If you have lost a loved one in a transport accident we’re so sorry for your loss. We are here to help. We offer financial support with funeral costs and counselling services. We'll give you as much information and advice as we can.

We can also provide financial support for dependants.

Accessing TAC support

To access support from the TAC, you will need to complete a Funeral and dependency benefits claim form. This form asks about the person who has died and about the accident. We use this information to look at the support we can give you.

The TAC support coordinators can help you complete this form and will let you know if there is any other information you may need to give us.

How we can help

Our support coordinators are here to help you to understand how to get financial support from us.

Your benefits will depend on your family's circumstances. When you have an accepted TAC claim and a claim number, talk to your support coordinator for more information about a particular service. You can contact them on 03 5225 6200 or by email at familybenefits@tac.vic.gov.au.

Funeral and monument expenses support

We can pay the reasonable costs for a funeral and monument up to $18,170 (including GST).

Travel and accommodation expenses to attend a funeral, burial or cremation

We can pay up to $6,060 to cover the reasonable cost of travel and accommodation expenses within Australia for immediate family members to go to the funeral, burial, or cremation. To be eligible, the service needs to be held in Australia and the immediate family member needs to live over 100kms from where the service is held.

To learn more about this benefit, please speak to your TAC support coordinator.

To make a claim, please complete the Travel and accommodation expenses form.

Family counselling support

We can pay up to $19,280 in family counselling support.

If you’re a spouse, partner, parent, grandparent, child or grandchild, brother or sister of the person who died, you can access this benefit provided the counselling is from a doctor, registered psychologist, or qualified social worker.

If the death has caused you or a family member a mental injury, you may also be able to make your own TAC claim.

To find out more about making your own TAC claim, please contact our Customer Service Centre on 1300 654 329.

Dependent spouse or partner support

If your spouse or domestic partner was contributing to your family’s income or caring for your children, we can help you cope with financial support. A “domestic partner” is either in a registered relationship with the person or living with them as a couple (regardless of gender).

Lump sum payment

We can pay a one‑off lump sum benefit of up to $216,130.

This amount depends on the person’s age, family circumstances and any previous impairment payments. If you’re a dependent partner, in addition to the lump sum payment, you may also receive a fortnightly benefit and/or support at home. It will depend on your partner’s
responsibilities before the accident.

If your partner was employed and providing financial support

We can pay an ongoing, regular payment equal to 80% of your partner’s earnings, up to a maximum of $1,540 gross per week.

You may be eligible for this benefit even if you were working at the time of the accident. All you’ll need to do is provide information about your partner’s income.

AND

If your partner was caring for children or responsible for housework

We can contribute to the cost of employing a person to help with childcare and household tasks.

There are limits to how much we can pay, how many hours per week and for how long.

If your partner was also in paid employment, please contact your TAC support coordinator to find out which benefits apply.

Dependent children support

These benefits don’t apply if the child’s surviving parent is eligible for a benefit as a dependent spouse or domestic partner first.

If both parents, a sole parent, or a supporting parent died in the accident, payments can be made for the dependent children. For accidents on or after 6 July 2022, if both of a child’s parents die in the same transport accident, the child will receive the payments for each parent who died in the accident. These include:

Lump sum payment

We can pay a one‑off lump sum payment to the dependent children of up to $216,130.

This amount will depend on the person who died and their family circumstances. The State Trustees will hold this money until the child is 18.

A dependent child is defined as being under 18 years, or aged 18 to 25 years if they are a full‑time student or apprentice. It does not include a child who has a spouse or partner.

If there is more than one dependent child, this lump sum will be divided equally between the dependent children.

Fortnightly payment

We can pay the guardian $217 gross each week for each dependent child under 18 years of age.

Education allowance

We can pay up to $3,440 per year to the guardian for each full‑time student up to 18 years of age.

Your responsibilities

If a child is under 18 and eligible for dependency payments, the benefits will be paid to the most appropriate person who has day‑to‑day care of the child. This person is known as the ‘responsible person’.

If the ‘responsible person’ stops having day‑to‑care of the child, they need to notify the TAC. If another person starts to have day‑to‑day care of the child, they must also notify the TAC.