9.5.3.8 Who may an education allowance be paid to

This chapter contains the following sections:

• 9.5.8.3.1 Students Living At Home
• 9.5.8.3.2 Students Living Away From Home
• 9.5.8.3.3 Homeless students
• 9.5.8.3.4 Double orphans
• 9.5.8.3.5 Payments where there is Shared Care of a child/ren

9.5.3.8.1 Students Living At Home

Payments to primary students and secondary students under the age of 16 will be made to the person who is entitled to be paid family tax benefit under A New Tax System (Family Assistance) (Administration) Act 1999 (entitled person) and if there is no entitled person - to a person approved by the Commission to receive the payment on the student’s behalf.

Payment under paragraph 3.3.1 for secondary students aged 16 years and over will be made to the person who is entitled to be paid family tax benefit under A New Tax System (Family Assistance) (Administration) Act 1999 (entitled person), who will then have the option of directing payment to the student or spouse. If there is no entitled person, payment will be made to a person approved by the Commission to receive the payment on the student’s behalf.

Payment may be made directly to tertiary students, apprentices and trainees.

9.5.3.8.2 Students Living Away From Home

Payment of education allowance for primary or secondary students living away from home shall be made to:

1. the person who is entitled to be paid family tax benefit under A New Tax System (Family Assistance) (Administration) Act 1999; or
2. to the institution or person, if any, providing board to the student; or
3. if the payment methods in paragraphs (a) and (b) are inappropriate or non-existent – a person approved by the Commission to receive the payment on behalf of the student.

A person in receipt of education allowance may direct payment of the allowance to the student or to a parent, guardian or trustee of the student.

If only part of the payment is made to the institution or person providing board, the other part shall be paid to the person or, if relevant, to the person to whom they have directed payment. If there is no person for the purposes of subparagraph 3.4.2(a), the part-payment shall be paid to a person approved by the Commission to receive the payment on the student’s behalf.

Payment may be made directly to tertiary students, apprentices and trainees.

9.5.3.8.3 Homeless students

Fortnightly payment of DVA’s education allowance is to be made directly to the student or to an appropriate person if the Commission considers it unlikely that the student would be capable of managing his or her own finances. An ‘appropriate person’ is defined in the MRCAETS legislative instrument.

9.5.3.8.4 Double orphans

Payment of the double orphan rate for students aged under 16 is to be made to the person who is paid a pension on behalf of the student (for example, the double orphan pension under the VEA). If there is no person who receives a pension on behalf of the student, the allowance is to be paid to an appropriate person. An appropriate person includes:

• a guardian or trustee,
• a person approved by a guardian or trustee, or 
• any other person approved by the Commission if there is no person able to act on the student’s behalf. 

For secondary students aged over 16, the allowance is to be paid to an appropriate person who will have the option of directing payment to the student. This recognises that from age 16, eligibility for the double orphan rate of education allowance is mutually exclusive with the double orphan pension, and payments should instead be made to an appropriate person (as defined above). 

Payment of the double orphan rate of education allowance is to be made directly to tertiary students. 

9.5.3.8.5 Payments where there is Shared Care of a child/ren

For separated parents who share the care of their child, relevant benefits should be apportioned according to the tapered methodology adopted by the Department of Human Services for Family Tax Benefits payments, see table below:

Where a shared care arrangement is in place, a successful claim from one parent or guardian of the dependant creates eligibility for the payment of the allowance to both parties according to these percentages

However, as a matter of process, DVA will generally seek a claim form from both parents/guardians in these situations. This ensures Education Allowance payments are being apportioned correctly. This also ensures that DVA is able to communicate with both parties on an ongoing basis and manage other benefit payments under the Schemes.

For the purposes of claim dates, the first Education Allowance claim in respect of a given child is the claim from which all benefits legally flow (including those payable to non-claimant FTB recipients who are eligible for a proportion of Education Allowance for a child).

Where possible, the percentage to be applied in the shared care determination should be:

• The same percentage of care applied by Services Australia, where FTB is claimed for the child; or
• The percentage of care in a written agreement such as a parenting order; or
• Another written agreement, signed by both parties that shows the percentage of care, appropriate to make a determination such as an agreed pattern of care agreement.   

Formal or legally binding agreements (for example, court documents or a written, signed agreement between the parties) will generally take precedence over informal agreements.

Disputed Care arrangements

Where the parents or carers do not agree on the percentages of care, the delegate will determine the care percentage to be applied based on the available evidence of the actual pattern of care. Where such evidence exists, delegates should look at the FTB percentages and any formal, legally binding agreement in the first instance. If delegates have other compelling evidence available showing that the legal agreement is no longer reflected in reality, they should discuss with Family Policy section before making any decision which is not aligned to either the FTB percentages or a legally binding agreement. 

If no evidence is available, delegates should work with parents to obtain sufficient evidence to make a determination as to the percentages of Education Allowance payable to each party. 

Shared care arrangements when one parent is not known to the Department

In shared care arrangements where one party is not known to the Department, their entitlement to a percentage of the Education Allowance, in line with the above table, remains.

Delegates should attempt to establish the identity and contact details of the parent or other carer who is not currently known to DVA, in order to pay their Education Allowance entitlement portion.

Even where reasonable efforts to establish the identity of the second parent or carer are unsuccessful, that person’s entitlement to a percentage of the Education Allowance remains. For this reason, delegates are unable to pay the remainder of the entitlement to the known parent in these situations.

Known parents/guardians can be reminded that it is in the best interests of the child to let DVA know the contact details of the other parent or carer who has an entitlement to a percentage of Education Allowance, but they cannot be compelled to do so.

Because the date of effect for the unknown parent’s entitlement to a percentage of the Education Allowance commences on the date the known parent made the initial claim, backdating and the payment of arrears may be considered in the event the unknown parent or carer becomes known to DVA

FTB conversion

Where the parents of a child are separated, it may be that one parent wishes to receive a share of FTB (according to their FTB shared care percentage) from Services Australia, while the child’s other parent wishes to receive an amount of MRCAETS payment that corresponds with their shared care percentage from DVA.

There is no bar in policy from either DVA or the Department of Social Services/Services Australia from this occurring.  The relevant family assistance law (s22A of the A New Tax System (Family Assistance) Act 1999) precludes an individual from receiving both payments at once. As the explanatory memorandum confirms, this is to prevent an individual receiving both payments at the same time and is not intended to preclude one member of a shared care separated couple from choosing to make a different choice than their ex-partner.

Therefore, in cases where parents are separated, share care of a child, and one parent wishes to surrender MRCAETS and continue receiving their percentage of FTB, but the other parent wishes to surrender FTB and continue receiving their percentage of MRCAETS, no individual is receiving both payments at the same time, so the notion of “double-dipping” does not apply and the intent of the law is served.