Relocation Scholarship (RS) eligibility 010-07030020

Youth Allowance (YA) or ABSTUDY Living Allowance students may qualify for a Relocation Scholarship.

Dependent students

May qualify if:

• their family home, as at the time of starting an approved scholarship course, is or was located in an inner regional, outer regional, remote or very remote area in Australia, or overseas, or
• they are relocating to study in an inner regional, outer regional, remote or very remote area in Australia, or overseas, and
• they have to live away from the family home for study, and
• they are receiving the away from home rate
• they have not indicated they are independent or currently pending an assessment of independence

Independent students

May qualify if they are independent students who are disadvantaged by personal circumstances, and:

• six months before starting an approved scholarship course, lived in an inner regional, outer regional, remote or very remote area in Australia, or overseas, or
• are relocating to study in an inner regional, outer regional, remote or very remote area in Australia, or overseas, and
• live away from their RS family home for study

Both dependent and independent students must also meet all of the following:

• receiving at least $1 of YA basic benefit or ABSTUDY Living Allowance in the period. Students receiving a nil rate who continue to receive either Energy Supplement or Youth Disability Supplement are considered to be receiving YA or ABSTUDY Living Allowance. Receiving Rent Assistance (RA), Pharmaceutical Allowance (PhA) or other supplements alone do not qualify the student for RS
• undertaking an approved scholarship course
• commencing or continuing to undertake study for 35 days
• not likely to receive a Commonwealth Accommodation Scholarship (CAS) in the next 12 months
• not qualified for a relocation or similar scholarship payment in the preceding 12 months. (This can be shortened to a period of at least three months where such a determination would enable the person to qualify for RS on or near 1 January, provided they do not receive more than two RSs in a period of two successive years), and
• not receiving Residential Costs Option

Austudy recipients do not qualify for RS.

Note:

• There is no requirement for a recipient to be actually studying on the day they are paid the RS. See Qualification date below
• A person studying online may be eligible to receive the RS. Online study is treated as an Australian major city campus
• the locations of the RS family home and of the student's place of study are determined using the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS)
• Students who will complete approved study overseas that contributes to their Australian Qualification while remaining enrolled in an Australian provider may be eligible to receive the RS

A student is not qualified for RS if:

• their RS family home is/was in an Australian major city location, at the time they start or started their course of study, and
• their place of study is/was in an Australian major city location (even if the RS family home and the place of study are/were in different Australian major city locations)

For information regarding Relocation Scholarship (RS) eligibility in 2010 and 2011 see historical versions of this procedure.

Family Home Location Assessment

For qualification purposes, the RS family home location is assessed only once at the time of course start. A change of RS family home location(s) in a subsequent year is not used to reassess qualification but is used to determine the rate of RS payable. For example, where qualification is met at the time of course start and the RS family home location has changed to an Australian major city location in a subsequent year the 'lower' rate of RS is payable.

Verification of study location must be provided before RS is paid, if:

• a student whose RS family home is in an Australian major city location attends an provider, campus or placement that is in Australia and not classified as a major city location, or
• they are studying overseas

If verification is not provided, RS will not be paid.

For information regarding assessment of the family home location before December 2017 see historical versions of this procedure.

Note:

• ABSTUDY Students in State Care (not receiving Foster Care Allowance) are to be assessed for the purposes of RS the same way as ABSTUDY dependent students who were living away from home
• RS is also available to some students receiving a payment under the Veterans' Children's Entitlement Scheme (VCES) or Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act Education and Training Scheme (MRCEATS). Relocation Scholarship under these schemes is paid by the Department of Veterans' Affairs (Veterans' Affairs), not by Services Australia. Students should contact DVA for further information. The Resources page has a link to DVA
• Students can update their family home address using the 'Update Family Home address' online service via their Centrelink online account. Where a hand off is required for these online updates, staff can locate these via work allocation. See also Accessing Work Items in Customer First
• For information regarding the remoteness structure prior to 1 July 2023, see the Resources page

If a student wishes to change their independence status to qualify for an RS, the following principles apply:

• a person who has been granted independence under a non-reviewable criterion (such as workforce participation or age) cannot choose to revert back to dependant status
• a person who has been granted independence under reviewable criterion (such as unable to live at home and parents unable to exercise responsibilities) may revert back to dependent only if their circumstances have changed and they no longer meet the independence criteria
• a person who simultaneously meets multiple independence criteria (except due to age) can be considered independent under the criterion which provides them the greatest benefit
• An independent student who is disadvantaged by personal circumstances who turns 22 years of age, will remain qualified for RS as long as they have received RS before they turned 22

The Resources page has Relocation Scholarship (RS) eligibility scenarios which has examples of changing independence status.

