Rent Assistance is paid at a rate of 75 cents in the dollar for every dollar of rent paid over the threshold amount, up to the maximum rate payable.
Where a student or Australian Apprentice is eligible for Rent Assistance, payment is made for the lower of the following amounts:
For the purposes of Rent Assistance, the rent payable is the amount a person pays or is liable to pay as a condition of occupying their principal home. See Chapter 77 for details of the assessment of rent.
For the purposes of Rent Assistance, the rent threshold is the minimum amount of rent payable before qualification for Rent Assistance commences.
Rent Assistance thresholds and the maximum rates payable vary, depending on the following circumstances:
For details of Rent Assistance rates and thresholds, see “A Guide to Australian Government Payments 
”.
Different Rent Assistance thresholds and maximum rates apply depending upon whether the student or Australian Apprentice is considered partnered or single for ABSTUDY purposes.
A partnered ABSTUDY student or Australian Apprentice can receive a rate of Rent Assistance 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 student or Australian Apprentice can receive a rate of Rent Assistance 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 student or Australian Apprentice can receive a rate of Rent Assistance 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.
Rent Assistance rates and thresholds are subject to Consumer Price Index (CPI) changes each year. The rent thresholds and maximum rates are indexed by the CPI on 20 March and 20 September each year.
For details of Rent Assistance rates and thresholds, see “A Guide to Australian Government Payments ”.
The maximum rate of Rent Assistance for a single person without dependent child/ren who is considered to live in shared accommodation is set at two-thirds the maximum rate for a single person living alone.
A person is considered to live in shared accommodation if s/he shares a major area of his/her accommodation with others (including non-dependent members of their own family), unless they are specifically exempt.
A person is not considered to live in shared accommodation if:
- s/he has the exclusive right to use a bathroom, a kitchen and a bedroom; and
- s/he has the right, in common with others, to use other major areas of accommodation.
The following groups of customers are exempt from the sharer provisions:
- students or Australian Apprentices who have a partner;
- single students or Australian Apprentices who have a dependent child;
- boarders and lodgers;
- students or Australian Apprentices in nursing homes or aged care hostels;
- single parents sharing accommodation only with their recipient children;
- singles living in a caravan, boat or a mobile home on their own, even if they are sharing a major area of accommodation in a caravan park or marina; and
- students or Australian Apprentices who live in exempt accommodation.
A recipient child is a child of the ABSTUDY customer who receives any of the following, but who does not receive any rent assistance:
Where a student or Australian Apprentice lives in the following types of accommodation, they are not considered to live in shared accommodation:
- boarding school;
- hostel;
- boarding house;
- guest house;
- hotel;
- private hotel;
- rooming house;
- lodging house; or
- similar premises.
A student or Australian Apprentice who pays board and lodgings will be considered to live in shared accommodation if s/he:
- can separately identify the costs of accommodation from the costs of meals; and
- is sharing a major area of accommodation with others.
The following provides examples of shared and non-shared accommodation.
Examples of shared accommodation:
- a single customer who shares one or more major areas of a flat, apartment or house, with one or more other people including wage earners or other Centrelink customers, including other non-dependent family members;
- single customer paying board and lodging in a private home, living in the same situation as described above, and who shares a major area of accommodation with others as a lodger, BUT who does not receive meals on a regular basis as part of their accommodation costs;
- two or more single people (i.e. not partnered to each other) residing in a self-contained unit in a retirement village/home and sharing a major area of accommodation;
- a single customer who sub-lets a room in a State Housing Authority house, flat or apartment, and who shares at least one major area of accommodation;
- a single customer in a granny flat attached or detached from the house, who also uses a major area of accommodation in the house, or who is living with one or more other people in the granny flat;
- a single customer in a caravan, mobile home or boat, who also uses a major area of accommodation in the house;
- a single customer in a caravan, mobile home or boat, living with one or more other people in the same caravan in a caravan park (or living with one or more people in the same boat/mobile home).
Examples of non-shared accommodation:
- single customer paying board and lodging in a private home, living in a privately owned house and who has the right to receive regular meals as part of their accommodation arrangements as a 'boarder and lodger';
- single customer residing in a refuge/hostel where the refuge/hostel provides regular meals as part of their accommodation arrangements;
- single customer residing in a refuge/hostel where the customer shares a major area of accommodation with others, BUT does not receive meals on a regular basis as part of their accommodation costs.
- a single customer residing in a private hotel/hostel/boarding style accommodation and using communal facilities;
- a single customer residing in a nursing home or aged care hostel, and who uses some communal facilities;
- a single customer residing in a self-contained unit in a retirement village/home who may use communal facilities;
- a single customer in a granny flat attached or detached from the house, AND not using a major area of accommodation in the house;
- a single customer in a caravan, mobile home or boat, AND using the park or marina's communal facilities OR where located in a backyard or similar, NOT using a major area of accommodation in the house.
Payments of Rent Assistance are calculated on a daily rate and made fortnightly in arrears.
Where payments of Living Allowance are made to a boarding school/hostel on a term-in-advance basis under the provisions set out in 71.5, Rent Assistance must also be paid on a term-in-advance basis under the same provisions.
The payee for Rent Assistance is same as the payee for Living Allowance as set out in 71.7.
Rules for payment of Rent Assistance to a student or Australian Apprentice who has a partner vary depending on the payment type being received by the partner, as outlined in the following table:
|
If the student or Australian Apprentice... |
Then Rent Assistance... |
|
has a partner who receives Family Tax Benefits (FTB) Part A under the Family Assistance Act 1999 at greater than the base FTB child rate, |
is paid to the partner receiving FTB. |
|
has a partner who receives a pension, |
is paid to the pensioner at the combined rate, that is, rent assistance is not payable to the ABSTUDY student or Australian Apprentice. |
|
has a partner who receives an allowance under the Social Security Act 1991. |
is split equally between the partners. |
For details of the tax status of Rent Assistance, refer to Chapter 5 Taxation.
The means tests that apply to ABSTUDY Living Allowance also apply to Rent Assistance. See Chapter 56 Introduction to Means Testing.
Rent Assistance is payable from the date the student or Australian Apprentice becomes qualified for Rent Assistance, provided s/he is otherwise eligible for Living Allowance.
The entitlement period for Rent Assistance is the same as the entitlement period for Living Allowance as set out in Chapter 73.
Where an ABSTUDY student or Australian Apprentice is living away from home in order to study or undertake a full-time apprenticeship, traineeship or trainee apprenticeship, e.g. at boarding school or training, and is eligible for Rent Assistance, s/he will retain eligibility for Rent Assistance during vacation period/s provided that s/he continues to pay rent for his/her term address.
Where payments in excess of entitlement have occurred, refer to Chapter 3 Overpayment and Recovery of Allowances to determine what is a recoverable debt and from whom this amount should be recovered.