5.4.1.10 Qualification for Certain Benefits & PPS Advance Payments

Summary

This topic outlines advance payment qualification guidelines for the following payments:

newstart allowance,
partner allowance,
parenting payment (single),
parenting payment (partnered),
widow allowance,
youth allowance, and
austudy payment.

Qualification criteria

To qualify for an advance, an applicant must meet the following criteria:

have a payable social security entitlement (section 23(1)-'social security entitlement'), AND
have received a social security entitlement for the 3 months immediately before applying for an advance which may include periods covered by the notional continuous period of receipt rules (e.g. a recipient may have been receiving YA for 2 months and NSA for one month), AND
lodge the application at an office of the department or a place or with a person approved for the purpose by the Secretary (section 1061D(1) and section 1061D(2)), AND
must be in Australia when the application is lodged, AND
request, and be entitled to, between $250.00 and $500.00 in advance, AND
NOT have received an advance in the last 12 months if they claimed their last advance after 1 January 1997, except for certain pension PPS (1.1.P.53) recipients, AND
NOT owe any money to the Commonwealth that is being recovered, or may be recovered, by repayments from their social security payment (section 23(1)-'social security payment'), except for certain pension PPS recipients, AND
NOT be currently repaying a previous advance, (excluding an FTB, PhA or MOB advance), AND
be able to repay the advance without suffering financial hardship.

Some of these criteria are explained in more detail later in this topic. Others are explained in the SS Guide topics referenced:

Act reference: SSAct section 23(1)-'social security entitlement', section 23(1)-'social security payment', section 38B Notional continuous period of receipt of income support payments, section 1061A Qualification for advance payment, section 1061D(1) and section 1061D(2) Lodgement of application, section 1061ED Amount of advance payment - pension PP (single), section 1061EE Amount of advance payment - certain other social security payments

Policy reference: SS Guide 3.8 Supplementary Benefits - Qualification & Payability, 5.4.1.20 Capacity to Repay Advance Payments - Benefits & Pensions, 5.4.1.30 Formula for Calculating Certain Benefits & PPS Advance Payments, 5.4.1.50 Repayment of Advance Payments - Benefits & Pensions

Applications for advance payments

A person may apply for an advance payment of their social security entitlement:

in writing (including on-line applications), OR
in person, OR
by telephone (except Independent under 18 year old YA recipients).

Act reference: SSAct section 1061B Application, section 1061C Form of application, section 1061D Lodgement of application, section 1061E Application maybe withdrawn, section 1061EA Secretary to determine application, section 1061EB Payment of advance payment

Duty of care issues

The likelihood of an advance being misused is not a factor in assessing an application for an advance. If a recipient may have a gambling, alcohol or other addiction, consider the following options:

referring the recipient to a social worker,
suggesting that the recipient apply for a smaller advance, or
thoroughly assessing expenses, as rejection under hardship may be appropriate.

Young people aged under 18 years receiving the independent rate of YA (except if rurally isolated) are required to have a face-to-face contact before receiving the advance. They can, of course, enquire via the telephone. This will ensure that 'at risk' under 18 year old recipients are accessing advance payments only after having a thorough assessment of their individual circumstances and will ensure that they are fully made aware of the impacts of taking up the offer of an advance.

Policy reference: SS Guide 5.4.1.20 Capacity to Repay Advance Payments - Benefits & Pensions

Advances not payable

While recipients generally cannot qualify for an advance while they are receiving any of the following income support payments, periods where they received them count towards the 3-month qualifying period:

sickness allowance,
partner allowance, and
special benefit.

Exception: YA and Austudy recipients qualify for advance payment, while receiving YA or Austudy.

Advances received in the last 12 months

A person CANNOT qualify for an advance if they received the whole amount, or the first instalment, of an advance in the last 12 months.

Exception: Any PPS recipient who applies for an advance within 28 days of becoming unpartnered may receive an advance regardless of when they received their last advance, as long as they have repaid any earlier advance.

Act reference: SSAct section 1061A(4) to (6) Disqualification

Recipients with debts (1.1.D.40) owed to the Commonwealth

Recipients who owe debts to the Commonwealth under SSAct Part 5.2 do NOT qualify for an advance payment. This includes debts that are only recoverable under Part 5.2 of the Act (section 1228), such as debts recovered on behalf of other Government departments.

Example: An Austudy debt being recovered under Part 5.2 disqualifies the applicant for an advance.

Note: Debts under OTHER Commonwealth Acts such as a taxation debt under the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 or a child support debt under the Child Support (Assessment) Act 1989 DO NOT preclude the person from receiving an advance.

Act reference: SSAct Part 5.2 Amounts recoverable under this Act, section 1061A(4)(d) Disqualification - other social security entitlements, section 1228 Overpayments arising under other Acts and schemes

Recipients currently repaying a previous advance

Recipients must fully repay an existing advance of an income support payment before another can be granted. Advances of income support payments, however, may be held concurrently with advances of FTB, PhA or MOB.

Act reference: SSAct section 1061A(4)(b) Disqualification

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Last reviewed: 1 July 2010

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