# Student Start-up Loan and Grants for Moving to Uni

> How the Student Start-up Loan works and is repaid, plus two grants to check if you are moving away to study: the Relocation Scholarship and Tertiary Access Payment.

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- Author: Marnix
- Published: 2026-11-02



Study costs can arrive before your student payment does, whether you're buying a laptop or moving away for uni. A Student Start-up Loan can help, but it becomes a debt. If you're moving away, two grants are worth checking first.

## Check the grants before the loan

The grants mainly depend on where your family home and course are.

Check in this order:

1. **Relocation Scholarship** (grant, paid once a year). For you if your family home or your course is regional or remote. Usually worked out for you.
2. **Tertiary Access Payment** (grant, paid once). For you if you've just finished Year 12 and you're leaving a regional or remote home. Claim it in the year you start.
3. **Student Start-up Loan** (loan, up to twice a year). For you if you're on Youth Allowance as a student, Austudy or ABSTUDY. Choose the half-years you need.

Whether your area counts as regional or remote comes from Services Australia's [Student Regional Area Search](https://www.centrelink.gov.au/apps/custonline_ris/), which checks an address. A town can feel regional and still be counted as part of a major city, so it's worth looking up both your family home and your campus.

## The Relocation Scholarship helps you live away from home

The [Relocation Scholarship](https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/who-can-get-relocation-scholarship) is a yearly payment for students who need to live away from home to study. It's for students on Youth Allowance as a student, or ABSTUDY, who are dependent, meaning Centrelink still assesses them with their parents' income, or [independent for a special reason](https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/relocation-scholarship-for-independent-students). Our guide to [independent Youth Allowance](/blog/independent-youth-allowance) explains which one you are. Most people won't qualify after they turn 22.

You need to be moving to or from a regional or remote area. If your family home and your course are both in major cities when you start, you can't get it, even if they're in different cities.

The amount depends on where home is and how long you've been away. In 2026 it was $5,707 in the first year you need to live away from home, with smaller amounts in later years, and it's paid once a year.

### What the Relocation Scholarship pays after the first year


If your family home is in a regional or remote area, it was $2,854 a year in your second and third years and $1,425 a year after that, at 2026 rates. If your family home is in a major city and only your course is regional, it was $1,425 a year from your second year.



Centrelink usually assesses it automatically. If you're moving from a city to a regional campus, check your myGov inbox for a [Verification of Campus form](https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/how-to-get-relocation-scholarship) for you and your uni to complete.

## The Tertiary Access Payment is a one-off for regional students

The [Tertiary Access Payment](https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/who-can-get-tertiary-access-payment) is a one-off payment for school leavers moving away from a regional or remote home to study. Unlike the Relocation Scholarship, you have to claim it, at any time in the calendar year you start.

You need to be 22 or younger, have finished Year 12 or equivalent and start your first tertiary year in a certificate IV or higher course lasting at least an academic year. The campus must be at least 90 minutes from home by public transport, with at least a 75% study load. [Study delivery rules](https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/who-can-get-tertiary-access-payment) apply; if you're dependent, your parents' combined income must be under $250,000.

Students from inner regional areas get $3,000 in the first half of the year. Outer regional and remote students get $3,000 first, then $2,000 in September, or March after a second-half start, if still studying full time. It's paid after you confirm your study details, it isn't taxed and it doesn't normally count as income for Youth Allowance.

## The Student Start-up Loan is a loan

The [Student Start-up Loan](https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/who-can-get-student-start-up-loan) is $1,349 in 2026, and you can take it up to twice a year: once between January and June, and once between July and December. You can get it if you're receiving at least $1 of Youth Allowance as a student, Austudy or ABSTUDY Living Allowance, you're in a course approved for the loan, and Centrelink has your [tax file number](/blog/tax-file-number). You need to apply at least 35 days before your course ends. If you're not sure which payment you'll be on, our guide to [Austudy or Youth Allowance](/blog/austudy-vs-youth-allowance) sets out the difference.

You can apply while you claim your student payment, or later in myGov under Payments and claims, then Update Circumstances and Apply for/Manage Student Start-up Loan. You can apply for future loan periods too.

Repayments start above $69,528 in 2026–27, based on taxable income plus certain additions. Indexation, an annual adjustment for price or wage changes, can increase the debt. Our [HECS-HELP guide](/blog/hecs-debt) explains both. Services Australia itself suggests a [No Interest Loan](/blog/no-interest-loans) may suit a smaller item better, such as a laptop.

