Initial contact with students or Australian Apprentices claiming Youth Allowance (YA) 010-06010000

A young person, or a third party on their behalf, may contact Services Australia (the agency) to claim YA. Service Officers should identify if YA is the most beneficial payment. See Identifying the most beneficial payment for students or Australian Apprentices.

Students or Australian Apprentices who contact to apply for YA should make a claim for YA using their Centrelink online account. See the Resources page for a link to Claiming a payment online. Advise customers that payments may only commence from the date they submit a claim, unless they are identified as a vulnerable customer. See Intent to claim and vulnerable customers.

To qualify for YA, a customer must meet all of the following criteria:

• be between the minimum and maximum ages of YA student and Australian Apprentice
• satisfy the residence requirements for YA, and
• be able to satisfy study requirements as it relates to students, or
• be an Australian Apprentice undertaking a full-time Australian Apprenticeship and have a current Commonwealth Registration Number

Note: for a young person aged 16 to 17 in full-time secondary study and living at home, Family Tax Benefit is the primary payment, which can be claimed by the parent or guardian.

See Youth Allowance (YA) qualifications for students and Australian Apprentices.

Students and Australian Apprentices are required to claim using an online account. See the Resources page for a link to claiming a payment online. If a customer contacts in relation to making a new claim for YA they must be referred to submit their claim online, unless:

• self-service channels are currently unavailable, confirmed by a Network News Update (NNU) bulletin, or
• the Service Officer determines the online transaction is not appropriate to be self-managed by the customer in that instance

Note: for customers in vulnerable circumstances, record an intent to claim. See Intent to claim and vulnerable customers before returning to this process.

Only issue a paper Claim for Youth Allowance (SY001) where the Service Officer determines the online transaction is not appropriate, that is, the customer is unable to submit a claim using their online account and Assisted Customer Claim (ACC) cannot be used.

Note: the Re-claim or Transfer for Austudy or Youth Allowance (SY089) paper claim lodged with a Date of Receipt on or after 1 April 2023 are no longer accepted.

When claiming online a customer claiming Youth Allowance, as a student or Australian Apprentice, may be selected for a reduced question set if they:

• are currently in receipt of a payment listed below (for example their payment status is Current (CUR) or Current Zero Rate (CZR)), or
• were in receipt of one of the payments listed below and the cancellation date was in the previous 52 weeks:
• Carer Payment,
• Carer Allowance,
• Disability Support Pension
• Farm Household Allowance,
• JobSeeker Payment
• Parenting Payment Partnered
• Parenting Payment Single,
• Special Benefit
• Youth Allowance (YAL)

The reduced question set claim will only request information that is not known to the department. The reduced question set also applies to the ACC process where applicable. See Transfer to Austudy or Youth Allowance (YA) (student) from another payment and Youth Allowance and Austudy students and Australian Apprentices online claims and Assisted Customer Claims.

Correspondence nominees can submit an online claim for Youth Allowance (Student or Australian Apprentice) on behalf of their principal.

If a correspondence nominee contacts to claim YA on behalf of their principal, offer an online claim first. If they decline the online claim offer, run the ACC with the nominee.

Organisation nominees are unable to submit an online claim for YA (Student or Australian Apprentice) on behalf of their principal. Assist them to lodge an ACC. If they decline to be assisted via an ACC, they can lodge a SY001 – Claim for Youth Allowance.

Under the early claim provisions, a claim for YA can be made up to 13 weeks before the student or Australian Apprentice becomes qualified for payment. Some claims that are submitted early may not be able to be assessed until the customer becomes qualified for YA. For example, current JobSeeker Payment (JSP) customers transferring to YA where their apprenticeship start date is in the future.

The student or Australian Apprentice will be advised when to submit the claim(s) to ensure full entitlement, and of other documentation/information that will be required when lodging the claim. This may include:

• Identity Confirmation documentation
• Tax File Number(s)
• other supporting documentation

Note: advise customers that before submitting their claim, all required documents must be provided. Exceptions are made to customers identified as vulnerable. See Circumstance Change Monitor for more information.