New claim for Crisis Payment after customer released from prison or psychiatric confinement 003-07030030

Customers can qualify for CrP-PRI if all of the following apply:

• they meet the basic eligibility criteria for CrP
• they claim, either:
• within 7 days after being released from prison or psychiatric confinement
• up to 21 days before the customer’s expected release date
• be in Australia when claiming the payment
• have been in prison or psychiatric confinement for 14 or more days
• have been charged with committing an offence

Note: if the date of release was more than 7 days ago, the customer may still qualify if they do either of the following within 7 days of release from prison or psychiatric confinement:

• make contact about a CrP-PRI, or
• seek a payment or concession card

Customers can claim CrP-PRI using the following channels:

• Online through myGov, by accessing Centrelink Services and selecting:
• Make a claim
• Crisis Payments
• Apply for Crisis Payment for Release from Prison or Psychiatric Confinement
• Assisted Customer Claim (ACC)
• Paper claim for Crisis Payment Release from Prison or Psychiatric Confinement (SU508)
• Request for restoration of Disability Support Pension or Age Pension Claim for Crisis Payment and Anticipated Payment (SU695)

Because of the urgent nature of CrP-PRI claims, the preferred payment methods are either:

• New Payments Platform (NPP)
• Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS)

Customers released from prison who had payments suspended may be eligible to have their payment restored.

Disability Support Pension (DSP)

Customers may have their DSP suspended due to imprisonment (SUS-IMP) for up to 2 years. There is no need for a new claim in these cases. DSP may be restored from date of release.

Most other payments will have a suspension period of up to 13 weeks. They may be restored from the date of release from custody.

For more details about restoring specific payments, see Restoration of payments (CLK).

Parenting Payment

Parenting Payment Partnered (PPP) cannot be suspended for imprisonment. The customer will have to make a new claim.

Customers may have their Parenting Payment Single (PPS) restored from the date of release if they:

• meet all other eligibility for PPS from the release date, and
• contact within 13 weeks of the date of notice to suspend

See Cancellation, suspension and rejection codes for Parenting Payment (PP).

PPS customers will generally not have a dependent child in care while in custody. PPS may be restored upon the customer's release from prison if:

• the customer has the child with them in custody, and
• the child remains with them when released

In most cases, assess these customers for JobSeeker Payment (JSP) or Youth Allowance (YA) before their release from prison.

ABSTUDY Living Allowance

Customers may have their ABSTUDY Living Allowance suspended for up to 15 weeks.

Customers can upload evidence through the Document Lodgement Service.

If prison admission or release confirmation DOCs are not on the customer’s record, the customer must provide the following:

• a letter from the correctional centre or psychiatric institution to confirming their custody details
• confirmation from the respective corrective services department

See Resources for examples.

For CrP-PRI, the 14 day detention period starts the day after the customer entered custody:

• 'Day 0' for the CrP-PRI count (the day they enter custody) is not included in the count of 14 days
• ‘Day 1’ for the CrP-PRI count starts from the next calendar day

The day the customer is released from prison is not included in the count of 14 days

See Resources for examples.

Note: a person is in custody if they are in prison. ‘In custody’ means customers are either confined, while under sentence because they have been convicted of, or are pending trial for, an offence, in:

• psychiatric institutions
• remand centres
• police cells/watch houses
• youth training centres
• community correctional centres

Only one CrP-PRI can be paid for the same circumstance. For example, if a customer is paid CrP-PRI under the Social Security Act 1991, and then becomes an ABSTUDY customer, they cannot claim CrP-PRI under ABSTUDY policy for the same circumstance.

Offer support services to customers claiming CrP-PRI who are ineligible.

Customers with a Managed Service Plan (MSP) are helped through One Main Contact (OMC) or by Personalised Services Service Officers (PSSO). Follow the servicing arrangements for MSPs when assessing CrP-PRI claims. See Managed Service Plan (MSP) - Customer service delivered through a One Main Contact (OMC).

If a customer asks for an explanation of a CrP-PRI decision, refer it to the business area of the decision maker. For example, a subject matter expert (SME) in Smart Centre Operations should explain a decision made by a Smart Centre staff member.

An Authorised Review Officer (ARO) does all applications for a formal review of a CrP-PRI decision.

CrP-PRI claims can be reassessed after an explanation or formal request for review of the decision. See Initial contact about a decision and the review of decision process.

CrP-PRI is not payable if the customer is released from prison later than originally scheduled.

Reassess the original grant decision if both of the following apply:

• the customer has been paid CrP-PRI before release from custody
• the release date is revised to a date after the original scheduled release date

See Reviewing and reassessing Crisis Payment (CrP).

The customer must make another claim for the revised date of release.

See Resources for an example.

CrP-PRI customers paid in the last 14 days can pause their debt repayments for up to 3 months using either:

• self-service, using Money you owe
• the Express Plus app

To consider if a temporary exclusion from debt recovery is needed, see Temporary write off Centrelink debt.