ABSTUDY

• Students and Australian Apprentices
• Parents or guardians of students under 16 years and dependant
• Institutions

Students/apprentices must be Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander and studying an approved course at an approved institution, or undertaking an Australian Apprenticeship.

How much ABSTUDY you can get will depend on which allowances you are eligible for.

Payment amounts are affected by your personal or partner’s income and assets or your parents’ income and assets if you are a dependant student.

ABSTUDY can help with paying for  uniforms, books and contributions towards school fees. It can also help with living costs, travel, accommodation, course expenses and also relocation costs if you’re moving from a remote or regional area to study. There are a wide range of ABSTUDY allowances. Which allowances you can get, and how much you can get, depends on your individual circumstances.

Secondary Students

You can claim as early as October the year before your child starts high school.

If they’ve already started high school, you should claim before 31 December so you can receive ABSTUDY for that year.

Tertiary Students

You can apply for ABSTUDY before or after you start your course.

The deadline to apply for ABSTUDY for a full year course is the last day of that year. For courses that last less than one year you need to apply before the course ends.

You can apply up to 13 weeks before the start of your course to try and make sure your payments start on time.

Australian Apprentices

You can apply up to 13 weeks before you start your Australian Apprenticeship. If you apply after you’ve started the Apprenticeship, you might only receive payments from the date you submitted your application.

If you need help with your application, you can contact the Centrelink ABSTUDY line on 1800 132 317 from Monday to Friday 8am-5pm.

You can call the ABSTUDY line on: 1800 132 317

Or you can claim online at Services Australia:

Secondary Students

Claiming as a secondary or primary student

Tertiary Students

Claiming as a tertiary student or Australian Apprentice

You do not need to make different claims for different ABSTUDY allowances. Once you make a claim Centrelink will work out what you can get.

You can ask Centrelink for a formal review of any decision they make about your application for an ABSTUDY payment. You can also ask for a review if your ABSTUDY payment is cancelled or reduced. There is no time limit to ask Centrelink for a formal review.

If you disagree with the outcome of the formal review by Centrelink, you can ask the Minister for Social Services to review the decision made by Centrelink.

It is very important to tell Centrelink about a change in your circumstances, like stopping studying, or going from full time to part time study, or starting a relationship, or getting a job.

If you do not tell Centrelink about a change of circumstances you could later get an ABSTUDY debt. If you disagree with an ABSTUDY debt you can ask Centrelink for a formal review of the debt.

There are no time limits to appeal a debt when you are requesting a review or at the first level of appeal at the Administrative Review Tribunal. To appeal a debt at the second level of the Administrative Review Tribunal the time limit is 28 days.