Approved short courses and student payment eligibility 010-07010070

For the purposes of payments for students, an approved course of study is one which is approved under the Ministerial Determination of Education Institutions and Courses.

There is no minimum duration for a course to be approved, but the length of the course may influence the dates for which ABSTUDY and Pensioner Education Supplement (PES) payments can be made.

For ABSTUDY and PES purposes, a 'short course' is a course where the normal minimum duration for a full-time student to complete the course is not more than 30 weeks. This period includes any holidays and vacations. A student may undertake successive short courses that are considered as standalone courses or undertake a series of articulated short courses linked together to effectively form a longer course leading to a higher qualification.

Customers undertaking a short course are normally only eligible for payment for the duration of the course. Qualification for payment normally starts on the first day of the course and ceases on the last day of the course.

Pensioner Education Supplement (PES) payments do not normally continue for the gap between ceasing a short course and commencing another course (regardless of the length of the second course), unless the gap between courses is less than 28 days, and the course is articulated with short courses.

For examples on coding the correct start and end dates for short courses, see the Resources page in Calculating the start day for Pensioner Education Supplement (PES) and ABSTUDY PES.

ABSTUDY and ABSTUDY PES customers may be eligible over the long vacation break (where the gap between courses is greater than 28 days) where the student:

• was receiving Living Allowance for ABSTUDY PES based on undertaking approved full-time or concessional study-load immediately prior to the vacation period, and
• is intending to undertake approved full-time or concessional study-load study in the study period immediately following the vacation period

There is no entitlement to Living Allowance or ABSTUDY PES over the long vacation break where the approved course immediately prior to the vacation break ended earlier than 15 September and/or where the approved course immediately after the vacation period starts after 31 March.

Eligibility for supplementary entitlements such as Fares Allowance (FAA) is limited to the duration of the course.

If a Youth Allowance (YA) or Austudy customer is studying in a short course which is not an approved course under the Ministerial Determination, they do not satisfy:

• the full time study requirements for YA, or
• student undertaking full time study for Austudy

These customers may have their course approved as either a stand-alone activity or as part of a combination of activities in an Employment Pathway Plan (EPP).

• Customers aged under 22 need to be undertaking full time study as a YA job seeker
• Customers aged 22 and over would need to test their eligibility for JobSeeker Payment (JSP)