An independent customer may temporarily be granted the dependent away from home rate pending proof of independence.

These customers do not qualify for RS:

• unless they are disadvantaged by personal circumstances, or
• it is confirmed that they are not independent and the dependent away from home rate is the correct rate for their circumstances

If a customer was qualified for independence on their YA or ABSTUDY start date, this is the date that they are considered to be independent from, though system limitations may mean this is not the independence start date that is coded in some instances.

The customers rate must reflect their circumstances. The customer cannot choose to receive the dependent away from home rate if they are independent.

A student's RS qualification date is the first day in the period on which they meet all of the qualification criteria.

There is no requirement for a student to be actually studying on their qualification date for RS. This means a student could essentially be qualified and paid during a semester break.

For example, a student commenced a three year degree in March 2023, but only claims YA on 10 December 2023 (during a semester break) as they are now qualified for payment. The customer is qualified for YA from 10 December 2023 and is also qualified for RS for 2023 as they are continuing to study for 35 days (as the course end date is November 2025). However, there needs to be a gap of at least 3 months before the next scholarship payment in 2024.

For new assessments (who have not received the RS previously), the qualification date is the start date of their course (provider start date) or student start date, whichever is later. RS will be paid with the student's first regular income support payment after the course commences as long as all qualification criteria are met.

For continuing students (whose start date is before the current period), the qualification date is the default study start date of 21 February. This is because each student starts studying on different dates for each year of study, and this information is not recorded on the student's record. However, different rules apply if the customer loses qualification for RS (for example, they withdraw from studies) and Service Officers need to check when the student actually commenced studies to determine if they were studying for 35 days before the change occurred.

RS is not payable if income reduces the student's basic benefit of YA or ABSTUDY Living Allowance to nil, unless they continue to receive either Energy Supplement or Youth Disability Supplement. RS may become payable to the student later in the period, once they receive at least $1 of basic benefit.

A student whose RS family home is classified as being in an Australian major city location and who is studying in Australia at a location classified as not being in a major city location must provide appropriate verification of their study location (provider and/or campus) before RS will be paid. This includes students who are undertaking an approved placement or practical at a location that is not a typically recognised campus location for the educational provider (for example, a teaching placement at a school or a nursing placement at a hospital).

Verification of study location must be provided before RS is paid, if:

• the RS family home is in an Australian major city location, and
• the student is studying overseas

For this instance only, documents provided to verify the overseas study at the portability interview are sufficient for RS.

A student whose RS family home is or was overseas at the time of course start qualifies them for the RS, but they cannot qualify for the regional rate of payment in subsequent years of the course of study. This is because an overseas RS family home is classified differently for eligibility and rate purposes. For the purpose of:

• eligibility, an overseas RS family home is treated the same as an inner regional, outer regional, remote or very remote area in Australia
• rate, an overseas RS family home is treated the same as an Australian major city location

Normally, there must be 12 months between qualification dates for RS (or between receipt of a Commonwealth Accommodation Scholarship (CAS) and the qualification date for an RS).

This period may be reduced to 3 months if it allows a student to receive a RS payment at or around the time they start (or resume) the approved scholarship course for which RS is being paid.

The period between qualification dates cannot be shortened so the student receives more than two RS payments in two successive calendar years.

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

The RS effectively replaces the university offered Commonwealth Accommodation Scholarship (CAS). Universities continue to offer CAS payments, but only as a limited programme for Indigenous students.

Students cannot receive a CAS and a RS for the same period, however a student may choose to relinquish their existing CAS in order to receive an RS.

If the student is paid both CAS and a RS for the same period, the RS payment will become an overpayment. See Commonwealth Scholarships.

Note: students who qualify for CAS in a particular period but who do not receive their full entitlement only because that scholarship is suspended (such as due to poor study results), cannot qualify for an RS in relation to the same period.

From 2017, IAS scholarships ceased. See Commonwealth Scholarships.

Equity or Merit based Scholarships do not preclude students from receiving RS. However, these scholarships may be assessed as income. See Assessing Scholarship income.