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Centrelink is the Australian Government organization which delivers social security payments and services. It is run by the Services Australia department and operates Australia wide.
The main benefit that may be available to you is Youth Allowance which can provide financial help for students under 24 years old. In addition if you have moved from a regional area you may also be eligible for Tertiary Access Payment.
Note: Centrelink Payment are usually only available for Australian Residents, Sorry if you are international! Our government tends to be a bit mean :(
The pages linked above are the official Centrelink pages for Youth Allowance and TAP but as you may find, Centrelink documents tend to be complex and hard to understand so we've tried to summaries the most important content and steps to getting the payment here.
First of all both payments have some conditions applied to who can them, Centrelink will ask you hundreds of questions in the process of making a claim but these are the ones that will most likely make the difference
Youth Allowance + Rent Assistance
Youth Allowance + Rent Assistance
Australian Resident
24 or younger (payment continues until you finish your course)
Studying full time
Your parents income (Complex limit use estimator)
Your personal assets ($5000 liquid assets - money that can easily be spent: Bank accounts, Stocks and Shares. Not things like computers, Value of items, vehicles, ect)
Your income may reduce the payment
Tertiary Access Payment
Tertiary Access Payment
Australian Resident
Family home must be in a inner regional to very remote area
Must also be at least 90 minutes away from where you are studying
Must be starting tertiary study in the year after finishing year 12
Studying full time
22 or younger (on the day you started your course)
Your parents income (combined limit of $250'000)
We recommend you use the Centrelink estimator to determine if you are eligible for these payments it should only take about 20 minutes to complete and will give you a good idea as to weather or not it is worth continuing.
And of course, if you have any questions about this feel free to reach out to us on our discord server!
When you have finished the estimator it should tell you if you are eligible for payments and how much you should get. If you are eligible congrats! Get ready for the long and arduous process that is applying for Centrelink payments
Applying for Centrelink
Applying for Centrelink
The first thing you will need to do is create a myGov account and prove you identity
Then you will need to link your myGov account to your Centrelink account
Now you can start the claim. Be warned, you should really set a large chunk of time aside to complete this. It took me and my parents about 4 hours to complete it. It might take less if you've already used the systems before but dont count on it. :/
They will ask you to fill in alot of questions, many similar to those in the estimator. Make sure you answer carefully as you may not be able to change your responses later.
Once you finish the main set of questions your parents will most likely need to submit their latest tax returns in order to prove that they are not earning over the limit for the payments and you will need to provide proof of study.
Now you wait. Possibly quite a long time, eventually, maybe after a few months, Centrelink will look at your claim and decide if you are eligible. They may require more documents at this stage in which case you need to make sure to provide them before the claim expires.
While receiving Youth Allowance
While receiving Youth Allowance
If you are successful and start receiving youth allowance there are a few things you want to keep in mind:
Make sure to check Centrelink messages when they arrive - you should receive an email notifying you when this happens. These messages are often Centrelink requesting more information and checking that you are still eligible for the payment
Make sure to report taxable income in Centrelink. When you earn money it can take away from your payments BUT only once your income bank has run out
Anytime you earn an amount money less than your payment value the difference will be added to your income bank. Say you receive $200/fortnight from Centrelink - your income bank will stand at $600 after 6 weeks. Then if you were to be paid $250 for some casual work your income bank would be reduced to $350 and you would still receive the $200 Youth Allowance payment.
When your income bank reaches $0 your payments will be reduced instead
Additional Eligibility
Additional Eligibility
By Receiving any Centrelink payment including Youth Allowance, you are very likely eligible for a bunch of other benefits such as:
Financial Disadvantage Scholarships (Scholarships page coming soon!)
Sydney City Access Card - Provides significant discounts to Pool, Gym and Tennis courts
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