Financial Improvement Agreement

A Financial Improvement Agreement helps you improve your financial circumstances. You’ll need to discuss and enter into an agreement with your Farm Household Case Officer (FHCO).

Your FHCO will consider your personal circumstances, goals, resources and challenges when setting up your agreement.

The agreement sets out your main goal to achieve financial self-reliance.

Your goal can be achieved through a combination of:

• increasing income from the farm
• increasing other income
• preparing to exit farming.

If you don’t enter into an agreement, your payment may stop.

Activity test

Your agreement will list activities you agree to do while you get Farm Household Allowance.

To meet the activity test, you need to do at least one compulsory activity such as:

• doing approved training or study
• getting professional advice
• seeking other paid work.

You may be able to do other suitable activities.

The activity supplement can be used to help you pay for activities in your agreement.

You’ll work with your FHCO to ensure your activity test requirements align with your farm’s operational requirements.

If you don’t meet the activity test, your payment may stop.

What to do if you can’t meet the activity test

If you can’t meet the activity test, you must tell your FHCO as soon as possible.

If you can’t contact your FHCO, you can call the farmer assistance hotline.

In some circumstances you can get a temporary exemption to the activity test.

When to ask for an exemption

You may get a temporary exemption in some situations. This can include if:

• an immediate family member dies
• there’s family and domestic violence
• you’re sick or injured and have an approved medical certificate
• you’ve been affected by natural disasters
• you’re pregnant and you expect the birth in less than 6 weeks
• you’ve just had a baby within 6 weeks
• you’re attending a training camp as a member of the Defence Force Reserves
• you need to complete essential farm work.

You’ll need to contact your FHCO to ask for a temporary exemption from your activity test requirements. We may ask for proof of your circumstances.