April 2010 update

To find out about Youth Allowance changes go to information from the National Union of Students  and the Commonwealth Government. Also note that from 1 April 2010, Equity and Merit-based scholarships have been made exempt from means testing. Full report can be found here.

Student income support update

JustAct has campaigned about this issue. Here is an update.

Changes to Youth Allowance and other student payments

April 23, 2010

This year there will be important changes to Youth Allowance and other student payments. Some of these changes occurred in early April 2010, the remainder will be put in place from July 2010.

The age of independence
The Justice and International Mission Unit (and JustAct) asked that, ‘the age of independence for Youth Allowance recipients should be reduced from 25 to 18 so that students are not assessed on the basis of their parents’ income and assets.’ The age of independence was 25 years. The age of independence will now reduce from 25 to 22 years, meaning more students will be eligible for Youth Allowance. This will be phased in, so that the age of independence will reduce to 24 years from 1 April 2010, 23 years from 1 January 2011 and 22 years from 1 January 2012. These are good steps forward.

Youth Allowance threshold
The Justice and International Mission Unit (and JustAct) asked that ‘the Youth Allowance threshold of earned income before penalty should be raised, to match CPI, from $6000 to at least $8000.’ The threshold has been changed to $10,400 per year (in other words the personal income threshold will rise from $236 to $400 per fortnight so that students receiving support will be able earn up to $400 per fortnight without having their payments reduced). This is a great step forward.

Student scholarships
The Justice and International Mission Unit (and JustAct) asked that, ‘scholarships providing financial support should not be included as assessable income when evaluating eligibility for income support.’ Previously only Government scholarships were classed as tax exempt, and were not included in assessable income. Privately funded scholarships were included as assessable income. Commencing 1 April 2010, the treatment of equity and merit-based scholarships under the social security means tests will be aligned with that of the Commonwealth Scholarships.  This means that equity and merit-based scholarships will be exempted from being treated as assessable income for means testing under the Social Security Act 1991, up to the equivalent combined value of the Commonwealth Education Costs Scholarship and the Commonwealth Accommodation Scholarship, valued at $6762 in 2010. This is a good step forward.

This is not ‘expert advice’. You should seek advice about your personal circumstances. If you need further independent advice on Commonwealth income support go to the National Welfare Rights Network website and find out contact details for help in your part of Australia.