Allowances payable under specific ABSTUDY Awards
Table 1
ABSTUDY Allowance and Benefits | Schooling A Award | Schooling B Award | Tertiary Award | Part-time Award | Testing and Assessment Award | Masters and Doctorate Award | Lawful Custody Award |
Additional Assistance | | Yes | Yes | | | Yes | |
Additional Incidentals Allowance | | | Yes | | | Yes | |
Assistance to pay student contributions (formerly HECS) or tuition fees | | | | | | Yes | |
Away From Base assistance | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Energy Supplement | | Yes | Yes | | | Yes | |
Fares Allowance | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Incidentals Allowance | | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Yes | |
Lawful Custody Allowance | | | | | | | Yes |
Living Allowance | | Yes | Yes | | | Yes | |
Pensioner Education Supplement | | Yes | Yes | | | Yes | |
Pharmaceutical Allowance | | Yes | Yes | | | | |
Relocation Allowance | | | | | | Yes | |
Relocation Scholarship | | Yes | Yes | | | Yes | |
Remote Area Allowance | | Yes | Yes | | | | |
Rent Assistance | | Yes | Yes | | | | |
School Fees Allowance | Yes | Yes | | | | | |
School Term Allowance | Yes | | | | | | |
Student Start-up Loan | | Yes | Yes | | | Yes | |
Thesis Allowance | | | | | | Yes | |
Note: Relocation Scholarship and Student Start-up Loan are only available to eligible students under Schooling B Award for undertaking an approved scholarship course.
Overview of Allowances available to Australian Apprentices
Table 2
ABSTUDY Allowance | Tertiary Award | Lawful Custody Award |
Additional Assistance | Yes | |
Energy Supplement | Yes | |
Incidentals Allowance | Yes | |
Lawful Custody Allowance | | Yes |
Living Allowance | Yes | |
Rent Assistance | Yes | |
Note: only the Allowances specified attract eligibility.
ABSTUDY Awards
Table 3
Award | Type of study | Age Requirement | Allowances and Benefits Payable |
Schooling A (primary study) | Full-time Primary | 14 or more years of age on 1 January in the year of study and living 'at home' | - School Fees Allowance (SFA)
- School Term Allowance
|
Schooling A (secondary study) | Full-time Secondary | 15 years of age or younger and 'at home' or not approved for the Away from Home rate or independent rates. | - Away from Base assistance for distance education/correspondence students to attend residential schools
- Fares Allowance to attend Away from Base activities
- School Fees Allowance (SFA)
- School Term Allowance
|
Schooling B (primary study) | Full-time Primary | - 16 years of age and over; or
- 15 years of age and in State Care; or
- Under 16 years of age and has already completed the final year of primary school and has moved away from home to undertake secondary schooling but instead needs to repeat the final year of primary school at another location that offers both primary and secondary schooling
| - Additional Assistance
- Energy Supplement
- Fares Allowance (FAA)
- Living Allowance
- Pensioner Education Supplement (PES)
- Pharmaceutical Allowance (PhA)
- Remote Area Allowance (RAA)
- Rent Assistance (RA)
- School Fee Allowance (SFA)
|
Schooling B (secondary study or secondary non-school study) | Full-time Secondary School or Secondary Non-school | For secondary school students: - 16 years of age or over, or
- 15 years of age and in State Care, or
- under 16 years of age and entitled to the Away from Home rate or an independent (ABSTUDY) rate
For secondary non-school students: - reached the minimum school leaving age for their State/Territory, or
- been granted an exemption by the State/Territory education authority to attend a non-school institution
| - Additional Assistance
- Away from Base assistance
- Energy Supplement
- Fares Allowance (FAA)
- Incidentals Allowance (where the student is 18 years of age or over on 1 January in the year of study)
- Living Allowance
- Pensioner Education Supplement (PES)
- Pharmaceutical Allowance (PhA)
- Relocation Scholarship (RS) (Secondary non-school students only)
- Remote Area Allowance (RAA)
- Rent Assistance (RA)
- School Fees Allowance (SFA) (School students only)
- Student Start-up Loan (SSL) (Secondary non-school students only)
|
Tertiary | Full-time Tertiary Student, or Australian Apprentice (apprentice or trainee) | Minimum school leaving age or have an exemption to enter Tertiary study or Australian Apprenticeship | - Additional Assistance
- Additional Incidentals Allowance (students only)
- Away from Base assistance (students only)
- Energy Supplement
- Fares Allowance (FAA) (students only)
- Incidentals Allowance
- Living Allowance
- Pensioner Education Supplement (PES) (students only)
