Transfer to Austudy or Youth Allowance (YA) (student) from another payment 010-01020060

When a customer receiving an income support payment, or a person on their behalf, contacts the agency to discuss lodging a claim for Austudy or YA, first determine if Austudy or YA is the most appropriate payment.

If the customer identifies as an Australian Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, see Claiming ABSTUDY.

If the customer does not identify as an Australian Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander and is currently receiving:

• YA (job seeker) or YA as an Australian Apprentice, go to Step 2
• JobSeeker Payment, go to Step 3
• a qualifying payment for Pensioner Education Supplement (PES) and ABSTUDY PES, go to Step 4
• Parenting Payment Partnered, go to Step 5
• Special Benefit if the person is not a single parent, go to Step 6
• Farm Household Allowance, go to Step 7
• Age Pension, go to Step 8
• Disability Support Pension (DSP), see Cancellation of Disability Support Pension (DSP)

A customer can continue to qualify for payment without lodging a new claim if they are:

• currently receiving YA (job seeker) or YA as an Australian Apprentice, and
• intend to, or have already commenced an approved course of study

Customers receiving YA (job seeker) or YA as an Australian Apprentice can provide the information required to assess their eligibility for payment as a student:

• using the Manage Study Details online service in their Centrelink online account (available to YA job seekers only)
• verbally, or
• by completing the Study Details (MOD ST) form

Once the information is provided, see Youth Allowance (YA) job seeker or Australian Apprentice returning to full-time study.

Procedure ends here.

Customers currently receiving JSP who have commenced, or are intending to commence, an approved course of study are able to lodge a YA or Austudy claim or, in some circumstances, remain on JSP. See Part-time or full-time study as an approved activity for JobSeeker Payment (JSP).

Is YA or Austudy the most appropriate payment?

• Yes, the transfer day may be the day the customer ceases to be eligible for JSP because they have become a full-time, or concessional study load student. See Assessing and coding a transfer to Austudy or Youth Allowance (YA) student claim from another payment. Go to Step 9
• No, the customer should remain on their current payment. Go to Step 10

Procedure ends here.

Customers currently receiving qualifying payments for Pensioner Education Supplement (PES) and ABSTUDY PES may:

• stay on their current payment and test their eligibility for PES, or
• transfer to YA or Austudy

Customers should consider the following factors before making a decision to claim PES, YA or Austudy:

• The differences in total rates of payment. Customers should be encouraged to view Payment and Service Finder to see the differences in maximum rates. In some cases it may be better for customers to remain on their current payment and apply for PES
• PES is payable for part-time study. Students studying part-time are only eligible for:
• YA as a student if they are studying an approved concessional study load
• Austudy as a student if they are studying an approved:
  66% concessional study load, or
  25% concessional study load
• If they are in receipt of a Pensioner Concession Card, they may lose eligibility to this card if transferring to YA or Austudy, however once the YA or Austudy is granted they may be eligible for an automatically issued Health Care Card
• If the customer is of YA age, and living away from home, or is an independent student disadvantaged by personal circumstances, they may be eligible for a Relocation Scholarship, which is not payable with PES
• If the customer claims YA or Austudy and:
• is studying an approved scholarship course, they may be eligible for a Student Start-up Loan, which is not available with PES
• earning income, they will be able to access the higher Student Income Test thresholds and limits and Student Income Bank
• is under 22 years of age and not considered independent for YA, they will be assessed under the parental means test

If the most appropriate payment for the customer's circumstances is:

• PES, see Claiming Pensioner Education Supplement. Go to Step 10
• YA or Austudy, go to Step 9

Customers currently receiving Parenting Payment Partnered (PPP) who have commenced, or are intending to commence, an approved course of study can remain on their current payment or choose to transfer to YA or Austudy.

PPP customers who are currently studying full-time or are a continuing/intending student may need to transfer to YA or Austudy if they will soon lose, or have lost, eligibility for PPP (e.g. due to youngest child turning 6).

