Assistance that is not a benefit when a child turns 18

Some assistance that is not a benefit or Community Costs is affected when a child turns 18.

Assistance that is not a benefit for these purposes is limited to:

• Assessment of eligibility for social housing (including tenancy reviews)
• Emergency Housing Grants
• Flexible Funding Assistance
• Recoverable Assistance Payments
• Employment and Work Readiness Assistance
• Seasonal Work Assistance
• Special Needs Grants
• Student Allowance Transfer Grant

When a parent or caregiver gets a benefit or Community Costs as well as other assistance, the 18-year-old child is excluded from all their payments from the start of the pay period following the date of event (i.e. the child's 18th birthday, or the date they no longer meet the criteria to be included). They must not be included any later than the start of the pay period following 31 December of the year they turn 18.

Example

Liza is getting Jobseeker Support and her daughter Grace turns 18 on 11 November 2026. Grace is not continuing in education, and she will be excluded from Liza's Jobseeker Support from 16 November 2026 (the start of the pay period following her 18th birthday).

On 13 November 2026, Liza contacts MSD to apply for a Special Needs Grant for food. When MSD assesses her entitlement for a Special Needs Grant for food, Grace is still included as a dependent child.

If Liza applies for a Special Needs Grant on or after 16 November 2026, Grace will not be included in that application.

When the parent or caregiver is not getting a benefit or Community Costs, the 18-year-old child must generally be excluded from all their parent or caregiver's other assistance from the date of event. They must not be included any later than the start of the week following 31 December of the year they turn 18.

Start of the week

Some assistance may be paid to cover a specific period, such as an Emergency Housing Grant that is paid for 7 nights, or on an ongoing basis, such as Social Housing. The 18-year-old generally should not be included in the assistance, or in any future grants of that assistance, from the start of the week following the date of event.

Note some grants that cover a specific period are not always paid from Monday to Sunday. In these cases, the child can no longer be included from the client's next application.

For payments that can be made for multiple weeks at a time, MSD should consider when the child should be excluded before making the grant. For example, if an Emergency Housing Grant can be made for 21 days, but the child will turn 18 in the first 7 nights of the grant, MSD should only grant the payment for 7 nights. MSD may then grant any additional payments with the 18-year-old excluded.

Example - grant not paid from Monday to Sunday

Rob gets an Emergency Housing Grant paid for 7 nights to cover the period Friday 18 September 2026 to Thursday 24 September 2026 for himself and his son Marcus.

Marcus turns 18 on 20 September 2026. As he is not continuing in education, he can no longer be included in any new Emergency Housing Grants Rob applies for on or after Friday 25 September 2026.