Minister for Family and Community Services Pru Goward announced yesterday that the eight week amnesty will allow tenants to declare their correct income without punishment.

Public housing tenants pay rent based on their income, with subsidies ensuring they pay no more than 25 per cent of their income as rent but the system does require a level of honesty from tenants.

People caught underreporting income or assets face backdating of rent and possible prosecution.

Dubbo MP Grant said the amnesty aims to ensure tenants are paying the required level of rent and are not unfairly denying assistance to the more than 57,000 families on the housing waiting list.

"This is about fairness in making sure those who need public housing the most can access it when others who have the means to access other accommodation don't abuse the privilege public housing affords the most vulnerable."

A similar amnesty last year targeted undeclared occupancy in public housing and resulted in 2,817 tenants declared as additional occupants, returning an annual $8.9 million in rental revenue into public housing.

Ms Goward said money earned from the amnesty will be reinvested into the social housing system and it could be a considerable sum.

"In an exercise conducted with Centrelink late last year, almost 500 public housing tenants were earning unreported income totalling $308,610 per week.

"Additional rent now being received from assessment of that undisclosed income is more than $4 million per year," Ms Goward said. The amnesty runs April 7 to May 31, with members of the public able to anonymously report any public housing tenants they suspect are underreporting their income or ownership of assets such as property, 24 hours a day 7 days a week.