Customers should consider the following factors before making a decision to transfer to YA or Austudy:

• The differences in total rates of payment. Customers should be encouraged to view Payment and Service Finder to see the differences in maximum rates
• YA and Austudy customers have full-time study requirements, PPP customers do not
• If the customer is of YA age, and living away from home, or is an independent student disadvantaged by personal circumstances, they may be eligible for a Relocation Scholarship, which is not payable with PPP
• If the customer claims YA or Austudy and:
• is studying an approved scholarship course, they may be eligible for a Student Start-up Loan, which is not available with PES
• earning income, they will be able to access the higher Student Income Test thresholds and limits and Student Income Bank
• is under 22 years of age and not considered independent for YA, they will be assessed under the parental means test

If the most appropriate payment for the customer's circumstances is:

• PPP, the customer should remain on their current payment. Go to Step 10
• YA or Austudy, go to Step 9

Customers currently receiving SpB who are not single parents, would generally be required to be actively looking for work, however study may be approved in certain circumstances. See Mutual obligation requirements for Special Benefit (SpB).

Generally, SpB customers will remain on SpB instead of transferring to YA or Austudy unless there has been a change in circumstances which qualifies the person for YA or Austudy. For example, the customer now meets Australian Residency requirements for YA or Austudy.

If the most appropriate payment for the customer's circumstances is:

• SpB, the customer should remain on their current payment. Go to Step 10
• YA or Austudy, go to Step 9

Customers currently receiving Farm Household Allowance (FHA) are able to receive it for 4 years (1,460 days), unless they cease to be eligible for another reason.

Customers currently receiving FHA who have commenced, or are intending to commence, an approved course of study are able to lodge a YA or Austudy claim or remain on FHA provided they are able to continue to meet their FHA eligibility and mutual obligation requirements for FHA.

Customers should consider the following factors before making a decision to transfer to YA or Austudy:

• The differences in total rates of payment. Customers should be encouraged to view Payment and Service Finder to see the differences in maximum rates
• YA and Austudy customers have full-time study requirements, where FHA customers may be required to meet FHA mutual obligation requirements
• The differences in the FHA income and assets test vs the YA and Austudy income and assets test
• If the customer is of YA age, and living away from home, or is an independent student disadvantaged by personal circumstances, they may be eligible for a Relocation Scholarship, which is not payable with FHA
• If the customer claims YA or Austudy and:
• is studying an approved scholarship course, they may be eligible for a Student Start-up Loan, which is not available with FHA
• earning income, they will be able to access the higher Student Income Test thresholds and limits and Student Income Bank
• is under 22 years of age and not considered independent for YA, they will be assessed under the parental means test

If the most appropriate payment for the customer's circumstances is:

• FHA, the customer should remain on their current payment. Go to Step 10
• YA or Austudy, go to Step 9

Customers currently receiving Age Pension who have commenced, or are intending to commence, an approved course of study are able to lodge an Austudy claim or remain on Age Pension.

Customers should consider the following factors before making a decision to transfer to Austudy:

• The differences in total rates of payment. Customers should be encouraged to view Payment and Service Finder to see the differences in maximum rates
• Austudy customers do not have access to the Home Equity Access Scheme
• Austudy customers have undertaking full-time study requirements, but Age Pension customers do not
• If the customer claims Austudy and:
• is studying an approved scholarship course, they may be eligible for a Student Start-up Loan, which is not available with Age Pension
• is earning income, they will be able to access the higher Student Income Test thresholds and limits and Student Income Bank, however this may be less generous than the Age Pension income test, if taking into account Work Bonus

If the most appropriate payment for the customer's circumstances is:

• Age Pension, the customer should remain on their current payment. Go to Step 10
• Austudy, go to Step 9

An early claim can be accepted up to 13 weeks before the commencement of their:

• full-time study
• concessional study load, or
• the date they are considered to be a continuing/intending student

Customers wishing to test their eligibility for YA or Austudy as a student can submit an online claim or an Assisted Customer Claim.

To ensure continuity between payments, YA or Austudy claims must be lodged within 13 weeks of the transfer date to ensure no gap between payments. See Assessing and coding a transfer to Austudy or Youth Allowance (YA) student claim from another payment.

If an Austudy or Youth Allowance claim has already been lodged, reject the claim. See Assessing and coding a transfer to Austudy or Youth Allowance (YA) student claim from another payment.