Vehicle removal assistance

Vehicle removal assistance combines different payments to help you move to your new housing location, or for your family to move to your new family benefit location, quickly and efficiently when you have a vehicle.

Under vehicle removal assistance, Defence can pay for you to move up to 2 vehicles Cars, trucks, motorcycles and motor scooters are all vehicles. to your new housing benefit location or family benefit location. You can choose to:

• drive both vehicles
• have Toll Transitions freight them both
• drive one vehicle and have Toll freight the other.

This assistance also includes travelling allowance. You can use travelling allowance to pay for meals, accommodation, flights and incidentals while you’re travelling.

You’ll need to compare the costs of driving with the cost of freighting the vehicles before you decide how to travel.

To compare the cost of driving, you’ll need to look at:

• vehicle allowance
• accommodation expenses
• the cost of meals for you and any resident family and recognised other persons travelling with you
• incidentals expenses.

To compare the cost of freighting the vehicle, you’ll need to look at:

• the cost of flights
• accommodation expenses
• the cost of meals for you and any resident family or recognised other persons travelling with you
• incidentals expenses.

You’ll also need to take into account any service requirements, such as when you need to arrive at your housing benefit location.

If you have to drive a vehicle more than the allowable distance 1288 km if the vehicle is a car or truck, 483 km if the vehicle is a motorbike (with or without a sidecar) and 322 km if the vehicle is a motor scooter. , the assistance you get will be less than or equal to what you would have received had you freighted the vehicle and flown to the new location.

If you freight the vehicle less than the allowable distance, the assistance you get will be less than or equal to what you would have received had you driven the vehicle.

You must make sure your vehicle or vehicles are:

• drivable
• registered
• clear of any loose or valuable items.

Toll doesn’t provide transit insurance to cover your vehicle for potential damage while it’s being moved.

If you want to insure your vehicle while it’s being moved, you can either:

• contact your current insurer to check if your policy already includes transit cover
• take out a protection policy through the carrier moving your vehicle.

Toll will usually deliver the vehicle to your new property. If they can't, Defence may pay for you to pick up the vehicle from a Toll depot.

Defence may also pay extra costs of freighting the vehicle, including drainage of fuel tanks and storage costs.

If you have a hybrid or electric vehicle, it can’t be transported across waterways to any of the following posting locations due to safety risks and industry-wide restrictions:

• Christmas Island.
• Cocos Islands.
• Nhulunbuy.
• Norfolk Island.
• Thursday Island.
• Weipa.

Instead, Toll can transport your vehicle to another location in Australia instead of the posting location, or you can sell your car.

If you choose to sell your car, you may be eligible for a reimbursement if you make a loss on the sale.

If you also have a vehicle with only a combustion engine, you can still either drive it to your posting location or fly there and have it transported to you.

If you don’t have another vehicle, you may be able to get benefits to help you travel to your new posting location.

If you drive your hybrid or electric vehicle to Nhulunbuy or Weipa, you won’t be eligible for:

• vehicle removal assistance for the vehicle
• any other form of travel allowance in connection with the vehicle
• any benefits related to moving your vehicle or transporting it to your next posting location if you can’t bring the car back for any reason.