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 As Australia reaches an "unacceptable" milestone, a little-known Centerlink rule will receive an advance cash boost. 

Under certain conditions, recipients of Centrelink can request an advance on payments totaling hundreds of dollars. The process is as follows: Stewart Perrie

 Stewart Perrie · Senior Journalist

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 Bondi Junction's Centrelink is packed with people. People on Centrelink are able to request the money gets advanced early to them if they have to deal with sudden costs. (Source: Getty) · Jenny Evans via Getty Images

 Australians who find themselves in a precarious financial situation are being reminded of a little-known mechanism within Centrelink that enables recipients to have money advanced to them. The government body is aware that people might not be able to wait until their next fortnightly payment arrives to cover unexpected expenses. Services Australia has sought to remind those receiving welfare payments as new research has revealed one in seven Australians now live in poverty.

 Services Australia spokesperson Hank Jongen told Yahoo Finance cash advances work "like an interest-free loan".

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 After CBA employee trained her AI replacement, CEO confronts her. Figures exclusively provided to Yahoo Finance show there were more than 2.8 million advance payments made in the 12 months to September this year.

 According to Services Australia, a person can make multiple advance payments, so some people would have requested an advance multiple times. Those receiving the Family Tax Benefit made up the biggest portion of those requesting advance payments at a little over one million incidences.

 Disability Support Pension recipients ranked second (609,078), followed by JobSeeker Payment recipients (371,947), Age Pension recipients (307,500), and Carer Payment recipients (256,345). Jongen said many on the Family Tax Benefit end up using the cash advance during back-to-school periods when they're suddenly lumped with big expenses like books, laptops, uniforms, and other costs.

 Do you have a story? Email stew.perrie@yahooinc.com

 Services Australia's Hank Jongen next to Australian money

 Services Australia's Hank Jongen said people can access cash advances in certain circumstances. (Supplied/Getty Images) How does Centrelink's advance payment system work and how much can I get?

 A person's circumstances and the amount of their payment will determine how much they can be advanced. Jongen told Yahoo Finance the highest amount a single person on a maximum rate pension could get is $1,678.50.

 Once the money lands in their account, it will then affect how much they receive in the subsequent months.

 He provided the following explanation: "You receive a lump sum now and then pay it back over 13 fortnights through slightly reduced payments." People can test their eligibility using their Centrelink online account through myGov or their Centrelink Express Plus mobile app. It's currently available for those who have been on the following payments for at least three months:

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