Eligibility

Public housing is available for those Territorians who are most in need.

To be eligible for public housing you must be able to provide information on a range of criteria including household income, assets, property ownership, residency and your age.

Eligibility applies to new tenants applying for public rental housing, as well as existing tenants.

Existing tenants will be reassessed for eligibility annually at a minimum. Generally an eligibility assessment is conducted at every rental rebate assessment (possibly every 13 weeks), prior to lease renewal or if you are applying to transfer to another public housing dwelling.

For new applicants eligibility is assessed at the time of application and again prior to allocation of public housing.

Eligibility criteria for public housing

Eligibility is assessed at the time of application, during the wait period and again prior to allocation of public housing. To be eligible for public housing you must be able to meet the following criteria.

Household income

Household income is determined as the gross income (before tax) of all household members aged 18 years and over. Proof of income, from all income sources, must be supplied. For example:

• Benefit or pension recipients must provide a Centrelink statement not more than a fortnight old.
• Salary or wage earners must provide pay slips showing all income received over the previous 13 weeks.
• Self employed people must provide their previous year’s tax assessment from the Australian Tax Office.
• Overseas pension or Veteran’s Affairs pension recipients must provide written evidence of payments.

The Proof of Income fact sheet  196 KB has more information about how to show household income.

Income excluded from assessment

Some sources or types of income are not included in eligibility, such as one-off payments or payments for a specific purpose. For example:

• Baby Bonus (formerly Maternity Payment)
• Bursary and scholarship allowances
• Carer Allowance and Bonus
• Child Care Benefit
• Child maintenance payments paid by you
• Crisis Payment
• Defence Force Reserve payments
• Disability component of Overseas War Pension
• Disability component of Veterans Affairs Pension
• Double Orphan Pension
• Employer paid benefit – non-taxable
• Family Tax Benefit B
• Foster Child Allowances
• GST compensation on benefits and pensions
• Isolated Children Scheme
• Large Family Supplement
• Legacy Benefit
• Maternity Allowance and Maternity Immunisation Allowance
• obility Allowance
• Multiple Birth Allowance
• Pensioner Education Supplement
• Pharmaceutical Allowance
• Rent Assistance
• Salary Sacrifice
• Veterans Affairs Attendant, Clothing, Decoration, Recreation Transport, and Temporary Incapacity Allowances, and
• Youth Disability Supplements

Note: The above list of included and excluded income is not exhaustive. Please contact your nearest Territory Housing office if you require further information.

Assets

You and all other household members will need to provide documentary evidence of assessable assets. Assessable assets include:

• cash holdings
• savings
• shares in estates
• stock market bonds and investments
• superannuation funds which can be accessed
• the value of any interest or equity in land or property
• mobile homes or caravans, and
• recreation vehicles (for example boats).

Assets not included in assessing eligibility are:

• Personal belongings, including household furniture and personal car.
• Assets that cannot be accessed, for example superannuation and roll over funds. Documentary proof must be provided to show assets cannot be assessed.
• $25 000 lump sum payment for service personnel, or their surviving spouses, held as prisoners of war (POW) during WWII and the Korean War.
• $40 000 or $10 000 lump sum payments made to military personnel who spent signifi cant amounts of time inside the F-111 fuel tanks during the Deseal/Reseal process.

Note: The POW and F-111 fuel tank payments are permanently exempt from the assets test. The assets of a person who has received this payment will always be reduced by the amount they received. It should also be noted that income from investment of this payment is to be included as income assessable income.

Property ownership

You must not own or partly own a residential property anywhere in Australia. Exemptions can be made when a property is subject to settlement following a marital breakdown, providing that the property is not available to them and no income is received from the property.

Residency

Your residency status must be one of the following:

• Australian citizenship
• permanent residency status
• Special Category Visa (applicable to New Zealanders), or
• Temporary Protection Visa.

You must reside in the Northern Territory while waiting to be allocated public housing. Exemptions are made for circumstances such as holidays and medical treatment, however you need to keep Territory Housing informed of your movements.

Debt

If you have a debt with Territory Housing, your application may still be accepted if you are making regular payments to repay that debt. Allocation of housing will not occur until the debt has been paid in full, however in cases of exceptional need or family violence, exemptions may be granted.

Age

Under the Residential Tenancies Act, people aged 16 and over can be legally bound by the terms and conditions of a Residential Lease Agreement. Applications will be accepted to house people 16 years and over. Applications from people under 16 will only be accepted in exceptional circumstances.

Where can I get more information?

Applicants must have an independent income to be eligible for public housing. This means that they must have a source of income that is equal to or greater than the Centrelink Youth Allowance paid at an independent rate.

You will be deemed ineligible, if you own or partly-own residential property anywhere in Australia. An exemption may be granted if your property is subject to marital settlement and is unachievable to you and you receive no income from it; or if you have a severe social or medial need that renders the property unsuitable.

For information about eligibility criteria, including household asset and income limits, review the Eligibility fact sheet  154 KB and the Proof of Income fact sheet  196 KB, or contact your local Territory Housing office on 1800 104 076. 

Please note, in 2002, new asset limits were introduced for tenants aged 55 years and over.