News and Information
The 2009 Federal Budget - How will it affect students?
The Australian government announced a number of important changes affecting government assistance to students in the 2009 Federal budget. There is a printable leaflet on the publications page that details many of the proposed changes outlined below. Factsheets are also available on the Department of Education, Employment and Worklace Relations website.
At the time of writing, these changes have not been passed by parliament. A summary of the proposed changes are:
Changes in Independence criteria
It is expected that the Workforce Participation Criteria will from January 1 2010 be limited to having worked full-time for at least 30 hours a week for at least 18 months in the previous two years.
Earning three quarters of the National Award Wage within an eighteen month period will be abolished as an independence criteria, as will working part time for at least 15 hours per week for 104 weeks.
Students who have already met the workforce participation criteria, prior to 1 January 2010, will be unaffected. Other independence rules based on personal circumstances will not change.
Parental Income Threshold
From 1 January 2010, the Parental Income Test threshold for Youth Allowance (currently $32,800) is expected to be increased to align it with the Family Tax Benefit (FTB) Part A income test (currently $42,559). The rate at which it diminishes when parental income exceeds this amount will be amended.
The current complex withdrawal arrangements will be replaced with the 20 per cent per family taper, as applied under FTB arrangements. The FTB upper limit for a family with one 18 year old student living away from home is approximately $100,000.
Scholarships
There will be a new Student Start up Scholarship, worth $2,254 p.a. for all students on income support at university. This is replacing the Commonwealth Education Cost Scholarship and will be paid in two instalments.
There will be a new Relocation Scholarship, worth $4,000 in the first year and $1,000 in each year afterwards, for eligible (i.e. on income support) university students who have to move away from the family home to do their course. This payment will replace the Commonwealth Accommodation Costs Scholarship.
Equity and merit-based scholarships will now be (partly) exempt from Centrelink means testing to the value of Commonwealth Scholarships, which in 2009 is $6,622 per year. Scholarship amounts in excess of the capped value would continue to be assessed as income against the existing criteria.
The Government will remove the loan fee for new OS-HELP loans from 1 January 2010. This will improve overseas study opportunities.
Other reforms
These will be progressively implemented by 2012, including:
• Increasing the Personal Income Test threshold from $236 to $400 from 2011.
• Indexing the Personal Income Test threshold for the first time, effective from 1 January 2011.
• Reducing the Age of Independence from 25 to 22 years by the year 2012. The age of independence will be reduced to 24 years in 2010 years, 23 years in 2011 and 22 years in 2012.
• Extending Income Support from 1/1/2012 to all eligible students undertaking course work Masters programs.
• Increasing the Australian Postgraduate Award stipend from $20,427 in 2009 to $22,500 in 2010.
• The Student Learning Entitlement (SLE) will be abolished from 2012. The SLE currently imposes a lifetime limit of seven years of equivalent full time study for Commonwealth Supported students.
More information about the changes can be found on Centrelink's website.
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