Undertaking Study or Training

For the purposes of Youth Allowance (YA) or Austudy, studying or training means you are a full-time student doing an approved course of study. Full time study is defined as at least three quarters of the standard full-time load for tertiary students.
It differs depending on whether the course attracts a Student Contributions fee.
For a Student Contributions course, a full-time load is measured against the standard student study load for the course. A student is considered full-time for the period that they have a Student Contributions loading of:

For a non-Student Contributions course, a student is considered full-time where:

You may still be eligible for Youth Allowance or Austudy if it is difficult for you to study a full-time load. Centrelink may still pay you a student payment if any of the following conditions apply to you.
For academic reasons the workload of a tertiary or secondary student may be reduced to two thirds of the normal workload because of:

If you are a disabled person over 25 who has a substantial physical, psychiatric or intellectual disability and are therefore not capable of full-time study or of completing a course in the minimum time allowed for other students, you can undertake at least 25% of the normal full-time study load for the course and still get Austudy. This includes studying a course offered on a part-time basis where the workload is at least 25% or more of a comparable full-time course.

If you are Aboriginal or a Torres Strait Islander and studying full-time, you can claim ABSTUDY instead of Youth Allowance or Austudy.

Part-time over 21

If you are studying part-time and are over 21 years old, you may be eligible for Newstart Allowance. You will still be required to look for work or participate in other activities.

Part-time under 21

If you are studying part-time and are under 21 years old, you may still be eligible for Youth Allowance. Based on your circumstances, you may be required to participate in a combination of activities to make up a full time load.

Tertiary Studies

Tertiary study is any study at a level above secondary (or high school equivalent) study. This study may range from relatively simple courses lasting a few weeks to highly specialised courses lasting for several years. If you are studying a number of tertiary courses, choose the level which is most appropriate for your course in the drop down box, for example, Certificate, Diploma or Degree.

Level of Study

Please choose your level of study from the drop down box, for example, diploma, certificate, degree.

Name of Course

Enter the name of the course.

You can enter blanks, hyphens and apostrophes, but not in a consecutive series. You cannot type a blank, hyphen or apostrophe first. For example:

Course identification (ID) number

Enter the course identification (ID) number in this field if you know it, for example, TH123.

Australian State

Select an Australian State.

Search for an Educational Institution name

Enter the name of the educational institution you attended or will attend for your studies to search for it. You can enter blanks, hyphens and apostrophes, but not in a consecutive series. You cannot type a blank, hyphen or apostrophe first. For example, 'OShea University cannot be accepted but O'Shea University can be.

Name of Educational Institution

Enter the name of the educational institution you attended or will attend for your studies. You can enter blanks, hyphens and apostrophes, but not in a consecutive series. You cannot type a blank, hyphen or apostrophe first. For example, 'OShea University cannot be accepted but O'Shea University can be.
For example:

Campus

Student identification (ID) number

A student identification (ID) number or personal identification number (PIN) is issued to you by the educational institute when you enrol. If you have received one of the numbers enter it into this field, for example JS12345.

Year/Stage

Enter the year or stage of your current course, for example, secondary year nine, tertiary first year.

Official Course Dates

These are the official dates that the course is scheduled to run by the educational institution (for example: the Semester start and end dates). These are not necessarily the dates that you yourself attend the course.
For more information on the dates see commencement date and date of completion.

Study Load

Please choose from the drop down box your study load, for example, full-time, part-time.

Your period of study

These are the dates that you attend the course. For example you may not start at the beginning of the course because of exemptions or Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) you have received.
For more information on the dates see commencement date and date of completion.

Commencement date

Enter the date you commenced or will commence the course, for example 10/02/2005

Date of completion

Enter the date you have completed or will complete the course, for example 10/12/2007

Year 12 or equivalent

Approved Year 12 or equivalent studies are:

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Highest Level of Education

Please select the highest level of education you have completed. For example, you have completed Year 12 or an equivalent.
If your highest level of Education was completed overseas, please indicate the Australian equivalent.

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Attempted a Tertiary course but did not complete it

This refers to when you have studied in a tertiary course previously, but did not finish the course.

Allowable time is measured against the minimum time of the tertiary course you are currently studying. Time already spent in study at the same level is then deducted from this limit to determine whether you are still undertaking qualifying study.
If you are receiving Youth Allowance you are not limited in the amount of time spent in study at the same level.
If you are receiving Youth Allowance you may be asked to sign an agreement when attempting a second or subsequent course at the same level.

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All study attempts towards this course

It is important that you provide information about the amount of time you have previously spent on this course. If this course is at the same level as your current course, the amount of time you spent studying on this course may be used in calculating your allowable time.

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Courses you have successfully completed

Please provide details of any courses (TAFE, university etc) you have successfully completed.

Centrelink administered payments for students are not paid indefinitely. A limit is placed on how long you may continue to receive payment at each level of study. This limit is based on the course you are currently undertaking. Other study you have previously undertaken at the same level may also be taken into account.
Only the normal minimum duration of a completed course is taken into account, whether or not you actually studied for longer than that.

