Student Start-up Scholarship (SSS) eligibility 010-07030040
Expand allThis document outlines the eligibility criteria for the SSS. The SSS is intended to assist students with the up-front costs of tertiary study such as textbooks and specialised equipment.
Assessing SSS eligibility
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Is the student receiving: + Read more ...
Students who receive assistance from the Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) under the Veterans' Children's Entitlement Scheme (VCES) or Military Rehabilitation or the Compensation Act Education and training Scheme (MRCEATS), may be entitled to a Student Start-up Scholarship (SSS) from DVA. These students need to contact DVA for more information. Services Australia letters inform customers of expected pay date for scholarships. However, if reported income reduces basic benefit to nil, then the scholarship will not pay as receipt of basic benefit is a qualification requirement for Services Australia Scholarships. Receipt of Rent Assistance, Pharmaceutical Allowance or other supplements alone do not qualify the customer for Services Australia Scholarships.
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Check grandfathered status + Read more ... Check the Grandfathering Assessment Screen (!GAS) in Customer First. Some circumstances will be too complex for the system to correctly determine a customer’s grandfathered status for SSS. In these cases, Service Officers need to manually work out if the customer is entitled to grandfathered status. The Resources page contains SSS grandfathering examples. If the status indicator:
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The SSS status indicator is ‘No’ + Read more ... The customer is not grandfathered and therefore not eligible for the SSS. I nform the customer about the availability of the Student Start-up Loan. Record details on a DOC. Procedure ends here. |
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The SSS status indicator is blank + Read more ... The customer’s grandfathered status needs to be determined manually. A customer is considered grandfathered for SSS if:
Check the One Off Payment (OOP) screen to determine if the customer has received a SSS previously. (They may have received the payment more than 12 months earlier). Check for the Commonwealth Education Costs Scholarship in either:
Has the customer received a SSS or CECS before 1 January 2016?
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Date of last payment of SSS or CECS + Read more ... If the customer has received a CECS, the end date of the CECS on HESD/HESS will be used to determine the period that the customer last received Commonwealth Education Costs Scholarship (CECS). If the customer has also received a SSS, check if the receipt date of the SSS is later than the end date of the CECS. If yes, the most recent payment is SSS and this is used to determine grandfathering and not the date of the CECS. Is there an end date for the ‘CEC’ scholarship?
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Continuous receipt of YA (as a student), Austudy and ABSTUDY Living Allowance + Read more ... The customer must have been continuously in receipt of a student payment. For grandfathering purposes, the following do not create a ‘break’ in the ‘continuous receipt of a student payment’:
If the customer has been receiving student payments for less than 12 months, they can have a non-payment period of up to 6 weeks and still be taken to be in continuous receipt of that payment for the purposes of the grandfathering provisions. If the customer has been receiving student payments for more than 12 months, they can have a break of up to 13 weeks and still be taken to be in continuous receipt of that payment for the purposes of the grandfathering provisions. For a break in payment to be considered an allowable break, the student must be in receipt of a student payment both before and after the break. For customers receiving YA it is important to confirm the customer did not receive YA as a job seeker for any period. YA/Austudy YA and Austudy customer records will remain current for the first 6 fortnights at nil rate. After 6 fortnights at nil rate, YA and Austudy will automatically cancel. This means YA and Austudy customers cannot have a nil rate period that is longer than 6 fortnights. YA and Austudy customers are regarded as receiving YA or Austudy during a nil-rate period. ABSTUDY An ABSTUDY customer’s record may be current even though the rate of Living Allowance is zero. This is because the customer may be eligible for other payments under the ABSTUDY scheme. For SSS grandfathering purposes, ABSTUDY customers can only be regarded as ‘receiving’ ABSTUDY Living Allowance during a nil-rate period if their rate of Living Allowance is zero due to the personal income test. Nil rate periods due to the parental income test, or because the person applied only for Incidentals Allowance, must be regarded as non-payment periods and are subject to the ‘allowable break’ rules for grandfathering purposes. The PS screen will show whether the person is receiving ABSTUDY Living Allowance. If the customer is not receiving Living Allowance, staff need to work out if the customer's Living Allowance is zero rate due to personal income. Check the following screen in either:
If the status is:
Check the EAN screen. If the customer has earnings, their Living Allowance is zero because of an employment income nil rate period. For grandfathering purposes, an ABSTUDY customer can be treated as receiving ABSTUDY Living Allowance during an employment income nil rate period. If there is no personal income, the person’s Living Allowance is zero for another reason. The customer cannot be regarded as ‘receiving ABSTUDY Living Allowance’ during this nil rate period. The period may be able to be treated as an ‘allowable break’ depending on the amount of time the customer is entitled to an allowable break. Youth Allowance, Austudy and ABSTUDY If a customer stops being eligible for Youth Allowance, Austudy or ABSTUDY Living Allowance during a nil rate period their student payment may be cancelled. Any non-payment period following cancelation must be assessed under the ‘allowable break’ provisions. Has the customer been in continuous receipt of a student payment?
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Check student status + Read more ... Check the student:
Note: not all level C courses and non-secondary courses are approved scholarship courses. Check the relevant approved course list (see the Resources page for a link to the list) if a TGC or SNS customer enquiries about scholarship eligibility. If the TGC or SNS course is approved, the EDC screen must be updated to 'TSC' or 'SSN' respectively, and
A customer will be entitled to retain an SSS if exceptional circumstances:
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Check receipt of Allowances, Supplements and Rent Assistance + Read more ... Has the student received:
for at least one day? Customers who only receive Rent Assistance (RA) and/or Pharmaceutical Allowance (PhA) (or other supplements) will not qualify for the SSS.
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Check student qualifies for a scholarship payment + Read more ... In the last 6 months, has the student qualified for a student start-up scholarship or similar scholarship payment such as:
Note: if a customer has qualified for a scholarship payment in the last six months, SSS can still be paid where it allows a person to receive their next instalment around the time they commence their next semester of study, provided they do not receive more than two payments in a calendar year, and it has been at least two months since the last scholarship payment. Is the student likely to receive a CECS in the next six months? The CECS consists of four categories:
Sometimes the written evidence will only identify the category and not that it is a CECS. Note: ABSTUDY customers who are undertaking more than one course do not qualify for a SSS regardless as to what course they receive the Commonwealth Education Costs Scholarship for. If they receive a CECS, they do not qualify for SSS.
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