There are a number of different rates of ABSTUDY Living Allowance, depending on the following circumstances:
For details of Living Allowance rates, see “A Guide to Australian Government Payments 
” A Guide To Australian Government Payments gives details of the payment rates and eligibility criteria for all payments made by Centrelink and the Family Assistance Office.
These basic rates may then be affected by the income, assets and Family Actual Means tests.
Different rates of Living Allowance apply depending upon the student’s or Australian Apprentice's age. For the purposes of determining the rate of Living Allowance on a given day, the student’s or Australian Apprentice's age is his/her age on that day.
Different rates of Living Allowance apply depending upon whether the student or Australian Apprentice is considered Dependent or Independent for ABSTUDY purposes. See Chapter 24 Introduction to Dependent Status and Chapter 37 Overview to Independent Status.
Students or Australian Apprentices in State Care may qualify for Living Allowance at either the maximum standard (at home) rate or the away from home rate, depending on:
- whether the student or Australian Apprentice has reached the minimum school leaving age for their State or Territory;
- whether their carer receives a regular foster care allowance for the student’s or Australian Apprentice's upkeep; and
- whether the student or Australian Apprentice meets the conditions for approval of the Away From Home rate of ABSTUDY.
For details, refer to Chapter 45 Student in State Care.
The rate of Living Allowance payable for both dependent and independent students and Australian Apprentices can be affected by whether or not the student or Australian Apprentice lives in the parental home.
Dependent students and Australian Apprentices aged less than 16 years who live away from home and meet the conditions for approval of the Away from Home rate can qualify for Living Allowance under the Schooling B Award or the Tertiary Award. See Chapter 25 Eligibility criteria for Away from Home entitlements.
For dependent students aged less than 16 years who either live at home, or live away from home but do not meet the conditions for approval of the Away From Home rate, Living Allowance is not payable. See instead the Schooling A Award.
For dependent Australian Apprentices aged less than 16 years who live at home, or live away from home but do not meet the conditions for approval of the Away From Home rate, Living Allowance at the standard (at home rate) is payable under the Tertiary Award.
The basic rate of Living Allowance for a dependent student and Australian Apprentice aged 16 years or over is the standard (at home) rate. A higher rate of payment is available to those students and Australian Apprentices who meet the conditions for approval of the Away from Home rate. See Chapter 25 Eligibility criteria for Away from Home entitlements.
Where an independent student or Australian Apprentice lives in the parental home and is considered an “accommodated independent person”, they are entitled to the lower at-home Independent rates of Living Allowance.
A student or Australian Apprentice is considered to be an accommodated independent person where they are:
- independent; and
- living at the home of either or both of his/her parents/guardians; and
- 20 years of age or under; and
- not a person who
- is or has been married; or
- has or has had a dependent child; or
- is 16 years of age or older and living in a de facto relationship which is of at least 6 months duration; or
- currently has the care or custody of another person’s dependent child or dependent student or Australian Apprentice.
Independent students or Australian Apprentices who are not considered an accommodated independent person qualify for the standard independent rate for their circumstances.
Different rates of Living Allowance apply depending upon whether the student or Australian Apprentice is considered partnered or single for ABSTUDY purposes.
A partnered ABSTUDY customer can receive a rate of Living Allowance equivalent to the single rate where s/he is a member of an illness separated couple. A person is a member of an illness separated couple if:
- they are unable to live together in a matrimonial home as a result of the illness or infirmity of either or both of them; and
- because of that inability to live together, their living expenses are, or are likely to be, greater than they would otherwise be; and
- that inability is likely to continue indefinitely.
A partnered ABSTUDY customer can receive a rate of Living Allowance equivalent to the single rate where s/he is a member of a respite care couple. A person is a member of a respite care couple if:
- one of the members of the couple has entered respite care; and
- the member who has entered the approved respite care has remained, or is likely to remain, in that care for at least 14 consecutive days.
