Overdrawn bank account
You can get help to manage your money if your bank account is overdrawn.
What's an overdrawn account
A bank account is overdrawn if your balance goes below zero.
This can happen if either:
- it looks like you have money to take out but another transaction hasn’t gone through yet
- you use direct debit to pay your bills.
This creates a debt to the bank. Your bank might also charge you a fee. Remember, you have to pay the debt and fee back to them.
Sometimes your bank will take money from your account to pay back the debt and fee. They can't take more than 10% of your Centrelink payment. This is to protect your payment.
Bank means a bank, building society or credit union where you have an account.
Protected payments
Under the Code of Operation, your bank can't take more than 10% of your payment if you get:
- ABSTUDY
- Age Pension
- Australian Victim of Terrorism Overseas Payment
- Austudy
- Carer Allowance
- Carer Payment
- Crisis Payment
- Disability Support Pension
- Double Orphan Pension
- Education Entry Payment
- Farm Household Allowance
- Income Support Bonus (payment no longer exists)
- JobSeeker Payment
- Mobility Allowance
- Parental Leave Pay
- Parenting Payment
- Partner Allowance
- Pension Supplement
- Special Benefit
- Widow Allowance
- Youth Allowance.
Also, if you get one of the payments above, your bank can't take more than 10% of your:
- ABSTUDY supplements
- Assistance for Isolated Children
- Carer Adjustment Payment
- Carer Supplement
- Child Disability Assistance Payment
- Dad and Partner Pay
- Energy Supplement
- Essential Medical Equipment Payment
- Family Tax Benefit
- Newborn Upfront Payment and Newborn Supplement
- Pension Bonus Bereavement Payment
- Pension Bonus Scheme
- Pension Bonus Top Up
- Pensioner Education Supplement
- Pension Loans Scheme
- Pharmaceutical Allowance
- Remote Area Allowance
- Rent Assistance
- Single Income Family Supplement
- Stillborn Baby Payment
- Telephone Allowance
- Utilities Allowance
- Work Bonus
- Youth Disability Supplement.
Banks can't take more than 10% of these Department of Veterans' Affairs payments:
- Crisis payment
- Defence Force Income Support Allowance
- Education Entry Payment
- Income Support Supplement
- Periodic Payments of Wholly Dependent Partner's Pension
- Service Pension - age, invalidity, or partner
- War Widow(er)'s Pension.
You can repay more than 10% to your bank if you wish.
This agreement about how banks recover money from you does not cover all types of income. Speak to your bank about their fees and repayment policies.
Example of a protected payment
If you get a payment of $200, you can keep at least $180 (90%) of your payment. The bank can take up to $20 (10%) to repay the debt and fee.
Banks that agree to the protected payment
A list of banks, building societies and credit unions that agree to the Code are on these websites:
- Australia Bankers' Association members
- Australian Finance Industry Association members
- Customer Owned Banking Association (COBA) members who have signed the COBA Code of Practice.
When the Code doesn't protect your payment
The Code doesn't protect you if either:
- your account is overdrawn due to a dishonest or unlawful act
- a third party gets money you owe them direct from your account due to a court order.
Help from your bank
Talk to your bank if you overdraw your account. They can help you manage your debt.
You need to respond to requests from your bank about your debt within 60 days. If you don’t they could either:
- make a report to a credit reporting body which can affect your credit rating
- take legal action to force you to repay your debt.
If you can't resolve disputes with your bank, you can contact the following:
Help from us
If you don’t have enough money to live on, we can help. We'll check if your bank has followed the Code. Call your regular payment number if you’d like us to help.
You can read:
- tips and tools to manage your money
- about our social work services
- information in your language.
If English isn't your first language, you can either:
- call our Multilingual Phone Service to speak with a skilled bilingual service officer about Centrelink payments and services
- ask for an interpreter at a service centre.
Other support services
Find a financial counsellor in your area on the Financial Counselling Australia website.
Page last updated: 20 September 2020
This information was printed 25 February 2021 from https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/individuals/services/centrelink/rent-assistance/how-manage-your-payment/overdrawn-bank-account. It may not include all of the relevant information on this topic. Please consider any relevant site notices at https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/individuals/site-notices when using this material.