Assessing independence when a customer is self-supporting through full-time paid employment 001-04060040

For assessing independence through part-time work or earnings for YA or ABSTUDY students from regional and remote areas, see Assessing independence for full time or concessional study load students from regional and remote areas under the self-supporting through employment criterion.

For assessing independence through approved agricultural work for YA or ABSTUDY students undertaking full-time study, or an approved concessional study load in an approved course, see Assessing independence when a student has undertaken approved agricultural work. Note: this type of independence can only be applied where customers have been deemed to have claimed independence under this criterion before the claiming cut-off date of 2 March 2023.

YA and ABSTUDY customers who are independent are not subject to assessment under the Parental Means Test. Independent DSP customers receive a higher rate of payment than dependent DSP customers.

A YA, ABSTUDY or DSP customer is considered independent if they have supported themselves through full-time paid employment for at least 18 months within any 2 year period. This 2 year period does not have to be since leaving secondary school. Full-time employment is defined as having worked for an average of 30 hours per week throughout the 18 months. Where the work has not consistently been at least 30 hours per week the hours of work can be averaged over periods of a maximum of 13 weeks.

A DSP customer is also considered independent if they have supported themselves through part-time paid employment of at least 15 hours per week for at least 2 years since last leaving secondary school. They are also considered independent if they have supported themselves through paid work with cumulative earnings of at least 75% of the Wage Level A of the National Training Wage schedule included in a modern award in an 18 month period since last leaving secondary school.

Paid employment includes periods:

• of overseas employment
• of paid leave, including receiving Pandemic Leave Disaster Payments (PLDP)
• of unpaid leave due to employer shut down that are outside the control of the young person (for example, mandatory Christmas shutdown)
• undertaking a full-time apprenticeship or traineeship
• receiving workers' compensation and the customer can demonstrate they are still connected to their employment
• receiving Community Development Program (CDP) wages

Income includes:

• income earned through self-employment
• income earned while overseas
• fringe benefits
• Defence Force Reserves
• insurance payments paid specifically to cover lost earnings
• paid leave
• studentships
• board and lodging paid in lieu of income from employment

Note: where the customer has received overseas income, the foreign income must be converted to Australian Dollars (AUD). The exchange rate for each of the months worked must be applied when converting to AUD.

Income from JobKeeper Payment or Training Allowances such as the Skills for Education and Employment program should not be included as earned income.

The COVID-19 concession period could apply between 25 March to 24 September 2020 (inclusive) to customers claiming independence under workforce criteria between 1 January 2021 and 24 September 2022.

Where a YA or ABSTUDY customer has indicated in their online claim they are independent under the self-supporting criterion, they will be asked to enter their employment details. This includes their employer/s, hours worked and income earned. Based on that information, the system will determine if the customer has worked enough hours to be considered independent. These customers may not need to provide evidence such as payslips or payroll reports to verify their employment history. When a customer claims for YA online as a full-time student, the online claim responses will automatically determine which students are required to provide evidence.

Where the customer is presented with a task at Next Steps in their online claim, they must provide one or more of the following:

• Payslips
• Payroll report
• Payment summaries
• Letter from an employer (preferably on company letterhead)

Once a customer has been assessed as independent based on self-support through paid work, they retain it. If the YA or ABSTUDY customer has been granted independence under this criteria and returns to the parental home, they will still be considered independent, but will receive the at home rate as an accommodated independent person. There is no requirement for the continuity of payment in order to retain their independence.

YA and ABSTUDY

Depending on how the YA or ABSTUDY customer has provided information, check the:

• Independence questions on the online claim
• Independence questions on the paper claim for Youth Allowance (SY001) or ABSTUDY (SY019)
• Independence questions in an Assisted Customer Claim (ACC)
• the ABSTUDY Claiming Tool for secondary school, or
• Document List (DL) screen and documents scanned to the customer's record

DSP

• On the Claim for Disability Support Pension (SA466), Claim for Disability Support Pension for a Terminal Illness (SA494) or Disability Support Claim at Age 16 (SA439) check the customer's response to the independence questions to confirm if they are independent through full-time work
• The preferred method to assess independence is to use the DSP New Claim and Service Update Assessment script

There is also a safety net provision for young people claiming or receiving YA who have an education or employment disadvantage. To qualify as independent under these criteria, the person must meet all the following:

• be at least 18 years old
• have had full-time employment of at least 30 hours per week for a period of at least 12 months, or for periods that total at least 12 months
• not be living at the home of either or both of their parents
• be specially disadvantaged with respect to education or employment
  Note: see below for specially disadvantaged
• not be receiving financial support, whether directly or indirectly, from their parent(s) or from another person who is acting as their guardian on a long-term basis

Specially disadvantaged refers to:

• education:
• for a student - a person who has not completed Year 12 or the equivalent
• for a job seeker - a person who has not completed Year 12 (or equivalent) or a Certificate III or higher
• employment:
• a person whose personal circumstances and labour market skills make it difficult for them to find a job, for example, a person who is classified as 'at high risk' on the Job Seeker Snapshot is considered to be specially disadvantaged with respect to employment

This criterion is reviewable if the customer's circumstances change.

Note: the special safety net criterion does not apply to ABSTUDY.

An ABSTUDY customer may also be considered independent if they have participated in the workforce for 3 out of the last 4 years.

All customers are able to access the check independence through work history service via the Services Australia website. The online tool asks the customer a series of questions, including work details and creates a Results page advising them of the potential outcome.

Authenticated customers can access the evidence calculator within the 'Check independence through work history' option via their online account.

The Independence Calculator is located in Process Direct. Use the Independence Calculator for Youth Allowance (YA), ABSTUDY and Special Benefit (SpB) customers to assess the following criteria:

• Self-supporting through full-time paid employment (30 hours per week for 18 months)
• Earned at least 75% of the National Training Wage Schedule rate in a 14 month period (regional and remote)
• Part-time employment of at least 15 hours per week for at least 2 years (regional and remote)
• Participated in the workforce for at least 3 of the last 4 years (ABSTUDY)
• Undertook approved agricultural work between 20 November 2020 and 31 December 2021