Student life can be absolutely fantastic - the freedom to choose what classes you want to go to, lots of vacation time, interesting people to meet and the ability to learn new and interesting things - but lets face it, student incomes truly suck. Thankfully there exist three government based schemes within Australia titled "Youth Allowance", "Austudy" and "Abstudy" which are designed to financially assist those studying.

Youth Allowance is specifically for those between the ages of 16 and 24 studying, undertaking training, looking for work, or sick.
Austudy provides financial help for those aged 25 or above and studying full-time.
Abstudy is for indigenous (Australian) secondary or tertiary students.

All three of these schemes come under the supervision of Centrelink. During 1998, over half a million secondary and tertiary students were eligible for some form of assistance.

For those that have never received or even heard of these financial assitance programs, their main advantages include amongst others:

A regular source of income (which varies depending on your financial situation).
Rent assistance.
The availability of $500 advanced loans.
Discounted pharmaceuticals, travel, and vehicle registration.
And, remote area allowances.

The following are exert files taken from Centrelink. All files were current as at January 2001. Those seeking the most current versions should visit the Centrelink Web Site or its subsections via the listed links at the end of this page.

[Updated 01-02-01]