Independence test
If you apply for Youth Allowance, you will be assessed as either being dependent or independent.
You may be considered independent if:
- you are aged 24 or over and a full-time student or Australian Apprentice, or
- you are or have been legally married, in a registered relationship or living in a de facto relationship with another person as a member of a couple, or
- you have, or have had a dependent child, or
- you have supported yourself through workforce participation, or
- you have a partial capacity to work as determined by a Job Capacity Assessment, or
- you have parents who cannot exercise their responsibilities, or
- you are unable to live at home due to extreme family breakdown, violence in the home, or serious threats to your health or well-being, or
- you are a refugee without parents living in Australia or
- you are an orphan and have not been legally adopted, or
- you are in State care, or only stopped being in State care because of your age.
Member of a couple
You may be considered independent if you are now, or have previously been, a member of a de facto couple for at least 12 months. Relationships of at least six months are accepted in special circumstances (for example, if your partner has died or the relationship ended due to domestic violence). To qualify as independent as a member of a couple, you must be over the age of consent in the State or Territory you live in for that time.
Self-supporting through workforce participation
You may be considered independent if you have supported yourself through full-time paid employment for at least 18 months within a period of two years. Full-time employment means that you have worked an average of 30 hours per week throughout the 18 months.
The hours that you work each week can be averaged over periods of no more than 13 weeks (for example, you will meet the independence criterion if you have worked at least 390 hours in each of six periods of 13 weeks).
You must be working full-time for a total of at least 18 months. You cannot meet this requirement within a period of 12 months.
2009 gap year students
Changes to the independence criteria from 1 July 2010 mean that some restrictions apply to whom can be considered independent for the following reasons:
- you have worked part-time (at least 15 hours a week) for at least 2 years since leaving school, or
- you have been out of school for at least 18 months and have earned at least 75% of the maximum rate of pay under Wage Level A of the Australian Pay and Classification Scale in an 18-month period. For information about these restrictions see ‘Changes to the independence criteria for Youth Allowance and ABSTUDY.
If you think you are unable to live at home due to extreme family breakdown, violence in the home, or serious threats to your health or well-being, visit your nearest Customer Service Centre to find out about the help available
More information
- Away from home (students and Australian Apprentices)
- Changes to income support for students
- Youth Allowance section
On the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs website