Income Management - Priority needs 103-01040000

When a customer’s payments are income managed, they must use their Income Management account to meet their and their family's priority needs.

Service Officers should consider the allocation of payment for the following basic items when assessing a person’s priority needs:

• School Meals Program (if applicable)
• food, basic personal hygiene and basic household items
• housing, for example, rent or loan repayments
• utilities, for example, electricity, gas, water, sewerage
• clothing and footwear
• medical needs

To determine if a person's priority needs are met, Service Officers must consider information available on the customer's record. For example:

• accommodation details
• children in care
• age of children

They should also consider any voluntary deductions (Centrepay and Rent Deduction Scheme payments). The customer may elect to change the voluntary deductions to Income Management expenses or maintain/vary/cease the deductions.

Service Officers trained in Priority needs assessments should conduct a Priority needs assessment. Service Officers not trained in Income Management should seek assistance from:

• a specialised Service Officer (if available)
• a Service Support Officer, or
• the Technical Support Line (select 'Income Management' option) if required

Section 123TH of the Social Security (Administration) Act 1999 sets out priority needs for Income Management. For a link, see the References page. The full list of priority needs is as follows:

• food
• non-alcoholic beverages
• clothing
• footwear
• basic personal hygiene items
• basic household items
• housing - including:
• rent
• home loan repayments
• repairs and maintenance
• household utilities - including:
• electricity
• gas
• water
• sewerage
• garbage collection
• fixed line telephone
• rates and land tax
• health - including:
• medical, nursing, dental or other health services
• pharmacy items
• the supply, alteration or repair of artificial teeth
• the supply, alteration or repair of an artificial limb (or part of a limb), artificial eye or hearing aid
• the supply, alteration or repair of a medical or surgical appliance
• the testing of eyes
• the prescribing of spectacles or contact lenses
• the supply of spectacles or contact lenses
• the management of a disability
• child care and development
• education and training
• funeral expenses
• public transport services, where the services are used wholly or partly for purposes in connection with any of the above needs
• items required for the purposes of the person's employment, including:
• a uniform or other occupational clothing
• protective footwear
• tools of trade
• the acquisition, repair, maintenance or operation of the following that is used wholly or partly for purposes in connection with any of the above needs:
• a motor vehicle
• a motor cycle
• a bicycle
• anything specified in a legislative instrument made by the Minister

After a Service Officer determines the priority needs of a customer and their dependents, the customer and Service Officer will discuss and agree on allocation of the income managed funds. Income managed funds can be used to pay for priority needs through:

• payments to third parties, including Third Party Organisations, or
• BasicsCard - a reusable card which allows customers to use their income managed funds to purchase goods and services at approved BasicsCard merchants. This is done through the Electronic Funds Transfer at Point of Sales (EFTPOS) network

Note: if Services Australia is aware of an unmet priority need of the customer, their partner, child/ren and/or other dependents, they must take action to meet this need.

There are 4 guiding principles that should be used in all decisions about the use of income managed funds.

While Services Australia has authority to make decisions about a customer's income managed payments, a customer should also have significant input into these decisions. A key objective of Income Management is to help customers meet their priority needs

If a customer has funds in their Income Management account and the agency is aware of an unmet priority need of the customer, their partner, children and/or other dependents, the agency must take action to meet that need

Income managed funds cannot be unreasonably withheld from a person. If current and reasonably foreseeable priority needs have been met and a customer seeks access to unspent funds (other than for an excluded good or service), the request cannot be unreasonably refused

If a customer has children, the agency must have regard to the best interests of those children and/or dependents in deciding how income managed funds should be used

To complete a priority needs assessment see Determining a person’s priority needs for Income Management.