- Pharmaceutical Allowance (PhA)
- Relocation Scholarship (RS)
- Remote Area Allowance (RAA)
- Rent Assistance (RA)
- Student Start-up Loan (SSL)
|
Part-Time (secondary study) | Part-time Secondary | 18 years of age or older on 1 January in the year of study | - Away from Base assistance
- Fares Allowance (FAA)
- Incidentals Allowance
|
Part-time (post-secondary study) | Part-time post-secondary | No minimum age requirements | - Away from Base assistance
- Fares Allowance (FAA)
- Incidentals Allowance
|
Testing and Assessment | Tertiary Institutions | No age restrictions | - Away from Base assistance
- Fares Allowance to attend the Testing and Assessment activity
|
Masters and Doctorate | Masters and/or Doctorate level study | Minimum school leaving age or have an exemption to attend TAFE/Tertiary institution. | - Additional Assistance
- Additional Incidentals Allowance
- Assistance to pay Commonwealth Supported Places commitment or compulsory course fees
- Away from Base assistance
- Energy Supplement
- Incidentals Allowance
- Living Allowance
- Pensioner Education Supplement (PES)
- Relocation Allowance or Fares Allowance (FAA)
- Relocation Scholarship (RS)
- Student Start-up Loan (SSL)
- Thesis Allowance
|
Students in Lawful Custody | Secondary, post-secondary, tertiary studies or full-time Australian Apprentices (apprentices or trainees) | No minimum age requirements. | - Away from Base assistance. Note: this is not payable to Australian Apprentices
- Lawful Custody Allowance
|
Institution exempt from testing and assessment duration limit
Table 4
Institution | Course |
National Aboriginal and Islander Skills Development Association (NAISDA) | Department of Social Services has advised all NAISDA courses are exempt from the time limit of testing and assessment programs. |
Examples - showing the determination of eligibility for assistance to undertake the testing and assessment programme
Table 5
Example | Scenario |
1 | Studying a Diploma course Barbara is enrolled and successfully undertaking the Diploma in Community Management and Development at Curtin University. Barbara wants to apply to enter the University of Western Australia's (UWA) Law programme. UWA conduct an approved testing and assessment programme each January for an intake into the Law programme. Barbara is eligible for assistance to undertake the testing programme. Even though currently studying a tertiary level course, a Diploma course does not indicate the academic ability to undertake a Bachelor of Law programme. |
2 | Studying a Bachelor course Isaac has successfully completed one year of a Bachelor of Arts degree at Monash University. Isaac hopes to commence a Bachelor of Medicine degree at the same university. Isaac must first undertake a testing and assessment programme to determine academic ability to undertake the course. Isaac is eligible for assistance to undertake the testing programme for the medicine course. Although already successfully completing one year of study at the Bachelor level, the content of the Bachelor of Arts studies does not necessarily indicate an ability to successfully undertake the science and maths-based curriculum of the Medicine degree. |
3 | Changing course of study Anna has completed one year of a Bachelor of Science degree at University of Queensland, studying mainly maths and physics-based units. After spending the summer break doing work experience for a construction company, Anna decides to instead study a Bachelor of Engineering programme at the University of Sydney. The University of Sydney requires Anna to undertake a testing activity before admission to the Engineering course is approved. It is unclear why this testing activity would be necessary to determine Anna's academic suitability to undertake the course, as Anna has already studied in a similar field at a Bachelor level. The University of Sydney provides a letter confirming Anna's academic ability to undertake the Engineering degree cannot be assessed from the previous study because Anna gained only pass-grades in units while doing the Bachelor of Science degree. The letter explains Anna needs to be tested to ensure the more rigorous demands of the Engineering program can be met. Anna is therefore assessed as eligible to undertake the testing programme for entry to the Bachelor of Engineering at the University of Sydney. |
Services Australia website
Payments and support for Indigenous Australians
ABSTUDY information
Office Locator
Processing Service details for: ABSTUDY and ABSTUDY PES
Intranet link
National Course Approvals sub-site
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