Schoolkids Bonus School Leaver Payment 101-03080100

On 5 September 2014, legislation passed to abolish Schoolkids Bonus including the School Leaver Payment from 31 December 2016. The final bulk instalment of Schoolkids Bonus was paid in July 2016 for the 30 June 2016 bonus test day.

Schoolkids Bonus was paid automatically every January and July from 2013 to 2016 inclusive to customers with existing educations details recorded.

For a Schoolkids Bonus School Leaver Payment to be paid for the final bonus test day of 30 June 2016, the student must have completed studies in the education period of 1 January 2016 to 30 June 2016 while meeting all other Schoolkids Bonus eligibility requirements.

The time limit to notify completion of Year 12 or equivalent study for the final instalment of the Schoolkids Bonus School Leaver Payment for:

• Family Tax Benefit (FTB) Part A customers ended on 30 June 2017
• income support customers ended on 28 September 2016 (13 weeks after 30 June 2016)

A Schoolkids Bonus School Leaver Payment will not be payable for secondary studies completed on or after 1 July 2016. For example, a student who completes year 12 or equivalent in November 2016 is not eligible because the bonus test day of 1 January 2017, under which the student would be assessed for payment, is no longer an applicable bonus test day.

Schoolkids Bonus School Leaver Payments (arrears) and adjustments (debts) will continue to be assessed under existing notification rules for the period Schoolkids Bonus was payable - from the 1 January 2013 bonus test day through to the 30 June 2016 bonus test day.

To receive the Schoolkids Bonus School Leaver payment, a parent, guardian or student needed to confirm the completion of secondary study within the required notification period that they had completed secondary studies.

The school leaver did not need to be continuing study to be eligible, they just needed to have completed Year 12 or equivalent in the previous education period and meet other eligibility requirements.

If the school leaver received an income support payment immediately before the bonus test day, they would be eligible. However, if Family Tax Benefit (FTB) Part A to the parent/guardian was the last payment type received in the previous education period before the bonus test day, the FTB customer was eligible.

The school leaver must have:

• satisfied the School Leaver Payment age requirements on the bonus test day
• completed their secondary education in the previous education period for the bonus test day
• undertaken primary or secondary education on at least one day in 2012
• advised within the required notification period of the completion of the final year of study (Year 12 or equivalent)

For a parent/guardian to be paid the Schoolkids Bonus School Leaver Payment, they must:

• have been paid an eligible payment for Schoolkids Bonus for the child in the previous education period
• have been the last person paid an eligible payment for the child (and remain entitled to the payment)
• for the 2014-15 and 2015-16, financial years, have an adjusted taxable income of $100,000 or less, and
• notify that the child completed their secondary education in the previous education period for the bonus test day:
• for FTB, before the end of the lodgement year after the financial year in which the bonus test day occurs
• for other eligible payments, before the end of the 13 week period beginning on the bonus test day

See Resources page for examples.

For the school leaver to be paid the Schoolkids Bonus School Leaver Payment, they must:

• have been paid an eligible payment for Schoolkids Bonus (not FTB Part A) in the previous education period
• have been the last person paid an eligible payment in the previous education period for the bonus test day (and remain entitled to the payment), and
• for 2014-15 and 2015-16 financial years, have an adjusted taxable income of $100,000 or less, and
• notify that they completed their secondary education in the previous education period for the bonus test day before the end of the 13 week period beginning on the bonus test day

See Resources page for examples.

For the Schoolkids Bonus School Leaver Payment, a student completes secondary education if they:

• complete the final year of secondary schooling or an equivalent level of education (this would include a situation where a course has been completed but a student fails the exams)
• cease special education, or
• cease secondary education due to sickness, disability or special circumstances and is unable to complete the final year of secondary schooling or an equivalent level of education

If a student ceases study before the end date of the course, the Schoolkids Bonus School Leaver Payment would not be payable unless the reason for ceasing meets the criteria outlined above.

Evidence that a student completed the final year is generally not required, unless there is a suggestion (for example, via a data match review) that the final year has not been completed. If it is considered appropriate, verification from the school or education provider may be sought to confirm that a student has completed the final year.

In some cases the Schoolkids Bonus School Leaver Payment is automatically assessed if completion of secondary studies has been recorded on the customer's record correctly.

From 1 January 2015, an income test applied. Eligible families and young people with an adjusted taxable income of $100,000 or less for the year in which the bonus test day occurred were paid Schoolkids Bonus.

