Vehicle repayments - for employment
A motor vehicle or other vehicle repayments can be included in the assessment of Temporary Additional Support where the client or their partner require the vehicle to travel to and from paid employment and no alternative transport is available (e.g. public transport).
The maximum weekly allowable cost for vehicle repayments per family is $85.96 (as at 1 April 2026).
Note there is no limit to the number of vehicles that can be included in Temporary Additional Support.
Vehicle purchased before the client became a beneficiary
If the vehicle was purchased before the client became a beneficiary Temporary Additional Support can only be paid if:
- there is no public transport reasonably available
Note this includes clients who at the time of their application for Temporary Additional Support, are or have been a beneficiary at some point since purchasing the vehicle.
Vehicle purchased while the client was a beneficiary
If the vehicle was purchased while the client was a beneficiary Temporary Additional Support can only be paid if:
- there is no public transport reasonably available
- the cost is essential to meet the family's daily living needs
- the cost could not be easily avoided or reduced when the expense was incurred (for example there was no public transport available at the time of purchase)
Verification
The client must provide verification of their vehicle repayment costs.
For more information see:
SWIFTT process
If the client or any family members have allowable costs for Temporary Additional Support, you will need to manually add them into the STAWA screen.
Legislation
- Allowable costs regulation 71 Social Security Regulations 2018
