So i know i have to ring these f***ers up and they've screwed me around so many times with my sickness, but i'm going to be working casual from now on and start going to tafe in July so i was just wondering if anyone here gets any rent assistance from centrelink.. obviously i'll have to do the whole ausstudy thing as well cos i'll be making SFA with the amount of time i have to go to uni but yeah does anyone know roundabout how much they get from centrelink for rent assistance(also i realise it will all be different based on your rent)
cheers guys

http://www.centrelink.gov.au/internet/internet.nsf/payments/pay_how_ra.htm

Check that out

Also here
http://www.centrelink.gov.au/internet/internet.nsf/ea3b9a1335df87bcca2569890008040e/1cc221acc1aacf1cca256ee3007a381f!OpenDocument

Rent Assistance is paid at a rate of 75 cents for each dollar of rent you pay above the relevant rent threshold, up to a maximum rate.

http://www.centrelink.gov.au/internet/internet.nsf/payments/qual_how_ra.htm

You qualify for Rent Assistance if you:

* receive a pension payable under the Social Security Act 1991
* receive more than the base rate of Family Tax Benefit if you have dependent children
* receive an allowance or benefit if you don't have dependent children, and you
o are over 25, or
o are partnered, or
o are under 25 (under 21 if you receive Disability Support Pension) and living permanently or indefinitely apart from parents or guardians, and
* meet residence requirements.

Please Note: You cannot get Rent Assistance if you get Austudy Payment.

last edited by Kat at 13:58:51 12/Apr/06

That site also says Rent Assistance is not given to people who get AusStudy

yeah cant get it while on ausstudy but you can get it via recieving a payment for being a job seeker then get a temp suspension from looking for work to study then you can get your rent assistence, however i think the max suspension is 1 year. you can get it via youth allowance as well i believe.

well i could still get it for the next 2-3 months before i study and youth allowance then go onto study hopefully.. funny how i asked this my grandma just called me and told me to go to centrelink asap. lol

Mmmm, as far as I'm aware, u qualify for rent assistance under certain conditions if ur entitled to youth allowance (well, at least a couple of my friends do anyway). It always depends on your circumstances though, so you're probably better off going in and seeing someone.

It's the same thing by a gazillion different names
IDIOTech bureaucracy at it's finest

agreed. What a f***ed up system. Bring back the old days

well i havent been to centrelink for so long after they refused to give me money for like 2 months because i had to sign something in front of them when i couldn't move from a major operation.. so that kinda f***ed me off about them and they expected my grandparents to pay for everything because my dad earnt to much and he owned the house.

What other assistance can you get from centrelink? I hear you can get text book assistance..

its funny how people whinged for years that centrelink made it too easy for people to bludge off, so they make it harder to get the dole and now people whinge that its too hard to get.

having worked for them i find the reason people have so much trouble is because they dont listen or read the information they are given. that and people actually expect hand out from the governments when ever there in a tough situation when its designed to be a source of money that you can JUST survive off.

I got Rent Assistance when I moved out as well as Youth Allowance, I was paying $100 a week rent and I got around $60 a fortnight rent assistance. The maximum amount you can get is not much more than that I think...

A friend of mine from the old school days did a perla on centerlink. Well kind of. His parents signed all most of their stuff over to his grandparents, reducing the amount of assets they owned so he could easily get max ausstudy/youth allowance or whatever it was called back in the day, among other things.

I belive centerlink have patched that hole up now.


Austudy is good if you work, otherwise it sucks.

The strength of Austudy compared to Youth Allowance is that you have a much higher threshhold of earning $'s before they start taxing your payments, $.50 for every $1 I think.

I've seen people work out the pention payments so that they figure working 20 hours a week or so is the most they can do, otherwise they lose payments and it is no longer worth it to work. Then the government whinges people are rawting the system, then the people whinge the government is rawting them. Heh, must be a fine line.

had a look around that site, has anyone tried claiming youth allowance while they got phat lewt in the bank? it says something about a 1-12 week liquid asset waiting period or something if you got over $2500, interested in this as i'll probably do it when i rack up the 17123 or whatever i need to in a few months

if you have money in your bank they will make you wait till enough time has passed that you would usually spend that cash, this is because the pension is there to help those who need, not for those who dont want to dip into there savings account to pay for things they need.

i remember dealing with some chick who spent 12k of savings on a new car with a 10k loan then quit her job thinking she could just sign up for the dole and use the dole to pay off her car while she studys, she got in a huge nancy fit when we didnt give her youth allowance and told her she should of spent that 12k funding herself through studies instead of a new car. not that she would of got youth allowance anyway cause her parents earned way to much.

