If you are completing Year 12 or an equivalent qualification in November or December this year, you can elect to have your Youth Allowance payment start from 1 January next year if you lodge a claim from 1 October to 31 December inclusive. For academic reasons the workload of a tertiary or secondary student may be reduced to two-thirds of the normal workload because:.
Please telephone Centrelink on 13 23 For Tertiary study the allowable time is the minimum time it would take to complete the course studying full-time plus an additional study period. Where a course has semester based subjects, the allowable time is the minimum time plus one semester. If the course has year long subjects, the allowable time is the minimum time plus an additional academic year.
For the purposes of Youth Allowance , an approved course of education or study is one approved by the Minister for Education, Science and Training. There is no minimum duration for a course to be approved, but the length of a course may influence the date from which you are considered to be a full-time student.
If you are under 21 you may get Youth Allowance while you are doing non-approved study. You will however, need to establish that the study will improve your work prospects and enter into an Activity Agreement. If this is the case, you may not get the benefit of receiving the higher fortnight income free area or access to the Student Income bank.
For the purposes of Austudy , an approved course of education or study is one approved by the Minister for Education, Science and Training. To maintain consistency with student income support policy, as defined by the Act, and the new amendments which extends income support to Masters courses, an additional amendment is required to remove the current restriction on the provision of income support to students who have already attained a Masters degree.
This amendment has no effect on the existing allowable time and progress rules, which are maintained. It also does not apply to students who have attained a doctorate. Austudy customers are not eligible for payment as a student if they have already completed study at the Doctorate level this preclusion applies to Austudy only as per s 2 SSA. There is no corresponding references for Youth Allowance. Please provide the hours per week you spend studying not including private study , for example, you are attending 15 hours a week of face-to-face study.
Please read these terms and conditions carefully. If you do not accept the terms and conditions you will not be paid a Student Start-up Loan.
The loan is to help with the up-front costs of study such as textbooks and specialised equipment. For this reason, Centrelink must have a Tax File Number on record when the loan is issued. The loan is available in two half-yearly instalments per calendar year, with the eligibility periods being;.
The loan amount may be adjusted in line with the Consumer Price Index, so future instalments, and the total amount paid, may be different. You will be required to repay your Student Start-up loan through the taxation system. Details are on the Australian Taxation Office website. You will not be able to make early repayments to Centrelink.
If you wish to commence repaying any loans, you will need to contact the Australian Taxation Office. For each semester or each year, you take out a Student Start-up Loan, the amount you will have to repay will be recovered through the Australian Tax Office.
You can stop future Student Start-up Loan Payments at any time. Use either the online services or the Student Express App to decline future loans. You can change your nomination at any time, for example if you applied for a loan for the whole course you can change your preference back to current semester or current year only.
However, once you have received a Student Start-up Loan, you cannot return it to Centrelink, unless you were not entitled to it. A student is considered full-time for the period that they have a Student Contributions loading of: 0.
For a non-Student Contributions course, a student is considered full-time where: the institution classifies their course as full-time and they are doing at least three quarters of the full-time load or they are undertaking an amount of study equivalent to at least three quarters of the average amount required to complete the course in the minimum time or neither of the first or second conditions apply, they undertake at least 15 hours face to face study in a week it may be a combination of lectures and formal consultations with course supervisors.
For academic reasons the workload of a tertiary or secondary student may be reduced to two thirds of the normal workload because of: the institutions normal requirements, for example, timetable clashes, subject prerequisites have not been satisfied because of failure or other reasons, subject cancelled or over enrolled, or reduced study load needed to complete the course or a specific direction in writing from the academic registrar or equivalent officer or a recommendation in writing from the academic registrar or equivalent officer for academic or vocational reasons, regardless of whether or not a reason is given with the recommendation.
Part-time over 21 If you are studying part-time and are over 21 years old, you may be eligible for Newstart Allowance. Part-time under 21 If you are studying part-time and are under 21 years old, you may still be eligible for Youth Allowance. Tertiary Studies Tertiary study is any study at a level above secondary or high school equivalent study. These students may also be eligible for other allowances including living allowance, relocation allowance, thesis allowance and compulsory course fees.
Given the number of different payments, you should contact Centrelink for a personal assessment or see us for a consultation. Income Bank allows you to build up "credit" to offset any decreases in your Centrelink payment should you get a job. This figure is known as your "fortnightly income free area". This is a payment to assist those who pay rent in the private rental market. Payments are different if you have children, share with others or are in a relationship.
Payment rates can be found here. Crisis payment entitles you to money if you have been forced to leave your home and find a new home because of extreme events such as domestic violence or your house burning down. You must also have been in Australia at the time of the event occurring, an Australian resident or citizen previously resident in Australia, and claim the crisis payment within 7 days of the event taking place.
