COVID-19: Overseas financial assistance

Be careful of scammers!

If you’ve registered with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and/or applied for financial assistance, we may call you to seek further information or clarification of your circumstances.

However, DFAT will never request payment over the phone or fine you for not providing information.

If you receive a call from someone asking for payment or saying you’ll be fined for providing inaccurate information, claiming to be from DFAT or another government agency, please hang up.

If you have concerns, contact us online or call the Consular Emergency Centre on +61 2 6261 3305.

For more information on scams, phishing, and how you can protect yourself online, visit Stay Smart Online – a program run by the Australia Cyber Security Centre (ACSC). To report scams, visit Scamwatch. For general advice on scams and what to do if you're a victim overseas, see our I've been scammed overseas page.

If you’ve been unable to return to Australia due to COVID-19 restrictions and are experiencing financial distress, you may be eligible to access financial support from the Australian Government.

The support comes in the form of both loans and grants. It aims to help cover living costs and/or a flight back to Australia.

Read this page to learn about:

Living costs

You may be eligible for a loan to help cover emergency living costs until a commercial flight becomes available.

  • If you're in receipt of a qualifying Australian pension, you may be eligible to receive a grant instead of a loan. This means you wouldn’t have to pay it back. 
  • A pension for this purpose is defined as:
    • an Age Pension from Centrelink
    • a Disability Support Pension from Centrelink
    • a substantial and recurring Carer Payment from Centrelink or NDIS
    • a substantial and recurring payment from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Table 1: Loan / Grant amount for living costs, based on family size
Immediate family size Loan/Grant amount

1

Up to $2,000

2

Up to $3,000

3

Up to $4,000

4

Up to $5,000

5 or more

By arrangement

All amounts are in AUD.

Flight back to Australia

You may be eligible for an Australian Government partly subsidised flight to Australia under a loan arrangement. The Australian Government will arrange and pay for the ticket on your behalf.

The department is only able to facilitate travel home to Australia for applicants who have a valid right of entry to Australia. This means you're:

  • an Australian citizen,
  • a Australia permanent resident, or
  • you have a valid visa and travel exemption to enter Australia.

The Australian Border Force can advise the department on whether applicants have a valid right of entry.

Your loan will cover the cost equivalent of a standard one-way economy class airfare from the region you’re in. See the table below for the amount for flights by region. The remaining cost of the ticket will be paid for by the Australian Government.

You will be required to sign a deed undertaking to repay this loan.

  • If you’re in receipt of an Australian pension, you may be eligible to receive a grant for a fully subsidised flight. This means you would not have to make a contribution to the airfare.
  • Minors (child under 18 years of age) may also be covered by a grant for a fully subsidised flight.
Table 2: Loan/Grant amount for flights, by region
Region Loan/Grant amount

Central and South America

$2,000

Africa

$2,500

Middle East

$1,500

North America

$1,500

Europe (including UK)

$1,500

South and Central Asia

$1,000

South East Asia

$750

North Asia

$1,000

Pacific

$750

All amounts are in AUD.

The loans are only available as a last resort. You’ll need to meet strict eligibility criteria. Only those in genuine need will be provided financial support. You’ll need to demonstrate that you’re planning to return to Australia as soon as flights become available. All loans must be repaid.

Eligibility

You can apply if you:

  • are an Australian citizen over 18 years of age
    • If you’re an Australian permanent resident, you may be eligible to receive funding if an immediate family member who is an Australian citizen applies on your behalf. An immediate family member includes:
      • a spouse
      • a de facto partner
      • a dependent child
      • a legal guardian
  • have made all reasonable efforts to seek financial assistance through other means. You’ll need to provide evidence of this. See examples of documentation under ‘The application process’ section.

In addition, you and/or the immediate family member over 18 years of age you’re applying on behalf of, need to meet one or more of the following criteria. You:

  • are overseas temporarily and want to return to Australia urgently for medical or other reasons
  • are in financial distress as a result of the travel disruptions caused by COVID-19
  • require financial assistance to shelter in place until you can secure a seat, or purchase a ticket to return to Australia
  • are in a location with restricted or no available commercial airlines operating.

If you applied for a travel exemption after 29 September, you signed a declaration acknowledging the impact of COVID-19 on travel costs, and that you have the financial means to support yourself overseas should there be delays in your return to Australia. You’ll therefore need to show extenuating or compassionate circumstances emerged since you departed Australia to be eligible for financial assistance. You will therefore need to show extenuating or compassionate circumstances that emerged since you departed Australia. Your change in circumstance must have been unforeseen and unplanned.

Check all other options for financial support first

Before you apply, you must confirm you can’t get financial support from anywhere else, for example through:

  • insurance company
  • bank or credit card company
  • travel agent or tour operator
  • family and friends
  • employer
  • local social security services
  • overseas pension

This information is general in nature and does not constitute financial advice. You may wish to seek independent personal financial advice specific to your needs from a licensed financial adviser.

The application process

Note: there’s a 10MB limit for all attachments per application, with a 5MB limit per document. If your documents exceed this limit, please email the documents to financial.assistance@dfat.gov.au after submitting your application and quote your passport number in the email subject line.

Provide as much documentation as needed to support your application.

  1. Complete the web form.

    You’ll need to attach:

    • a digital photo or scan of the photo page of your passport and those of any other family members you’re applying for.
    • evidence of income/savings (e.g a copy of recent bank statement/s)
    • a letter from you or your family member/s' most recent employer confirming employment termination
    • evidence of previously purchased tickets or bookings, or communication with airlines showing your or your family member overseas has tried to return to Australia
    • evidence of accommodation costs
    • evidence that insurance won’t be covering costs
    • evidence of any Australian pension you receive
    • information about any medical condition you or your family members may have
    • any other information that would support your application

    You’ll also need to back up with documentation any claims made in your application that demonstrate you and/or the person you’re applying for are vulnerable and in financial distress, for example by providing:

  2. After you've submitted your completed application with all the required supporting documents, your application will be assessed by the department. You'll be notified by email on the outcome of your application after this assessment has been completed.

Issues filling out the form

If you have issues filling in the online form, you can download, print and fill in a document version of the form. You’ll then need to take photos or scan this, together with your attachments, and send to financial.assistance@dfat.gov.au. 

For more information on filling in either of these forms, check our frequently asked questions page.

How to repay

When you sign the Deed, you're agreeing to repay the loan within six months of the date of the completed Deed. If you experience financial hardship, you can get in touch with us within six months to apply to enter a repayment plan to pay the debt by instalments.

You may be unable to renew your full validity passport until you have started repaying your loan.

For questions about repaying your debt, contact loan.repayments@dfat.gov.au.

Questions or issues

If you have any questions about the financial support, read our frequently asked questions page.

Contact for urgent consular assistance

If you need urgent consular assistance, call the 24/7 consular emergency number on +61 2 6261 3305 or contact the nearest Australian embassy or high commission.

Registering with DFAT

You can register with DFAT if you've been trying to return to Australia and haven’t been able to do so.

Do not register if:

  • you’re currently overseas and don’t want to return to Australia
  • you’re currently overseas and aren’t planning to return just yet
  • you’re currently overseas and you don’t need help returning, or
  • you’re in Australia and plan to travel in the future. Subscribe for travel advice and news updates instead.

Registering doesn't guarantee we can facilitate your return to Australia. However, it does allow us to better understand who’s trying to return home and help us with our planning.

You don't need to be registered to receive consular assistance.

If you’re trying to return to Australia, we encourage you to:

Read more

See also