Brett Eustace had previously pleaded guilty in the Launceston Magistrates Court to two counts of obtain financial advantage from a Commonwealth entity.

During sentencing on Thursday, the court heard the single father falsely declared income by under reporting or reporting no income 93 times over three and seven months.

Originally from Queensland, Eustace was working in aged care when he made the false reports between September 2013 and April 2017, because he was allegedly struggling for money.

Eustace received about $60,000 in single-parent payments over the offending period, but based on his earnings he was only entitled to about $10,000.

The court heard Eustace, aged 30 to 34 at the time of the offending, moved to Tasmania to be closer to his family after the relationship with his child's mother ended.

His ex-partner was abusive towards him and the separation was difficult, the court was told.

In February last year Centrelink contacted Eustace after data matching technology with the Australian Tax Office detected discrepancies in his reporting.

He was put on notice by Centrelink, but he continued to make dishonest declarations for another 14 months.

Magistrate Simon Brown described Eustace's offending as blatant.

"It is an aggravated feature that the offending continued after February 2016," Mr Brown said.

The court heard Eustace had started paying back the debt and had prospects of becoming a teacher.

Mr Brown said he took into account Eustace was a sole parent, a term of imprisonment would end his chances of being a teacher and the hardship it could cause to his child, but the extent of the offending required a custodial sentence.

Eustace was sentenced to eight months' jail, but he would be eligible for release after three months as long as a $1000 recognisance was paid.

He was convicted, ordered to pay back the outstanding $44,590 and was given a good behaviour bond of two years, which would start from his release.