When can I be paid by Centrelink?

Posted 27 Jan 09

New students are only considered to be full time students when their course starts.

I understand that students can be paid as intending students. For the purposes of Youth Allowance, an intending student is one who:

• is intending to continue in the same course that they are currently undertaking after a recognised holiday period, or
• is progressing into a new course of approved education following completion of their current course.

Students are not 'intending students' if they :

• have previously been studying, and intend to continue studying a different course, but did not sign up for the new course when enrolments were next accepted (i.e. there was a considerable break between courses)
• have been previously working or looking for work and are now planning on studying
• have deferred their course for a period of time and are now planning on going back to continue the course, or
• transferred to payment as a job seeker at the end of their previous study and are now planning to go back to study.

These people will be considered to be a full-time student only when they commence their course.

Students can be paid for up to 13 weeks while they are overseas. If it’s during semester, it helps if the Principal certifies that their activities are essential to the course that they are enrolled in. For example, a student went on a mission trip and worked in an orphanage. This was registered as supervised practicum for two compulsory units (intercultural awareness and community development) in her Certificate IV in Community Services Work.