Completing an ABSTUDY form 010-23061503

Date of birth (DOB)

The customer must supply their DOB.

Identity Confirmation

ABSTUDY customers are subject to Identity Confirmation. They may need to confirm their identity when supplying ABSTUDY forms.

See Additional procedures exclusive to ABSTUDY apply in some circumstances.

Aboriginality

For ABSTUDY purposes, an Australian Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander is someone who:

• is of Australian Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent, and
• identifies themselves as an Australian Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, and
• is accepted as such by the community in which they live, or have previously lived

Normally, the declaration on the claim form will suffice, however where doubt exists, the customer will need to provide evidence of their Aboriginality or Torres Strait Islander status. For more information, see Aboriginality or Torres Strait Islander status for ABSTUDY.

Australian Citizen

Customers must be an Australian citizen to qualify for ABSTUDY. Proof of citizenship is only required for customers:

• born overseas, and
• who have not provided this proof to Centrelink

See Residence requirements for ABSTUDY.

The Newly Arrived Resident's Waiting Period (NARWP) does not apply to ABSTUDY.

Other Commonwealth government assistance

A customer is generally not eligible for ABSTUDY if they receive other government assistance to study or complete an Australian Apprenticeship.

See Not qualified for ABSTUDY if receiving other assistance to study or as an Australian Apprentice.

Youth Allowance (YA) and JobSeeker Payment (JSP) customers studying part-time can receive ABSTUDY part-time entitlements.

Permission to enquire

Customers can give permission for another person or organisation to make enquiries on their behalf.

Customers can change this at any time.

If the customer wants to appoint a correspondence or payment nominee, issue an Authorising a person or organisation to enquire or act on your behalf form (SS313). The Resources page has a link to the SS313.

See Nominees.

Payee

The payee can vary. If the claimant is:

• an Australian Apprentice (apprentice or trainee), payments will be made to the claimant
• a student aged 18 years or more, payments will be made to the claimant
• a student under 18 years old, see Payments for students under 18 years paid to student, parent or a third party

Bank details

Customers must provide bank account details that are held in their name.

Customers who have genuine barriers in providing bank account details can be granted a 28 day grace period.

There are specific payee requirements for ABSTUDY payments.

See:

• Payments for students under 18 years paid to student, parent or a third party
• Payment destination

Payment of Schooling A allowances can only be made to the applicant. Note: School Fees Allowance is normally paid direct to the school.

Address

The customer must provide their accommodation and living arrangements if they:

• live away from home to study or train, or
• are independent and living at home

The customer may be entitled to Rent Assistance.

Rent Assistance

The customer must provide verification of rent. They must provide a lease agreement and a completed Rent Certificate (SU523HD) unsigned by the landlord. If they do not have a formal written rental agreement, they can provide a completed SU523HD signed by a landlord, agent or person to whom they pay rent.

See Qualification for payment of Rent Assistance (RA).

Customer income

All assessable ABSTUDY customer income is taken into account for customers claiming ABSTUDY.

Australian Apprentices need to provide details of their employment as an Apprentice under Job 1. If they have a second job, details should be provided under Job 2.

Customers may subtract any maintenance expenditure from their estimated income.

The customer must complete either of the following forms if:

• they have been self-employed or a subcontractor in the last 12 months - Business details form (Mod F)
• they own any freehold land or buildings other than the home they live in - Real estate details form (Mod R)
• in addition to providing statements for superannuation or rollover funds, is receiving a pension from this - Income and Assets form (Mod IA)

The Resources page has links to these forms.

Scholarship or education assistance

The customer must supply the details of any scholarships they receive (or expect to receive).

All income received from a scholarship, bursary or education assistance is to be included.

See Not qualified for ABSTUDY if receiving other assistance to study or as an Australian Apprentice.

