Financial information & support

Government assistance through Centrelink

Youth allowance

To be eligible for youth allowance you must be one of the following:

• 18 to 24 and studying full-time16 to 17,
• studying full time and either independent or needing to live away from home to study 16 to 17,
• studying full time and have completed year 12 or equivalent
• 16 to 24 and doing a full time Australian Apprenticeship.

Find out more or apply for youth allowance.

Austudy

Financial help if you're 25 years or older and studying or an Australian Apprentice.

To get this you must be:

• 25 or older
• a full time student in an approved course or Australian Apprenticeship
• under the income test limits.

Find out more or apply for Austudy.

Abstudy

A group of payments for Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander students or apprentices.

To be eligible for Abstudy you must be:

• an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Australian
• studying an approved course, Australian Apprenticeship or traineeship
• not getting another payment to study or train.

Find out more or apply for Abstudy.

Disability Support Pension

Financial help if you have a permanent physical, intellectual or psychiatric condition that stops you from working.

To get the Disability Support Pension (DSP), you need to meet both:

• non-medical rules
• medical rules.

Find out more or apply for the Disability Support Pension.

Parenting payment

This is the main income support payment while you’re a young child’s main carer. This payment is also for job seekers who are main carers of young children.

To get Parenting Payment you must:

• be under the income and asset test limits
• meet principal carer rules
• care for a child under 8 if you’re single or under 6 if you’re partnered
• meet residence rules
• not have claimed before the birth of the child.

Find out more or apply for the parenting payment.

Pensioner education supplement

A regular extra payment to help with study costs if you get certain income support from Centrelink.

If you are receiving the Disability Support Pension or the Parent Payment we recommend that you find out more about the pensioner education supplement if you are:

• getting a Centrelink payment that has this benefit as an add on
• studying an approved course
• a full-time student or a part-time student in special circumstances.

Centrelink advance payments

Centrelink Advance Payments can assist with living and study costs.

If you receive Centrelink payments (including youth allowance, Austudy, Abstudy, parenting payment and disability support pension) you are eligible to apply for a Centrelink Advance Payment.

Low income health care cards

Low income health care cards provide concessions for health care, public transport and living costs (such as gas, electricity and water). They are issued to students who receive Youth Allowance, Austudy or Abstudy.

Even if you are not eligible for one of these payments, you can still apply for low income health care card.

Tertiary Access Payment

The Tertiary Access Payment (TAP) is a one-off payment of up to $5,000. It’s to help eligible students with the cost of moving to study. This is for study after you’ve finished year 12 or equivalent.

To get the payment you need to meet some rules. These include:

• moving from a regional or remote area for tertiary study
• starting tertiary study in the year after finishing year 12 or equivalent.

Regional areas are places that aren’t in or near a major city. You can check if your family home is in a regional or remote area using the Student Regional Area Search.

You can claim this payment in your first year of tertiary study only.

Read more about who can get it.