Services Australia (Centrelink)

• Before you call Centrelink, be sure that you have uploaded everything first and you have your CRN (Customer Reference Number) written down in front of you
• If you do need to call Centrelink, some good days to call are Tuesday and Wednesday and the times are based on your permanent address.
  • If your current address is on the East Coast then the best time to call is from 8 am. If you live on the West Coast then the best time to call them is in the afternoon after lunch.
• You can apply for Centrelink 13 weeks before you start studying
• Want to know how much you could be eligible for? The Payment Finder will ask you some questions and let you know what you can potentially claim. If you click “estimate now” on the payment type, it will ask you more thorough questions before estimating an amount. Please note that this is an estimate based on the main and broader questions.
• Did you get rejected and don’t know why? They will send a letter letting you know why. If you disagree, you can appeal their decision. If the rejection was because you did not upload a document in time; upload the document and then call them and request them to regenerate the claim.
  • Do not start a new claim as you could potentially miss out on entitlements
• You can make a claim 13 weeks before you start studying. And you can claim 13 weeks before you turn 22 (if you need to claim as an independent). However, your payment will not start until you are eligible.
• Student payments do have a time limit, as in you cannot claim a student payment for 10 years when your course is 4 years. To find out what you’re the allowable time for your course would be, click here
  • If you go over the time limit, you can transfer over to Job Seeker

Youth Allowance for students

• Financial help for students who are aged 24 or younger. You have to be studying full time (3 or more units)
• You must be an Australian Citizen or have been a permanent resident for at least 4 years in a row.
• New Zealand citizens can get it if they are a Special Category Visa (444) and only for 6 months
• Youth Allowance can be assessed in 2 ways: the dependant rate, and the independent rate
• The dependent rate is assessed through a Personal income test and a Parental Means Test
• The Independent rate is assessed through a Personal income test and a Personal Assets Test
  • If you have a partner that you live with, Centrelink will also use the Partner Income Test 

To get step-by-step instructions on how to claim Youth Allowance, click here

Dependence:

You are automatically a dependent if you are under the age of 22, regardless of whether or not your parents support you financially

Independence:

You are automatically an independent when you turn 22. If you are on Centrelink payments before the age of 22 and are getting the dependent rate, your payment will automatically reassess from the day that you turn 22.

You can also be assessed as a Reviewable Independent if any of the following apply to you if:

• Are in a situation where it’s unreasonable to live at home
  • This is due to extreme family breakdown, violence, or serious risk to your safety and well-being
• You have parents who can’t look after you
  • Due to being in prison, mentally incapacitated and unlikely to get better, living in a nursing home, or they are missing and no one has been able to find them
• Are in state care or foster care
• Are a refugee and your parent’s don’t live in Australia
• Are an orphan
• Are in certain education or employment circumstances

Austudy:

This is a payment available for full-time students over the age of 25. To be eligible, you must meet the following:

• Residence rules
  • Australian citizen, permanent resident for 4 or more years, New Zealand citizen on a Special Category Visa
• Income test for Austudy
• Personal Assets Test

You can claim up to 13 weeks before you start studying. To get step by step instructions on claiming for Austudy, click here

ABSTUDY

“This support is available to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students doing an approved high education course full time.”

This includes university courses, or courses that prepare you for university.

ABSTUDY can include a regular ABSTUDY Living Allowance, and also an ABSTUDY Incidentals Allowance.

For more information on what ABSTUDY includes, click here.

Additional Benefit – Health Care Card

If you receive a Centrelink payment, chances are you will also receive a Health Care card. This is not your Medicare card. It is either sent to you in the mail or you will find it in your Digital Wallet in the Centrelink App (not the MyGov app). This will give you heavy discounts on prescription medication that is on the PBS, and discounted doctor’s appointments (some may even Bulk Bill). More information click here

Rent Assistance:

If you are receiving a Centrelink payment and you are paying rent, you could be eligible for Rent Assistance. This is for the rent portion of your accommodation fees, not your food costs. You will find your rent amount on your letter of offer.

To apply for Rent Assistance, you simply need to update your Term Address. You can only do this from the day you move and not as a future update.

For step-by-step instructions on updating your accommodation address, click here.

You can only update your term address once your claim has been approved. 

After you have updated your term address you will need to upload your letter of offer from the accommodation, your signed occupancy agreement, and a statement that shows the amount it costs. Put it under “accommodation” category.

If you are not on campus and you are paying rent, you will need to upload your tenancy agreement. You may also receive a Rent Certificate from them, you and your landlord will need to sign it. Upload the documents under the “accommodation” category.

