Exemptions from Income Management

If you are on Income Management in the Northern Territory, you may be able to get an exemption. If eligible, you will remain exempt from Income Management unless your circumstances change.

You may be able to get an exemption if you get a youth or long term payment.

If you do not have dependent children

If you do not have dependent children, you may be able to get an exemption if one of these applies. You:

• are a full time student or apprentice
• had less than 25% of your basic rate of payment for at least 4 of the last 6 fortnights
• get Special Benefit and are 16 or older.

In some situations, an exemption may be applied automatically, and you do not need to do anything.

If you have dependent children

If you have dependent children, we look at your circumstances and the age of your children.

You may be eligible for an exemption if both:

• we are satisfied that you are not financially vulnerable
• your children are participating in appropriate activities based on their age.

Evidence if your children are under school age

If your children are under school age, we may ask for evidence of all the following:

• their immunisations to ensure they are up to date
• their regular health and development checks
• their participation in age-appropriate activities.

Evidence if your children are school aged

If your children are school aged, we may ask for evidence they are either:

• attending school
• participating in approved education, training or paid employment.

We will tell you what evidence we need. This depends on the age of your children and your circumstances.

Types of evidence we might need include:

• immunisation records
• childcare, preschool or school attendance records
• reports from health professionals.

If we ask for school attendance, your child’s school can give you an attendance report. We may need more information if attendance is not regular.

If we ask for evidence, you will have 28 days to give it to us.

How to apply

To apply for an exemption, call the BasicsCard General Enquiry line.

Tell us if you need an interpreter and we will arrange one for free.

If your partner wants an exemption, they will need to talk to us about their options.