We pay the allowance to the school or board provider unless you choose to pay the fees yourself.
If you pay the school fees yourself, you need to send us a receipt from the school.
How often we pay depends on the type of school or board provider. We may pay by instalments, by the term or for the whole year.
You must let us know if anything changes, so we don’t overpay you. You can do this by calling the ABSTUDY line.
Students who live away from home
Boarding schools and some hostels
We make 2 payments each term for students who are boarding at one of the following:
- a boarding school
- a hostel that’s part of the Standard Hostels Agreement
- an approved ABSTUDY Homestay arrangement.
The first payment is at the start of term and the second is near the end of term.
Before we pay, we check the student has started boarding.
Sometimes the school fees are less than the amount of School Fees Allowance you’re eligible for. If so, we’ll pay the rest of the allowance to the school or board provider to help cover boarding fees.
Other hostels and private board providers
We make one payment each year for students living in either:
- a hostel that’s NOT part of the Standard Hostels Agreement
- a private board arrangement.
We make this payment when the student starts school.
Students who live at home
Students who live at home usually get the lower rate of the allowance, unless they need to attend a non- government school. We pay the allowance by the term for a student who lives at home for this reason.