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Previous attempts at Current Course

Provide information on any previous attempts you have undertaken for the current course you are studying.

A criterion for undertaking qualifying study for Austudy purposes is that you must be making satisfactory progress in your course. A tertiary student is making satisfactory progress if the amount of time spent in the course (together with the time spent in other courses at the same level) does not exceed the allowable time for that course.
For Youth allowance, the allowable time is measured only against any study you have undertaken in your current course. If you are receiving Youth Allowance, there is no limit on the number of courses you can undertake at the same level and you may retain full-time student status. If you have previously attempted a different course at the same level you may be required to enter into an activity agreement for students.
Students need to complete a course in an allowable period of time that is based on the minimum time it normally takes to complete the course, plus an additional allowable period of time. Up to one year additional allowable time may be granted to complete your course. In Exceptional Circumstances some students may be granted an extension to their allowable time. Such circumstances include illness, family trauma, natural disaster, relocation and caring responsibilities.

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Current or Future Course Details

Your course needs to be completed in an allowable period of time, this is based on the minimum time it normally takes to complete the course, plus an additional study period (for example 3 years plus 1 semester for a degree). Up to one year additional allowable time may be granted to complete your course if you have a year long subject. In Exceptional Circumstances you may be granted an extension to your allowable time. Such circumstances include illness, family trauma, natural disaster, relocation and caring responsibilities.

1 January

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. This will mean Family Tax Benefit for you may continue to be paid to your parent/guardian until 31 December. You will also only be required to supply one year of your parent(s)/guardian(s) income.

Immediate Expenses

Please enter the immediate expenses for your course in a whole dollar amount, for example, $47.70 can be entered as $48.

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Difficult for you to work or study

For academic reasons the workload of a tertiary or secondary student may be reduced to two-thirds of the normal workload because:

If you are a disabled person over 25 who has a substantial physical, psychiatric or intellectual disability and are therefore not capable of full-time study or of completing a course in the minimum time allowed for other students, you can undertake at least 25% of the normal full-time study load for the course and still get Austudy. This includes studying a course offered on a part-time basis where the workload is at least 25% or more of a comparable full-time course.

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Completed a Doctorate course

Please provide the details of any Doctorate courses you have successfully completed.

If you are eligible for ABSTUDY payments, you may be eligible for assistance when studying a Doctorate course. Please telephone Centrelink on 13 23 17.

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Allowable Time

Centrelink administered payments for students are not paid indefinitely. A limit is placed on how long you may continue to receive payment at each level of study. This limit is based on the course you are currently undertaking. Other study you have previously undertaken at the same level may also be taken into account.
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.

Approved Course

Youth Allowance

For the purposes of Youth Allowance, an approved course of education or study is one approved by the Minister for Education, Science and Training.

Approved courses of full-time study include:

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.

Mainstream Doctorate studies are NOT approved courses for Youth Allowance.

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.

Austudy

For the purposes of Austudy, an approved course of education or study is one approved by the Minister for Education, Science and Training.

Approved courses of full-time study include:

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.

Mainstream Doctorate studies are NOT approved courses for Austudy.

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 s569(2)SSA. There is no corresponding references for Youth Allowance.

Hours per week you spend studying

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.

Communicable diseases

You are not required to tell Centrelink about communicable diseases such as HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C.

Any disability, illness or injury details that you provide to Centrelink will not be disclosed to your partner/parent/guardian, or other people whom you have authorised as your nominees.

Terms and conditions

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.

Student Start-up Loan

The Student Start-up Loan is a voluntary, interest free, loan available to eligible full-time students in higher education receiving Youth Allowance, Austudy, or ABSTUDY Living Allowance. The loan is to help with the up-front costs of study such as textbooks and specialised equipment.

The loan must be repaid through the Australian Taxation Office when your income reaches the amount where Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) debts become payable. 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;

Amount and Payment details

Each Student Start-up Loan is a set amount of $1,025.

As two are available each year, the maximum amount is $2,050 each calendar year.

The loan is paid as a lump sum into the same account as your Youth Allowance, Austudy, or ABSTUDY Living Allowance.

Disclaimer:

The loan amount may be adjusted in line with the Consumer Price Index, so future instalments, and the total amount paid, may be different.

Eligibility

To be eligible for the Student Start-up Loan you must be:

Where you are not elegible

You will not get this loan if:

How do I repay the Loan?

You will be required to repay your Student Start-up loan through the taxation system. The loan must be repaid when your income reaches the amount where Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) debts become payable. 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.

How much will I have to repay?

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. The Student Start-up Loan is subject to Consumer Price Index (CPI) adjustments annually, for every year that the loan remains unpaid.

Stopping or changing your Student Start-up Loan

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.

It must be paid back through the taxation system.

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Last Updated December 2013