Student, partner or parents/guardians commencing or returning to work for ABSTUDY 102-07030010
This document outlines the information required from an ABSTUDY customer, their partner or their parents/guardians who commence or return to full-time, part-time or casual employment and the effect of employment on ABSTUDY payments.
Continuing eligibility for payment
ABSTUDY students can remain on Living Allowance payments if the income from employment is within personal income test limits and the student is still undertaking a full-time (or concessional) study load.
Australian Apprentices
If the customer is returning to work as a full-time Australian Apprentice, consider entitlement to ABSTUDY as an Australian Apprentice.
Customers receiving ABSTUDY as an Australian Apprentice are subject to the same income and assets tests that apply to students.
Income Bank and Working Credit
ABSTUDY students have access to the Student Income Bank (SIB) and ABSTUDY Australian Apprentices have access to the Australian Apprentice Income Bank. This will generally be referred to as the Income Bank.
If the customer transfers to a payment that attracts Working Credit, they will be able to transfer the lower of their Income Bank balance or 1,000 credits from their Income Bank to their new Working Credit Balance.
Family Tax Benefit implications
If the customer or partner receives Family Tax Benefit (FTB) or Child Care Subsidy (CCS), check if the customer needs to revise their current income estimate and advise the customer of the choices available to help reduce the chance of an overpayment during the reconciliation process.
Partner Income Test
An ABSTUDY customer under 22 years of age will have their payment reduced by 60 cents for every $1 their partner is paid over the Partner Income Free Area.
An ABSTUDY customer who is 22 years or over will have their payment reduced by 50 cents for every $1 their partner is paid over the Partner Income Free Area.
For further information on the Partner Income Test and how to calculate the Partner Income Free Area, see:
Related links
Existing customer starts an Australian Apprenticeship
Assessment of employment income
Updating income estimates for the current financial year
Determining the Date of Event for employment income
Partner Income Test for ABSTUDY customers 22 years and over