When you apply for services from Housing SA or a community housing provider you will be asked to provide:

  • proof of your income
  • proof of your identity
  • proof of any rent you will be paying
  • confirmation of Aboriginality.

Proof of income must be less than 2 weeks old, except if you’re self-employed and providing a tax return as proof of your income.

Income from Centrelink or other government agencies

If you receive a pension, allowance or other payment from a government agency, provide one of the below:

  • an income statement from the agency or department showing your pension or allowance payments
  • a statement from ReturnToWorkSA confirming your current income support payments.

Remove Tax File Numbers from all documents you provide.

Centrelink Income Confirmation Service

If you get an income from Centrelink, you can give consent for Centrelink to give your income details directly to Housing SA through the Income Confirmation Service (ICS). This is a free and voluntary service.

If you consent to ICS, you don’t need to give Housing SA any other proof of income if all forms of income you receive are shown on your Centrelink statement.

If you get other income that isn’t shown on your Centrelink statement, you still need to give Housing SA proof of that income.

Complete an ICS consent form (DOCX, 69.9 KB) and return it to Housing SA or use Housing Connect to consent to ICS if you’re either:

  • registering your interest in housing with Housing SA
  • a tenant renting public housing.

This service remains in place until you cancel it. You can cancel it at any time by completing a Withdrawal of ICS consent form (DOCX, 84.1 KB) and returning it to Housing SA.

If you're registering your interest in housing with a community housing provider, ask if they use ICS.

If you’re applying for help paying bond and rent, you can either:

This service remains in place for up to 14 weeks while your application for bond and rent is active.

Receiving a wage

If you’re employed, provide one of the below documents:

  • a payslip for the latest pay period showing your total wage before tax, any regular overtime and year-to-date salary
  • an Employer’s declaration form (DOCX, 73.3 KB) completed and signed by your employer
  • a letter from your employer showing your total wage before tax, any regular overtime and year-to-date salary.

Self-employed

Provide a copy of your most recent tax return showing your total business income before tax minus expenses. Remove Tax File Numbers from all documents.

If you have a new business and haven’t lodged your first tax return, provide 1 of the below documents:

  • a statutory declaration estimating your annual business income before tax minus expenses
  • a letter from a certified practising accountant or registered tax consultant showing your personal total weekly or annual income before tax.

Interest payments

Provide a statement or letter from your financial institution showing the interest amount and the period covered, or the balance of the account and the interest rate payable.

Supported by family

If a family member, for example a parent, gives you financial support, provide a statutory declaration from them showing:

  • the amount they provide
  • how often it's paid
  • how long the arrangement's going to be in place for, for example the first 6 months of the tenancy.

You'll need any of the identity documents listed below to provide 100 points of identity when applying for help with bond or rent.

Any proof of identity provided must be valid.

If you are applying for help paying bond and rent online refer to attachment guidelines below.

100 points of identity

You can use any one of these for 100 points of identity:

  • Australian driver’s licence
  • Australian proof of age card
  • Australian passport

50 points each of identity

Any one of these is 50 points each of identity:

  • Australian birth certificate
  • Australian citizenship certificate
  • Australian Visa
  • bank, credit union or building society card
  • birth extract
  • Centrelink concession or health care card
  • certificate of registration by descent
  • change of name certificate
  • divorce papers
  • employee ID
  • ImmiCard
  • immigration papers or other documents from the Department of Home Affairs
  • letter from an Aboriginal Community showing the common seal
  • letter from an authorised officer from the Department for Child Protection
  • letter from your employer, apprenticeship papers or tradesperson’s certificate
  • letter from a medical or legal practitioner, a support worker from a recognised government or non-government organisation, or a minister of religion
  • life insurance policies
  • marriage certificate
  • Medicare card
  • naturalisation certificate
  • prison discharge certificate
  • school reports or exam certificate
  • State Government concession card
  • student ID

25 points each of identity

Any one of these is 25 points each of identity:

  • electoral enrolment card
  • insurance renewal documents that aren’t for health insurance
  • motor vehicle registration
  • rent records less than six months old
  • security licence
  • Senior’s Card
  • statement from a financial institution, for example bank, credit union
  • utility account
  • Veterans’ Affairs Gold Card.

