Income management in Western Australia

What is income management?

Income management is a budgeting tool to help people to meet ongoing needs for themselves and their family. Income management works by directing a proportion of certain income support and family assistance payments to ensure that they are spent on priority items such as food, housing, clothing and utilities.

Results from the evaluation of income management in Western Australia (conducted by ORIMA Research in 2010) found that a majority of participants believed income management had made a positive impact on the wellbeing of individuals, children and families.

Who does it apply to?

In the Western Australia, income management may apply to:

·  people referred for income management by child protection authorities or

·  people who volunteer for income management.

How does it work?

Income management does not change the amount of payments a person receives. It just changes the way that they receive part of their payment. People participating in income management receive the balance of their payments in the usual way.

Child Protection Measure

Income management is an additional tool offered to the Department for Child Protection, Western Australia, to assist in the management of child abuse and neglect. The Australian Government has worked with the Western Australian Government to enable child protection workers to refer people to Centrelink for income management if it would be helpful to that particular person/family.

Voluntary Income Management

People can volunteer for income management to help them manage and budget their money.

People who volunteer for income management will need to talk to Centrelink to see if their payments can be income managed. If a person agrees to volunteer for income management, they must stay on VIM for at least 13 weeks and can cease income management at any time after 13 weeks.

A person is eligible for a VIM Incentive Payment of $250 for every 26 continuous weeks they remain on VIM. The VIM Incentive Payment is 100 per cent income managed and is automatically paid into the person’s income management account.

What is the Matched Savings Payment?

People on the Child Protection Measure of income management may be eligible for a Matched Savings Payment of up to $500. To receive a Matched Savings Payment a person must complete an approved money management course and maintain a pattern of savings for at least 13 weeks after the commencement of the approved course.

The Matched Savings Payment is 100 per cent income managed. The payment is paid directly into the person’s income management account. A person can receive a Matched Savings Payment only once. The Matched Savings Payment is not available to people on Voluntary Income Management, instead they may be eligible for the Voluntary Income Management Incentive Payment.

What percentage of a person’s Centrelink payment/s is income managed?

For people who volunteer for income management, 50 per cent of their welfare payments are set aside for basic necessities.

Under child protection income management, up to 70 per cent of parents' welfare payments are set aside for necessities such as food, housing, utilities, clothing and medical care.

How can people spend their money?

People can spend their income managed funds in the following ways:

·  by allocating money to the BasicsCard, which can be spent at various stores for items such as food, clothing, petrol, health and hygiene products

·  asking Centrelink to make payments from their income management account for regular expenses such as rent and bills, school meals programs and payments to community stores

·  asking Centrelink to make one-off payments to stores

·  if their priority needs have been met, allocate income managed funds to items that are not priority needs (as long as they are not excluded items). This means people can plan ahead to buy larger items such as motor vehicles or whitegoods with their income managed funds.

Income managed funds cannot be used to purchase excluded goods, including alcohol, home brew kits, home brew concentrates, tobacco products, pornographic material and gambling goods and activities.

What other support services do people receive?

People who are participating in income management are offered a free and confidential referral to Financial Management Program services, for financial counselling and money management skills training.

More information

To find out more visit families.fahcsia.gov.au, humanservices.gov.au or call 1800 132 594 (for customers).

Disclaimer

The information contained in this publication is intended only as a guide. The information is accurate as at November 2012. If you use this publication after, please check with FaHCSIA that it is correct.