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This includes any child support or voluntary maintenance your parents or guardians get.
We check maintenance income if you’re getting ABSTUDY Living Allowance and you’re 16 or older.
If your parents or guardians get child support, we know their maintenance income. We’ll use what we already know to adjust your payment. If they don’t get child support, your parents need to tell us how much maintenance income they get.
Maintenance income can include regular or one-off payments for all of the following:
- electricity, gas or water charges
- school fees
- other payments made for you or your siblings, or for your or your siblings’ benefit.
You may be exempt from this test if one of your parents or guardians is permanently blind, and gets one of these:
- Age Pension
- Disability Support Pension
- a Department of Veterans’ Affairs Service Pension, Veteran Payment or Income Support Supplement.
What the maintenance income free area is
Your parents or guardians can get a certain amount of maintenance for you before it affects your payment rate. We call this the maintenance income free area.
The number of siblings you have and payments they get can affect this amount.
What the maintenance income free area per year is
| Who your parents or guardians get maintenance for | The maintenance income free area |
|---|---|
| Just you | $1,883.40 |
| You and other siblings who get Youth Allowance, or ABSTUDY Living Allowance if you’re 16 or older | $1,883.40 plus $627.80 for each sibling. Then divide the total by the number of siblings. |
| You and other siblings who are eligible for Family Tax Benefit | $627.80 |
How to work out the maintenance income free area
Kyle is one of 3 dependent children who all get ABSTUDY Living Allowance. His parents get maintenance income for all 3 children.
The maintenance income free area for the first sibling is $1883.40. We add $627.80 for each of the other 2 siblings. We divide the total $3,139, by the number of siblings, being 3. So, Kyle’s maintenance income free area is $1046.33.
Changes to your parents’ or guardians’ maintenance income
When you’re 16 or older
Your parents’ or guardians’ maintenance income may change throughout the year.
At the end of the tax year, we’ll assess the maintenance income they got for you. We’ll write to you to let you know if we’ve paid you too much or not enough.
Read more about the annual parental income test reassessment.