## What Ella's first year could look like

Ella is made up. She's 18 and starts uni in February 2026, moving from an inner regional home to a capital city on dependent Youth Allowance.

| When | Ella's payment | Amount (AUD) |
| --- | --- | ---: |
| Through the year | Relocation Scholarship, paid once (grant) | $5,707 |
| First half of 2026 | Tertiary Access Payment, after she confirms her study (grant) | $3,000 |
| First half of 2026 | Start-up Loan, January to June, if she opts in (loan) | $1,349 |
| Second half of 2026 | Start-up Loan, July to December, if she opts in (loan) | $1,349 |
| 2026–27 threshold shown | Loans repaid through her tax return above $69,528 annual repayment income; future thresholds change | |

Ella is made up. 2026 amounts.

The two grants come to $8,707, and they arrive as lump sums rather than every fortnight. If Ella takes both loans, the extra $2,698 is a debt she'll start repaying once she earns enough, so she can choose to apply only for the half-years she needs it.

## Make the lump sums last the year

A lump sum feels like a lot on the day it lands, and the move takes a big share straight away. Our guide to [moving out of home](/blog/moving-out-of-home) lists those first costs, and [how rental bonds work](/blog/rental-bond) explains the biggest one. Once they're paid, what's left of the grants can sit aside and top up the fortnights when Youth Allowance alone doesn't stretch.

Your fortnightly payment will have rent, food and bills to cover, which our guide to [living on Youth Allowance](/blog/living-on-youth-allowance) works through. If you pay rent, [Rent Assistance](/blog/rent-assistance) may be added to it too, and our [student budget](/blog/student-budget) covers the textbooks and other costs that come on top.

Clova, our budgeting app, lets you track progress towards a goal for the move and semester. Each pay or payment gets its own plan.

Clova is an Australian budgeting app. Join the waitlist and we’ll be in touch. [Join the waitlist](https://getclova.com/)

You don't need every payment worked out before you go. Look up your two addresses, claim what you're eligible for, and borrow only for what's still missing.

## A note from us

Moving away to study is a big step. We are building Clova to help plan one-off payments alongside rent and each fortnight's income.

## Common questions

### Does the Student Start-up Loan affect my Youth Allowance?

No. You don't declare the loan as income, so it doesn't reduce your regular student payment. It's added to what you owe through the tax system instead.

### Do I have to pay back the Relocation Scholarship?

No. The Relocation Scholarship and the Tertiary Access Payment are payments, not loans. Only the Student Start-up Loan is repaid.

### Can I get the Relocation Scholarship if I'm moving from one city to another?

Not on location alone. If your family home and your course are both in major cities when you start, you won't be eligible, even if they're in different cities. The Tertiary Access Payment also needs a regional or remote family home.

### Can independent students get the Relocation Scholarship?

Only for a special reason, which Services Australia lists on its eligibility page. It's mainly for dependent students, and most people won't qualify after they turn 22.

### Can I get the Student Start-up Loan on Austudy?

Yes. It's open to students getting at least $1 of Youth Allowance as a student, Austudy or ABSTUDY Living Allowance, in a course approved for the loan, as long as Centrelink has your tax file number.

## Sources

1. [What the Student Start-up Loan is](https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/what-student-start-up-loan?context=23316) · Services Australia
2. [Who can get the Student Start-up Loan](https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/who-can-get-student-start-up-loan?context=23316) · Services Australia
3. [How to apply for the Student Start-up Loan](https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/how-to-apply-for-student-start-up-loan?context=23316) · Services Australia
4. [Who can get Relocation Scholarship](https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/who-can-get-relocation-scholarship?context=22566) · Services Australia
5. [How much Relocation Scholarship you can get](https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/how-much-relocation-scholarship-you-can-get?context=22566) · Services Australia
6. [How to get Relocation Scholarship](https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/how-to-get-relocation-scholarship?context=22566) · Services Australia
7. [Who can get Tertiary Access Payment](https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/who-can-get-tertiary-access-payment) · Services Australia
8. [How much Tertiary Access Payment you can get](https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/how-much-tertiary-access-payment-you-can-get) · Services Australia
9. [Compulsory repayments](https://www.ato.gov.au/individuals-and-families/study-and-training-support-loans/compulsory-repayments) · Australian Taxation Office
10. [Study and training loan minimum repayment income and rates, 2026–27](https://www.ato.gov.au/tax-rates-and-codes/study-and-training-loan-minimum-repayment-income-and-rates) · Australian Taxation Office
11. [Student Start-up Loan periods and payments](https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/student-start-up-loan-periods-and-payments) · Services Australia

## Related reading

- [Living on Youth Allowance: A Fortnightly Budget](https://getclova.com/blog/living-on-youth-allowance)
- [A Student Budget for the Costs Beyond Rent](https://getclova.com/blog/student-budget)
- [What it costs to move out of home in 2026](https://getclova.com/blog/moving-out-of-home)

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