Austudy

You may be eligible for Austudy if you are:

• aged 25 years or more
• studying full-time in an approved course at an approved educational institution, or undertaking a full-time Australian Apprenticeship
• meet a personal income and assets test, and
• meet residency requirements

The Austudy payment rates listed below are a guide only. The Personal Income Test and Assets Test will be used to work out how much you can get.

Long-term unemployed

These special rates may apply if you:

• are long-term unemployed
• do not have a dependent child and have received an income support payment, other than a student payment, and
• were unemployed for at least 26 out of the last 39 weeks and starting full-time study in a course of 12 months’ duration or more

Your income and assets affect the amount of Austudy you receive. An income and assets test works out what you will be paid.

Read more about the personal income test for ABSTUDY, Austudy or Youth Allowance

As an applicant for Austudy you will need to meet an assets test.

Your payment will be affected if your liquid assets equal or exceed $3,000 for a single or $6,000 for a couple or single with dependants.

If your liquid assets are above this amount, there will be a liquid assets waiting period. This means that you may not receive a payment immediately. We will let you know how long you have to wait before you can be paid, which can be up to 13 weeks depending on:

• the amount of your liquid assets, and
• whether you are a member of a couple, and
• whether you have dependent children

To be eligible for Austudy you must satisfy residence requirements. You must:

• be an Australian resident, and
• be physically present in Australia on the day you lodge your claim, and
• continue to meet the residence requirements for as long as you get this payment

Newly arrived residents generally have a 104 week waiting period, with some exemptions.

You need to be studying an approved course to be eligible for Austudy.

Read more about the approved courses for Austudy

As an Austudy customer, you can earn up to $400 per fortnight before tax, before your payment is affected.

Income between $400 and $480 reduces your fortnightly payment by 50 cents in the dollar.

Income above $480 reduces your payment by 60 cents in the dollar.

Please see Income Bank for more information.

When you receive Austudy, you are considered a full-time student if you are studying an approved course at an approved institution.

Read more about study loads

Allowable time is the amount of time you can receive a payment while studying.

Read more about allowable time

If you qualify for Austudy, you may be entitled to other payments and services such as:

You need to tell us if your circumstances change when you are receiving Austudy. For example, you need to tell us if:

• you reduce your study or training workload or
• you stop studying or
• you change your address or
• you leave Australia or
• your income changes.

You need to let us know within 14 days in case this affects your Austudy payment, because:

• if you don't tell us about the changes you may find yourself in debt, and
• if you are overpaid benefits, you will probably have to pay the money back, and
• if you deliberately do not tell us about changes, you could be charged with fraud, and
• a recovery fee may be imposed if you give us incorrect information about your employment income.

If you are working while receiving Austudy, you must report your employment income to us every fortnight, even if your income is 0.

If you report your income by 5:00 pm on your reporting day, you will receive your payment the next working day.

If you receive Austudy you can report your income in the following ways:

• through Centrelink Online services page
• using the Express Plus Students app
• through phone self-service, by calling 13 EARN (133 276)
• talk to a Customer Service Officer by calling 132 490
• fax or mail a completed income-record form to your nearest DHS Service Centre
• visit your nearest service centre

You may be eligible to receive part of your Centrelink payment in advance. Accessing an advance payment depends on the type of payment you receive, how long you have been receiving it and the amount that you receive.

Read more about advance payment options

There are rules about getting your payment when you leave Australia.

Read more about payments paid while outside Australia

You can authorise another person or organisation to deal with us on your behalf and receive your Centrelink payments under a correspondence or nominee arrangement.

Read more about someone to deal with us on your behalf

Our self service options are a quick and effective way to deal with us. You can use self service where it's convenient to you and manage things yourself:

• online - you need to register to use some of the services, then you can do many things where and when it suits you
• on your mobile device - our Express Plus mobile apps are simple, fast and convenient, giving you more choices for dealing with Centrelink
• on the phone - you can self-register for Centrelink Phone Self Service
• using a self service terminal at one of our Service Centres

This booklet contains information you may need to know about your claim for Austudy and Youth Allowance.

• Information you need to know about your claim for Austudy and Youth Allowance [pdf, 216kb]

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Express Plus Students offers students and Australian Apprentices a simple way to do their Centrelink business on the go using their mobile device.

Read more about the Express Plus Student app