The Crisis Payment is a one off payment - equal to one week's payment of normal benefits you would normally be entitled to, and limited to four payments in one year. A crisis payment is also avalaible to anyone who needs to self-isolate with a medical certificate due to COVID This is an allowance which is available to university students who are living away from their permanent home to study.
The allowance helps you cover the costs of selected travel between your permanent home and university each year using the least expensive form of public transport that is practicable. Only trips from your permanent home and university are covered by this payment. The payment does not assist with your daily trips to and from university each day. Click here for more information eligibility requirements.
This payment assists you with the purchase of prescription medicines available through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme PBS. Once you have paid for 52 prescriptions through the PBS in a calendar year, all PBS medications will be free for the rest of the year. This is a payment for people who are employed and who are temporarily unable to work due to a medical condition. Full time students on Austudy or Abstudy may qualify for Sickness Allowance. You cannot receive sickness allowance if you currently receive Youth Allowance.
Sickness Allowance is not a long-term payment; rather it is paid for temporary illness or incapacity. Centrelink is not accepting new applications for the Sickness Allowance, however if you currently receive it, the payment will continue until your medical certificate expires. Centrelink has become far more aggressive in its approach to cracking down on those who may have been overpaid. Centrelink engages in an extensive system of data matching between itself, the Tax Office and other government bodies.
Centrelink's policy is to recover money incorrectly paid to people, even if the payment was the result of Centrelink error. Depending on the circumstances, you may be sent a "breach" notification. For students, a breach may be a failure to report earnings for a period, reporting an incorrect amount, or failing to notify Centrelink of changes which affect payments such as your current living arrangements. Centrelink makes mistake like any organisation, and you have the right to challenge any decision made by them.
Speak to the officer who made the decision. Ask for the reasons for the decision, explain why you believe it is wrong and why your circumstances justify a different decision. You have the right to a review of any Centrelink decision. Ask for your matter to be examined by an Authorised Review Officer. This person is a senior staff member who has had no previous contact with your case. At first, the person who originally made the decision may look at it again unless you request that they do not.
If they do not change the decision or you are dissatisfied with the new decision, an authorised review officer will examine the case. This person will probably contact you to make further inquiries, check facts, examine the material which the original decision maker used. The AAT is more like a court. There will be a conference between yourself and Centrelink at first, and if the issue cannot be resolved you will be asked to present your case at a formal hearing.
The AAT can affirm uphold Centrelink's decision or overturn it. Your final avenue of appeal is to the Federal Court, and in very limited circumstances the High Court. Appeals to courts may only be on matters of law, not on the merits of your application. If you are a full-time student you can get your payment if you are studying outside Australia as part of a full-time Australian course.
Yes potentially. However, this payment is only available for students who cannot use public transport without a lot of help, have a disability, illness or injury, and need to travel for study.
In summary, yes there are extra payments and supplements for students receiving allowances, but they do not increase the overall payments received to an adequate level. Most extra payments are tied to extra costs that some students will accrue due to their studies. Furthermore, the main extra payment, the Commonwealth Rent Allowance would need to be substantially increased if it were to realistically offset the cost of private rental accommodation.
One of the reasons governments have given for having the rate of allowances for students so low is that students can earn more in a paying job before their allowances start to be reduced. There are two types of problem with this approach.
Firstly, many students simply cannot find consistent part time work, and must depend entirely on the allowance. Secondly, many students who are employed are increasingly working long hours in order to complete their study.
This has resulted in students being overtired, skipping classes and not fully engaging in their studies, and in many cases delaying courses or dropping out altogether. There is now a growing body of evidence pointing to the negative impacts of a lack of financial support on the lives and study experience of students in Australia because of the low and declining levels of financial support.
See for instance the Universities Australia report on student finances and the Australian Association of Social Workers report on student social workers. Despite this growing evidence and the low levels of financial support, the poverty of students is often overlooked because there is still a common perception that students only come from affluent families.
This has changed over the last 30 years, but perceptions have not caught up. Now students from low income families are among the least financially assisted of people who are receiving allowances or pensions.
Currently the basic rate for students receiving Austudy, Youth Allowance or Abstudy for students under 22yrs is only 83 percent of the Newstart Allowance or 55 percent of the Aged Pension rate. Principally for students who are on a Disability Support Pension or who are carers of a person with a disability.
Relocation Scholarship: For students moving to or from a regional or remote area to study. Bills before the Parliament would see the above three payments slashed or access reduced.
Fares Allowance: Either one or two return trips from your place of study. Low Income Health Card. Other payments are paid depending on circumstances. The verdict In summary, yes there are extra payments and supplements for students receiving allowances, but they do not increase the overall payments received to an adequate level.
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