Undertaking full-time study requirements for Youth Allowance (YA) students 010-06070000

YA may be paid to customers who are 'undertaking full-time study' if they are 16 to 24 years of age.

Some customers aged 15, or 25 or over, may also be eligible for YA.

Dependent young people, aged 16 or 17 years, who are in full-time secondary study and not approved to live away from home, will only qualify for YA if they were receiving YA before starting their course. Family Tax Benefit (FTB) is the primary payment for these customers, and they cannot be paid YA unless it is determined that the young person is not benefiting from FTB that is being paid to their parent/guardian. See Determining minimum and maximum age for YA.

When a full-time student turns 18 years of age, or completes year 12 or equivalent, they may test their eligibility for YA. However, FTB may be more beneficial in some circumstances. Parents or guardians can compare their potential YA or FTB rate for their family circumstances using the Payment and Service Finder available on the Resources page.

YA students must be undertaking full-time or an approved concessional study load in an approved course, at an approved education provider, and satisfy the relevant progress rules.

A student is considered to be undertaking full-time study if they are:

• currently enrolled in an approved course, or
• meet the continuing/intending student rules, and
• undertaking (or will be undertaking) at least 75% of the normal amount of full-time study in that course. Certain students may be considered to be full-time if they have been approved for a concessional study load of 66% and are undertaking at least that amount of study. For more information, see Assessing study load requirements

A customer employed full-time as an apprentice or trainee cannot be considered a student. A full-time Australian Apprentice may be eligible for YA as an Australian Apprentice if they have a current Commonwealth Registration Number.

When determining if a YA student is satisfying the full-time study requirements, consideration should be given to whether the customer is a continuing/intending student. This may influence what date the customer is eligible to receive a student payment from, and whether they continue to be paid YA between study periods. The rules for continuing/intending students vary between different student payments administered by the agency.

Students returning to study from a period of work, unemployment or any other activity, do not satisfy the full-time study requirements until their course commences, unless they are considered a continuing/intending student.

Customers 22 or older who are not continuing students do not qualify for YA until their course commences. These customers should be invited to claim alternate income support payments, for example JobSeeker Payment (JSP).

Students 21 or under may satisfy the YA full-time study requirements by doing other YA approved activities until the course commences. Customers claiming YA as a job seeker who are under 22 and have not completed Year 12 (or equivalent) or a Certificate III or higher, must undertake approved activities and/or job search to satisfy their mutual obligation requirements.

• If undertaking approved activities, it must be for at least 25 hours per week
• If undertaking any combination of approved activities and job search, their provider will determine the number of job search required in addition to their other activities
• If undertaking only job search they must look for work of at least 25 hours per week and the number of job search will be determined by their provider

If a YA claimant is enrolled in a course that would qualify under the rules for YA as a full-time student, and they have provided their course details in their claim, then payment as a student should be considered in the first instance.

YDS is paid to full-time students and Australian Apprentices in receipt of YA and ABSTUDY who are 21 years of age and under and have been assessed by an Employment Services Assessment (ESAt) as having a partial capacity to work of less than 30 hours per week.

If the customer is undertaking between 66% and 75% of the 'normal amount of full-time study' they may still satisfy the full-time study requirements in accordance with the concessional study load for Youth Allowance.

When making an unfavourable decision, speak to the customer:

• explain the decision
• give them a chance to provide more information, and
• advise their review and appeal rights