Disbursement of funds when Income Management ends 103-01060000

A customer's IM may end for the following reasons:

• The customer's eligible income support payment cancels
• The end date for their IM measure is reached
• The Voluntary IM Agreement is ended
• They no longer meet the legislative requirements of the applicable IM measure
• They are granted an exclusion or exemption from IM
• They have an excluded payment nominee for IM purposes
• The customer has passed away

When IM ends, Services Australia must pay the customer any funds that remain in their IM account within 12 months of IM ending. The agency can pay these funds:

• In fortnightly instalments (where the residual balance is $210 or more)
• By transferring funds to BasicsCard or a Third Party Organisation (TPO) to purchase non prohibited items
• In a lump sum - this is only available to customers:
• Where the residual balance is less than $210, or
• The customer exits Voluntary IM

Note: the agency will not disburse funds if it is likely the customer's payments will be income managed again within 60 days.

When IM ends, Services Australia sends customers a letter inviting them to contact the agency to discuss the:

• disbursement of any residual income managed funds, and
• options available to continue paying their ongoing expenses

These interviews are voluntary and are only conducted at the customer’s request.

If a customer chooses not to attend a Disbursement interview, the Auto Disbursement rules are applied.