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Supplementary Allowance/Assistance 1970 to 1985, Rent Assistance from 1985

Milestones	Details
1970 September	Long-term sickness beneficiaries, paying rent and entirely or substantially dependent on their benefit, eligible to receive Supplementary Allowance of up to $2 per week.
1974 November	Amount of Supplementary Allowance restricted to amount of rent actually paid.
1982 February	Maximum rate of Supplementary Allowance either $8 per week or one half of the amount by which rent was more than $10 per week, whichever was the lower. Tenants of government housing authorities now ineligible.
1982 December	Supplementary Allowance eligibility extended to those who had transferred from Unemployment Benefit (SB) to Sickness Benefit (SB) or who, but for their illness or incapacity, would have qualified for UB.
1985 September	Supplementary Assistance renamed Rent Assistance (RA).
1986 May	RA of $10 per week extended to UB recipients who had been on benefit for six or more months and were renting privately, and who were married with dependent children, aged 25 or over, or were aged 18 to 24 years and not living with parents or guardians.
1986 December	Rent threshold above which RA payable increased to $15 per week.
1987 July	Separate income test on RA abolished. Payment became additional to maximum rate of pension or benefit and subject to normal income tests.
1987 December	RA standardised across all benefits, with the more liberal SB rent assistance provisions no longer applying. Payment extended to Family Allowance Supplement recipients.
1989 June	A $5 per week payment added to RA for those with children. Waiting time for ex-prisoners reduced by length of time they had spent in prison. Rent threshold above which RA payable raised to $20 per week. Those paying board and lodgings had only two-thirds of payment counted as rent.
1989 December	Maximum RA rate standardised for all pensions, benefits and the Family Allowance supplement.
1990 June	Higher RA rate introduced for those with three or more children.
1991 March	Rent threshold above which RA paid increased to $25 per week. RA rates indexed twice-yearly indexation in line with CPI movements.
1992 March	RA waiting period removed for recipients of JSA, NSA, SA or SpB who had no dependants and who were aged 18 to 60 years. RA eligibility extended to those aged under 18 years who received independent/homeless rate of JSA, SA or SpB, and who had been receiving income support for at least 18 weeks.
1993 January	RA for those with children paid as an add-on to Additional Family Payment.
1993 March	Rent threshold above which RA payable indexed and set at levels varying according to family situation. Thresholds: single with no children, $60 pf; single with children, $80 pf; couples without children, $100 pf; and couples with children, $120 pf. Above the new thresholds RA paid at 75 cents for each dollar of rent paid up to the maximum RA amount.
1994 March	Waiting period of 18 weeks abolished for those aged under 18 years who were JSA/SA recipients.
1996 March	Maximum RA rates increased by $5 pf for families with children. Minimum amount of rent that had to be paid to receive RA increased by $5. RA rates frozen for those receiving RA under various savings provisions resulting from previous changes in RA conditions until general RA rates caught up to their higher saved rate.
1997 July	From July those who were single without dependent children and who shared accommodation only eligible for two-thirds of the maximum RA rate.
1998 January	Those who lived in public housing but not the primary tenant ineligible for RA. Exemptions applied if primary tenant unsubsidised or if state housing authority notified of sub-tenant’s presence and their income had been taken into account in setting the household rent.
2000 July GST compensation	RA rates increased as part of a package of measures to compensate for GST introduction.

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