Defence categorises your Your partner and child of you or your partner. Your family doesn’t have to live with you to be recognised family. to determine what benefits you can get. You may get extra benefits if you have A person who lives with you but who isn’t a resident family member. (ROP) living with you.
Your family’s categorisation affects many of the benefits you may get. You may get benefits for people who are:
- your recognised family, including resident family and A child or partner who doesn't normally live with you.
- recognised other persons.
If you have no resident family or recognised other persons, you may get recreation leave travel so that you can visit your nominated family.
Your family
Your partner
Your partner can be recognised family if you're in a:
- marriage (under the Marriage Act 1961)
- registered relationship (defined by your State or Territory authority)
- de facto relationship (a couple who live together on a genuine domestic basis).
A child
A child under 21 can be recognised family. They must be:
- a child of you or your partner
- an adopted child of you or your partner
- a child placed in the care of you or your partner by a permanent care order, or joining your household in anticipation of a permanent care order.
Defence may still categorise a person over 21 years old as a child if they have an invalidity or disability that stops them from living independently and, because of their invalidity or disability, they need to be cared for by you, a resident family member, or a recognised other person.
Your child is 24 years old. They have an intellectual disability that prevents them from living independently. They've always lived full-time with you. Even though they're older than 21, Defence will still classify them as your child.
Recognised family
Your recognised family is your partner and child of you or your partner.
The benefits you get for your recognised family depend on where they live.
Your recognised family will fall into one of these groups:
- resident family, who can be accompanied resident family or unaccompanied resident family
- non-resident family.
Resident family
A resident family is your partner and child who either lives with your or lives away from you due to approved reasons.
Your partner lives with you when you get a posting order to a new location.
You move to the new location, but your partner doesn't move with you.
They are still your resident family.
Defence also considers how often your child usually lives with you when deciding if they can be resident family. If they don’t usually live with you, they’ll be non-resident family.
You need to add your family member as resident family.
There are 2 types of resident family: accompanied resident family and unaccompanied resident family.
Accompanied resident family
If your resident family lives with you, they’ll be your Your partner and children who live with you. .
Your partner will be your ARF if they either live in a home with you on a permanent basis or are reasonably expected to live in a home with you.
If your partner is not an Australian citizen or the holder of a permanent visa, they must live in a home with you and Defence must be satisfied that they meet one of the following:
- They have a temporary visa that is expected to lead directly to the grant of a permanent visa.
- They've applied for a temporary visa that is expected to lead directly to the grant of a permanent visa.
A child will be your ARF if they either live with you on a permanent basis in your housing benefit location or they are reasonably expected to live with you in your housing benefit location for at least 90 nights a year.
If your child lives away from you to attend school, they may also be categorised as your accompanied resident family (ARF).
Unaccompanied resident family
If your recognised family doesn’t live with you, they may be your Resident family who live apart from you due to approved service, compassionate, work or study reasons. .
Your resident family may be approved as URF if they don’t live with you for service, work or study reasons.
Your recognised family may be approved as URF for compassionate reasons or because you’ve moved to Australia as a result of an overseas recruitment.
You and your partner have never lived together because your partner is caring for their child who is in another location receiving medical treatment. Your partner may be approved as URF for compassionate reasons.
You need to apply for your family to be unaccompanied when you’re posted to a new location, even if your family was unaccompanied during your last posting.
Non-resident family
Non-resident family (NRF) is recognised family who don’t normally live with you.
Unlike unaccompanied resident family, non-resident family live away from you for other reasons.
Examples of non-resident family may include:
- your child who you don’t see frequently
- your partner, if you’re a Service couple and you’re both staying in living-in accommodation in different locations.
You can have non-resident family and resident family at the same time.
You need to add your family member as non-resident family.
Recognised other person
A recognised other person (ROP) is a person who lives with you but who isn’t your partner or child (recognised family).
Examples of recognised other persons may include:
- a live-in carer who cares for you and is included on your rehabilitation plan
- any other person who Defence approves as a recognised other person, such as an elderly parent who needs support.
Your adult child may also be an ROP. An adult child is your child who:
- is between 21 and 25 years old
- was your resident family immediately before they turned 21
- since they turned 21, has either continued to live with you or an adult who's your resident family or they were living away at school and were categorised as ARF or URF.
Defence may approve an adult who’s acting as a live-in guardian for your child to be a ROP if:
- you're a single parent
- your partner has a chronic illness or disability
- your partner is a member and serving at a different primary service location
- your partner is living away from the family home.
The guardian must live with either:
- you and the child in your residence in the housing benefit location
- the child in the home the child lived in with you in your previous housing benefit location.
You need to add the person as a recognised other person.
Categorisations in PMKeyS
The table shows how your categorisation will be shown in PMKeyS.
If you’re in any of these categories, you may also have non-resident family or recognised other persons.
| If you have... | Your categorisation will appear as... |
|---|---|
| No resident family | Member (MBR) |
| Resident family who live with you | Member who has accompanied resident family (ARF) |
| Resident family who don't currently live with you | Member who has unaccompanied resident family (URF) |
Changes to your recognised family
You’ll need to update your details if there are changes to your situation.
You need to tell Defence if there are changes to your situation, such as:
- your partner moves in
- you separate from your partner
- you have or adopt a child
- your child turns 21
- a recognised other person moves in.
You can find out how to tell Defence about the changes on the following pages:
If you’re adding a new partner, you’ll need to have your relationship recognised before you can add them as recognised family.
You may also need to change your family's categorisation, depending on the changes.
Have a child turn 21
When your child turns 21, you need to remove them as resident family.
If they were living with you immediately before they were 21, you can add them as a recognised other person to get a housing benefit for them until they’re 25.
Your child may stay as resident family if they have a disability or a chronic illness.