Updating Term address (if in dorms).

1. Start by clicking on “update accommodation details”
2. If it asks if other people are living at this address with you, answer is ‘no’
3. It is Private Accommodation for those paying rent, and “Free Accommodation” for those on free accommodation
4. In the type of accommodation, it is “Boarding, or guest house, hostel, hotel, campus, or similar”
5. The type of rent is “Lodging only”
6. Insert the rental amount
7. And the dates are the dates for semester

Student Start-Up Loan

This is a lump sum payment that is available with your student payment every semester. However, it is a loan and will be added to your HECS or HELP loan. You will need to pay it off once you reach a certain income and it will be indexed the same way too. You can say no when you claim, but you can also change your mind later. More information, click here.

Fares Allowance:

This helps cover the costs of traveling to and from university in Australia for the semester. I.e. your trip to university at the beginning of semester, and your trip home at the end of semester.

It will cover the cost of the least expensive and most available form of public transportation in Australia.

You may be eligible if you receive Youth Allowance, Austudy, or Pensioner Education Supplement, and must be one of the following:

• Dependent and get a higher rate of Youth Allowance when living away from home
• Independent and living away from your partner to study
• A parent living away from your dependent children to study
• Studying a distance or online course and need to travel to your education provider to meet a course requirement

For more information on Fare Allowance, click here

To claim Fare Allowance, click here, download the form, fill it out, and then upload under Centrelink Form, and put it under SY005

For ABSTUDY Fares Allowance click here for information and click here for information on how to claim.

Relocation Scholarship

A once a year payment you can get with ABSTUDY or Youth Allowance. You must also need to move to or from a regional or remote area for higher education study.

You must also meet all of the following:

• Are a dependant student or a reviewable independent (under the age of 22)
• Study full-time and meet the study rules
• receive at least $1 of Youth Allowance Student or ABSTUDY Living Allowance

Avondale University is not considered to be in a rural or regional area.

You don’t need to apply for this, it will automatically be assessed with your student claim and can be applied once you update your term address.

To find out if your home address is in a regional or remote area click here

For more information on the Relocation Scholarship, including the amount, click here

Tertiary Access Payment:

This is a one-off payment for regional and remote students who meet all of the following:

• You are an Australian citizen or resident who meets the residence rules
• Come from an inner regional, outer regional, or remote area (you can check that using the link in the Relocation Scholarship description)
• Move to study at a University that’s at least 90 minutes away from you family home via public transport
• Have completed year 12 or equivalent
• Studying a tertiary course at certificate IV or above
• Be 22 or younger on the day you start your course
• Parents earn under a combined $250,000

You must also be studying full-time.

 For more information on the TAP click here

When you have completed your course, you may find there is a gap between graduating and when you start working. During this time, you can transfer over to income support payments. For more information on how Centrelink can support you after you finish your course, click here

• Centrelink has requested proof of study, what do I give them?
  • Go on to Student Connect and download your enrollment record and then upload that to Centrelink under “study”

• How do I upload documents?
  • Step-by-step instructions are found here

• I am travelling overseas, do I need to tell Centrelink?
  • Yes. They are linked to the Department of Immigration, so they will know. It takes less than 5 minutes and you can do it online. If you don’t know, here are some instructions. If you are going away for a holiday, Centrelink will pause your payment while you are overseas. However, if it is for your course, you may still get paid. Upload proof that the trip is for your course and Centrelink will assess whether payment will continue while you are overseas

• I answered a question wrong in my claim, should I start again?
  • No, you could potentially miss out on backpay. You will need to call them so they so they make a note on your file for the processing team

• The claim asks me for my address, should I put Avondale down?
  • No. Put your permanent address down i.e. the address you will return to when you are not at Avondale. Only put Avondale down in this space if you will be permanently residing there and not returning home at all

• It asked me if I need to live away from home to study and when I said yes it asked me to update my term address but I couldn’t.
  • Correct. Tick ‘yes’ and continue with the claim. You will not be given the option of a term address until your claim has been approved.

• My claim was rejected but I don’t know why, where can I find out this information?
  • When your claim has been assessed, Centrelink will send a letter to your MyGov inbox to say it has been assessed. They will also send a letter with the outcome. If it has been approved, it will let you know how much money they are sending you. If your claim has been rejected, it will tell you why. If you do not agree with their reason or you forgot to add something, you can call them to appeal the decision or to regenerate the claim (if there is missing information or you did not provide certain documents).