Apply for a Hardship Certificate

Under the Resilient Retrofit and Home Raising programs, you will need to co-contribute on a dollar-for-dollar basis for works above the threshold amounts ($50,000 for Resilient Retrofit and $100,000 for Home Raising).

Please note, as co-contribution is not available under the expanded Home Raising program, including demolition, rebuild or relocate, you are unable to apply for a Hardship Certificate for these works.

In cases of genuine financial hardship, you can apply to have your co-contribution waived.

How to apply

Submit your application for funding under the Resilient Homes Fund through the QRIDA portal. (note: you must lodge your funding application before you can submit your Hardship Certificate request)
Check your eligibility for a Hardship Certificate
Provide evidence of each registered homeowner’s eligibility
Download and complete the Hardship Certificate application form (PDF, 363.5 KB)
Email your completed form and supporting evidence to RHF-HardshipRequests@epw.qld.gov.au.

We will email you if we need more information to assess your application. You can expect to hear the outcome of your application within 10 working days of submitting all required materials.

Contact the Resilient Homes Fund team by email RHF- HardshipRequests@epw.qld.gov.au or phone 13 QGOV (13 74 68) if you need help applying for a Hardship Certificate.

Eligibility criteria

To be eligible for a Hardship Certificate, all homeowners (as listed on the property title) must show evidence of meeting one of the following criteria:

you are in a low-income bracket *
you have a financial hardship agreement in place with your lender
you are receiving or have one or the following:
- Age pension
- Carer Payment
- Disability Support Pension
- Job Seeker Payment
- Youth Allowance
- Parenting Payment Single
- Low Income Health Care Card
- Veteran Gold Card
- Commonwealth Seniors Health Care Card.
other extenuating circumstances.

* Low-income is based on the National Rental Affordability Scheme (NRAS). It is assessed on the total income of all registered homeowners when lodging their RHF funding application.

Household income brackets

Income brackets for people living in the affected home.

Household type	Gross income limit
1 adult (no children)	$58,905
2 adults (no children)	$81,441
3 adults (no children)	$103,977
4 adults (no children)	$126,513
Sole parent with 1 child	$81,498
Sole parent with 2 children	$101,039
Sole parent with 3 children	$120,580
Couple with 1 child	$100,982
Couple with 2 children	$120,523
Couple with 3 children	$140,064

To calculate eligibility for other household types, use the following:

First adult: $58,905
First adult (if sole parent): $61,957
Each additional adult: $22,536
Each child: $19,541

Definitions

Gross yearly income is the amount of money you receive before tax.
Children are under 18 years old and financially dependent on you. If they are under 18 years old but financially independent, they are considered an adult.

Extenuating circumstances

To be eligible under the extenuating circumstance criteria, homeowners must be able to demonstrate that their circumstance is:

outside of their control,
can reasonably be considered to have been unforeseen, and
can be shown to have a direct and significant impact on their ability to co-contribute to the costs to complete their resilience works.

Examples include:

loss of employment (due to factors beyond their control)
significant personal/family circumstances affecting their ongoing financial status (e.g. victims of crime or domestic and family violence etc.)
serious illness significantly affecting financial situation.

Note: regular financial commitments are not considered extenuating or unforeseen circumstances.

Independent supporting evidence of your extenuating circumstance will need to be provided as part of your application.

Provide evidence

You must submit supporting documents for each homeowner, from the list below.

IMPORTANT: Homeowners must remove their Tax File Number (TFN) from all documents.

Criteria	Evidence required (provide as many as possible)
Household low-income (includes all homeowners)	4 consecutive weeks of payslips up until date of Hardship Certificate request Letter from employers with annual income Current Centrelink statement or correspondence Most recent Notice of Assessment PAYG summary statements from superannuation funds, Centrelink or DVA Statement of dividends or rents paid Business Activity Statement, Profit and Loss Statement, Annual Tax Return and business registration documents (if self-employed) Australian Business Number (ABN) Confirmation of non-primary residence assests To evidence nil income – 12 months bank statements for all accounts linked to the homeowner Proof of dependants (e.g. Medicare card)
Financial hardship agreement in place with lender	Copy of a current Financial Hardship agreement Proof of dependants (e.g. Medicare card)
Receive or have one of the following: Age Pension Carer Payment Disability Support Pension Job Seeker payment Youth Allowance Parenting payment single Low Income Health Care Card Veteran Gold Card Commonwealth Seniors Health Care Card	Recent Centrelink payment statement Proof of dependants (e.g. Medicare card)
Extenuating circumstance	Separation certificate from an employer Letter of support or evidence from a medical practitioner, support worker or legal representative Police Report or Court Order Proof of dependants (e.g. Medicare card) Note: evidence must be provided to demonstrate how your circumstances meet the eligibility for ‘extenuating circumstances’. In particular, how your circumstance is: outside of your control, can reasonably be considered to have been unforeseen, and can be shown to have a direct and significant impact on your ability to co-contribute to complete your resilience works.

Last updated:: 19 March 2024

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