Specific processing requirements exist for recipients of a Commonwealth Scholarship including Commonwealth Education Cost Scholarship (CECS), Commonwealth Accommodation Scholarship (CAS) and Indigenous Access Scholarship (IAS). See Assessing scholarship income.

Customer assets

All assessable ABSTUDY customer assets are taken into account for applicants claiming ABSTUDY.

Customers should not include their principal family home and any surrounding land of two hectares or less.

The current market value of the asset is used to determine its value. Replacement or insured values cannot be used to determine the market value of an asset.

Additional income or assets

If the customer earns any income from other sources or owns assets not covered in the Assets section of the form, issue an Additional Income and Assets module (Mod IA).

Proof of enrolment for students

Students who want to claim ABSTUDY must provide acceptable proof of enrolment within 14 days of commencing study. School students, or a student undertaking a Higher Education course at university, do not need to provide proof of enrolment.

See Proof of enrolment in a course of study.

Studying by distance education or correspondence

Students must provide proof of their study load if they participate in a full-time course that does not have an attendance requirement. This includes:

• distance education,
• mixed mode or
• competency based training

Proof of study load may include a timetable that outlines the:

• due dates of assignments, and
• modules that must be completed

Note: students enrolled in a Full-time courses that attract a Student Contribution do not need to provide evidence of study load.

Study load concessions

For ABSTUDY, a student is considered to be a full-time student if they are:

• a secondary or college student studying what the school considers a full-time study load
• a tertiary or secondary not at school student, (for example, studying year 11 at a TAFE college) who is enrolled in and undertaking at least 75% of the accredited full-time study load
• qualified for a study load concession. For more information on study load concessions, see Study requirements - ABSTUDY

Students who are unable to identify their study load can provide a full list of their subjects.

Limits on assistance for certificate courses

ABSTUDY is payable for a total of 4 years study in any combination of courses including:

• Statement of Attainment
• Certificate Level 1, or
• Certificate Level 2

Study undertaken at either of these levels during the previous 10 years is taken into account.

Limits on assistance for undergraduate Bachelor Degrees

ABSTUDY is usually payable for one undergraduate Bachelor degree. This includes Honours, Masters qualifying year/s, combined degrees and/or prerequisite studies.

Reasonable time to complete a course

Where a student is undertaking a course of study, students are allowed a reasonable time to complete their course.

They can seek approval of up to one extra year if they have been impeded by:

• physical, psychiatric or intellectual disability or
• other circumstances beyond their control, and
• the education provider recommends that the student continues the course, and
• indicates that the student is expected to complete the course in this year

Secondary student unable to provide school details

A secondary boarding facility may need to conduct an interview or selection exercise before accepting a student. A claim can be accepted without study details where the claimant is waiting on confirmation from the school they can attend. If this is the case, the customer must tell the agency of their study details as soon as possible.

Australian Apprenticeship details

The customer must provide details of their Australian Apprenticeship (apprentice or trainee), including:

• date their Australian Apprenticeship started
• expected end date of Australian Apprenticeship
• full time or part time

Services Australia will obtain the Australian Apprenticeship details from the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations.

This means the customer does not need to provide this information on the claim.

The customer must be a full-time Australian Apprentice, even if claiming Incidentals Allowance only.

Living away from home to study

For ABSTUDY, living away from home means that the customer is not living at the permanent family home to undertake their study or apprenticeship. This can include:

• boarding in another person's home, at a hostel or residential college
• living alone or sharing a house, flat or caravan with other students or friends

A dependant student or Australian Apprentice must be living away from home as a result of the circumstances listed in the away from home rate section of the form to qualify for the ABSTUDY away from home rate.

The customer will need to provide appropriate statements, documents or letters required to support this claim.

Tell the student these details are important in relation to their eligibility for Fares Allowance.

Parents of secondary students living in private board accommodation during term must complete all the Away from home details question set. If parents want to direct payments to the private board provider, issue the ABSTUDY request for private board provider details form.

