The information that is essential to establish an entitlement to remission of rent and utilities contribution is set out in clause 15.4.22.

1. The following documentation, where applicable, is to be included as part of an employee's application.

   1. Certified true copies of:

      1. Original lease or rental agreements.

      2. Statutory Declaration stating the amount to be paid for accommodation in a tertiary education institution, residential college or boarding facility.

      3. Advice from a property management agency that provides an estimate of the rental value of a household owned, or partly owned, by the employee or spouse that is occupied by a dependant.

      4. Similar documentation considered appropriate.

   2. justifiable reasons that the need to maintain the household in Australia for a dependant was brought about as a direct consequence of the employee's long-term posting overseas, and

   3. recommendation by the senior ADF representative verifying the correctness of the information and documentation provided in the employee's application.

2. The checklist at the end of this Annex is to be used when applying. All relevant information is to be provided to enable a decision to be made on the amount of remission, if any, that may be granted.

If a change in the circumstances that resulted in the original approval of a remission occurs, the employee is to immediately advise the authorised person of those changed circumstances. The advice is to include all documentation relevant to the change and be sufficient to enable a possible variation to the previously approved remission to be considered.

Approval may only be given if the authorised person is satisfied that the person qualifies as a dependant under clause 12.3.5. In addition, the authorised person must have regard to the criteria in subclause 15.4.22.4. The following additional guidance is provided.

Paragraph 15.4.22.4.b – what required the employee to establish or maintain the household in Australia for the dependant, as a consequence of the employee's long-term posting. A remission will not normally be approved if a dependant is relocated from a property owned or partly owned by the employee to alternative accommodation in the same location as the employee's property, unless specific reasons are provided for the move.

The maximum remission is the rent component of the RUC that the employee is paying or the actual costs incurred by the employee, whichever is the lesser. The rent component amounts are specified in Annex 15.4.B.

If an employee is required to maintain more than one household in Australia, specifically for housing more than one dependant, an authorised person may take the costs incurred in maintaining those households into consideration when considering the total remission of rent contribution. The authorised person is to consider the necessity for there to be more than one household when considering such applications.

Examples of situations that may require multiple households to be maintained in Australia:

the dependants are attending different tertiary educational institutions and are living in residential colleges or similar facilities at those institutions; or

the employee does not own a home at the former location, or has reasonable justification for the dependants not to occupy the residence, and the dependants are boarding separately in private or commercial facilities. This situation could arise when a boarding facility is unable to accommodate all the dependants.

1. Costs or penalties that can be considered when calculating the amount of remission are those costs or penalties that are directly and solely associated with the provision of the accommodation. This would include the amount:

   1. of rental income foregone on a household owned or being purchased by the employee, or the employee's spouse, that is being used to accommodate a dependant in Australia,

   2. of rental paid by the employee to provide accommodation for a dependant in Australia, or

   3. the costs incurred by the employee to provide accommodation for a dependant in a private or public boarding situation, or at a tertiary educational institution residential college or similar accommodation facility in Australia.

2. Under no circumstances are the costs of utilities, meals, rates or any similar expenses to be included when considering the amount of the remission. If a dependant lives in a property other than the employee's and the employee receives a rental income for a property not occupied by the dependant, then the rental income actually received by the employee or spouse is not to be considered by the authorised person.