How to claim

Steps to claim a Crisis Payment for Release from Prison or Psychiatric Confinement

1.  

   1. Get ready to claim

   The easiest way to claim is online. If you have a correspondence nominee, they can also claim for you online. If you’re not getting an income support payment or ABSTUDY Living Allowance, you’ll need to claim one first. You need to do this before you can claim a Crisis Payment.

   To claim online, you need a Centrelink online account linked to myGov. If you have a nominee, they also need to have their own account.

   If you don’t have a myGov account or a Centrelink online account you’ll need to create them.

2.  

   2. Make your claim

   If you can claim online

   If your Centrelink account is linked to myGov you can claim online.

   To do this:

   1. Sign in to myGov and go to Centrelink.
   2. Select Payments and Claims from the menu, then Claims, then Make a claim.
   3. Select Crisis Payments.
   4. Select Apply for Crisis Payment for Release from Prison or Psychiatric Confinement.
   5. Answer all the questions.
   6. Upload evidence of release from prison or psychiatric confinement.
   7. Submit your claim.

   Sign in to myGov

   If you can’t claim online:

   • download, print and complete the Claim for Crisis Payment - Release from Prison or Psychiatric Confinement form
   • call us on your regular payment line visit a service centre.

   Supporting documents

   We may ask you to give us more documents to support your claim. If you can’t give them to us straight away, you can still submit the claim. You then have 14 days to give us the documents.

3.  

   3. Track your claim

   After you submit your claim online, you’ll get a receipt telling you:

   • the ID number of your claim
   • the date we estimate your claim will be complete
   • a link to track its progress.

   To track the progress of your claim online, sign in to myGov and select Make a claim or view claim status.

   Sign in to myGov

   You can also use the Express Plus Centrelink mobile app.

   We’ll let you know the result of your claim. If you choose to get Centrelink letters online, we'll send a letter to your myGov Inbox. If you don’t get electronic letters, we’ll send you a letter in the mail.

   If we need more details we’ll ask you for them.

   You have the right to appeal our decision. Read about reviews and appeals.