Students receiving a social security pension or benefit

Students who are studying a full-time course, which is less than 12 months in duration, may choose to remain on JobSeeker Payment (JSP), Youth Allowance (YA) or Austudy or transfer to ABSTUDY.

Students in receipt of a social security pension or benefit, or full DVA pension, may qualify for a:

• pensioner study load concession
• disability study load concession
• two-thirds (66%) study load concession

Independence

A customer may be considered independent if they meet one of the independence criteria for ABSTUDY.

Each form will advise of the appropriate statements, documents or letters they need to provide to support this claim. See Independence for ABSTUDY customers.

When a customer does not meet any of these criteria, the parental means test is to be applied, regardless of receiving parental support or not.

Customers who are under 18 and are applying under the Unreasonable to Live at Home (UTLAH) criteria will need an appointment with an agency social worker. See ABSTUDY unreasonable to live at home.

Relocation Scholarship

Students may qualify for a Relocation Scholarship if they:

• have to live away from the family home for study, or
• are independent students who are disadvantaged by personal circumstances

They will need to provide their address 6 months before they start their course. This information is used to calculate their entitlement for Relocation Scholarship.

See Relocation Scholarship (RS) eligibility.

Residential costs option

Eligible students that live away from home and who are living in a hostel or residential college attached to a university may choose to apply for the Residential Costs Option.

See Payment of Residential Costs Option (RCO) for ABSTUDY and ABSTUDY Pensioner Education Supplement (PES).

Dependents under 22 years of age

The customer who is applying for ABSTUDY should not be included in this question.

Dependent children of the customer

If the customer, or the customer's parents/guardians have other dependents, check if they are receiving Family Tax Benefit (FTB) and/or Parental Leave Pay (PPL).

See Assisting Indigenous customers to claim family assistance and/or Paid Parental Leave scheme payments.

Parents/guardians

If parents/guardians are unable to complete these questions or would prefer to provide their details separately, issue a Parent or Guardian details - for the BASE tax year and CURRENT tax year for dependent Youth Allowance or ABSTUDY customers (MOD JY).

The Resources page has a link to the MOD JY.

Parental Income Test (PIT) exemption

The income test for the customer's parents/guardians is waived when a PIT exemption for ABSTUDY can be applied.

Customers who claim between September and December must supply information for both BASE and current tax years. See Completing Parent(s)/Guardian(s) details for the Base Tax Year and Current Tax Year (MOD JY).

Customers partner income

If the customer has a partner, they must provide the partner's income. Issue a Partner details - if you live in Australia form (MOD P) if the customer is unable to provide the partner's information. The Resources page has a link to the Mod P.

Tax File Number (TFN)

The customer (and their partner if applicable) must make a TFN declaration.

If the customer does not have or know their TFN, issue a Tax file number - application or enquiry for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (NAT1589). The customer must:

• complete and lodge this form within 14 days of lodging their claim
• supply acceptable identity documentation

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) will notify both Services Australia and the customer of their TFN within 28 days of lodgement.

Some customers may be exempt. They include a person who:

• is under 16 years of age
• receives a social security pension or benefit, or a Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) pension
• is temporarily overseas
• is attending a traditional ceremony when their form is lodged
• is at risk from disclosing their Tax File Number (TFN) details
• has lost all of their records to fire or flood damage within 6 months of claiming ABSTUDY

See Tax File Number (TFN) for ABSTUDY.

All customers (or nominees) must accept the declaration for their claim to be accepted and determined by:

• dating and ticking the digital declaration, or
• printing and signing the form by hand, and
• dating the declaration

If the customer:

• is dependent and under 16 years old, the parent/guardian must sign the declaration. The student does not need to sign
• 16 years or over, the claimant (and partner, where applicable) must sign the declaration
• claiming Schooling A, the applicant/s must sign the declaration. The student does not need to sign

Note: in certain circumstances only one parent/guardian signature is necessary to assess a student's entitlement.