Centrelink - Youth Allowance & Payments

1. About this service

   Youth Allowance

   Youth Allowance is for young people who need financial support while studying, training or looking for a job. You may be eligible if you are:
   
   - A full-time student or apprentice aged 16 to 24
   - aAed 16 to 21 and are looking for a full-time job or combining part-time study with looking for work
   - A full-time student or apprentice over 25 who was receiving Youth Allowance before you turned 25 & are still in the same course of study or apprenticeship
   - A student aged 22 to 24 who is temporarily incapacitated for full-time study.

   You will be considered independent and may get a higher rate of Youth Allowance if you are 22 or over. You may also be able to get the independent rate if you are aged between 15 and 21 and:

   - You are an orphan, a refugee or homeless
   - Your parents can’t provide a home, care or support
   - You have a dependent child
   - You have lived with a partner in a de facto relationship for longer than a year, or are married
   - You have been assessed as having a partial capacity to work
   - You have previously supported yourself by working.

   If you can’t live at home or stay at school or find suitable study or training programs, ask to see the social worker at your local Centrelink office to talk about your options.

   There are additional payments that may be available if you begin study after being on an income support payment for a long period, or if your study requires you to live away from home.

   If you are under age 18 and are not considered independent, then your payment would normally be paid to your parent.

   Abstudy

   Abstudy is for Australians of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent who are studying or undertaking an apprenticeship. The rate of payment you may be eligible for depends upon your age, whether or not you live at home and if you have dependent children.

   If you are eligible for Abstudy you may also qualify for additional allowances for school expenses, tertiary studies or post-graduate studies.

   Youth Disability Supplement

   Youth Disability Supplement is additional financial support for young people aged 22 years and under with a physical, intellectual or psychiatric disability which affects their ability to work.

   Other services

   Centrelink and the Department of Human Services have other information, payments and services to support young people. See Young people becoming independent.

   Get help

   Find out how you can get help with Centrelink.

   1. • Service name

        Centrelink - Youth Allowance & Payments

      • Urgency levels

        Some Help, Just Curious, Direct Help

   2. • Last update

        19/01/2018

   1. • Service type

        INDIVIDUAL

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