Live away from home to study or undertake an Australian Apprenticeship

For Youth Allowance customers only. The basic rate of payment for a dependent receiving Youth Allowance is the 'at home' rate. A higher 'away from home' rate may be payable if you are considered by Centrelink to have a need to live away from home. A dependent who chooses to live away from home without an acceptable reason may continue to be paid the 'at home' rate.

You only need to meet one of the criteria below to be considered for the 'away from home rate' of Youth Allowance.

Excessive travelling time

A daily journey to your place of post secondary study, place of work of Australian Apprenticeship or major job market is considered to take excessive time if it exceeds 90 minutes one-way by public transport (including walking and waiting times). Tertiary students with excessive travelling time may also be eligible to receive Fares Allowance.

Parent/s move frequently

If your parent/s move frequently, you may be eligible to receive the 'away from home' rate if you need to live away from the parental home to maintain the continuity of your schooling. Moving frequently is defined as moving homes at least five times a year outside the geographic area.

Parental home is isolated

If your parental home is isolated from the closest government school, you may be eligible to receive the away from home rate. The parental home is isolated if it is:

If you are studying by correspondence (including school of the air) you cannot be paid the 'away from home' rate of Youth Allowance as you do not actually attend classes. Even if the parental home is isolated you still are considered to have access to schooling.

Important Note:The above requirements for the 'away from home' rate do not apply to tertiary students. Tertiary students would be considered for the 'away from home' rate on the basis of excessive travelling time.

Parental home inadequate to study

You may be eligible to receive the 'away from home' rate of Youth Allowance if the parental home is inadequate for you to study, undertake an Australian Apprenticeship or to improve your employment opportunities due to reasons such as extensive noise, overcrowding, chronic illness, lack of facilities, family conflict and/or it is unreasonable for you to live at home. Minor problems that would be normally encountered in most families are not sufficient reason for eligibility to the 'away from home' rate of Youth Allowance.

Young person is disabled and parental home is isolated from the required special facilities

You may be eligible to receive the 'away from home' rate of Youth Allowance if you have a disability and your parental home is isolated from any special facilities that are required.

For example, you may need to live away from home to:

Parent/s move out of the area

If your parent/s move out of the area, the 'away from home' rate of Youth Allowance may be paid if moving with your parents would lessen your employment prospects or interrupt your continuity of study at secondary school. Important Note: This criteria does not apply to tertiary students as they may study at whatever institution they choose, whereas secondary students are normally expected to study at the closest school

Equivalent activity not available locally

You may be eligible to receive the 'away from home' rate of Youth Allowance if you are a secondary student and cannot study locally because:

Compulsory residence at educational institution

You may be eligible to receive the 'away from home' rate of Youth Allowance if there is a compulsory requirement for you to reside at an institution while studying. This applies to tertiary students only.

For example, nursing studies where the students are normally required to stay in the nurses' quarters.

Tertiary student studying overseas

You may be eligible to receive the 'away from home' rate of Youth Allowance if you have the option (and in some cases the requirement) to study part of your course overseas, which will usually involve a semester or year of study at an institution of equivalent status to your 'base' campus.

Study overseas can be considered for Centrelink purposes as study in an approved course if, and only if:

Important Note: The above criteria do not apply if you are a secondary 'exchange' student. It also does not apply if you are a correspondence student who chooses to live overseas.

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Temporarily living away from you normal home?

Temporarily living away from home is defined as living somewhere other than your usual or principal place of residence. For more information on entering addresses go to Tips for entering your address

Term Address Details

If you are not living at your permanent home during school terms or semesters enter your Term Address details in these fields. For more information on entering addresses go to Tips for entering your address.

Temporary Address Details

A temporary address is a place other than your usual place of residence. For more information on entering addresses go to Tips for entering your address.

Postal Address Details

A postal address is a place other than your usual place of residence where you have your mail delivered. For more information on entering addresses go to Tips for entering your address.

Principal residence

This is your permanent home or usual place of residence. If you are applying for Youth Allowance and are dependent, your permanent home is considered to be the home of the parent whose income is assessed for your claim for Youth Allowance.

If your parent uses more than one home, your permanent home is:

Parental Home

The parental home is the principal home of your parent or parents. If your parents have the same principal home, then that is the parental home. If you only have one parent, the parental home is the principal home of the parent. If your parents have different principal homes, the parental home is all of those homes.

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Centrelink Mail

If you select the 'Yes' option, you and/or your partner will receive all your Centrelink mail to the term address or temporary addressyou have recorded in this online claim.

Start date

Please provide the date that you first commenced living at your home/current term/temporary address or first opened your Post Office Box. If you cannot recall the exact date you started living at your term/temporary address or when you opened your Post Office box, please enter an approximate date, for example, 01/01/2004.

End Date

Please provide the date that you left your term/temporary address or when you closed your Post Office Box. If you cannot recall the exact date you left your term/temporary address or when you closed your Post Office Box, please enter an approximate date, for example, 01/01/2004.

If you select the 'Yes' option, you will be posted all your Centrelink mail to the postal address you have recorded in this online claim.

Centrelink Mail

If you select the 'Yes' option, you will receive all your Centrelink mail to the address you have recorded in this online claim.

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Tips for entering address details

Permanent home address

Your permanent home address is the residential addreFss that you normally live at. You must be in Australia on the day you submit your claim to apply for Austudy, Essential Medical Equipment Payment or Youth Allowance. Please ensure you enter an address within Australia. If you have a term address or a temporary address overseas, you will be asked to provide this at a later stage within the claim. If you also wish to provide either a postal address or a temporary mailing address, you can advise us of these details in the Additional Address section of this claim.

Address Lines

This is the street number and the street address where you live or would like to have your Centrelink mail sent to you.

For example 12 Banks St, Hopetown.

The following gives you tips on entering your Residential address where your address contains things such as 'Unit or Flat numbers', 'Lot' numbers, 'Road Side Delivery', 'Section' addresses or any other special address combinations

Town/Suburb

This is the town or suburb where you live, for example 12 Banks Street, Hopetown.

Postcode

This is the postcode of the town or suburb where you live, for example 2073.

State

From the dropdown box, select the appropriate state that matches the location of your address details.

Choices are Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia or Not in Australia (if country is other than Australia).

Country

From the dropdown box, select the appropriate country of your address details.

Residence you are claiming the Essential Medical Equipment Payment

For the purpose of the Essential Medical Equipment Payment, a valid residence must be the person's home located in Australia and is either a private residence, or any other dwelling excluding the list below:

This list made under social security law specifies residences for the purposes of this payment and may be subject to change.

You (and the person with medical needs if not the claimant) must be residing at the residence on the date the claim is lodged and the anniversary date for payment.

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Last Updated March 2010