The No Interest Loan Scheme (NILS) provides individuals and families on low incomes with access to safe, fair and affordable credit.
Loan are between $300 and $1,200 for essential goods and services such as fridges, washing machines and medical procedures. Repayments are set up at an affordable amount over 12 to 18 months.
To be eligible for NILS you must have a Health Care Card or earn less than $45,000 a year (after tax). Loans cannot be used for cash, bond, rent arrears, debt consolidation, holidays or bills.
NILS is offered by 178 local community organisations in over 600 locations across Australia. Chances are there’ll be a local NILS provider near you.
Go to website to find nearest provider
Council to Homeless Persons (CHP) reaction to the Federal Budget
On Tuesday night the Treasurer handed down the much anticipated Federal Budget 2017-18.
As a sector, we are celebrating the Federal Government having maintained the existing levels of homelessness funding, and the increased certainty of that funding, but have expressed concern that the additional investment needed to cope with the demand crisis was missing.
Watch this video of Jenny Smith giving a Budget reaction on behalf of Homelessness Australia, and read the Homelessness Australia media release, and read on for deeper analysis of Budget papers.