ABSTUDY, Allowances and Benefits: Chapter 76 - Overview of Rent Assistance

The purpose of Rent Assistance is to assist in meeting the board and lodging expenses of eligible students and Australian Apprentices.

To qualify for Rent Assistance, the following criteria must be met:

• the student or Australian Apprentice must qualify for one of the following ABSTUDY Awards:

• Schooling B Award; or
• Tertiary Award; and

• the student or Australian Apprentice must either:

• have dependent status and be approved for Away from Home entitlements; or
• be a student or Australian Apprentice in State Care who is approved for the Away from Home rate of Living Allowance; or
• have independent status and NOT be considered an accommodated independent person; and

• the student or Australian Apprentice must either:

• be entitled to receive Living Allowance; or
• be receiving a Defence Force Income Support Allowance-like (DFISA-like) payment under the Veterans’ Entitlements Act 1986; and
   
• the student or Australian Apprentice must pay, or be liable to pay, rent (other than Government rent) above the specified threshold in order to occupy their principal residence; and
• the student’s or Australian Apprentice's principal residence is in Australia; and
• the student or Australian Apprentice is not either of the following:

• an ineligible homeowner; or
• an aged care resident occupying a Commonwealth funded bed in a nursing home or hostel; and

• the student or Australian Apprentice has a partner, where the partner is neither:

• receiving Family Tax Benefits (FTB) Part A under the Family Assistance Act 1999 at greater than the base FTB child rate; or
• receiving a rent increased pension under the Social Security Act 1991 or a rent increased service pension under the Veterans’ Entitlements Act 1986.

76.2.1 Rent Assistance not available under certain Awards

Rent Assistance is not available under the following ABSTUDY Awards:

• Masters and Doctorate Award;
• Schooling A Award;
• Testing and Assessment Award;
• Part-time Award; and
• Lawful Custody Award.

76.2.2 Not qualified for Rent Assistance

A student or Australian Apprentice does not qualify for Rent Assistance where the student or Australian Apprentice:

• pays less than the threshold amount of rent according to their circumstances; or
• pays Government rent; or
• is an ineligible homeowner; or
• continues to be treated as a homeowner during a period of temporary absence, despite renting their temporary accommodation (some exceptions apply); or
• does not qualify because of rules that apply to some students or Australian Apprentices who live in the parental home; or
• is receiving a maintained rate of Living Allowance under the provisions set out in 72.2.8.

76.2.3 Evidence supporting claims for Rent Assistance

As determined by Centrelink, evidence may be required to support a student’s or Australian Apprentice's claim for Rent Assistance, or to support the student’s or Australian Apprentice's ongoing entitlement for Rent Assistance.

Government rent means rent paid to a State Housing Authority.

A student or Australian Apprentice who pays Government rent does not qualify for Rent Assistance, even if s/he is paying market rent or has a sub-tenant.

76.3.1 Not considered to be Government Rent

For the purposes of assessing eligibility for Rent Assistance, the following are not considered to be government rent:

• any housing co-operative, disability state housing or other organisation that may receive funding and/or properties through housing authorities, even if the student or Australian Apprentice pays rent directly to the state housing authority; or
• Commonwealth housing, e.g. housing provided by the Defence Housing Authority or the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs.

76.3.2 Customer who sub-lets in public (Government) housing

A sub-tenant in public housing cannot qualify for Rent Assistance unless:

• the primary tenant pays market rent as determined by the State Housing Authority;
  OR
• the primary tenant has advised the State Housing Authority that they have a sub-tenant; and
• the sub-tenant's income has been taken into consideration when calculating the rent payable by the primary tenant.

Where a student or Australian Apprentice is an ineligible homeowner, s/he does not qualify for Rent Assistance. A student or Australian Apprentice is considered to be an ineligible homeowner where:

• the student or Australian Apprentice has a right or interest in his/her principal home; and
• the student’s or Australian Apprentice's right or interest in the home gives the student or Australian Apprentice reasonable security of tenure in the home;
  OR

• the student or Australian Apprentice has a partner and the student or Australian Apprentice, or the partner, has a right or interest in one residence that is either:

• the student’s or Australian Apprentice's principal home; or
• the partner's principal home; or
• the principal home of both of them; and

• the student’s or Australian Apprentice's right or interest, or the partner's right or interest, in the home gives the student or Australian Apprentice, or the partner, reasonable security of tenure in the home.

