Mandatory Review for Emergency Benefit

Mandatory Reviews for Emergency Benefit will only apply to clients whose benefit has an expiry date of more than 52-weeks, or whose Emergency Benefit has no expiry date.

MSD must review a client’s Emergency Benefit within 52-weeks of when the benefit commenced, or 52-weeks from when the client’s last Mandatory Review was completed.

The purpose of a Mandatory Review for Emergency Benefit is to:

• check for any changes to a client’s circumstances
• determine if the client still meets the qualifications for Emergency Benefit and
• review the rate of Emergency Benefit payable

If a client declares a change in circumstances that may affect their conditions of grant, MSD should check if  the client continues to meet the conditions of grant for the Emergency Benefit.  

Note the Review of Annual Income is a separate process to a Mandatory Review. 

Clients also getting Accommodation Supplement or Disability Allowance have these reviewed at the same time as their Mandatory Review for Emergency Benefit.

Example: client is getting Emergency Benefit and Disability Allowance

Michael has been getting Disability Allowance since 8 December 2025, and his Emergency Benefit commenced on 4 April 2026.

Because the initial Mandatory Review date is determined by the Emergency Benefit commencement date, the review date for both Disability Allowance and Emergency Benefit will be reset to 52 weeks from 4 April 2026.

Clients are notified at least 20 working days before their Mandatory Review date, unless their Emergency Benefit is suspended due to the client being temporarily overseas or in prison. The notice period allows sufficient time for clients to respond to the Mandatory Review.

Note if a client's Emergency Benefit is suspended when the Mandatory Review notice is sent, they are not required to respond to their Mandatory Review until their Emergency Benefit is to be resumed.

To respond to the Mandatory Review, the client must:

• confirm or provide current information about their circumstances and
• provide further information to MSD if requested.

Clients must confirm the information MSD holds is correct or provide any new information before their review date.

When a client has responded to the Mandatory Review and continues to qualify for Emergency Benefit, their next review date is set 52 weeks from the date their Mandatory Review was completed, (if the expiry date for the Emergency Benefit is more than 52 weeks or there is no expiry date).

When a client does not respond to the Mandatory Review before their review date, the Emergency Benefit will suspend.

If the client does not respond to the Mandatory Review to confirm their circumstances within 8 weeks after their payments have suspended, the Emergency Benefit will be cancelled.

A client can still do their Mandatory Review during those 8 weeks. However, once the Emergency Benefit has cancelled, the client will need to apply for Emergency Benefit if they still need this assistance.

A client's Emergency Benefit cannot be resumed before they have responded to their Mandatory Review during the 8-week suspension period.

 If a client's Emergency Benefit suspends as the result of the client not responding to their Mandatory Review, all of their assistance will also suspend, except for the following payments:

• Child Disability Allowance
• Orphan's Benefit
• Unsupported Child's Benefit
• Childcare Subsidy
• OSCAR (Out of School Care and Recreational Subsidy)
• Guaranteed Childcare Assistance Payment

The Mandatory Review is complete when MSD makes a decision about whether the client continues to qualify for Emergency Benefit and the rate of benefit payable.

MSD will either:

• continue paying the benefit at the existing rate
• adjust the rate of benefit so the client is getting the correct rate
• suspend the benefit if there is no rate payable for a period (e.g. client has variable income)
• cancel the benefit if the client no longer qualifies

Clients getting Emergency Benefit may have met the exceptional circumstance criteria for having all or part of their cash assets disregarded when they were granted their benefit on the grounds of hardship. 

If a client has a Mandatory Review for their Emergency Benefit and there has been a change to their assets, MSD may consider if the exceptional circumstances criteria still applies and if the cash assets should still be disregarded.