Advance Payments

What Is An Advance Payment?

An advance payment is like a loan. A portion of your fortnightly entitlement is paid early in a lump sum. You then pay it back over the next 6 months.

Qualification Criteria!

To qualify for an advance, an applicant must

1.     Be in receipt of a social security entitlement such as the age pension or disability pension, and

2.     Have received that an entitlement for the 3 months immediately before applying for the advance,

3.     Not owe any money to the Commonwealth, and

4.     Not have received an advance more than 12 months ago which has not been fully repaid, and

5.     Be able to repay the advance without suffering financial hardship.

How Much Can You Apply For?’

There is a minimum and a maximum advance payment amount that you can apply for.

If you are single and on a full age pension the minimum is $529.15 and the maximum is $1,587.45.

If you are a member of a couple and on a full age pension the minimum is $398.85 each and the maximum is $1,196.55 each.

In any 6 months you can only get:

·       One advance at the maximum amount

·       Up to 2 advances of smaller amounts or

·       3 advances at the minimum amount.

The actual amounts that you can get in advance is dependent on questions that you answer when you make the application. The outcome may be different for different individuals. 

How to Apply?

The application for an advanced payment can be done through your Centrelink Account, by phone using the self service option, or by visiting a Service Centre. If you have a nominee, the nominee can do it for your through your Centrelink Account.

It is not an onerous process, but you will need to declare how much income you have left at the end of each fortnight. This is to make sure that you have the capacity to make the repayments without causing you financial hardship.

Repayments

Are automatically calculated by Centrelink and are deducted each fortnight from your pension. The amount will be calculated so that the debt is repaid over the next 6 months. You will be advised of the repayments amount before you finalise your application.