A reader is planning on travelling around Australia and wants to know if he can claim some government support for his accommodation.
Q. Graham
I’ve recently moved out of my unit at Robina on the Gold Coast and rented it out at $550 a week. I am planning to travel around Australia for two years. I was on the full pension, but because of the rental income my pension has been cut to $627 a fortnight. Can I claim rental assistance for the site fees I pay at caravan parks?
•••
A. Renting your home out is a great way to generate income if you are travelling, but unfortunately for Graham, the rules about Rent Assistance are clear and he will not be eligible under his circumstances.
But first, what is Rent Assistance?
It’s a regular extra payment if you pay rent and receive certain payments from Centrelink including a Carer Payment, Disability Support Pension and, yes, the Age Pension.
You don’t need to submit a separate claim for Rent Assistance. Centrelink will check if you are entitled when you make your claim for eligible payments. You may have to complete a Rent Certificate form or provide a lease agreement, but only if Centrelink asks for it.
You can claim Rent Assistance for a caravan park if you pay site fees, but it must be your permanent, primary residence, and only covers one address. So, as Graham will be travelling around Australia, he will not be eligible.
He will also need to be careful about the length of time he travels. Services Australia only considers your home an exempt asset for the first 12 months of travel, after that it may assess your house as an asset under the assets test and Graham could lose even more income from the Age Pension.
For your information, Rent Assistance is also available for community housing such as disability accommodation or student accommodation, defence housing and some retirement village situations.
For more information, visit Services Australia here.
Do you have some money-saving tips for Graham while he is travelling? Why not share them in the comments section below?
Also read: How does Centrelink value rural land?
Rent Assistance while travelling.
PLEASE – be VERY CAREFUL about advice on claiming rent assistance while travelling. YOU MUST NOT have a permanent address. Graham will not qualify for this reason.
We have done it for 12 years, and Centrelink staff HAVE NO IDEA about grey nomads claiming “rent assistance.”
First of all – grey nomads DO NOT complete a ‘Rent Assistance’ Form. Rent Assistance forms are for long term renters who sign a contract or lease every 3, 6 or 12 months.
Rent Declaration Forms (SU336m) are for grey nomads who move ‘rental locations’ on a regular basis. It took a wonderful Centrelink worker – after 4 years to explain that to me. Rent Declaration Forms require a receipt, and ‘ideally’ – a caravan park manager’s signature – BUT THAT IS NOT COMPULSARY! As long as you upload a completed Rent Declaration Form and rent receipt – that is all you need.
Having a MyGov account, allows you to upload documents and photos to “your Vault” – and you are paid from those documents presented. Rent assistance while travelling is on a sliding scale, “the more you pay – the more you receive – up to a fixed amount. E.G. If you pay $210 a week rent in a caravan park ($30 a night) you “may” receive $80 each for a couple for the fortnight.
A WORD OF WARNING!! IF Centrelink staff refuse to provide you multiple copies of the Rent Declaration Form – they are in breach of the Law.
Rent Assistance Forms have a barcode on them and Centrelink mail you out a new every end of contract.
Rent Declaration forms – YOU CAN COPY BY THE HUNDRED!!
One Centrelink manager in a large country town told me I was completing the form incorrectly. She claimed that I had to use my “postal address” – as my “location address.” This was a lie. So she had informed many a grey nomad incorrectly – not knowing that they would have been refused rent assistance payments. I am happy to assist other grey nomads should they need more information.
For short stays, consider carefully whether you need to pay for caravan park facilities. We travelled extensively – for 8 months at a time on occasions – and only stayed in a caravan park about 8 nights in total. We did have a shower and toilet in our motorhome, and on the later trips we had a washing machine but on the earlier ones we just did a fair bit of hand washing in a plastic dish and used laundromats. Free camps usually have toilet facilities and water. If you purchase a portable camp shower, or have a shower either inside or outside a caravan or motorhome, free camps are great. We found the people much friendlier in free camps and keener to socialize. Saved a lot, and made the trip far more enjoyable.