Who can receive a mobility allowance?

The mobility allowance is designed to encourage people to take up work further away from where they live. You can apply for a mobility allowance from us to cover your commuting or moving expenses when you start a new job or work-related training course.

You may be entitled to a mobility allowance if

• you start a new job on a contract of at least two months,
• you qualify for unemployment benefits just before you start a job or if you are not eligible for unemployment benefits just before you start work due to a mandatory waiting period, obligation to work or personal liability period imposed by the TE Office, and
• your daily commute to and from your place of work or school is more than three hours if you work full-time or more than two hours if you work part-time, or if you relocate an equivalent distance due to work.

Under a legislative amendment introduced due to the coronavirus pandemic, you can now receive a mobility allowance if your daily commute to and from a full-time job is more than two hours and you start work on or before 30 November 2021. If you start a new full-time job on or after 1 December 2021, the daily commute criterion reverts to three hours.

You will not be able to receive a mobility allowance for any period for which

• you receive sickness benefits, a maternity, paternity, pregnancy or parental allowance, a rehabilitation allowance or any other benefit or pension that would also make you ineligible for an earnings-related allowance,
• you have been granted leave due to pregnancy, childbirth or child care,
• your work and wages have stopped due to, for example, your being laid off or on unpaid leave, or
• you receive annual holiday pay based on full-time work, notice pay or a financial benefit based on an agreement terminating your employment.

The mobility allowance can only be paid on the basis of one employment relationship or work-related training course at a time.