Startup Year Courses 010-23081431

Startup Year Courses are designed to support students’ participation in business-focused accelerator courses at Australian higher education providers, to encourage innovation and support Australia’s startup community. Startup Year Courses are available to recent graduates, postgraduate and final year undergraduate students.

In legislation and policy, a Startup Year Course is referred to as an accelerator program course.

From 1 July 2023, to be eligible for a student payment, students doing a Startup Year Course must be:

• enrolled in the course, and
• selected for a STARTUP-HELP loan by their higher education provider

Students who meet this criteria may be eligible for the following payments:

• Austudy
• Youth Allowance (student)
• ABSTUDY
• Pensioner Education Supplement
• ABSTUDY Pensioner Education Supplement
• Education Entry Payment

Students may also be eligible for Child Care Subsidy and Additional Child Care Subsidy (ACCS) transition to work. To test their eligibility, they must record their activity as Training. For more information, see Child Care Subsidy and Additional Child Care Subsidy (ACCS) (transition to work) eligibility and applications and Activity Test for Child Care Subsidy (CCS).

Startup Year Courses may be referred to or advertised as incubator courses or accelerator programmes.

Only Startup Year Courses that offer STARTUP-HELP loans are considered to be an approved course. Not all Startup Year Courses are approved to offer STARTUP-HELP loans.

Some Startup Year Courses are delivered as subjects under the overarching degree, such as a Bachelor degree or Graduate Certificate. If so the student is eligible for a student payment for the duration of their course and are not required to be selected by their education provider for a STARTUP-HELP loan for their course.

Students enrolled in a Startup Year Course must also be selected for a STARTUP-HELP loan by their higher education provider to be eligible for a student payment.

During an online claim if a student selects a Startup Year Course as their course of study, the Tertiary Collection of Student Information (TCSI) data lake will check if they have been selected for a STARTUP-HELP loan. If the student confirms the TCSI information is correct, they do not need to provide evidence of their enrolment and STARTUP-HELP loan.

If TCSI data lake is unable to obtain the STARTUP-HELP loan status:

• view their STARTUP-HELP loan status on the TCSI Activities (TCSIACT) screen in Process Direct, or
• the student can supply evidence they are enrolled and have been selected for a STARTUP-HELP loan

For students to be considered a continuing/intending student they must be:

• enrolled in the course, and
• have their entitlement to a STARTUP-HELP loan verified

Code an intention to study if the student is uncertain whether they will study a Startup Year Course or another course, while waiting to find out if they are eligible for a STARTUP-HELP loan.

Students are not considered a continuing/intending student if they:

• intend to enrol in a Startup Year Course, and
• have not had their entitlement to a STARTUP-HELP loan verified

Students must apply for a STARTUP-HELP loan through their higher education provider.

For more information on STARTUP-HELP loans, see the Resources page for a link to StudyAssist.

Startup Year Courses are not subject to allowable time where the course is a stand-alone course. This is because students can only receive up to two STARTUP-HELP loans. The loan limitation replaces the need to conduct an allowable time assessment for these courses.

Stand-alone Startup Year Courses are completed after undergraduate studies and have a unique course level of SYC. They are not Tertiary Group B (TGB) courses and should not be included in allowable time calculations.

If the Startup Year Course is a combined course the allowable time is calculated on the overarching degree, such as a bachelor degree. For further information, see Determining allowable time/reasonable time for a course of study.

Students enrolled in a Startup Year Course who have been selected for a STARTUP-HELP loan may also be eligible for Relocation Scholarship and a Student Start-up loan. For further information, see:

• Relocation Scholarship (RS) eligibility
• Student Start-up Loan (SSL)