April 5, 2017
Waiting periods for some regional, rural and remote students before they are considered “independent” have been cut by the Federal Government.
Legislation passed earlier this week has cut by four months the minimum waiting periods for Youth Allowance (student) or ABSTUDY Living Allowance.
From January 2018, regional and remote students will only need to earn the minimum amount required to satisfy the workforce independence provisions within 14 months, instead of 18 months.
Member for Wide Bay Llew O’Brien said this meant that students who finished Year 12 last year could take advantage of the 14 months period before beginning tertiary studies in 2018 to earn $24,042 (current rate) and be considered independent for Youth Allowance or ABSTUDY Living Allowance.
“Being considered independent is important as it can mean a higher rate of payment. Unlike dependent recipients of Youth Allowance or ABSTUDY Living Allowance, the independent rate is not reduced based on parental income,” Mr O’Brien said.
“This helps young people to take up opportunities to extend their education after finishing high school and helps to ease the financial burden on families.”
About 3700 regional and remote students across Australia are expected to benefit from this change.
Other changes under the regional education package began at the start of this year.
The Assistance for Isolated Children (AIC) Additional Boarding Allowance increased by 50 per cent, as did the means-tested component of ABSTUDY Group 2 School Fees Allowance (SFA).
This helps lower income families to overcome the geographic isolation which can be a barrier to providing educational opportunities for their children.
