If you're receiving Centrelink payments that doesn't mean a home loan is off limits. You may be able to get a mortgage, but the process is a little tougher. If you currently receive Centrelink benefits, you may be able to borrow money from a bank for a small home loan.
Centrelink will give you a 2 year exemption period before it counts your home as an asset. You can get longer exemptions in some cases. This may apply, for example, if your spouse or partner still lives there.
You need to tell us when your circumstances change. Then we can assess your eligibility for payments and services using the correct details. This includes changes to real estate assets for you and your partner. Read more about real estate assets and how they can affect your payment.
Assets test
Your or your partner's income can reduce how much we pay you. Assets are property or items you or your partner own in full or part, or have an interest in. They can affect your payment. Your or your partner's income can reduce how much we pay you.
The assets thresholds will be reintroduced from Friday meaning that a single person can have up to $268,000 worth of assets on top of their home and still access payment. Singles who do not own their own home can have up to $482,500 in assets and still access JobSeeker.
If you leave Australia to live in another country, your payment will stop when you depart. If your travel is short term, your payment will stop when you depart, unless you're travelling for an approved reason. You may get JobSeeker Payment because of a residence exemption available to some New Zealand citizens.
You and your partner must have no more than $5,000 in combined readily available funds. This includes any liquid assets you can sell. Liquid assets include cash you have on hand, money you have in the bank and financial investments you have. They also include gifts and other money available to you at short notice.
The Work Bonus income bank is useful for pensioners who wish to work, particularly those who undertake intermittent or occasional work. Note: from 1 December 2022 to 31 December 2023, a one-off, temporary credit of $4,000 applies to Work Bonus income bank balances.
Details Centrelink will ask for when you sell and purchase a home. Other asset updates to understand where the funds have come from.
A homeowner is an income support recipient who has, or whose partner (1.1. P. 85) has: a right or interest in the place they occupy, AND. the right or interest gives them reasonable security of tenure.
How Centrelink knows your assets without you telling them. Centrelink has multiple data-sharing agreements with government organisations like the ATO, Medicare, PayG and more. This helps them to maintain a view of your assets, and in certain circumstances they may apply additional scrutiny to individuals.
Taxable income is the amount you receive after you take away all your allowable deductions from your assessable or gross income. Gross income includes: Salary and wages, lump sum payments, money from business or self employment, rent, interest, investments and dividends. partnership and trust distributions.
You must tell us about any lump sum you get, even if you think it's exempt from the income test.
But some of your assets are also 'deemed' to earn income and so they may be viewed in two ways at once by Centrelink. Your car is an asset. Unlike your primary residence, it is not exempt from the assets test. It is, however, not deemed, so there is no income attributed to this asset.
The Cost of Living Payment is a $250 one-off payment to help with the cost of living. The Cost of Living Payment is not taxable, and you don't need to report it as income. You'll get it if you were residing in Australia on 29 March 2022, and: you were able to claim, or were getting an eligible payment.
The payments will be indexed, rising just over 6 per cent. This means the Youth Allowance rate will go up by at least $19 a fortnight. Austudy will increase by between $32.40 and $41.40 per fortnight, and those under the age of 21 on the Disability Support Pension will receive an extra $27.40 to $40.70 a fortnight.
Youth Allowance, Austudy, Abstudy and DSP and some other miscellaneous payments will increase from 1 January 2023. The full schedule of indexation adjustments is here.
Centrelink has very wide powers to thoroughly investigate deposits that have been made into your account. For example, it has the power to obtain your information from other government agencies as well as accessing information from banks, building societies and credit union accounts.
For your Special Benefit claim you must provide bank statements for the last 3 months for all accounts you have. This includes any overseas accounts. If you have a partner, we'll also require bank statements for all accounts held by them.
You can choose the amount of the loan you get under the Home Equity Access Scheme. We charge an annual interest rate of 3.95% that compounds each fortnight on the Home Equity Access Scheme loan balance. You can choose to get your loan under the Home Equity Access Scheme as a lump sum advance payment.