76.4.1 Not considered an ineligible homeowner

A student or Australian Apprentice in the following circumstances is not considered to be an ineligible homeowner:

• the student or Australian Apprentice, and/or the student’s or Australian Apprentice's partner, has sold his/her principal home within the last 12 months and has not yet acquired another residence, but is likely to apply some or all of the proceeds of the sale to that purpose; or
• the student or Australian Apprentice is absent from his/her principal home in order to undertake caring responsibilities for another person for at least 14 consecutive days, but for no longer than 2 years; or
• the student or Australian Apprentice is either:

• in a care situation but not residing in a retirement village or aged care residence; or
• paying for the use of a site or structure, including rights to moor a vessel, that is his/her principal home. Example: A caravan or boat.

Rent Assistance is generally only payable when the accommodation being rented is regarded as the student’s or Australian Apprentice's principal home. However, in some circumstances where the customer is likely to have increased accommodation costs for a temporary period, rent paid for temporary accommodation may qualify for Rent Assistance. These circumstances are:

• the student or Australian Apprentice requires specific medical treatment that is unavailable in the area where his/her principal home is located; or
• the student or Australian Apprentice temporarily moves away from the area where his/her principal home is located in order to live at his/her study location or undertake an apprenticeship, traineeship or trainee apprenticeship; or
• the student or Australian Apprentice has a dependent child attending school away from the area where their principal home is located because of unavailability of appropriate schools (except where the family receive second Home Allowance under the Assistance for isolated Children (AIC) scheme for this purpose); or
• the student or Australian Apprentice lives in a refuge; or
• the student or Australian Apprentice must leave his/her principal home temporarily because it is uninhabitable.

Where a student or Australian Apprentice pays rent on both his/her principal home and on temporary accommodation, s/he can only receive Rent Assistance on one of the residences.

Rent Assistance is not payable in some circumstances where a student or Australian Apprentice lives in the principal home of a parent. The following students or Australian Apprentices are not eligible for Rent Assistance:

• a student or Australian Apprentice who has dependent status and is living in the principal home of a parent; and
• a student or Australian Apprentice who has independent status and is considered to be an accommodated independent person.

76.6.1 Principal home of parent

A customer is considered to be living in the principal home of a parent when living in the same home that at least one of their parents is residing in. This does NOT include:

• the parent's investment property;
• a fully self-contained flat attached to or detached from the parent's home;
• a fully self-contained caravan in the backyard of the parent's home; or
• a separate, fully self-contained house on the same block of land as the parent's home.

76.6.1.1 Fully self-contained accommodation

For the purposes of 76.6.1, accommodation is considered to be fully self-contained where it includes a kitchen, bathroom and other facilities that do not require the student to use the parent’s home on a regular basis.

Rent Assistance is payable during absences overseas where:

• the portability provisions set out in 9.2 are met; and
• the student or Australian Apprentice continues to pay rent for his/her residential premises in Australia; and
• the his/her remains otherwise eligible for Rent Assistance.

Depending on the reason for the overseas absence, the length of time for which Rent Assistance remains payable varies:

• where the student or Australian Apprentice is overseas and meets the provisions of Chapter 55 Overseas Study, Rent Assistance remains payable for up to 26 weeks;
• where the student or Australian Apprentice is overseas and does not meet the provisions of Chapter 55 Overseas Study, Rent Assistance remains payable for up to 13 weeks;
• where the student or Australian Apprentice is overseas and does not meet the provisions of Chapter 55 Overseas Study, BUT the student or Australian Apprentice receives an extension to his/her limited portability period under the provisions set out in 9.2.2.1, Rent Assistance remains payable for up to 26 weeks.