Assessing independence for full time or concessional study load students from regional and remote areas under the self-supporting through employment criterion 010-06050010

Examples of self-supporting through employment

Table 1

Example	Description
1	Self-supporting - 15 hours per week for at least 2 years since leaving secondary school Vincent left school in 2013 and gained casual employment in the retail food industry. Vincent has worked on a permanent part-time basis at a minimum of 18 hours a week every week until January 2016 when ceasing work to go overseas for a 12 month holiday. Whilst employed Vincent had access to 4 weeks annual leave where the usual wage is based on employment of 18 hours per week. In January 2017, Vincent returned from overseas and decided to return to full-time study. Vincent's parent's income for the relevant tax year is $80,000 and Vincent is required to live away from home to study. Vincent's parental home is located in an Inner Regional area. Vincent meets the self-supporting provision on the grounds of having worked for at least 15 hours per week for at least 2 years since leaving secondary school.
2	Self-supporting - earned more than 75% of Wage Level A of the National Training Wage schedule included in a modern award in a 14 month period since leaving school Mary submitted a claim for Youth Allowance (YA) in February 2018 because she was commencing her new Bachelor course. Mary had left secondary school in November 2016 and commenced employment in December 2016. The amount of employment to be assessed will be during the 14 month period to the end of January 2018. In this 14 month period, Mary worked for 13 months from December 2016 to the end of December 2017. Mary earned $25,857 during this period. 75% of the National Training Wage schedule at the commencement of the employment period was $24,042. Mary's parental income is $134,000 and Mary is required to live away from home to study. Mary's parental home is located in an Outer Regional area. Mary meets the self-supporting provision on the grounds of having earned more than 75% of the National Training Wage schedule (Wage Level A) in a 14 month period since leaving school. The References page contains a link to the National Training Wage schedule.
3	Income from self-employment Julie has owned and operated a business for the last 2 years. For the current financial year, Julie declared a total gross income of $20,000, with allowable business expenses of $15,000 leaving a taxable income of $5,000. Julie could be assessed on the hours per week worked in the business or 75% of Wage Level A of the National Training Wage schedule included in a modern award. If Julie wished to meet self-supporting using 75% of Wage Level A of the National Training Wage schedule included in a modern award, only the taxable income amount (that is, $5,000) could be used for the assessment.

Scenarios - Independence start date

Table 2

Scenario

Description

Start Date of Independence for current customers

Shelby's claim for YA is granted in February 2024. On 25 May 2024, Shelby lodges evidence to be assessed as independent under the self-supporting criteria. On 20 June 2024, a Service Officer assesses Shelby's independence documents and determines that they met the independent criteria from March 2024.

The Service Officer codes Shelby's start date for independence as 25 May 2024 as this is the date the information was provided to the agency.

Start Date of Independence for New Claim

Shelby lodges an online claim for YA on 15 February 2024. Shelby lodges supporting documentation to meet independence under the self-supporting criteria. A Service Officer assesses Shelby's new claim on the 20 March 2024.

The Service Officer codes Shelby's YA start date and independence start date from the date they qualified on 15 February 2024.

Forms

Claim for Youth Allowance (SY001)

Parent(s)/Guardian(s) details - for the BASE Tax Year and CURRENT Tax Year for dependent Youth Allowance or ABSTUDY Customers (MOD JY)

Parent(s)/Guardian(s) additional details for Youth Allowance or ABSTUDY customers (A2115)

Claim for ABSTUDY (SY019)

Services Australia website

Customers can use the Check independence through work history online service to check whether they have met the self-supporting independence criteria through their work history.

To identify the remoteness category of a customer's home address for the purposes of Relocation Scholarship or self-supporting independence, refer to the Student Regional Area Search tool.

For retrospective claim assessments prior to 1 July 2023, see the Resources page of Relocation Scholarship (RS) eligibility.

Note: Service Officers and customers may experience intermittent system issues when using the search tool. If this occurs, the following workarounds can be applied:

Service Officers: After selecting on the link above, a 'Service not available' error may appear. If this occurs, refresh the page [F5] until the correct page appears
Customers: Customers can access the service by navigating to the Centrelink online accounts page on the Services Australia Website. From here, the customer should be able to access the 'Student Regional Area Search' link under the 'What you can do online' section. This link is also available via the Independence for Youth Allowance page. If a customer reports receiving a 'Service not available' error after selecting the link, tell the customer to keep trying until the page loads successfully

User guide

To determine the latitude and longitude of a customer's home address for Relocation Scholarship and self-supporting independence refer to the: