Reduction in Fees from 1 October

From 1 October 1997, proprietors charging variable hostel fees were required to reduce fees by the amount of rent assistance previously received.

To compensate for this, the full $5.30 per day Commonwealth pensioner supplement is paid by DH&FS to the provider.  This amount is paid for all income support pensioners, irrespective of whether they received rent assistance or not.

Most war widow/ers actually receive full rent assistance although its effect is limited by the ceiling rate.  Therefore, where a war widow/ers is receiving ISS or the Social Security equivalent, the full drop in the basic resident contribution should be passed on to the resident (i.e. their daily fees should drop by $5.30 per day) where the ISS paid is greater than $74.80.  If payment is below this amount, the proprietor is obliged only to pass on the actual amount of rent assistance lost.