Your benefits may change if your relationship or marriage ends.
Defence considers your relationship ended when:
- you no longer live with your partner on a permanent basis
- there’s no hope of reconciliation.
Update your details if you’re a member
You need to:
- remove your partner from your resident family as soon as possible
- inform Defence Housing Australia (DHA) Housing Australia (DHA) within 14 days of your relationship ending.
If you were a When you and your partner are both ADF members. , you both also need to inform your Commanding Officers.
Housing if you’re a member
You may be able to stay in your current housing, but if you move out, you may get other housing assistance.
If you were living in your own home
If you were living together in a suitable own home, you can get housing assistance if your former partner stays in the house. If your former partner moves out of the house, you won’t get any housing assistance if you don’t live in it.
If you were living in a Service residence
If your former partner moves out of the Service residence you can stay there if you have either:
- accompanied resident family (ARF) or a recognised other person (ROP) living in the house with you
- shared care of a child.
If you don’t have any other ARF or ROP living there, you’ll need to move out within one month of them leaving the residence, unless you request to stay there until your posting finishes. While you stay in the Service residence, your contribution will stay the same.
If you move out of the Service residence, your former partner can stay there for at least one month, or until a later date of their choosing, if Defence agrees to it. This may depend on the availability of other housing in your location and whether other members need the house. You’ll have to pay the contributions while your former partner lives in the house.
If you were a Service couple and a child or children will be ARF of both of you in the future, one of you may stay in your Service residence. The member who moves out may apply for separate housing assistance.
If you were getting rent allowance
If you were getting rent allowance, you’ll keep getting rent allowance. The amount you get may change if you live there by yourself or share the house with other people.
If your former partner stays in the house with you, Defence may consider you to be sharing it, which may change how much rent allowance you get.
Housing if you’re a non-service partner
If you're a A partner who is not a member. , you may be able to stay in your current housing while you look for other housing. Defence may help you with moving costs.
If you were living in your own home
If you're the non-service partner, and you were living together in a suitable own home, the member can get other housing assistance for themselves if you stay in the house.
If you were living in a Service residence
If you were living in a Service residence, you may stay in the house, however you’ll only have 12 months to apply for a move.
If your partner was getting rent allowance
If your partner was getting rent allowance, the rent allowance will stop when the member moves out. You may arrange with the owner or agent to stay in the house, but you won’t get any assistance with the rent,
If you continue to live in the house with the member after your relationship ends, Defence may consider you to be sharing it, which may change how much rent allowance the member gets.
Moving if you’re a member
If you can no longer live together when your relationship ends, you and your former partner may get assistance to move one or both of you to new housing.
If you move out, you may be eligible for a Defence paid move to a new residence in your housing benefit location, or to a storage facility, if you’re eligible for storage.
You must apply for your move within 90 days of the relationship ending.
You can only get a move for a breakdown of relationship:
- every 2 years
- once with the same partner.
If you reunite with your former partner and the relationship ends again, you won’t get another move unless you have a genuine need and get approval.
Apply for your move
To apply for a move, submit a request using your DHA Online Services
Account. In the request, you’ll need to include:
- that you plan to live separately from your former partner
- the reason you need to leave the residence
- any court orders, if applicable
- any other relevant information.
If you’re approved for a move and then your circumstances change, such as you want to move to a different location, you’ll need to reapply.
Moving if you’re a non-service partner
If you want to move out, you may get a Defence paid move to the location in Australia where you plan to live. You must apply to move within 12 months of the relationship ending.
If you moved to Australia from overseas and want to return overseas, Defence will pay for your move to the port where you entered Australia. You’ll need to pay the costs for the overseas part of the move.
If you were in a relationship with a member of the Reserves who was on continuous full-time service (CFTS), Defence will pay for you to move to either:
- where you were living with the member immediately before they started their CFTS
- another location in Australia.
If the move to another location costs more than the move to where you were living, you’ll need to pay the additional costs.
Apply for your move
To apply for a move, call Toll Transitions on 1800 819 167 or send an email to ttcsc@tollgroup.com. You’ll need to tell them:
- that you plan to live separately from your former partner
- about any court orders, if applicable
- the location you want to move to
- any other relevant information.
Moving assistance
Whether you’re a member or a non-service partner, you can get assistance to move your furniture and household items.
You and your former partner will need to give their consent in writing for the list of items Toll will need to move. This may not be required if you have a binding financial agreement, court order or settlement in relation to the item.
If you’ve already moved and you paid for your own moving costs, you may be able to claim the lesser of the:
- amount it would’ve cost Defence for your move
- actual cost of your move.
If you’re a member
If your family lives in another location, you can get these items brought to you in your housing benefit location:
- your pets
- one private vehicle
- one towable item.
The vehicle and towable item need to be:
- owned by a person in the relationship
- registered to a person in the relationship
- roadworthy.
If you’re a non-service partner
As well as moving your furniture and household items, you can get moving assistance for:
- your pets
- one private vehicle
- one towable item.
The vehicle and towable item need to be:
- owned by a person in the relationship
- registered to a person in the relationship
- roadworthy.
You'll need to pay any storage costs for your household items if you haven’t got a place to move into straightaway.
If any of your essential household items are lost or damaged beyond repair during the move, you can make a claim for it to be replaced.
If you have a child living with you who is unaccompanied resident family of the member, you can also claim the cost of hiring an appliance while you’re waiting for your claim to be resolved. If you’re waiting on a claim for a washing machine, you can claim the costs of using a laundromat if you’re unable to hire one at the new location.
Travel if you're a non-service partner
If you're a non-service partner, you may get travel via the Based on where you're travelling to, the types of transport available, the actual cost and the estimated value of your pay and allowances for travel time. of transport. Depending on where and when you’re travelling, Defence may pay for:
- a one-way economy class airfare
- meals while traveling
- accommodation
- extra baggage allowance
Meals
You can claim the costs of your meals if you travel during a meal period. A meal period is a one-hour period during your travel and starts at:
- 0700 for breakfast
- 1300 for lunch
- 1900 for dinner.
The amount you can get depends on when and where you’re travelling and how long you're travelling for.
Baggage
You can carry up to 156 kg of baggage in addition to the items that Toll can transport for you.