Assessing equivalent activity not available locally for Youth Allowance (YA) at the away from home rate 010-06040110

Dependent YA secondary students may be eligible for the away from home rate where they cannot study locally because:

• an equivalent course is not available locally
• the student's academic needs are not met by local educational facilities, or
• there is no local facility

Approval for the away from home rate under this category can only be granted where excessive travelling time is involved.

Circumstances to demonstrate a need to live away from home may include, but not limited to the following:

• the student has special abilities/talents whose educational needs are not met by the local school
• the student has specific career interests and needs to attend a non-local school to study special subjects that will benefit their education and employment prospects, as the local school does not offer these subjects
• the student has been excluded or suspended from the local government school and there is no other government school in the local area for the student to attend
• the student attends a non-local school because the syllabus and teaching arrangements are specifically geared to cater for the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and where the first language of most students attending the school is not English
• the student's parents have moved resulting in the student being unable to study the same subjects to complete their year 12 certificate and/or tertiary entrance requirements, and there is no local school that offers the same subjects
• the state/territory education authority agrees the local school is inappropriate for a student or group of students, because it does not meet their educational needs

Students may be assessed as eligible for the away from home rate of YA if they need to live away from home and bypass a local school as it will be beneficial for their:

• education, and/or
• employment prospects

Give consideration in such cases to the special abilities of the student and whether their needs can be met by the local school.

The student should provide, where possible, evidence their educational and/or employment prospects will be better met by study at the non-local education provider. This evidence may be statements from school principals, teachers, or others acting in an official role with the school. The evidence needs to indicate the subject/s for which the student has a special career interest in/are undertaken as part the young person's year 12-certificate and/or tertiary entrance curriculum.

A secondary school listed as a limited program school does not offer a full program at the year or grade in which the student is qualified to enrol. See the Resources page for schools listed as having a limited program.

The away from home rate can be approved for a student to bypass the limited program school and attend another institution offering an appropriate program if they are not within reasonable travelling time or distance of other government schools at which the student is qualified to enrol.