General Criteria for Application of the Financial Hardship Rules

Last updated: 12 November 2007

Access to financial hardship

Hardship provisions can apply to people who either:

• receive an assets reduced rate of either:

• service pension,
• income support supplement, or

• to whom one of the above payments is not payable because of the application of the assets test.    
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  9.1.3/The Assets Test

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Additional conditions to be met before hardship provisions apply

The following conditions must also be met before hardship provisions can apply:

• either:

• the person must not have disposed of assets of more than $10,000 within a year, or of income, for less than adequate financial consideration, or
• if the person has disposed of income or assets the Commission has determined that for the purposes of the application of the hardship provisions, the disposal is to be disregarded,

• the person, or the person's partner has an unrealisable asset,
• the person would be considered to be in severe financial hardship if the financial hardship provisions were not applied,
• the person must lodge a written request for payment of service pension or income support supplement under the hardship provision.   
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  Chapter 9.6 Deprivation of Income and Assets

  Section 3.10.3 Lodging a claim under Financial Hardship Provisions

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Crisis payment to people in severe financial hardship

A crisis payment is a one off non-taxable payment to extend assistance to people who are in severe financial hardship and who:

• have been forced to leave their home due to an extreme circumstance, or
• have been subjected to domestic or family violence and choose to remain in the family home after the perpetrator has left or been removed, or
• have just been released from lawful custody.

The payment is designed to assist in the establishment of a new residence or to re-establish a current residence after domestic or family violence has occurred.