When you’ll get your payment
When you submit your claim online we’ll give you an estimated completion date. You’ll get your first Youth Allowance payment 2 weeks after we grant your payment. Then each fortnight after that. The date we start paying you from is usually the date you lodge your claim or your study start date.
There are also situations when you get paid from a different date. These depend on what kind of student you are and when you claim.
You’re a new student
If you’re returning to study after a period of not studying, we’ll assess your claim as a new student. Your payment will start on the day you begin your course if both of these apply:
- you had a break in your study before you claimed and you don’t have a waiting period
- you put your claim in before your course start date.
If you’re transferring from another payment to Youth Allowance, we’ll pay you from your transfer date. This is usually your course start date, unless you claim after your course starts.
If you claim after your course starts, the earliest we’ll pay you from is the day you lodged your claim.
You’re a continuing student
If you’ve just been studying and you’re enrolling in the next available study period, you’re a continuing student. This could be when you finish secondary studies and go straight to university or TAFE without a break. We’ll start your payment from the date of your claim, if you meet all of the following:
- are studying full time
- are aged between 16 and 25
- were studying in the last study period
- are studying full time in the next study period
- provide us with all the required documents
- don’t have a waiting period.
If your parents get Family Tax Benefit (FTB) for you, you can’t get a study payment at the same time. If you claim Youth Allowance in November or December, you’ll most likely have your claim assessed and your payment will start on 1 January. If you claim after 1 January, you’ll have your payment start from when you claimed.
You’re an apprentice
To claim a payment as an Australian Apprentice, you need to have a Commonwealth Registration Number. You get this number when your employer registers you as an Australian Apprentice. You can still put in a claim before they do this.
The start date for your payment is either the date of your claim or the start date of your Commonwealth Registration Number. We’ll start your payment on whichever date is the latest.
Why you may have to wait
You have a waiting period
We’ll calculate your waiting period when we assess your claim. The time it takes us to assess your claim doesn’t affect your waiting period. If any of these apply to your situation, it means we’ll delay the start of your payment for a set period of time:
- liquid assets waiting periods
- income maintenance period
- seasonal work preclusion period
- newly arrived resident’s waiting period.
How to check on your claim
If your Centrelink online account is linked to myGov, you’ll be able to check on your completed claim online. Sign in now to find out:
- when we’ve accepted your claim
- if your claim is in progress
- if your claim is on hold because we’ve asked you to send us more information, or we’re checking your enrolment
- when your payment will start
- when you need to report your income each fortnight
- what date your first income report is due.