Allowable costs
Allowable costs for Temporary Additional Support must be ongoing and regular expenses, calculated on a weekly basis.
The full list of allowable costs for Temporary Additional Support purposes is grouped in the following categories:
- Essential household items
- Employment-related costs
- Weekly qualifying accommodation costs
- Health and disability costs
- Formula-assessed Child Support costs
Also see:
When a client has a cost not on the allowable cost list MSD should consider alternative assistance such as:
Debt insurance payment
When a client gets a debt insurance payment in relation to a mortgage, health or disability payment, reduce the allowable cost by the amount of the payment.
Hire purchases with deferred payment options
A client may have a hire purchase with a deferred payment option. This means the client doesn't need to make payments for some time. However, the client may decide to start paying for the item before the date stated in the terms of the contract.
Voluntary payments made before the client is required to make repayments cannot be included in Temporary Additional Support.
Consolidating debt
When a personal loan has been taken out to consolidate debt which includes existing hire purchase repayments, MSD needs to calculate the amount for each allowable cost.
Determine the percentage of the total loan which is allowable costs for Temporary Additional Support to determine the cost to be included.
For more information see:
Legislation
- Allowable costs regulation 71 Social Security Regulations 2018
