Austudy or Youth Allowance: Which One Applies to You

Maybe you're 24 and starting a degree next year, or you're going back to study after a few years of work. You open Centrelink's Payment Finder and two student payments come up, Austudy and Youth Allowance, and you're not sure which one to claim.

You don't have to pick. One rule sorts it, and once you know which payment is yours, the differences that matter for your budget are few.

Your age decides which one you claim

Both payments cover approved full-time study and Australian Apprenticeships.

There's one exception, at 25. If you're on Youth Allowance when you turn 25, you don't switch to Austudy on your birthday. You keep Youth Allowance until you finish the course or apprenticeship you're doing, so a 23-year-old starting a three-year degree can stay on it to the end. If you start a different course later, check with Centrelink which payment applies before you enrol.

The basic rates match away from home

For a single student with no children who lives away from home, both payments have the same basic maximum rate. The difference shows up when you live with your parents.

Youth Allowance has a lower rate for students who live in their parents' home. Austudy has one rate wherever you live, so a 26-year-old who moves back home to study gets the same maximum as one who rents. Both rates change on 1 January each year, and what you're actually paid can be lower than the maximum once your income and assets are counted.

Your parents' income can count on Youth Allowance

On Youth Allowance, Centrelink first decides whether you're dependent or independent. If you're 21 or younger, you're treated as dependent unless you meet one of the independence rules, such as having supported yourself through work for long enough. From 22, you're always treated as independent.

When you're dependent, your parents' income counts. In 2026, Centrelink uses their 2024–25 income, including some tax-free income and benefits. Above $66,722, the annual reduction is 20 cents per extra dollar, shared across eligible children. Moving out doesn't make you independent on its own. Our guide to independent Youth Allowance explains the rules, including the test based on how much you've worked.

Austudy never looks at your parents' income. It only counts your own income and assets, and your partner's if you have one.

Earnings, rent and extra help

Once you're receiving a payment, most of the rules are shared. The main difference is one extra payment for moving away to study.

Earning less than $539 before tax builds Income Bank credits for a busier fortnight. Our guide to Centrelink Income Bank shows how that plays out over a few fortnights of casual shifts.

Rent Assistance is extra money paid with your payment when you rent. A Student Start-up Loan is an optional loan of up to $1,349, available twice a year, and our Student Start-up Loan guide covers whether it's worth taking. The Relocation Scholarship is a payment towards the cost of moving away from home to study.

Budgeting on either payment

Whichever payment you get, it arrives every fortnight and has rent, food and bills to cover before anything else. Our guide to living on Youth Allowance works through one fortnight in a share house, and the same planning works on Austudy. The student budget guide helps with the costs that come once a semester, such as textbooks.

If you work casual shifts too, your wages and the payment often land on different days. Clova gives each payment a plan, including the next rent.

When you're ready, you claim through your Centrelink online account in myGov. Knowing which payment is yours, and why, takes one question off a form that already asks plenty.

A note from us

We are building Clova to help you plan the amount that arrives each fortnight, whichever student payment you receive.