Advances 103-05040000

There are different types of advance payments that can be made to a customer, which may include:

• Pharmaceutical Allowance Advance
• Farm Household Allowance Advance
• Special Employment Advance (SEA) ($50 - $500)
• Advance payments for non-pension customers ($250 - $500)
• Advance payments for pension customers (value varies depending on the customer's circumstances)
• Lump sum advance payments of Mobility Allowance (MOB) (13 fortnightly payments at standard or higher rate)
• Advance payments of Family Tax Benefit (FTB) (can be a combination of 'regular' or 'one-off' advances, the total amount that can be advanced varies based on the customer's circumstances)
• Advance payments for Home Equity Access Scheme (HEAS) loans. Note: this document does not apply to advance payments paid through the HEAS

Advance payments of loans paid through the HEAS are administered differently to other advance payments. Advance payments paid through the HEAS are added to the customer’s loan balance rather than being recovered from the customer’s fortnightly payments.

The loan (including costs and interest) is generally recovered when the loan is settled, however customers can choose to make loan repayments at any time.

See Advance payments for Home Equity Access Scheme (HEAS) loans for more details.

An advance payment can be considered as one alternative to payday loans from a commercial provider. The procedure Helping customers to build their financial capability contains information about other alternatives and support.

Strongly encourage customer to use digital channels unless they are ineligible. Digital services available include Online Services, Express Plus mobile app or Interactive Voice Recognition (IVR).

Customers ineligible to use digital services to apply for an advance are:

• Customers who have a nominee arrangement in place
• Family Tax Benefit (FTB) customers who are under 18. They are required to have a discussion either over the phone or in person before applying to ensure consideration has been taken regarding the impacts/risks of an advance payment
• Weekly payment customers. They can apply via telephone or at a service centre
• Independent customers under 18 years of age. They are considered 'at risk' customers and must have a face-to-face interview when applying for an advance (except if rural and/or remote). Rurally isolated customers are those who live in rural or remote areas who live more than 90 minutes from a service centre and have no access to a service centre
• Customers who face physical or intellectual barriers to accessing digital options. They can apply over the telephone or in person
• Customers applying for Pharmaceutical Allowance Advance, Farm Household Allowance Advance and/or Special Employment Advance (SEA)

Note: if the customer states self-service options are unavailable, check NNU, Newsflash and Bulletins to confirm this before processing the Advance manually.