Eligibility for the Schoolkids Bonus School Leaver Payment is based on the income information already provided to Centrelink.

Family Tax Benefit (FTB) Part A customers

Eligibility was determined on each of the bonus test days of 1 January and 30 June from 2013 to 2016 inclusive. Therefore, an FTB Part A customer’s estimate of income as recorded on the bonus test day determined eligibility along with other requirements.

After the end of the financial year, if all other eligibility requirements are met, a top-up payment of Schoolkids Bonus School Leaver Payment may be paid as part of the FTB reconciliation process to FTB Part A customers who:

• during the FTB instalment period did not receive School Leaver Payment due to their income estimate being above $100,000 and advised the completion of secondary studies for a child before the end of the lodgement year, and
• at FTB reconciliation have an actual adjusted taxable income of $100,000 or less for bonus test days in 2015 and 2016

or

• during the FTB instalment period did not receive School Leaver Payment due to Prohibition of FTB instalments (PIP) and advised the completion of secondary studies for a child before the end of the lodgement year, and
• at FTB reconciliation have an actual adjusted taxable income of $100,000 or less for bonus test days in 2015 and 2016

Income support payment customers

If expected adjusted taxable income was greater than $100,000, a manual override was coded for the bonus test day in the applicable financial year to prevent payment of School Leaver Payment.

Exemptions

There were exemptions to the income test. For example, students receiving Schoolkids Bonus because of their eligibility to Special Benefit (SpB), certain veterans’ education allowance payments or Disability Support Pension (DSP) for those who are permanently blind.

Note: the exemption from the income test for SpB and DSP (Blind) only applied to students claiming Schoolkids Bonus School Leaver Payment in their own right. Families who received Schoolkids Bonus because of their eligibility to FTB Part A for a dependent child in addition to receiving SpB or DSP (Blind) were not exempt from the income test. For example, a DSP (Blind) parent receiving FTB Part A for a child in school is not exempt from the income test.

The income test did not apply to bonus test days in the 2013 or 2014 calendar years, including assessments made for these bonus test dates after 1 January 2015. However, the customer must remain entitled to the qualifying payment.

If eligible for a bonus test day in the period 1 January 2013 to 30 June 2016, the secondary Schoolkids Bonus amount would be paid.

Shared care/blended family

The rate is calculated using the family assistance shared care percentage/blended family percentage on the bonus test day.

Individuals who completed Year 12 may not have automatically received a Schoolkids Bonus School Leaver Payment for the 1 January bonus test day following completion of Year 12 because they were not current on payment or not recorded as being in secondary study on the bonus test day. If they contacted, Services Officers needed to manually process the School Leaver Payment. Notification time limits applied.

A Manual Follow-up (MFU) may be generated for an income support payment customer if the system identifies Schoolkids Bonus eligibility. In these cases the record will need to be checked to ensure eligibility and notification requirements are met. If eligible, the record will need to be updated and payment made manually.

The Process page contains step by step instructions.

A Schoolkids Bonus School Leaver Payment debt could arise if the customer was not entitled to the payment for any reason. For example:

• School Leaver Payment is paid for a bonus test day to a Family Tax Benefit (FTB) Part A customer who later loses entitlement for that date. For example, based on circumstances recorded during the FTB instalment period they may have been entitled to and paid the School Leaver Payment, but at FTB reconciliation their actual income precludes entitlement to FTB Part A. The School Leaver Payment is raised as an overpayment as entitlement was lost to the qualifying payment
• School Leaver Payment is paid based on adjusted taxable income estimate of $100,000 or less and after FTB reconciliation, or following advice from the student or identification by the agency for income support customers, ‘actual’ adjusted taxable income is more than $100,000. The Schoolkids Bonus School Leaver Payment is raised as a debt
• An FTB customer becomes a non-lodger and a debt is raised for all FTB received for the relevant financial year. The School Leaver Payment will also be raised as a debt. For more information, see Schoolkids Bonus

If a School Leaver Payment is paid to an FTB customer for a child for a bonus test day and then the child is granted Youth Allowance (YA), Disability Support Pension (DSP), ABSTUDY Living Allowance, Carer Payment (CP), Parenting Payment (PP) or Special Benefit (SpB), consider who received the School Leaver Payment in determining whether or not a debt is to be raised. For more information, see Schoolkids Bonus.

School Leaver Payment debts can be recovered from an FTB top up or through withholding of ongoing FTB fortnightly payments.