Determining minimum and maximum age for Youth Allowance (YA) 010-06030010

Is the customer under 18 years of age?

• Yes, go to Step 2
• No, see Step 1 in Table 2

Is the customer under 16 years of age?

• Yes, go to Step 3
• No, go to Step 4

A customer under 16 years of age will not have reached the minimum age for YA unless they:

• are 15 years of age
• qualify for independent status, and
• have reached the minimum school leaving age for their state or territory, or have a formal exemption from attending school

Does the customer meet this criteria?

• Yes, the customer has reached the minimum age for YA. Check the other criteria for qualification for Youth Allowance. Procedure ends here
• No, the customer does not meet the minimum age for YA. The customer should be referred to a social worker if required and should claim Special Benefit (SpB). See Assisting a customer aged under 16. Note: if the customer is unsupported, homeless, or at risk of being homeless, see Unsupported under 16 year olds to be immediately referred to a Services Australia social worker. Procedure ends here

If the customer is 16 or 17 years of age and is claiming YA as a:

• student, go to Step 5
• job seeker or Australian Apprentice, go to Step 6

Students aged 16-17 do not meet the minimum age criteria for YA unless one of the following situations apply, they:

• are independent
• are approved for the away from home rate
• were receiving YA just before starting a full-time secondary course and transferred from YA(Other) or YA (Apprentice) to YA (Student)
• have completed Year 12 or an equivalent level of education (Certificate Level III or above)
• are exempt from the requirement to be in full-time study or training
• are not benefiting from Family Tax Benefit (FTB) being paid to their parent/guardian as determined by a Services Australia Social Worker. Note: if the parent/guardian does not qualify for FTB due to residence rules, Services Australia may consider the young person could not benefit from FTB, as it cannot be paid to the parents. These cases should be referred to the Level 2 Helpdesk
• are undertaking full-time study or training in:
• an approved tertiary level course, or
• a secondary course at a special school or higher education provider

Note: ‘Secondary courses’, ‘secondary schools’ and ‘tertiary courses; are defined in the Student Assistance (Education Institutions and Courses) Determination. If the customer is undertaking a secondary course at a:

• special school or a higher education provider, the customer will meet the minimum age rules for YA
• secondary school, a TAFE institution or Registered Training Organisation, the customer will not meet the minimum age rules for YA. This is because Section 543A (2AA) of the Social Security Act, 1991 precludes 16 or 17 year old, full-time students from meeting the minimum age rules if they are studying at a secondary school or a TAFE institution only. The Student Assistance (Education Institutions and Courses) Determination also clarifies that Registered Training Organisations are to be regarded as TAFE institutions under the Act

A link to the Student Assistance (Education Institutions and Courses) Determination can be found on the References page. For secondary students who meet the above criteria, specific coding is required to prevent a claim rejecting. See Course Level field.

Note: dependent secondary students aged 16-17 who would not otherwise meet the minimum age until they turn 18 or complete secondary school, can lodge an early claim up to 13 weeks before they qualify. They can be paid from the earlier of the day after they complete Year 12 or equivalent qualification or their 18th birthday. These claims should not be rejected because of minimum age.

Does the student aged 16-17 years meet one of the above criteria?

• Yes, the customer has reached the minimum age for YA. Check the other criteria for Youth Allowance
• No, customer does not meet the minimum age criteria, reject not a qualified full-time student (NQS)

Procedure ends here.

Australian Apprentices 16 or 17 years of age have met the minimum age for YA.

Job seekers aged 16-17 years do not meet the minimum age unless they:

• are independent, or
• have completed Year 12 or attained an equivalent qualification, or
• are in full-time study or training, or
• are exempt from full-time study or training, or
• agree to enter into a Job Plan

Does the customer meet one of the above criteria?

• Yes, the customer has reached the minimum age for YA. Check the other criteria for qualification for Youth Allowance. Procedure ends here
• No, the customer does not meet the minimum age criteria. Procedure ends here

Is the customer 22 years of age or older?

• Yes, go to Step 2
• No, the customer has not reached the maximum age for YA. Check the other criteria for qualification for YA. Procedure ends here

Is the customer a full-time or an approved concessional load student, or an Australian Apprentice?

• Yes, go to Step 3
• No, the customer has reached the maximum age for YA. Advise the customer of other benefits applicable to their situation. Procedure ends here

Is the student:

• undertaking a course that is to last for less than one academic year, and
• receiving JSP or was receiving NSA just before starting the course?

The one academic year relates to the amount of full-time study the customer has left to complete in the course, not the total duration of the course. 12 months can be taken to be:

• an academic year
• across 2 half academic years (for example, July to June) if the course is started mid-year, or
• 2 consecutive semesters/3 consecutive trimesters (or equivalent) where this equates to an academic year

Does the student meet the above criteria?

• Yes, go to Step 9
• No, go to Step 4

Has the customer turned 25 or will they turn 25 between their previous course ending and before the new course starts?

• Yes, go to Step 5
• No, the customer has not reached the maximum age for YA. Check the other criteria for qualification for YA. Procedure ends here

The customer must be receiving a YA payment on the day before their 25th birthday to remain on YA (Student). Customers in a nil rate period (Current Zero Rate) on the day prior to their 25th birthday are not considered to be receiving YA. See Definitions - Receiving Youth Allowance.

Was the customer receiving YA immediately before turning 25?

• Yes, go to Step 6
• No, go to Step 8

Is the customer:

• undertaking a course of study they started before turning 25, and
• studying a full-time study load or an approved concessional study load continuously since turning 25, or
• undertaking a full-time apprenticeship they started before turning 25?

This includes students who have had no break from studying after turning 25 who change back to any course they started before turning 25, or a student progressing straight into an honours year following the completion of their bachelor. For more information, see Student intending to undertake a course at Honours level.

It does not include students who change to a new course.

• Yes, go to Step 7
• No, go to Step 8

The customer will remain qualified for YA until the end of their course or apprenticeship. Check the other criteria for qualification for YA.

Procedure ends here.

The maximum age for YA is 25 years.

Advise the customer they may qualify for Austudy. Check the criteria for qualification for Austudy and Identifying the most beneficial payment for students or Australian Apprentices.

Continuing students can qualify for YA up to the day before their 25th birthday. To continue receiving a student payment after they turned 25, they would have to apply for Austudy for the new course. See the Resources page for examples.

See Changing or correcting course of study for Youth Allowance, Austudy and Pensioner Education Supplement students.

Procedure ends here.

For students, the student may be qualified for JSP. See Part-time or full-time study as an approved activity for JobSeeker Payment (JSP).

For Australian Apprentices, there is no entitlement to JSP. Investigate if customer may be entitled to Austudy or ABSTUDY.

See Identifying the most beneficial payment for students or Australian Apprentices.