Can I Get Centrelink Payments if I Take a Gap-Year from My Job, to Focus on Studying?

nuttapillar on 21/11/2022 - 07:49

I have a University course that I've made little progress on, over the past couple years. I'd really like to get it done, but it's hard whilst working fulltime, night shifts, and possibly having autism and/or ADD/ADHD etc.
So I was thinking maybe I should stop working for a year, to focus on making big progress on the course. If I choose to reduce employment for this, is it possible to then get payments? Or perhaps even still working, but cutting back to 1 or 2 shifts a week, and then some supplementary payments? I've never used Centrelink before, so I don't really know how it works. In the past I've just tried to fund my studying by working, but it's been tough doing both. I'm already on my second attempt at the course, and still making a fraction of the progress I should be.

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Comments

  • Quantumcat on 21/11/2022 - 07:56
    +2

    You could have been getting payments already, you can work quite a bit before you lose all of youth allowance / austudy. If you have a lot saved up you might have to serve a waiting period before hit get anything, but the sooner you apply the sooner you can get something. Start your application online, then you'll need to go into Centrelink once or more times to finish it off (at least once to show ID and maybe other times if they change their mind about what info they need).

    Depending on your age and how much you've been working they may count your parents' income though. You need to be considered as "independent" for it to not count, which means being over a certain age or having earned more than a certain amount the previous year.

    • nuttapillar on 21/11/2022 - 08:29

      I'm 25, and have been living away from my parents since I was about 19. And I've been working most of that time since. I do have some decent savings, but I don't want to touch them. That's for a house later. What I'm worried about though, is if I end up with significantly less income, such that I can't keep up with bills, and then end up having to use savings. I'm currently getting about 900-1000 per week, before tax, so I'm guessing centrelink wont pay or supplement to anywhere near that much.

      • ozhunter on 21/11/2022 - 08:41
        +2

        Your situation Your maximum fortnightly payment
        Single, no children $530.40

        https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/how-much-austudy-you-ca…

        • nuttapillar on 21/11/2022 - 08:57

          Oof, that wont cover the bills.

          • Drakesy on 21/11/2022 - 15:04

            @nuttapillar: You can work up to 16 hours on top of this from memory without denting it.
            As long as you're studying full time you automatically would've qualified.
            It was brought in to prevent the situation where you're working too much to actually study.

            • freefall101 on 22/11/2022 - 10:33
              +1

              @Drakesy: It's not hours based, it's dollars. You can earn an extra $452 a fortnight before it starts denting it, drops out entirely at $1,363.

              So basically once you hit $680 a week, no more benefits. Which is a long way off the $900-1,000 OP is used to.

      • Quantumcat on 21/11/2022 - 09:02
        +1

        It doesn't matter if you have been living away from your parents to count as independent, it only counts how old you are or if you've been earning enough. 25 would be old enough though.

        Your savings however will mean you have to serve a waiting period of 1-13 weeks (minimum with $5k max with $11k). So best to apply asap.

        https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/liquid-assets-waiting-p…

      • freefall101 on 22/11/2022 - 10:38

        What job are you doing that you only get $900-1,000 a week while doing nightshifts? Even the basic warehouse award for full time with nightshift should put you up around $1,150 (and most warehouses pay above award these days due to demand).

        Also,

        and possibly having autism and/or ADD/ADHD etc

        Go see a doctor if you haven't been properly diagnosed. It's really not worth self diagnosing or messing around, a doctor can really help. Plus if they give you adderall you'll find it easy to study and work at the same time.

  • AustriaBargain on 21/11/2022 - 08:55
    +2

    I think it's a great idea to focus on your study without the distraction or stress of work. Study payments are not very high, as ozhunter points out, but it will help a lot.

  • GordonD on 21/11/2022 - 08:59
    -1

    OP admits he has "decent savings".

    Taxpayer-provided benefits are for those who need them.

    OP, you don't need them. Don't bludge. If you want to take a year off, do it using your own money.