In exceptional circumstances, Housing SA may accept other forms of identification provided it includes name, address, signature and a photograph.

Attachment guidelines

When you apply for help paying bond and rent online and attach proof of income and identity, make sure the files:

  • are a combined size of under 10 megabytes (MB) and no more than 5 files per income
  • are one of the following, .pdf, .doc, .docx, .odt, .jpg, .jpeg, .jpe, .bmp, .png, .gif
  • have names that do not exceed 80 characters
  • are not compressed.

If a document file is too large, convert it to a PDF to reduce the size.

You'll need to provide at least 2 identity documents listed below to provide 100 points of identity when registering for public and community housing services.

If documents aren't in English, a translation from an approved translator is to be provided by the customer.

Any proof of identity provided must be valid.

70 points of identity

You can use any one of these for 70 points of identity:

  • Australian driver’s licence
  • Australian proof of age card
  • any current passport, or a passport that's expired within the last 2 years

40 points each of identity

Any one of these is 40 points each of identity:

  • Australian birth certificate
  • Australian citizenship certificate
  • Australian Visa
  • bank, credit union or building society card
  • birth extract
  • Centrelink concession or health care card
  • certificate of registration by descent
  • change of name certificate
  • divorce papers
  • employee ID
  • ImmiCard
  • immigration papers or other documents from the Department of Home Affairs
  • letter from an Aboriginal Community showing the common seal
  • letter from an authorised officer from the Department for Child Protection
  • letter from your employer, apprenticeship papers or tradesperson’s certificate
  • letter from a medical or legal practitioner, a support worker from a recognised government or non-government organisation, or a minister of religion
  • life insurance policies
  • marriage certificate
  • Medicare card
  • naturalisation certificate
  • prison discharge certificate
  • school reports or exam certificate
  • State Government concession card
  • student

25 points each of identity

Any one of these is 25 points each of identity:

  • electoral enrolment card
  • insurance renewal documents that aren’t for health insurance
  • motor vehicle registration
  • rent records less than six months old
  • security licence
  • Senior’s Card
  • statement from a financial institution, for example bank, credit union
  • utility account
  • Veterans’ Affairs Gold Card.

In exceptional circumstances, Housing SA may accept other forms of identification provided it includes name, address, signature and a photograph.

Housing Connect is a simple and secure way to access Housing SA services online, 24 hours a day.

Before you can set up an online Housing Connect account, you'll need a Standard strength Digital Identity to prove who you are.

Currently, you can create a Digital Identity to access government services online using the Australian Government's myGovID app. Soon other identity providers will become available.

You can find out how to set up the myGovID app on your smart device on the myGovID website.

If you’re applying for help paying bond and rent, and you found a place you want to rent, you’ll need to provide either:

Housing SA may contact the property owner or agent to verify information about the tenancy, including the start date, end date and rent payable.

You’ll need to provide Housing SA with Confirmation of Aboriginality if you have registered your interest in either Aboriginal housing or housing in an Aboriginal community.

Confirmation of Aboriginality must meet all the below conditions:

  • it shows you identify as an Aboriginal and/ or Torres Strait Islander person
  • it’s completed by an incorporated Aboriginal and/ or Torres Strait Islander organisation
  • it’s been approved by a resolution at a formal meeting of the organisation’s governing body
  • it’s been sealed with the organisation’s common seal
  • 2 authorised authorities from the organisation have signed it.

You can use either Housing SA’s Confirmation of Aboriginality form (DOCX, 116.4 KB) or another organisation’s Confirmation of Aboriginality form.

You can find incorporated Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations on the Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations public register.

If you were separated under the past laws, policies and practices of the Australian Government, you can find resources to help you find your family through the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies.

Page last updated: 10 May 2023