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Eligibility for Self-Employment Assistance

To apply for Self-Employment Assistance, you must meet both the personal and business eligibility requirements relevant to the service you want to access.

You must also reside in, or have a business registered, in one of two regions in Melbourne. You can check your location on these maps:

Inner Metropolitan Melbourne or North Western Melbourne

Personal eligibility requirements

You must:

be at least 15 years of age (a person must be 18 years of age to access Small Business Coaching)
Be working or studying no more than 25 hours or less per week
Not be an undischarged bankrupt
Not be prohibited by law from working in Australia
Not be an overseas visitor or overseas student

Be receiving an eligible Centrelink Allowance, such as JobSeeker, Youth Allowance, Parenting Payment Single/Partnered, Disability Support Pension, Carers Payment, or Age Pension

AND

Be available to participate in the appropriate Self-Employment Assistance service
If appropriate, be able to undertake the Small Business Training, commence and work the required hours in your proposed new business
Not have received the previously named NEIS assistance in the past 12 months

If you don’t meet the above criteria, there is special eligibility for:

Retrenched workers
Veterans
Family members of serving ADF personnel

Some participants may be eligible to commence the services before their retrenchment or transition date or under special criteria.

If you are unsure if you are eligible, please contact us via the enquiry form and we can check for you.

Business eligibility requirements

Your business or concept will need to meet the following criteria:

Be able to operate as an independent, and legal entity
Demonstrate potential commercial viability
Intend the business to be established, located and operated solely in Australia
Ensure controlling interest in the business remains with the Self-Employment Assistance participant(s).

Business Advice Support

You may be able to participate in a one-hour business advice session if you are setting up a business in an area were Holmesglen provides the service such as Inner Metropolitan Melbourne or North Western Melbourne (see maps).
You may access a maximum of two business advice sessions within a 12-month period.

Business Health Check

A business health check means that different support is provided for different circumstances, and could include:

mentoring and coaching
analysis and development of a business plan
referral to other support services

You may be eligible to access a business health check if:

the business based in Australia is not yet viable, and is a micro-enterprise
you are not currently accessing Small Business Coaching

You may only access one business health check in a 12-month period.

Small Business Training

In addition to meeting the personal and business eligibility criteria above, you must have:

a business concept you can launch on completion of Small Business Training that has potential to become commercially viable

Your prospective business is not yet commercially viable, but you may have done a little trading. You may have a business plan that we can assess and then determine the next suitable support for you, which may involve small business training, or proceeding to small business coaching.

Small Business Coaching

You need to be 18 years of age at the commencement of your business and be willing to enter an agreement for business coaching and associated support.