Changes to income support for students

This year there will be important changes to Youth Allowance and other student payments. Some of these changes occured in April 2010 with further changes being put in place from 1 July 2010.

The changes could affect you if you receive, or are planning to claim, one of the following payments from Centrelink:

• Youth Allowance
• ABSTUDY
• Austudy
• Assistance for Isolated Children

Changes from July 2010

The following changes will apply from 1 July 2010:

The Parental Income Test

If you are a dependent Youth Allowance or ABSTUDY (living allowance) customer, there are changes to the way that your parents' income will affect your entitlement to assistance from Centrelink. For more information refer to Parental Income Test.

You can use Centrelink's Rate Estimator to assist you in working out whether your child is eligible for student income support and, if so, what their payment amount is likely to be.

Earning money from part-time work

If you are a dependent Youth Allowance or ABSTUDY customer there will be changes to the way that your income from part-time and casual work will affect your rate of payment. For more information refer to Earning money from part-time work.

Changes to the independence criteria

The rules that allow young people to demonstrate their independence by supporting themselves through paid employment will change.

However, if you are already considered independent for Centrelink purposes, then changes to the independence criteria won’t affect you. For more information refer to Changes to the independence criteria for Youth Allowance and ABSTUDY.

Other changes to student income support

The following changes were implemented from 1 April 2010:

Age of Independence

You will now be considered independent if you're 24 years of age or older. This will reduce to 22 years by 2012.

Exempt equity and merit-based scholarships

If you receive an equity or merit-based scholarship, up to $6,762 of this scholarship is now exempt from the personal income test. This means that these scholarships, usually paid by universities or philanthropic organisations, will have less of an impact on your fortnightly Centrelink payment. For more information refer to Exempt equity and merit-based scholarships.

New scholarships for students in higher education

Centrelink now pays 2 new scholarships to some students in higher education to assist with the costs of studying and living away from home. You don't need to apply for these scholarships - they will be paid directly to eligible customers. These scholarships are:

• Student Start-up Scholarship - for some Youth Allowance, ABSTUDY and Austudy customers, and
• Relocation Scholarship - for some Youth Allowance and ABSTUDY customers who need to live away from home to study.

You may also be eligible for Student scholarship transitional payments. For more information view Student scholarship transitional payments.

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Videos

Changes to Youth Allowance and ABSTUDY

This video is about the changes to Youth Allowance and ABSTUDY from 1 July 2010.

A transcript of this video is available:

• Changes to Youth Allowance and ABSTUDY [Transcript, 2 pages, RTF: 34KB]

Youth Allowance Webcast

This video is the recorded version of the live webcast on 21 April 2010.

A transcript of this video is available:

• Youth Allowance changes [Transcript, 11 pages, RTF: 93KB]

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More information

• Frequently asked questions
• Changes to ABSTUDY Living Allowance factsheet
• Independence criteria for Youth Allowance and ABSTUDY factsheet
• The Parental Means Test for Youth Allowance and ABSTUDY factsheet
• Youth Allowance is changing factsheet
• Rate Estimator