Government Coronavirus Payments for Tertiary Students
The government is responding to the changing financial security situation for people by providing some payments, but it can be a little confusing to work out if you’re eligible.
This is a summary of information that AVCAT found on Tuesday 24 March 2020. It’s important to note the situation may change, payments be added, or eligibility altered, so it’s best to be careful to check and make sure your information is up to date.
The best place for information about government payments is government websites. Centrelink’s website is in high demand now but that’s not the only place you can find the information you need. The Treasury website at www.treasury.gov.au is a great source of facts. They have all the information about Coronavirus payments at the top of their homepage.
Are you eligible for a government Coronavirus payment?
There are three possible payments at this time:
- The first payment of $750 – paid automatically from 31 March 2020
- The second one-off payment of $750 – paid automatically from 13 July 2020
- An ongoing fortnightly payment of $550 for the next six months
So which payments are tertiary students going to receive? It depends on which government payment you are receiving.
If you are receiving Austudy, ABSTUDY (Living Allowance) or Youth Allowance (student) you will be eligible for the first payment of $750, and the second payment of $750.
The DVA website has information for students receiving payments from DVA Education Schemes.
At this stage if you are receiving Austudy, ABSTUDY (Living Allowance) or Youth Allowance (student) you are not eligible for the ongoing fortnightly payment of $550.
The table below lists eligibility for payments. You can find it on the Australian Government Department of Treasury fact sheet “Payments to Support Households”. VIsit www.treasury.gov.au for more information.
AVCAT staff are working from home. Contact us by email at ino@avcat.org.au, if you need to speak to us by phone send us an email and we’ll organise a call with you.
We’re here to help.