Rent Assistance (RA) savings provisions 108-08080110

From 20 March 1996, the savings provision was phased out and is now obsolete.

Prior to 13 June 1989, customers were protected from the two-thirds rule.

The two-thirds rule meant, two thirds of the total amount is considered to be for rent if:

• a customer pays for board and lodging, and
• the amount paid or payable for lodgings cannot be identified

Customers covered by this savings provision received Rent Assistance (RA) on the basis that 100% of the amount paid was for rent.

From 20 March 1996, savings provisions were phased out by reducing the saved RA rate by each CPI increase. This continued until the saved rate was lower or the same as the rate of RA under current rules. RA only increased if a higher rate of RA was payable when not applying the savings provision.

RA was calculated under this savings provision based on:

• a rent threshold of $40 a fortnight
• an accrual rate of 50 cents for each dollar of rent paid
• a maximum rate of RA of $30 a fortnight
• reduced by any CPI increases from 20 March 1996

The saved rate continued until one of the following occurred. The customer:

• received the same amount or more RA under the current rules
• ceased paying board and lodging
• ceased to qualify for RA

From 20 March 1996, the savings provision was phased out and is now obsolete.

Pensioners qualified under the saving provision if they:

• received Rent Assistance (RA) prior to 3 November 1998
• resided in a retirement village, and
• the provision preserved their qualification to receive RA as non-homeowners. They are treated as homeowners for the assets test

RA was calculated under this savings provision based on:

• assessing homeowners as non-homeowners
• applying the current rules for RA

From 20 March 1996, savings provisions were phased out by reducing the saved RA rate by each CPI increase. This continued until the saved rate was lower or the same as the rate of RA under current rules. RA only increased if a higher rate of RA was payable when not applying the savings provision.

From 20 March 1996, the savings provision was phased out and is now obsolete.

Rent Assistance (RA) was calculated under this savings provision based on:

• a rent threshold of $50 a fortnight
• accrual rate of 50 cents for each dollar of rent paid
• a maximum rate of RA or the amount they received at the time
• reduced by any CPI increases from 20 March 1996

The saved rate would continue until the customer:

• received the same amount or more Rent Assistance under current rules
• ceased paying rent
• paid less than $50 a fortnight in rent
• ceased to qualify for RA
• had their rent reduced by at least $20 a fortnight, or
• accommodation circumstance changed from board and lodging to any other type of rent or vice versa

From 20 March 1996, savings provisions were phased out by reducing the saved RA rate by each CPI increase. This continued until the saved rate was lower or the same as the rate of RA under current rules. RA only increased if a higher rate of RA was payable when not applying the savings provision.

Restoration of the saved rate was primary intended for couples who could lose their saved rate due to:

• illness
• separation, or
• respite care

It would occur where:

• there was no break in entitlement to the primary payment, and/or
• the change in circumstances that led to the loss lasted no more than 42 days

Savings provisions for RA had the following codes applied to the Accommodation Details (AC) screen:

• In the RA Savings Provision: field, the reason:
• BLS for Board and Lodgings
• RVS for Retirement village
• M93 for March 1993

These codes are no longer applicable and should be removed if they are present. When removing the saved rate code a warning will appear. If the reason automatically reappears:

• Overstrike the reason code using the space bar
• Press [Enter]
• Finalise the activity on the Assessment Results (AR) screen

Note: if the AC screen is corrected the reason code may automatically reappear. Remove the code prior to finalising the activity.