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Initial contact with students or Australian Apprentices with a disability, illness or injury 010-01020040

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This purpose of this document is to assist Service Officers to determine the most appropriate payment for a student or Australian Apprentice who has a disability, illness, injury or special health need.

Eligibility for payments

Students or Australian Apprentices with a disability, illness, injury or a special health related need may qualify for a range of payments or concessions depending on:

  • their age
  • the expected duration of their incapacity, and
  • whether or not they are currently in receipt of a payment

Students receiving ABSTUDY Living Allowance, Austudy or Youth Allowance may be eligible to continue receiving payments for the duration of their incapacity, where they intend to return to full time study and meet all other eligibility criteria for their payments.

Students with a substantial physical, psychiatric or intellectual disability may qualify for a study load concession which allows them to receive Austudy, Pensioner Education Supplement (PES), ABSTUDY Living Allowance or ABSTUDY Pensioner Education Supplement while undertaking a reduced study load of at least 25 percent of the normal full-time amount.

A secondary student with a reduced study load due to a disability or special health related need may still be considered a full-time student by the education provider.

A student with a disability or special health related need which prevents them from attending the local state school/s may also qualify for Assistance for Isolated Children (AIC) allowance.

If the customer's incapacity is permanent or likely to last more than 2 years, they may wish to test their eligibility for Disability Support Pension (DSP); see Eligibility and Claiming Disability Support Pension (DSP).

At initial contact the Service Officer is required to assess the customer's circumstances and direct the customer to the most appropriate claim.

Australian Apprentices

Customers wishing to claim or continue to receive ABSTUDY Living Allowance, Austudy or Youth Allowance (YA) as an Australian Apprentice must maintain a current Commonwealth Registration Number for the period of the disability, illness or injury.

The Resources page contains a link to the Payment and Service Finder on the Services Australia website where customers can get information about payments while studying or training, and contact details for ABSTUDY and Assistance for Isolated Children (AIC).

Austudy student or Australian Apprentice becomes incapacitated or impacted by unforeseen or extreme circumstances

Youth Allowance (YA) student or Australian Apprentice becomes incapacitated or impacted by unforeseen or extreme circumstances

Payment of ABSTUDY when a student or Australian Apprentice becomes incapacitated

Assistance for Isolated Children (AIC) Scheme student becomes incapacitated

Customers claiming JobSeeker Payment (JSP)/Youth Allowance (YA) (Incapacitated)

Claiming Youth Allowance (YA) (job seeker)

Identifying people with a partial capacity to work

Youth Disability Supplement (YDS)

Initial contact with customers claiming under the Assistance for Isolated Children (AIC) Scheme