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What is commonwealth rent assistance?
Commonwealth Rent Assistance (CRA) is a
non-taxable rent supplement paid by the
Commonwealth Government to people living in
community housing or renting privately.
In NSW, all registered community housing
providers (CHPs) contracted by the
Government to deliver housing assistance to
people are required to collect 100% of
residents’ CRA payment in rent. The income
from CRA is then used to support additional
social and affordable housing.
WHO IS ELIGIBLE?
City West Housing (CWH) residents may be
eligible for CRA if they:
receive an eligible income support payment
/ supplement or service pension; or
receive more than the base rate of Family
Tax Benefit Part A; and
pay more than a minimum amount of rent
set by Centrelink.
CWH Rent Policy Regarding CRA
CWH is aligning its rent approach with other
Affordable and Community Housing providers in
NSW and one of the changes involves setting
the CRA assessment rate at 100% towards rent.
CWH will work out the rent contribution for each
household based on the maximum entitlements
for each resident and the information about
child support income referred to in any
documents from Centrelink. For example, if
your income statement from Centrelink says
that you receive $8,000 per annum in child
support, this will be included in your rent
calculation regardless of whether you receive it.
It is the responsibility of all residents to make
sure information from Centrelink accurately
reflects the income they are receiving.
How do people apply for CRA?
Based on the household’s income, CWH will
estimate the amount of CRA that residents may
be eligible to receive from Centrelink. Residents
will need to advise Centrelink of their new rent
in order to receive the correct amount of CRA.
Your Housing Manager can sign the Rent
Certificate to confirm the new rent amount.
Residents can apply either online under their
myGov account or they can complete the
relevant form and visit one of Centrelink’s
service centres. Click here for more information
about the steps to claim rent assistance.
What happens if residents choose
not to apply for CRA?
For residents who are eligible to receive CRA,
100% of the payment will be included in the rent
contribution when the new policy takes effect.
For eligible people who choose not to apply for
CRA, their rent contribution will still include
100% of the CRA payment they are entitled to
receive. This will mean that the resident will find
themselves out of pocket.
Who can assist if I have further
questions?
CWH’s Housing Managers are available to
provide further information about CRA and any
rent policy related matters. They can be
contacted by phone on 8584 7500 or email
enquiries@citywesthousing.com.au
To find out the current rates of CRA as set by the
Commonwealth Government, click here.