    • nuttapillar on 21/11/2022 - 09:12

      I'd like to one-day own a house. I've been working hard, sacrificing luxuries, and saving for a long time. Shouldn't we be encouraged to save for a house? I shouldn't have to blow it all, just to get an education.

      • ozbjunkie on 23/11/2022 - 02:10
        +1

        The way it is reasoned is you won't be provided public funds if you have a large personal savings, regardless of whether you are unemployed or studying full time, because others have greater need.

        It's all based on need and reality is you have less of a need than others based on your comparative bank account balances.

        Your good behaviour in the past as a saver is not considered aside from being evidence you will be able to support yourself.

        On the plus side, you don't live paycheck to paycheck or below the poverty line.

        Win some lose some but I'd say you are still winning overall

    • Quantumcat on 21/11/2022 - 09:22
      +12

      That's already taken into consideration with waiting periods. No need to moralise.

      • cookie2 on 21/11/2022 - 18:56

        I don't think savings should mean a waiting period. Just in general for unemployment. Austudy is different as it's choice to study instead of work full-time but waiting periods to unemployment benefits shouldn't be tied to savings imo. It should be tied to the circumstance of unemployment i think. It's tough tho, austudy is only enough to support without work if you live with others (family, house share etc).

        • Quantumcat on 21/11/2022 - 21:25
          +3

          I think it is fair, welfare is so nobody needs to fall into homelessness or be unable to feed themselves. It isn't a consolation prize for losing your job. If you're able to support yourself for a little while you need to do so. Where it is unemployment rather than studying, most people would find new employment before the waiting period is over anyway

          • cookie2 on 21/11/2022 - 21:49
            +1

            @Quantumcat: I just think you can have someone that has $10k savings and supports a family and needs to pay rent or mortgage vs single person living with parents and has only $1k in savings. Who is more likely to be at risk of homelessness or poverty impacting them over a short to medium term period? Just because you have hard cash, doesn't mean you're at less risk of poverty or homelessness than someone that has assets(house, car etc) but not hard cash.

            • Quantumcat on 21/11/2022 - 22:19
              +6

              @cookie2: The point is that with liquid assets it is definitely there to spend. With a family there is a higher limit of liquid assets you're allowed to have before having to serve a waiting period, plus there is family tax benefit, parenting payments etc

    • AustriaBargain on 21/11/2022 - 09:22
      +8

      If he's entitled to it he should get it. Even with his savings he is hardly wealthy. If he lived the same lifestyle as many of us then he'd chew through much of his savings in a year anyway. If he were truly wealthy he probably wouldn't qualify for the payments, for all I know anyway.

    • Drakesy on 21/11/2022 - 15:13
      +1

      This is the catch 22 with the social system.

      You can have a $150,000 High yield investment Mercedes and still qualify for assistance.
      You can have $150,000 in savings and not qualify without a long cooldown period.

      MAFS
      Knda stupid.

      • Quantumcat on 21/11/2022 - 21:28
        +1

        Yes it can seem a bit unfair but it is hard to make rules that will fit every possible circumstance. Someone might have assets that are easy to sell and live off,others might have assets that are really hard to sell and they could fall into homelessness before they are able to extract the value from them. With liquid assets at least it is guaranteed people can access the money to use it.

    • A-mak on 22/11/2022 - 17:12

      You live in the past, the future is Universal Income. Trickle-up economics is much better than trickle-down.

      Won't happen having people with your attitude or worse.

  • holdenmg on 21/11/2022 - 09:01
    +1

    Hi,

    To receive Austudy there is a certain Study Load.

    I can't remember exactly, but I seem to remember a Full-Time Study load gets you across the line although you might get some opportunity to negotiate on that.

    Don't be lulled into overloading just to qualify as it won't end well.

    Have a talk with your Course Provider about what is on offer, the prerequisites,
    attendance, and what is realistic. They should have support for students with those possibly having autism and/or ADD/ADHD etc.

    • happydude on 21/11/2022 - 13:22
      +5

      75% of a full time load for student payments.

  • JIMB0 on 21/11/2022 - 09:23
    +3

    It's assessed much the same as unemployment benefits with the exception that you don't have to look for work. Just need to be doing a full time study load which I believe is 4 units.

