Apply for a Hardship Certificate
It is the responsibility of the Hardship Certificate recipient to notify the Resilient Homes Fund as soon as possible of any change of financial circumstances that may impact eligibility for genuine hardship, including after works have commenced.
The Resilient Homes Fund (RHF) Hardship Certificate waives the co-contribution requirement for approved eligible works as outlined in the Value for Money Certificate for eligible programs.
The RHF requires evidence of all income to establish all title holders are experiencing genuine financial hardship, which is likely to continue during the RHF works.
You will need to provide evidence of your previous 12 months of income from the date of your application.
Eligible programs for a hardship certificate are:
- Resilient Retrofit program $50,000 with co-contribution
- Home Raising program $150,000 with co-contribution.
Note: As co-contribution is not available under the expanded Home Raising program – including demolition, rebuild or relocate – you can’t apply for a Hardship Certificate for these works.
If you need help applying for a Hardship Certificate:
- email: RHF-HardshipRequests@epw.qld.gov.au
- phone: (07) 3007 4485 and select option 2, available Monday to Friday 8am–4pm
How to apply for a Hardship Certificate
- Check your eligibility for a Hardship Certificate.
- Submit your application for funding under the RHF through the QRIDA portal. You must lodge your funding application before you can submit your Hardship Certificate request.
- Provide evidence of each registered homeowner’s eligibility.
- Download and complete the Hardship Certificate application form
- Email your completed form and supporting evidence to RHF-HardshipRequests@epw.qld.gov.au.
We will contact you if we need more information to assess your application.
The RHF will aim to provide an outcome of your application within 10 business days of submitting all required documentation.
Eligibility criteria
A Hardship Certificate is approved once the department is satisfied all title holders for the registered property are in genuine financial hardship and are unable to contribute to the cost of carrying out eligible works to the registered home.
If there are multiple title holders, they must apply under a single criterion – where only one title owner of the home meets the criteria, the application will be deemed ineligible.
To be eligible for a Hardship Certificate, all title holders must show evidence of meeting at least 1 of these criteria:
- You are in a low-income bracket.*
- You have a financial hardship agreement in place with your mortgage lender for the registered property.
- You receive an eligible Centrelink or other government payment, pension or allowance (this must be your primary source of income)
- Other extenuating circumstances.
* ‘Low income’ is based on the 2024-25 National Rental Affordability Scheme (NRAS). It is assessed on the total income (which can be taxable or non-taxable) of all registered homeowners when lodging their RHF funding application.
Evidence of dependants and proof of age
Under low income and extenuating circumstances, you will need to provide proof of official dependants and proof of ages, for example:
- Medicare Card, legal carers’ documentation or government-issued document confirming names of dependants in your care
and - either a
- birth certificate
- passport
- student ID or other government-issued identification (front and back).
Household income limits
These are the income limits for registered homeowners between 1 May 2024 and 30 April 2025.
Income is assessed on all income before tax for the 12 months before the hardship application.
| Household type | Gross income limit |
|---|---|
| 1 adult (no children) | $61,322 |
| 2 adults (no children) | $84,782 |
| 3 adults (no children) | $108,242 |
| 4 adults (no children) | $131,702 |
| Sole parent with 1 child | $84,841 |
| Sole parent with 2 children | $105,184 |
| Sole parent with 3 children | $125,527 |
| Couple with 1 child | $105,125 |
| Couple with 2 children | $125,468 |
| Couple with 3 children | $145,811 |
To calculate eligibility for other household types, use these limits:
- First adult: $61,322
- First adult (if sole parent): $64,498
- Each additional adult: $23,460
- Each child: $20,343
Extenuating circumstance
To be considered under the extenuating circumstance criterion, you must satisfy the following criteria:
- Provide 12 months’ evidence of income from date of application
- Provide evidence the circumstance is
- outside of your control and directly
- significantly impacts your ability to financially co-contribute to the costs of completing your resilience works
- can reasonably be considered to have been unforeseen.
Regular financial commitments are not considered an extenuating or unforeseen circumstance.
Following a financial hardship assessment, the RHF can consider your individual circumstances and discuss evidence requirements with you.
Supporting evidence
If you withdraw a funding application and submit a new funding application, you must submit a new hardship application and supporting evidence.
The mandatory financial evidence requirements are listed below.
We may ask for extra information to better understand your current financial situation and to consider whether hardship will continue during the Resilient Homes Fund works.
| Criteria | Evidence required |
|---|---|
Household low income *We require 12 months prior income from the date of your hardship application. | Low income (wages)
Low income (self-employed)*
You must declare all received income including, but not limited to:
|
Financial hardship agreement in place with lender |
|
Centrelink or other government payment, pension or allowance | The form of government assistance must be the primary source of income. Fixed-term income support will be assessed on a case-by-case basis. If you receive an Aged Pension or Disability Support Pension, please provide:
For all other government payments, pensions and allowances, you must provide a copy of a current statement demonstrating the start and end date for payments. You must declare all received income including, but not limited to:
You can download your Centrelink Income Statement from your MyGov account or by visiting Services Australia. |
Extenuating circumstances | Mandatory evidence requirements
Regular financial commitments are not considered an extenuating or unforeseen circumstance. Below are examples that may be considered extenuating circumstances and the required evidence. Medical – a serious illness or injury
Loss of employment
Domestic violence and victims of crime
Bereavement, divorce or separation
Other extenuating circumstances If you would like to discuss your individual circumstances and how the criteria or evidence requirements apply to your unique situation:
If you require support services, our regional community brochures provide information and contact details for key community services available in your area. |