Hierarchy and movement between Income Management and enhanced Income Management measures - Overview 103-01010000

IM is a tool that helps people budget their welfare payments and ensures they are getting the basic essentials of life, such as food, housing, electricity and education.

Enhanced IM is a tool that helps customers manage their welfare payments and prioritise spending on essential goods and services such as food, housing, electricity and education.

Both programs set aside a percentage of a customer’s eligible welfare payments.

Since 4 September 2023, all new welfare quarantined customers commence on enhanced IM.

The percentage directed to a customer’s IM account is allocated for priority needs such as food, clothing and accommodation. The remaining percentage of a customer's payment is paid into their nominated bank account.

Deductions such as child support and government debt repayments are taken into account before payments are allocated for income management.

For all measures, 100% of ABSTUDY (with Living Allowance or Pensioner Education Supplement) payments and 100% of lump sum payments are income managed. There are specific payments not income managed.

The percentage directed to a customers enhanced IM account is allocated to prioritise spending on essential goods and services such as food, housing, electricity and education.

100% of lump sum payments are allocated to their enhanced IM account.

Customers may be eligible for multiple measures, however, they may only be welfare quarantined under one measure at any one time. Where a customer could be eligible for more than one measure, a hierarchy is used to determine which measure the customer will be subject to. The hierarchy from highest to lowest measure is:

• Cape York (CYeIM)
• Child Protection Income Management (CPIM and CPeIM)
• Supporting People at Risk (SPaR and SPaReIM)
• Vulnerable Welfare Payment Recipient (VWPR and VWPReIM))
• Compulsory Income Management (CIM and CeIM) - Disengaged Youth (DEY) and Long Term Welfare Payment Recipient (LTWPR)
• Voluntary Income Management and enhanced Income Management
• Nominee Income management and enhanced Income Management (NIM and NeIM)

Note: VIM/VeIM is only higher than Nominee Income Management (NIM/NeIM) if the customer has a current VIM/VeIM Agreement. See Nominee arrangements under Income Management

Each measure can be applied only in the hierarchy order. For example, if a customer’s payments are quarantined under CIM or CeIM but a Notice to Commence enhanced IM is received from a State or Territory Child Protection Authority, the customer will be transferred to CPeIM.

Since 4 September 2023, customers who move up or down the hierarchy will be required to commence enhanced IM.

For more information see, Resources.

Customers cannot commence on IM as the program has closed to new customers, this includes for customers that move measures within the hierarchy.

Customers may change from one measure to another due to a change in their circumstances, or they may be referred by an approved Referring Authority for a different IM measure.

Since 4 September 2023, customers must commence enhanced IM when this change occurs, regardless of whether they move up or down the hierarchy. This is called an ‘Initiative Transfer’.

Below are some examples of when customers will move between measures and therefore move to enhanced IM:

• They transfer from the Disengaged Youth (DEY) measure to the Long Term Welfare Payment Recipient (LTWPR) measure when they reach 25 years
• Their payments are quarantined under Compulsory IM (CIM), and a recognised Referring Authority refers them for Child Protection enhanced IM (CPeIM) or the Supporting People at Risk (SPaR) measure
• They are no longer eligible for any compulsory measures of IM or enhanced IM but choose to enter into a Voluntary enhanced IM (VeIM) Agreement
• They are no longer eligible for IM or enhanced IM on their own, but they have a payment nominee who is subject to welfare quarantining (either program) under a certain measure so are automatically transferred to Nominee enhanced IM (NeIM)
• They are on Voluntary IM (VIM) and become eligible for one of the compulsory measures of IM (except customers automatically identified for the Vulnerable Welfare Payment Recipient (VWPR) Youth measure)
• They are on VWPR Youth categories (UTLAH, SpB or CrP) and a social worker determines the customer is vulnerable and issues a Notice, the customer would commence enhanced IM under a VWPR Notice.

A customer would also commence on enhanced IM without moving between measures, where:

• a customer is on a Child Protection or SPaR Notice and has a Continuation Notice that takes effect with a gap in the Notice of 1 day or more, then they would become subject to enhanced IM as a new enhanced IM customer. This also applies to an IM customer who loses eligibility for their current IM measure, but then regains eligibility under the same, or another IM measure at a later date

Examples where a customer will remain on IM:

• The customer is a current Child Protection (CP), Supporting People at Risk (SPaR), or Vulnerable Welfare Payment Recipient – Notice (VWPR) customer who is given a Continuation Notice, and that Notice takes effect the day following their original Notice (no gap). The customer can remain on IM.
  Note: if a continuation Notice is received for an IM customer from a different Referring Authority then the customer will be classified as a new customer and must commence on enhanced IM.
• If the customer is on Voluntary IM and is identified for VWPR Youth they will remain on VIM and stay on IM
• If the customer moves between VWPR Youth categories (UTLAH, SpB or CrP), the customer will change VWPR Youth categories measures but remain on IM

Service Officers must ensure customers are aware of the need to re-establish payment deductions. This may require further support to help set up the payments from their new enhanced IM account.

Once a participant commences enhanced IM, the IM account will be closed and the funds transferred to the enhanced IM account.

Where a customer has ceased IM (and does not commence enhanced IM) the remaining funds in their IM account will be disbursed to their discretionary account.

If a customer becomes eligible under another measure, Services Australia will attempt to contact the customer, to advise they will end IM and commence enhanced IM. The customer will be sent a letter explaining their transfer between measures and commencement under enhanced IM.

The Resources page contains scenarios of a customer transferring between measures.

Customers whose payments are currently quarantined under IM or enhanced IM, who move outside of a declared IM area or enhanced IM location permanently, will continue to have their eligible payments quarantined for a specific period of time, depending on their measure.

Customers who have been identified for IM or enhanced IM and move out of a declared quarantined location before commencing IM or enhanced IM, or provide a retrospective change of address, may still have their payments welfare quarantined.

For more information see Customer moves out of an Income Management or enhanced Income Management area or Ending enhanced Income Management.