Public transport to work

Allowable public transport costs can be included in the assessment of Temporary Additional Support.

In addition, these costs must be essential to meet the family's daily living needs and could not be readily avoided or varied when the expense was incurred.

If a client or their partner is in paid employment you can include the costs of public transport to and from their place of work in the assessment of Temporary Additional Support.

Clients who are using public transport and have a Community Services Card can get a 50% discount on public transport fares.

To qualify for Temporary Additional Support, the client must take all necessary steps to obtain financial assistance from all other sources to reduce their costs.

If a client has not used their Community Services Card to apply for the discount, you must discuss their reasons if their actual public transport costs are higher than they would be if the 50% discount was applied.

If the client did not apply for the discount, you must consider their reasons and decide if they had a good reason not to take the necessary steps (e.g. the client has a disability and there are accessibility issues with applying for the Community Connect discount through a public transport provider’s website, and this is the only way to apply).

If there is no good reason, you should consider declining, reducing or cancelling Temporary Additional Support.