DVA will seek clearance from Services Australia before granting assistance under the MRCAETS to a secondary or tertiary student. Where the student is transferring to the MRCAETS from another Commonwealth educational assistance or income support scheme an agreed "cut-off" date must be negotiated with Services Australia.
The seeking of clearances by DVA aims to reduce the incidence of overpayments, and consequential recovery of payments by DVA. However, in instances where a scholarship amount is paid to a person by both DVA and Services Australia for the same period, then the agency who paid it second will be responsible for recovering that amount. This is because eligibility for the scholarships (ceases if the person has received the same amount in the previous 6 or 12 months (depending on the scholarship) that is, where the amount has already been paid by another agency for the same period.