Budgeting options for customers 003-24092607

Centrepay is a free and voluntary bill paying service for Centrelink customers. Customers have payments deducted from their income support payment and transferred to an approved and registered Centrepay Third Party Organisation (TPO). The deductions are made before the income support payments are deposited into the customer's bank account. Centrepay can be used to pay bills, such as private rent, electricity, gas, water and telephone.

The Rent Deduction Scheme is a free service for Centrelink customers to have their government housing payments deducted from their income support payment each fortnight and sent directly to the appropriate state or territory Housing Authority.

Most customers are paid fortnightly, some may have trouble making their payments last until the end of the fortnight. They may benefit from weekly payments. Getting weekly payments must be the customer's choice. Customers who elect to receive weekly payments will continue to have fortnightly instalment periods, get the same amount per fortnight, however it will be paid as weekly payments (two) instead of 1 fortnightly payment.

A customer may get part of their income support payment or Family Tax Benefit (Part A) early as an Advance Payment. These lump sum payments are not an additional payment. They are repaid out of the regular payment over a set period. Advance payments are designed to make payments more flexible to the needs of customers.

Emergency payments provide immediate short-term financial assistance to eligible individuals directly affected by a major disaster event and those who can show they have experienced a loss of income as a direct result of a major disaster.

Flexible debt repayments support customers affected by a crisis, disaster, emergency event or financial hardship by providing flexible debt repayment choices.

Customers can negotiate a variation to their standard withholdings for a current debt by contacting us.

A payment nominee may be appointed for the customer. A payment nominee will receive all the customer's Centrelink payments on their behalf. When a person is appointed a payment nominee they must act in the best interests of the customer, ensuring that these payments are used exclusively for the customer's benefit.

Payment nominees can be appointed voluntarily by the customer or be involuntarily appointed by a court, for example, Guardianship board. Where the arrangement is court appointed only the nominee can cancel the arrangement. A voluntary arrangement can be cancelled by either the customer or the nominee.

There are tools and calculators available to help customers review or make a budget. Customers can use the Simple money manager on the Services Australia website. This is available in 9 languages, with audio content to describe each section. There is also a calculator to help customers understand their options to rent or buy the goods they need. See Resources for a link to these tools.

There are a range of financial capability services, resources and referral options, both internal and external to the agency, to help customers manage their money and build financial capability. See Resources for links to internal and external services.