I get $90-100 a fortnight I think. I get max centrelink though because it goes through my mum (who works part time) not my dad (split up, obviously).

I <3 centrelink. This is my chance to get free monies before I get owned when I graduate :(

i use to get 160$ a fortnight, then when i hit 18 that was going to go up to like 320$ or something a fortnight. so i can't see it being max centrelink money though.

agreed. What a f***ed up system. Bring back the old days

hahahah! yeah, dss and (the other job one?) was a great system. walk into socail security, theyd send you to the other agencey. and vise versa.

people are f***ing idiots. everyone that works for centrelink has alot of power. all you have to do is smile, flirt a little* and youll get anything you need.

and if all else fails, just throw a few computer screens around as a mate of mine did. that usually gets their attention.

1 thing about the people behind the counter(who are earning a very decent wage for the job they do, mindyou), is that they do not have to inform you as to what you are entitled to. they are encouraged not to. its up to you to find out all the information for yourself.

I still laugh -

When I moved to melb I wasnt able to get any assistance as they said my mother was still caring for me. I was in melbourne, I moved from my home town of brisbane and my mother was overseas and somehow they said nope - still being cared for by your mum, she earns to much, nothing for you.

Then I find myself in a bit of hot water, move back to brisbane and so does my mum and because I was in a defacto relationship for 6 mths (which ended in death or domestic violence) I am suddenly classified as independant and getting independant rates.

Make sense to anyone else??????

centrelink payment is just not worth the headache.

i use to get 160$ a fortnight, then when i hit 18 that was going to go up to like 320$ or something a fortnight. so i can't see it being max centrelink money though.

If you're referring to me, I was talking about rent assistance :)

I get $435/fortnight :D

No guilt though. I'll have it all taxed back to s*** within a few years of graduating.

get a job you lazy bastards :)

Also mav i think max for rent assitance is $80 per forthnight mate, also need to be on newstart and not austudy, if your over 21 it should be $390+$80 per 2 weeks.

Big protest @ UQ and QUT today.

They Say; Students living in poverty because Government isn't giving them enough money.
I hear; Winge Winge Winge, I'm a lazy bum. The Government gives me money for free but I want more! I need more Beer money.

Get a Job. I did.

Nb: Shouldn't sick people get Sick benefits?

Get a Job. I did.

I am currently in my 8th year of university. I have 30+ contact hours a week. I also work part time 12 - 14 hours per week. I had a year off in between degrees where I worked full time in a s*** job but luckily earnt enough to qualify for Youth Allowance when I began my 2nd degree...

Sure I don't get a lof of money each fortnight but I am grateful for every cent, cos it means I can work a few less hours each week...

last edited by nubbin at 21:04:42 12/Apr/06

last edited by nubbin at 21:04:53 12/Apr/06

im glad i have a job that pays me more in a day then what id get in a fortnight. living on that would be impossible.

They Say; Students living in poverty because Government isn't giving them enough money.

The only thing that annoys me about austudy is that dole bludgers get paid more for doing nothing.

im glad i have a job that pays me more in a day then what id get in a fortnight. living on that would be impossible.

Hmmm, what do u do?

For all those who get Ausstudy make sure you get them to take out the tax, because it's counted as income and if you earn more than $6000 you are gonna end up with a nice bill from the ATO asking for some of it back.

Also, pretty sure the highest amount a fortnight for rent assist is $90, but you have to be paying over $160 a week in rent. If you are on rent assistance and you are paying over $160 a week you're an idiot.

I am currently in my 8th year of university.

Come back when you've done 11 years, punk

trog if she studied at your pace she would easily eclipse 20years at uni.

My mum has yet to leave uni, so she is in her 30something'th year.. BEAT THAT

hey guys my mum's a deadbeat look at me me mem eme mememememeemememmemememe

Poor Persay. It is okay, you can break the cycle if you try hard enough

nubbin, on the plus side you should be able to rake in the $'s when you finish. Allthough, you certainly are going to work for it hahah :p

I've never got a cent out of Centrelink :(

trog... 11 years.. what are you studying man? you got 3 degrees or something?

you must love studying dude... :S

nubbin, on the plus side you should be able to rake in the $'s when you finish.

It's funny how so many ppl seem to think doctors rake it in. I mean, don't get me wrong, they do make a good living, but they also have to pay a pretty packet for insurance and whatnot. Plus they do make a lot of sacrifices (in terms of time, money, etc) to get their qualifications and maintain them. Like u said, they do really earn every cent they make! :)

yer, they do.