What's new

Hardship obligations - Special Needs Grants, Advance Payment of Benefits and Recoverable Assistance Payment

Hardship obligations have changed for Special Needs Grant, Advance Payment of Benefit or Recoverable Assistance Payment applications.

• clients will be offered services that will help them build their financial capability when they apply for hardship assistance - this is not the same as requiring a budgeting activity obligation
• budgeting activity obligations are not compulsory at specific engagements - this obligation should only be applied when a client would be helped by completing a budgeting activity
• clients are no longer required to have an intensive interview in the service centre on their sixth grant date
• a client does not need to fail both the reasonable steps obligation and the budgeting activity obligation together

See:

• Special Needs Grants Hardship obligations
• Advance Payment of Benefit Hardship obligations
• Recoverable Assistance Payment Hardship obligations

Housing - Assessment of eligibility

'Contracted emergency housing' is now known as 'transitional housing'. Clients getting a Special Needs Grant for emergency housing, or in a house provided by a transitional housing provider, are considered to be in emergency housing and have a risk rating of 4. See:

• Risk rating for clients "not living in any accommodation" (including living in emergency housing)
• Living in emergency housing for the time being