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 being met, Service Officers must take into account 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

Under Child Protection Income Management (CPIM) and Supporting People at Risk (SPaR) measures, the referring authority may recommend where income managed funds should be directed. Social workers who assess a customer as Vulnerable for Vulnerable Welfare Payment Recipients (VWPR) Income Management can also recommend how income managed funds could be directed.

Service Officers are not required to comply with the recommendation, but should document how these needs will be met when conducting an assessment or reviewing a customer's priority needs

A Service Officer can complete a review of a customers priority needs at any time throughout the period of Income Management. This is to identify if there are any changes to their priority needs and Income Management expenses are updated accordingly. These reviews take place when:

• a change in the customer's circumstances, for example change of address
• the system raises a Work Item, indicating priority needs must be checked
• the customer requests a review of their priority needs
• a State or Territory Child Protection Authority requests a review of priority needs
• requests for priority needs expenses do not match the current priority needs workflow

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