Tertiary Access Payment (TAP) 010-20111938

The TAP assists eligible students with the costs of relocating to undertake tertiary study in the year immediately following completion of year 12 (or equivalent qualification).

Students must be relocating from their family home, which is located in an inner regional, outer regional or remote area as per the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS). See the Resources page for a link to the ASGS.

Students whose family home address is classified as

• outer regional, remote or very remote, receive a payment of $5,000 paid in two instalments
• inner regional, receive a one-off payment of $3,000

A student does not need to be in receipt of another Social Security payment to be eligible for the TAP.

It is possible for a student to be eligible for and receive all the following:

• a Social Security payment, and
• Relocation Scholarship (RS), and
• the TAP

For full eligibility criteria, see Assessing and finalising claims for the Tertiary Access Payment (TAP).

Students can lodge TAP claims:

• from 1 January to 31 December in the calendar year they start their tertiary course, and
• only after they have completed their year 12 or equivalent qualification)

A student can lodge after this date if special circumstances prevented them from lodging a claim for TAP within these timeframes.

A student can lodge a claim for the TAP:

• online, through their myGov account
• over the phone or in person via Assisted Customer Claim (ACC), or
• via a paper claim

The Claim for Tertiary Access Payment (SY104) paper claim is not available for the public to access. Only issue a paper claim where it is inappropriate or unreasonable for students to use the online service or ACC.

Where a student experiences special circumstance beyond their control, that affects their ability to submit a TAP new Claim in the calendar year immediately following the completion of year 12 (or equivalent qualification). They have 14 days after the closing date to contact Services Australia.

The student can then lodge their TAP new claim within 13 weeks from the day they contact Services Australia to have their claim assessed. The student needs to meet one of the special circumstance beyond their control criteria and may need to provide evidence.

The TAP is considered an Equity or Merit based scholarship and is not taxable. The TAP may be assessed as income where the student is receiving scholarships totalling more than the exempt income amount for Equity and Merit scholarships. The system will code this on the OIN screen within the claim when processing. See Assessing Scholarship income.

Students must verify their details by completing a TAP review via their online account before each instalment of the TAP is paid.

Students need to verify their study details and may also need to provide details of the new address they moved to if they have not already. See Completing Tertiary Access Payment (TAP) online reviews.

If a customer requests a rejected TAP claim to be reassessed within 13 weeks of the rejection, see Request to reassess a rejected claim.

A customer may need to lodge a new claim for TAP to be assessed for a new course if their circumstances change. For example, if the student withdraws from their course in the first study period, then relocates to study a different course in the second study period.

The customer will need to meet all other criteria to remain eligible for TAP, however, a reassessment of the original claim is not appropriate.

A new claim is needed for reassessment requests:

• outside 13 weeks of rejection, or
• due to a change in circumstance

If unable to resolve a customer's enquiry, create a Fast Note. See the Process page.

Before each instalment is issued, the student's eligibility for the TAP is confirmed using an enrolment check. A student is eligible for the TAP on the day the instalment was paid, even if their circumstances change after receiving the instalment. For example, a student could stop studying the day after they receive the first instalment, and they would not incur a debt.

The student can get a debt if:

• they receive a payment due to administrative error such as incorrect assessment of the claim, or
• they receive the payment fraudulently

When making an unfavourable decision, speak to the customer:

• explain the decision
• give them a chance to supply more details or evidence
• advise the customer of their review and appeal rights, and record an application for a formal review of the decision if required

The limit for requesting a review of the decision is 90 days from the date of notification of the decision.

A customer can write to the Department of Education complaints team if they have concerns about TAP policy or advice given by Services Australia.