Resources for Income

NILS provide safe, fair and affordable loans for people on low incomes.

 

Loans are available for up to $1,500 for essential goods and services such as fridges, washing machines and medical procedures. Repayments are set up at an affordable amount over 12 to 18 months.

To be eligible for NILS you must have a Health Care Card or earn less than $45,000 a year (after tax). Loans cannot be used for cash, bond, rent arrears, debt consolidation, holidays or bills.

The Money Smart website provides Australians with a wealth of financial guidance on everything from banking to managing debt. It is definitely worth a look for everyone, regardless of financial situation.

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) will provide extensions to people affected by a disaster. The ATO will also set individuals up with a payment plan if they are unable to pay their full tax debt on time. In times of hardship the ATO may even release all or some of an individual’s tax debt.

Small businesses may also be eligeble for payment plans.

For more information, please visit their website.

The Department of Agriculture and Fisheries provides an extensive list of programs and services available to people affected by drought.

The Department of Natural Resources and Mines provide advice and assistance on a range of issues impacting Queenslanders in drought declared areas.

For general information about drought in Queensland, call 13QGOV (13 74 68).

The DNRM provides assistance in accessing water, water fee relief, drought assistance land rent rebate, and drought assistance land rent deferral.

For more information visit this website.

The Farm Household Allowance is a payment for farming families in financial hardship.

Eligibility basics

• a farmer who spends a major part of your time and capital working on the farm,  or the partner of a farmer who does
• is not over the income and assets test limits
• meets mutual obligation requirements

The amount of Farm Household Allowance you can get depends on your circumstances. This payment is usually the same rate as Newstart Allowance or Youth Allowance. If you have a partner, the allowance may be paid to both of you. You’ll need to submit separate claims.

Farmers and farming families in need of financial assistance can register for a Farmers Card. This is a debit card which uses donations to pay for goods and services from approved businesses. Visit this website to register your family or your business for the card.

The Home Energy Emergency Assistance Scheme:

• is for Queensland households experiencing problems paying their electricity or reticulated natural gas bills as a result of an unforeseen emergency or a short-term financial crisis
• is one-off emergency assistance to help with paying your home energy bills
• pays up to $720 once every 2 years.

Eligibility basics

To be eligible you must be responsible for paying the outstanding bill (the bill does not need to be in your name) and meet one of the following:

• hold a current concession card, or
• have an income equal to or less than the Australian Government’s maximum income rate for part-age pensioners. Contact Centrelink for details of the maximum income rate.
• be part of your energy retailer’s hardship program or payment plan.

Full eligibility details, including the types of emergency situations you might get help for, are available from your energy retailer or participating financial counselling service.

The Queensland Rural Industry Development Authority provide Drought Assistance Concessional Loans (as well as other forms of financial assistance). These loans are now available to assist eligible Queensland farm businesses that have experienced significant financial impacts as a result of drought.

Even if your property falls outside of a 1 in 20 year rainfall deficient area, you may still be eligible for assistance if you can provide evidence of a significant financial impact as a direct result of the effects of drought over a two year period, which can include the forthcoming season.

The Australian Government has allocated Queensland with $50 million for the provision of Drought Assistance Concessional Loans to help drought-affected farm businesses manage, recover from and prepare for droughts and maintain prospects for long term commercial viability.

Loans for up to 50 per cent of a farm business’s final debt position to a maximum of $1 million are available.

Visit this website for more details.

A regular extra payment if you live in a remote area and get an income support payment from Centrelink.

You don’t need to claim this allowance.

Centrelink will check if you can get it when you:

• get your income support payment, or
• move to an eligible tax zone

If you can get it, they will tell you:

• when your payment starts, and
• how much you get

For more information visit this website.

You can get help through a Rural Call Centre by calling the Farmer Assistance hotline on 132 316.

You will talk to staff who understand the needs of people who live in an isolated area. They are experienced and knowledgeable about issues that affect rural families and farming businesses. Some staff may even be from your own rural area.

Rural Call Centres improve rural customer satisfaction with service provision, and importantly, locate services and deliver jobs in regional Australia. If you call the Farmer Assistance hotline on 132 316, you will have your call answered by specialist Rural Call Centre staff.

​​The Rural Financial Counselling Service (RFCS) provides rural financial counselling to a range of clients who are suffering, or at imminent risk of suffering financial hardship.  The Australian Government has recently announced an additional $1.6 million funding to assist farmers including those transitioning off support from the Farm Household Allowance (FHA), by giving them free access to professionals to work through their financial situation and build financial self-sufficiency. Seven regions received this additional funding– NSW Central, NSW Northern, NSW Southern, QLD Northern, QLD Southern, South Australia-Northern Territory and Victoria North-West .

Eligible client groups include farmers, fishing enterprises, forestry growers and harvesters, and small, related businesses. There are 12 service providers across Australia that employ rural financial counsellors to assist clients in need. The RFCS Programme is funded by the Australian, State and Northern Territory Governments. The programme delivers intensive, individualised support to each client without them having to pay.

Financial help if you’re 24 or younger and studying, an Australian Apprentice, looking for work or sick.

Eligibility basics

• 16 to 21 and looking for full time work, or
• 18 to 24 and studying full time, or
• 16 to 24 and a full time Australian Apprentice, or
• 16 to 17 and independent or needing to live away from home to study

For more information visit this website.

Some companies offer assistance to customers in times of need. They may help you set up a payment plan, waive some fees and charges and, defer payment. Both Telstra and Ergon Energy have these schemes. The most important thing to do if you cannot pay a bill is to contact the company so that some sort of agreement may be reached.

The Checkout is a consumer affairs show aired on the ABC. It is a comedy but it is also very educational. They cover everything from multilevel marketing schemes to payday loans and many of the topics covered on the show are very important to those people who are financially vulnerable.

Short clips of this show are available on YouTube. These clips explain complex topics in simple terms and could be a great resource for community education. Below are some examples of such segments.

Forever In Your Debt (the debt relief industry)

Having a Lend of Us (Payday Loans)

Opportunity Knocking (Multi-level Marketing)

Shocking Savings: Peak Prices (how to save on Energy)

Returning Goods (Consumer Law guarantees)