Eligibility Criteria for Public Housing

							Eligibility Criteria
for Public Housing

To be eligible for public housing     • Legacy Benefit
you must be able to meet the          • Maternity Immunisation
following criteria. Eligibility is      Allowance
assessed at the time of application   • Mobility Allowance
and again prior to allocation of      • Multiple Birth Allowance
public housing.                       • Older Australian Bonus
                                      • Pensioner Education
Income and Assets Tests                 Supplement
The table over the page shows         • Pharmaceutical Allowance
the current Income and Assets         • Rent Assistance
Eligibility Limits.                   • Salary Sacrifice
                                      • Telephone Allowance
Household Income                      • 50 per cent of the Student
Household income is determined          Financial Supplement Scheme
as the gross income of all              Loan
household members aged 18             NB. Income derived from the
years and over. Income includes       investment of the Prisoner of
gross household income from all       War Payment is included for the
sources excluding:                    purpose of determining eligibility.
• assistance for Isolated Children
                                      Assets
  Scheme
• Bursary and Scholarship             Applicants and household
  Allowances for children             members, as previously defined,
• Carer Allowance and Bonus           will need to provide documentary
• Child Care Benefit                   evidence of assessable assets.
• Child maintenance payments          Assessable assets include:
  paid by the applicant               • cash holdings
• Crisis Payment                      • savings
• Maternity Allowance                 • shares in estates
• Defence Force Reserve               • stock market bonds and
  Payments                              investments
• Disability component of             • Superannuation funds which can
  Overseas War Pension                  be accessed
• Disability component of Veterans    • the value of any interest or
  Affairs Pension                       equity in land or property
• Double Orphan Pension               • mobile homes
• Education Entry Payment             • recreation vehicles e.g. caravan,
• Employment Entry Payment              boats etc.
• Family Tax Benefit B
                                      Assets not included in assessing
• Foster Child Payment
                                      eligibility are:
• GST compensation on benefits
  and pensions                        • personal belongings
• income of household members         • household furniture
  under the age of 18 years (not      • personal car
  including applicant, spouse         • assets that can’t be accessed;
  or singles requesting shared          e.g. superannuation, roll over
  accommodation)                        funds which provide the
• irregular overtime                    applicant’s primary source of
• large Family Supplement               income

                       DEPARTMENT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND HOUSING
                                  E L I G I B I L I T Y      C R I T E R I A



• $25 000 Lump sum payment for Service                      Debt to Territory Housing
  Personnel (or their surviving spouse) who were            Applications may be accepted from applicants who
  held prisoner of war during WWII, or the Korean           have a debt to Territory Housing, if the applicant
  War or the European War.                                  is making regular payments to repay the debt.
Applicants need to provide documentary proof that           Allocation of housing will not occur until the debt has
assets cannot be accessed.                                  been paid in full, however in cases of exceptional
                                                            need or family violence, exemptions may be
Property Ownership                                          granted.
Applicants must not own or partly own a residential
property anywhere in Australia. Exemptions can be           Age
made for applicants whose property is subject to            Under the Residential Tenancies Act, people aged
settlement following a marital breakdown, providing         16 and over can be legally bound by the terms and
that the property is not available to them and no           conditions of a Residential Lease Agreement.
income is received from the property.                       Territory Housing will accept applications and house
                                                            people 16 years and over.
Residency
• Australian Citizenship                                    Applications from people under 16 will only be
• Permanent Residency status                                accepted in exceptional circumstances.
• A Special Category Visa (applicable to New
  Zealanders)
                                                            Further Information
• a Temporary Protection Visa                               For further information please contact your local
                                                            Territory Housing office.
Applicants must reside in the Northern Territory
while waiting to be allocated public housing.
Exemptions are made for holidays, medical
treatment etc, applicants need to keep Territory
Housing informed.


                    Table 1 - Maximum household income and asset limits
       Household size                     Assessed gross income limit                       Asset limit
                1                                   $650 per week                              $45 600
                2                                   $845 per week                              $65 200
                3                                   $984 per week                            $103 300
                4                                  $1 126 per week                           $103 300
                5                                  $1 323 per week                            $103 300
                6                                  $1 409 per week                           $103 300



                                  www.nt.gov.au/territoryhousing
Casuarina - Ethos House, 270 Trower Rd Casuarina NT                                             p:   08 8922 5526
Darwin - Construction House, Cnr Mitchell and Briggs Sts Darwin NT                              p:   08 8999 8814
Palmerston - Highway House, Cnr Broadland St and Palmerston Cct NT                              p:   08 8999 4767
Alice Springs - Cnr Leichhardt and Gregory Tce, Alice Springs NT                                p:   08 8951 5344
Tennant Creek - Government Building, Peko Rd Tennant Creek NT                                   p:   08 8962 4497
Katherine - NT Government Centre, First St Katherine NT                                         p:   08 8973 8536
Nhulunbuy - Shop 2 Arnhem House, Endeavour Square, Nhulunbuy NT                                 p:   08 8987 0533
Client Relations Officer                                                                         p:   1300 301 167
Printed 02/08
                                                                                                or   08 8999 8853