Your benefits will change if you merge families.
Your family is merged when you begin a relationship and:
- you or your partner have a child
- you or your partner have a child over 21 who lives with you and has a disability or is a A person who lives with you but who isn’t a resident family member. .
When you add your partner as recognised family, you should add their children at the same time.
You only get benefits for recognised family members and recognised other persons.
Update your details
To add your new family as accompanied resident family add your partner and any children as resident family.
If you have shared care of any children, complete and submit an Application of recognition of child for housing assistance (AD499) form.
You can download this from the Web Forms portal on the Defence Protected Network (DPN).
Change your family’s categorisation if you didn’t previously have accompanied resident family.
If your family’s categorisation changes, it may affect your housing and moving benefits.
There's a different approval process for adding a resident family member who has special needs. You should do this separately.
Housing
You can get housing assistance when you merge families.
If you own a suitable home in your housing benefit location, you won't be eligible for other housing assistance.
If you're posted away from your family, they continue to get the same housing assistance they were getting before you left. If they need more bedrooms, they can move to a bigger Service residence or rent a bigger home.
You should inform Defence Housing Australia (DHA) within 14 days when you merge families. They can assess your housing options.
Live in a Service residence
If you merge families, you may need more bedrooms in your Service residence. You can get a home with the right number of rooms for your family.
Live in a home and get rent allowance
You can live with your family in a home in the private rental market and get rent allowance. You'll usually get more rent allowance if you merge families.
If you need more rooms for your family, you can move to a Service residence or rent a bigger home. You'll need to inform your landlord or real estate agent if you want to break your lease.
Moving homes
You may get a Defence paid move to a suitable home when you merge families.
You may be eligible for moving assistance such as temporary accommodation allowance and leave benefits.
Contact Toll Transitions if you need to move when you merge families. They help manage your move.