Under 16 ABSTUDY customers and the Personal Income Test 010-08010040
Expand allThis document outlines when an ABSTUDY customer under 16 years is impacted by the Personal Income Test.
Exemption from Personal Income Test
The Personal Income Test is applied to ABSTUDY students and Australian Apprentices 16 years of age or over and independent Australian Apprentices under 16 years of age.
An ABSTUDY customer is not subject to the Personal Income Test if they are under 16 years of age and:
- a dependent student
- an independent student
- a dependent Australian Apprentice
Eligibility for Income Bank
ABSTUDY customers who are exempt from the Personal Income Test are not entitled to accrue an Income Bank. As the Income Bank only accrues if the income is below the income free area and there is no income free area in these circumstances, the Income Bank cannot accrue.
Parental Income Test
Dependent customers who are under 16 years of age and eligible for Living Allowance, or who are 16 years of age and over, are also subject to income testing on the combined taxable income of both their parents/guardians, irrespective of whether they live at home or away from home.
Related links
Personal/Partner Income Tests for students, trainees or Australian Apprentices
Applying the Parental Income Test (PIT) for ABSTUDY and Youth Allowance (YA)
Assessment of Income and Assets