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We may send you a letter to ask you to review and confirm or update your rent or accommodation details. It’s important you do this to make sure you’re getting the right amount of Rent Assistance. We send letters to make sure we have up to date records, including:
- how much you pay in rent or accommodation costs
- whether you’re still living at the same address.
If you get letters online, we’ll send the letter to your myGov Inbox or your Express Plus Centrelink mobile app. If you don’t get electronic letters, we’ll send you a letter in the mail.
What you need to do
If you get a letter, you need to review and confirm your rent or accommodation details and update any that are no longer correct.
You must complete your Rent Assistance review by the due date in the letter. If you and your partner both get a review letter, just one of you needs to reply.
Completing your Rent Assistance review
If your Centrelink online account is linked to myGov, you can complete your review online.
If you don’t have a myGov account or a Centrelink online account, you can create an online account.
You can also complete your review by doing any of the following:
- using the Express Plus Centrelink app
- using phone self service
- calling the dedicated phone number in your letter.
Completing a Rent Certificate form
We may send you a Rent Certificate form to confirm your details. You must sign the certificate and return it by the due date. If you don’t, your Rent Assistance will stop.
You need to send us a copy of your lease or tenancy agreement with the completed form.
If you don’t have a lease or tenancy agreement, your landlord needs to sign the Rent Certificate form to verify the details are correct.
Submitting the form
If your Centrelink online account is linked to myGov, sign in to submit the form. Use the Upload documents guide to help you.
You can also do any of these:
- use the Express Plus Centrelink mobile app
- send it to us in the mail
- drop it into a service centre.
What happens if you don’t do the review
If you don’t complete your review by the due date, we’ll stop your Rent Assistance.
Your Rent Assistance will start again if you complete your review and you’re still eligible.
You’ll need to reclaim Rent Assistance if it’s been over 28 days since the due date on your letter. You can do this by either:
- calling your regular payment line
- visiting a service centre.
What happens next
We use the information you give us to check your details. This is to make sure you’re getting the right amount of Rent Assistance.
The review could mean any of the following:
- your payment changes to be more or less than you get now
- you’re no longer eligible for Rent Assistance
- you need to pay back money because of an overpayment
- your payment stays the same.
What to do if you don’t agree with our decision
If you don’t agree with our decision, you can ask us for a review. There’s no time limit to request a review of your debt. You can also ask us to pause your debt repayments while we complete the review.
If your payment amount changes
If you don’t agree with the new payment amount, you can ask us to review our decision. You need to contact us within 13 weeks from when we tell you your new Rent Assistance amount.
If we’ve overpaid you and you now owe us money
If you don’t understand how we’ve overpaid you, we can explain. Call the number on your letter and we’ll give you a full explanation.
What help is available
You can call the number on your letter if you have any questions.
You can also call either our:
- Multilingual Phone Service to speak to us in your language
- Indigenous Call Centre if you identify as an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Australian.