Change of circumstances and ending exemptions from Income Management 103-01080070

Students and apprentices with an exemption from Income Management and receiving Youth Allowance (YA), ABSTUDY or Pensioner Education Supplement (PES), will still receive an end of course review.

If the customer advises they will continue with the course, the exemption will automatically continue with an end date matching the new course end date.

If the customer advises they will not continue with the course, the exemption will need to be reassessed and manually ended.

Although the period of exemption from Income Management for a customer undertaking full time study is 12 months, a reassessment can be completed where there is a significant change of circumstances.

This means if a full-time student has a significant change in circumstances, for example, a full-time student enrols in a course, receives an exemption, then withdraws from the course within a few days or weeks, the customer's exemption can be ended prior to the end of the 12 months.

Eligibility for Income Management will need to be determined as the customer may transfer to a different payment.

If the customer is eligible for Income Management again, they are treated as a new customer to Income Management. This means they have 28/56 days to engage with the Services Australia for an initial assessment interview.

Exemption re-assessments under this category are only assessed by the Income Management Exemption and Assessment Team (IMEAT). Relevant customers should be referred to this team for exemption re-assessment.

Although the period of exemption from Income Management for a customer with dependent children is 12 months, a reassessment can be completed where there is a significant change of circumstances.

This means if the customer no longer has dependent children in care, for example, last dependent child is now over the school age or leaves the customer's care, the customers exemption can be ended prior to the end of the 12 months through the Income Management Exemption and Assessment Team (IMEAT). Customers can still apply for an exemption under the participation in education or training category.

Where a customer has been granted an exemption for a 12 month period, and the sole or last eligible dependent child passes away, the exemption will continue until its expiry date. On expiry, the parent would not be eligible to reapply for another exemption on responsible parenting grounds, should they have no dependent children in their care.

Note: although this is a significant change in circumstance, the Department of Social Services (DSS) have confirmed that in these situations the exemption is to remain in place for the duration of the 12 month exemption period.

Exemption re-assessments under this category are only assessed by the Income Management Exemption and Assessment Team (IMEAT). Relevant customers should be referred to this team for exemption re-assessment.

If a customer with a dependent child is exempt from Income Management and that child leaves their care, the exemption can be reassessed by the Income Management Exemption and Assessment Team (IMEAT), and the exemption ended prior to the end of the 12 months.

If that child enters the care of another income managed customer, this customer can apply for an exemption under the responsible parenting category.

Where parents of a dependent child or children are both subject to Income Management, only one person can apply for an exemption under the parental exemption category.

Therefore if a couple change the caring responsibilities of their child/ren, and the initial carer has an exemption under the parental exemption category, this must be ended if the new primary carer wants to claim an exemption under the same category. See the Resources page for an example.

Note: the parent not granted an exemption under the parental exemption category may still apply for an exemption through work or study.

A customer may no longer be eligible for Income Management, for example, payment is cancelled, customer moves indefinitely or permanently out of the Northern Territory.

• If a customer is eligible again for Income Management within 13 weeks, the exemption will continue. There is no change to the original end date of the exemption
• If a customer is not eligible for Income Management for 13 weeks, the exemption is ended. If the customer becomes eligible again for Income Management, a new application for an exemption is required