Academic Requirements
Approved Courses
Centrelink considers that there are four levels of study.
The four levels are TAFE certificate courses; Associate Diplomas; undergraduate courses; and postgraduate courses below the level of Masters. No payments are available for Masters or Doctorate study. With Austudy Payment a student can only get payment to do one course from each level in any order. Youth Allowance currently has no restriction on studying a second course at the same level.
Masters and PhD
Only some Masters courses have been approved for Centrelink assistance. The approved University of Melbourne courses are:
Juris Doctor
Master of Applied Commerce (Accounting)
Master of Architecture
Master of Arts (Cultural Material Conservation) / Master of Cultural Material Conservation
Master of Clinical Audiology
Master of Construction Management
Master of Education (Language Intervention and Hearing Impairment)
Master of Education (Special Education, Inclusion and Early Intervention)
Master of Education (Specific Learning Difficulties)
Master of Educational Psychology
Master of Food Science
Master of Forest Ecosystem Science
Master of Genetic Counselling
Master of Information Systems
Master of Landscape Architecture
Master of Management (Accounting)
Master of Music Therapy (by course-work)
Master of Nursing Science
Master of Professional Accounting
Master of Property
Master of Psychology
Master of Public Health
Master of Science (Biotechnology)
Master of Science (Environmental Science)
Master of Science (Management Science)
Master of Science (Nanotechnology)
Master of Social Work
Master of Teaching (Primary, Secondary and Early Childhood)
Master of Urban Horticulture
Master of Urban Planning
Some Masters students can still receive Centrelink assistance, even if they are not studying one of the above courses. If your course is structured to have an 'exit point', you may recieve a payment up to this point. For example, some Masters courses incorporate a diploma component, where the student may leave after the first year of the Masters and still receive a diploma. The student would be entitled to a Centrelink payment for this year, regardless of whether they then choose to continue to go on and complete the full Masters course.
It is not possible to receive Austudy Payment or Youth Allowance to study a Ph.D. course. If you have completed a Masters or Ph.D. then you are ineligible for an Austudy Payment. If the Masters or Ph.D. was incomplete or it was completed overseas and is not equivalent to an Australian Masters or Ph.D., then it can be disregarded.
Time limit on payment or Satisfactory Progress
Normally, you can only get Youth Allowance or Austudy Payment if, at the start of the year, you haven't studied for longer than the normal minimum duration of your current course plus a semester.
The progress rule takes into account any study you have already attempted at the same level as your current course. Whether you received Austudy Payment or Youth Allowance for this study is not taken into account. There are a number of concessions to these rules.
The concessions available for students on Youth Allowance are different for those on Austudy payment.
Workload Requirements
Full-Time Study
Unless a workload concession applies, students are required to maintain a full time workload
Workload Concessions Youth Allowance and Austudy Payment
There are several concessions available for students who are unable to undertake a full time workload.
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