The purpose of the Under 16 Boarding Supplement is to assist boarding schools that have a significant number of Indigenous enrolments with the shortfall in boarding and tuition fees paid to an eligible school for students under 16 years of age who receive a lower rate of ABSTUDY
Living Allowance than those aged between 16 and 20 years. These boarding schools would then receive the same rate of assistance for all their eligible secondary school students who are entitled to Living Allowance and approved for Away from Home entitlements.
For Under-16 Boarding Supplement to be payable in respect of a student, the following criteria must be met:
- the boarding school must meet the qualifications for Under-16 Boarding Supplement, as set out in 86.3; and
- the student must meet the qualifications for Under-16 Boarding Supplement, as set out in 86.4; and
- the student must be enrolled as a boarder and receiving tuition at the boarding school that is claiming the under 16 Boarding Supplement.
The ABSTUDY Under-16 Boarding Supplement is only available to schools that meet the following criteria:
- the school provides boarding facilities and can demonstrate that these boarding facilities are integrated within the school's infrastructure, as set out in 86.3.1; and
- at least 10 per cent of the total numbers of students enrolled at the school are Indigenous Australians or a minimum of 20 Indigenous students are enrolled.
To establish a boarding school’s qualification for Under-16 Boarding Supplement for the following year, DEEWR uses data derived from the Non-government Schools Census which is undertaken in August each year.
DEEWR assess a school’s qualification for the Under-16 Boarding Supplement and will contact all eligible schools prior to the new school year. DEEWR will provide Centrelink with a list of eligible schools.
Boarding facilities will be considered to be integrated within the school’s infrastructure in the following circumstances:
- the facilities must be owned or leased by the school for the sole purpose of providing boarding facilities, including homework supervision and recreational programmes;
- the facilities must meet the standards for occupancy set by the local Council or other relevant approval authorities;
- the staff and house parents must be employees of the school; and
- there must be a full-time staff presence within the facilities to look after, for example, children unable to attend school because of illness.
Should verification of the conditions outlined above be required, DEEWR will contact the education provider. The evidence sought will include documentation about the ownership or leasing arrangements for the boarding facilities, employment conditions for the staff and contractual agreements for house parents.
Hostels are not eligible for payment of Under-16 Boarding Supplement
86.3.3 External students boarding at a boarding School
Students studying external to the boarding school, i.e. are day students at another school but boarding in a boarding school facility are not eligible to be counted in a schools enrolments for the purposes of the Under 16 Boarding Supplement.
A student is eligible to attract the Under-16 Boarding Supplement for Semester 1 of a year if the following criteria are met on the 3rd Friday in February:
- s/he meets the Schooling B Award criteria; and
- s/he is under 16 years old; and
- s/he is enrolled and attending school; and
- s/he is enrolled in and boarding at a school that meets the qualifications for Under-16 Boarding Supplement set out in 86.3; and
- s/he either:
- Living Allowance is payable in respect of the student.
A student is eligible to attract the Under-16 Boarding Supplement for Semester 2 of a year if the above criteria are met on the 3rd Friday in August.
The school may receive a per capita payment for each student who meets the criteria.
Where a student has not commenced school by the date specified in 86.4, Under-16 Boarding Supplement is payable in the following circumstances:
- the student was unable to commence school by the specified date due to circumstances beyond his/her control, such as severe weather conditions; and
- the student has not attracted this allowance at another school for the relevant semester.
Where a student who is enrolled and attending a boarding school on the census date has not been assessed as eligible for ABSTUDY entitlements at the time of payment of the Boarding Supplement, assessment and payment may be made following confirmation of the student's eligibility.
A set rate of Under-16 Boarding Supplement applies in respect of each eligible student for each semester. For details of this amount, see “A Guide to Australian Government Payments 
”.
The Under 16 Boarding Supplement can be made on behalf of a student only once for a semester. There are no pro rata payments of Boarding Supplement.
Under-16 Boarding Supplement is subject to annual indexation against the Consumer Price Index (CPI) at 1 January.
The Under-16 Boarding Supplement is paid once for each half of the year, i.e. once per semester. Where eligibility has been established, the full payment is made in one instalment. There are no pro rata payments of Under-16 Boarding Supplement.
The payee for Under-16 Boarding Supplement is the boarding school.
Under-16 Boarding Supplement is not subject to the means-testing outlined in Chapter 56 Introduction to Means Testing.
Provided that the student has met the criteria set out at 86.4, early discontinuation of study or board does not affect entitlement to the Under-16 Boarding Supplement.
If a student changes school during a semester, the payment of Under-16 Boarding Supplement is made to the school where the student was boarding on the census date.
If a student leaves the school during that semester, no overpayment is raised.
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.