For ABSTUDY purposes, a person is in approved respite care on a particular day if the person is eligible for a respite care supplement in respect of that day under section 44-12 of the Aged Care Act 1997.
A partnered ABSTUDY customer can receive a rate of Living Allowance equivalent to the single rate where s/he has a partner in gaol. A person is considered to have a partner in gaol if the person’s partner is:
- in gaol; or
- undergoing psychiatric confinement because the partner has been charged with committing an offence.
The rates of Living Allowance available to independent students or Australian Apprentices (sole parent or partnered) who have dependent children can be paid to a student or Australian Apprentice who:
- has a dependent child or dependent student/Australian Apprentice in his/her care; or
- shares custody and financial responsibility of a child, if the child lives with that parent for at least half the week.
Full-time or concessional study-load students approved for the Masters and Doctorate Award receive a higher rate of Living Allowance that is based on the rates that apply for the Australian Postgraduate Award (APA) scheme. This rate is not affected by age, or whether the student has a partner and/or dependent children.
A student is entitled to receive the 1999 rate of Living Allowance in the following circumstances:
- s/he was aged 21 years or more at 31 December 1999; and
- s/he was in receipt of ABSTUDY Living Allowance in 1999; and
- s/he has received Living Allowance continuously since 1999; and
- the student has studied his/her current course of study continuously, without a break in study since 1999; and
- the 1999 maintained rate of Living Allowance is more beneficial to the student than the rate s/he would otherwise receive.
Entitlement to the maintained rate ceases when either of the following occur:
- the student completes the current course of study; or
- the student ceases to undertake the current course of study, e.g. changes to a new course that is not considered to be part of the current course of study; or
- the student has a break in study; or
- the 1999 maintained rate of Living Allowance is no longer more beneficial to the student than the rate s/he would otherwise receive.
Once a student ceases to be entitled to the maintained rate of Living Allowance, s/he may not re-qualify for the maintained rate should his/her circumstances change.
For the purposes of determining entitlement to the maintained rates of Living Allowance, a current course of study includes:
- regular undergraduate courses;
- articulated courses, such as those where a series of courses can be linked to count for a higher qualification;
- a continuing course in the same field of study undertaken at different institutions or at a different campus;
- natural progression, such as:
- a Bachelor of Laws and Letters followed by a Graduate Diploma of Legal Studies; or
- an access or bridging course undertaken as a prerequisite entry to a tertiary qualification; or
- a series of certificate level courses in the same field of study; or
- a Bachelor degree that is a prerequisite for a Graduate degree; or
- an Honours year or Masters qualifying year followed by a Masters.
For the purposes of determining entitlement to the maintained rates of Living Allowance, a student is considered to have had a break in study if, with the exception of vacation periods, s/he was not enrolled in and undertaking the current course of study at any time since 1999.
A student is considered to not have had a break in study where exceptional circumstances beyond the student's control prevented him/her from enrolling in the current course of study. These exceptional circumstances include:
- medical grounds;
- personal circumstances; or
- academic requirements or course availability.
72.2.9 Qualification for Youth Disability Supplement
The Youth Disability Supplement is an income supplement paid to young people with disabilities recognising additional costs associated with their physical, intellectual and psychiatric disabilities.
The Youth Disability Supplement is payable to ABSTUDY customers on an ABSTUDY Living Allowance aged under 21 years and assessed by a Job Capacity Assessment as having a partial capacity to work.
The rate payable to a person on ABSTUDY who is under 21 years of age cannot exceed the rate payable to an ABSTUDY customer who is aged 21 years or over, therefore the rates payable to single customers living away from home, single customers with children and to partnered customers are limited to the equivalent common benefit rates (NSA rate). For details of Youth Disability Supplement rate see ‘A Guide to Australian Government Payments 
'.
The Youth Disability Supplement is a fortnightly entitlement and is indexed annually in line with CPI increases.