To be eligible for ABSTUDY assistance, a student or Australian Apprentice must be either:
For students to be eligible for the full range of ABSTUDY Awards, the course must also be approved as a full-time course. Where a course can only be approved as a part-time course, the Part-time Award is payable.
Australian Apprentices must have a current Commonwealth registration number in relation to their full-time apprenticeship, traineeship or trainee apprenticeship.
The policy regarding approved education institutions, approved courses, full-time courses, and the determination of whether a course is secondary or tertiary is addressed in Chapter 11 Approved Courses of Study.
The provisions where a student or New Apprentice may be entitled to ABSTUDY Living Allowance prior to or following a period of enrolment in an approved course or while undertaking their apprenticeship, traineeship or trainee apprenticeship, i.e. during vacation periods, are set out in Chapter 73 Living Allowance Entitlement Periods.
There are further specific study requirements depending on, firstly, the ABSTUDY Award for which the customer is applying, and secondly, the level of study being undertaken.
The specific study requirements for the Schooling A and Schooling B Awards are dependent upon the level of study being undertaken.
To qualify for the Schooling A Award, a primary or secondary school student must either:
To qualify for the Schooling B Award, a primary or secondary school student must:
- study a full-time study-load; or
- qualify for a study-load concession; and
To qualify for the Schooling A or Schooling B Awards, a secondary non-school student must:
To qualify for the Tertiary or Masters and Doctorate Awards, a tertiary student (including those studying at Masters or Doctorate level) must:
In addition, a student undertaking study at a Bachelor, Masters or Doctorate level, must not have exceeded the limits of assistance for degree courses.
To qualify for the Tertiary Award Australian Apprentices must:
In order to qualify for the Part-time Award, a student must be enrolled in and undertaking a part-time study load. There is no minimum study-load requirement for the Part-time Award.
Tertiary and secondary non-school students must also meet the progress rules to qualify for the Part-time Award.
Australian Apprentices are not eligible to access entitlements under the ABSTUDY Part-time Award where the claim for entitlement relates to their Australian Apprenticeship. Australian Apprentices may only be entitled to assistance under ABSTUDY if they are undertaking their apprenticeship, traineeship or trainee apprenticeship on a full-time basis.
In order to qualify for the Lawful Custody Award, a student can be studying either a full-time or part-time study-load. There is no minimum study-load requirement for the Lawful Custody Award.
Australian Apprentices must be undertaking a full-time apprenticeship, traineeship or trainee apprenticeship to qualify for the Lawful Custody Award.
Tertiary and secondary non-school students must also complete the course within a reasonable time to qualify for Lawful Custody Award.
In order to qualify for the Testing and Assessment Award, customers must be undertaking an approved Testing and Assessment activity to determine their suitability to study an approved course.
There are limits on the number of Testing and Assessment programs a customer can be assisted to attend each year. See 94.3 for details.
An Australian Apprentice may be eligible to access ABSTUDY entitlements under the Testing and Assessment Award to undertake an approved Testing and Assessment activity to determine their suitability to study a course in the future that is not related to their Australian Apprenticeship.