  • Muzeeb on 21/11/2022 - 09:58
    +4

    and possibly having autism and/or ADD/ADHD etc.

    The first thing I would do is get this formally diagnosed as it may help with your claim for government allowances.

    • nuttapillar on 21/11/2022 - 10:12
      -3

      I already paid $400 to get checked for Autism. They admitted I have some traits of it, but they decided that I don't have it. But I still suspect it. I'm leaning more towards ADD now though, as I seem to have all the symptoms of it. But I don't want to spend hundreds more, on another analysis. Plus, I've been doing clinical trials to earn some extra money. When I told them I suspect possible autism, when they were asking about health conditions, they turned me away, until I could get that confirmed/declined. That's why I spent the money to get tested. Then they let me do clinical trials, and I've done many since. I don't wish to pursue a diagnosis of ADD, because they might get fussy and try to turn me away again, even though I've done many now just fine. They might even cut me off, even though it hasn't, and likely wont make any difference.

      • AustriaBargain on 21/11/2022 - 10:23
        +1

        I did clinical trials while studying. Great way to make money while sitting on your can. Food was good too.

      • nuttapillar on 22/11/2022 - 02:56

        Can the downvoters please explain why you downvoted?

        • MrBear on 22/11/2022 - 09:18
          +4

          You are being down-voted because you were not diagnosed with Autism by professionals (which you don't accept) and refuse to get tested for ADD (probably for fear of also not being diagnosed with this also leaving you with no excuses).

          • nuttapillar on 23/11/2022 - 16:33
            -2

            @MrBear: I assure you that I'm not looking for excuses. That whole thing, and any mention of autism/add was just a side note, just a possible factor as to why I might be struggling, but it's not the focus of the discussion. I wasn't expecting any dwelling on this topic. And as I implied, the thing stopping me from getting tested for ADD is money. If it was free, I'd be much more willing, but I don't care enough about it to justify it. It's so minor, that most people don't even notice anyway, or at least, I hide it well enough. Perhaps I shouldn't have even mentioned it, but that's in the past now.

      • tabitha731 on 22/11/2022 - 07:38

        Self diagnosis doesn't mean anything to Centrelink

  • Gronk on 21/11/2022 - 12:21
    +1

    Is your study load full time or part time?

    If full time it might be better to look at reducing your study load so you can balance both a little better, although if you're still struggling to make progress and this is your second attempt are you sure this is the right course for you?

    • nuttapillar on 22/11/2022 - 02:55

      I have been studying part-time, and still struggling at times.

      • kerfuffle on 22/11/2022 - 18:54
        +1

        Then as Gronk said, maybe it's not the course for you.

  • brad1-8tsi on 21/11/2022 - 20:04

    what happened when you browsed the Centrelink website? All the answers are there. It takes some navigating. Good luck

  • GordonD on 21/11/2022 - 20:11
    -2

    More people than you'd believe don't finish tertiary courses. With the poor tertiary educational record the OP's got - whatever the reason - he's very likely to continue failing. He needs an incentive to apply himself. He won't have that incentive if he's spending taxpayers money. He might if its his own money, and he can see the balance of his saving dropping faster than he is building up course credits. As expensive as it will probably turn out to be, he NEEDS for his own good to be spending his own savings. He needs to have skin in the game.

  • cookie2 on 22/11/2022 - 07:08
    +3

    I understand the difficult. A few ideas that may help. If you're not already working in the industry that you're studying in, can you get a job in the industry now? If so it'll help re motivation, also building knowledge that will help with your course. It also nay provide you with a more supportive workplace that gives a bit of flexibility for your study. And depending on the job, possible tax deductions for studies.
    My other suggestion would be to consider finding a job that pays more per hour, work same or less hours but get paid more. Considering you're studying, i wouldn't want work to be too full on as you want some energy and drive left, to actually feel like studying. Anyway the waiting period for austudy may be worth it if you keep getting austudy for a year and you can still work a shift or 2 without penalty.

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