifications isn't going to happen.

*argh*
What kind of records do I need to keep? and how?? Seriously I've only had a face paint session on average once a quarter (November is different but that's because it is November) oy... do I just count things from November onward? *headdesk*