A student may be eligible for payment of benefits under the Scheme with effect from either:
(a)the date of commencement of the first formal year of primary schooling; or
(b)the first payday in January of the calendar year in which the claim is made for an eligible child; or
(c)the first payday after the student meets the eligibility requirements of the Scheme,
whichever date is the later, providing that on that date, the student has not yet attained 25 years of age, and is not receiving a financial benefit from the Commonwealth in the nature of educational assistance or income support (see 2.11 of the Instruments).
For date of effect rules please see Departmental Instruction C09/2007 [4].
The date of grant can never be earlier than the first payday of the current year in which an application is made, but can be later depending on the date of effect of the grant of pension, acceptance of death, etc and when the child commenced full time education.
This Departmental Instruction provides information for the date of effect where:
The following date of effect rules for VCES and MRCAETS apply for recipients who notify the Department of a change of event:
A student may reapply for benefits after a break in study. Legal Services Group has advised that for the purposes of determining such claims:
The term “undertaking” is not defined in the Scheme. Current practices and procedures have led to inconsistencies in determining the date of effect in such cases with some States backdating payments to the first payday in January of the academic year (para 2.4.1(b)), whilst other States commence payments from the day the student recommences study (para 2.4.1(c)).
It is possible that a student reapplying after a break in study may have been accepted into a course of study some months prior to actually commencing.
Therefore, to ensure consistency in determining claims for students reapplying for benefits, the term “undertaking” is taken to mean the date on which the student actually recommences study.
The date of effect rules for a student reapplying for benefits after a break in study are as follows:
This rule does not apply to continuing students.
For continuing students in primary, secondary and tertiary education, education allowance may be paid continually beyond the last payday in December (or over the relevant holiday period) where it is clear that the student will continue full time studies in the next academic year.
Where a student's education allowance has been cancelled, the education allowance may be restored to the date of suspension or cancellation if proof of enrolment is received by 31 March in the following year.
Proof of enrolment submitted after 31 March must be accompanied by an application form and payment of the education allowance may only begin from the payday after receipt of that application.
In the case of students eligible on medical grounds under section 116(1) [5](e) of the VEA, the date of effect of eligibility is from the first pension payday following the date of lodgement of the application for assistance.
If a Board is of the opinion that a primary or secondary student's progress is not satisfactory it shall refer the matter to the Commission (2.5.1).
Where a matter has been referred to the Commission, it may determine that the student cease to receive benefits under the Scheme (2.5.2). Once it is established that the student has not made sufficient progress in their studies, the Secretary may require the student to pay back some of the benefits they have received during the period in which they did not meet the requirements of the course.
Subject to paragraph 2.5.5, where a Board is of the opinion that a tertiary student aged sixteen years or over would have failed to satisfy the progress rules in Part 2.11A of the Social Security Act 1991 (SSA) in respect of tertiary students (if Part 2.11A had applied to the student), it shall refer the matter to the Commission. The “progress rules” are mentioned in section 569H of the SSA.
Where a matter has been referred to the Commission, if the Commission is of the opinion that the student would have failed to satisfy the progress rules in Part 2.11A of the SSA in respect of tertiary students (if Part 2.11A had applied to the student), it may determine that the student cease to receive benefits under the Scheme.
Where the Board is of the opinion that a tertiary student would have failed to satisfy the progress rules in Part 2.11A of the SSA in respect of tertiary students (if Part 2.11A had applied to the student), the Board may approve continuing benefits under the Scheme.
Benefits withdrawn under the Scheme may be restored by the Commission if it is satisfied that the student has resumed satisfactory progress. Back payments may be made at the discretion of the Secretary on a case by case basis. The Secretary may look at the student's overall compliance with the Scheme to make the decision in regard to date of effect of grant.
To be eligible for benefits under the Schemes a student must be undertaking study within Australia, or have made application or been accepted to study within Australia.
The Commission may waive this requirement if the circumstances of the student are held to be exceptional (see 2.6.1 of the Instruments).
Allowances may be paid for a period of up to 12 months to a student who has been awarded a place within a formal overseas exchange scheme or who has received a scholarship to study overseas. In such a case, benefits are limited to the appropriate “living at home” education allowance with the exception of double orphans who may continue to receive the double orphan rate of allowance. A student's entitlement to receive rent assistance while residing outside Australia may be affected (see 5.5 of the Instruments).
Note that the student must still satisfy all other eligibility criteria during the 12 month period e.g. must still be undertaking full-time education (and in the case of MRCAETS, must not be engaged in full-time work). This provision is intended to cover those in formal exchange and scholarship programs. In some instances, student undertaking internships or equivalent programs overseas will be required to defer their full-time study to do so – in these cases it is unlikely the student will
All applications from students studying overseas will go to the Children's Education Scheme Secretary for overseas students. Applications involving the 'exceptional circumstances' provision (2.6.1) of the instrument for overseas study require approval by the VCES Manager. If the application requires policy input, the Secretary and manager will discuss with the Education Schemes Policy Officer.
A student may receive benefits under the Schemes if they are undertaking:
(a)general primary or secondary education; or
(b)a tertiary course of education or study that would qualify the student for a youth allowance under Part 2.11 of the SSA; or
(c)a course of tertiary study that would not qualify the student for a youth allowance under Part 2.11 of the SSA, but which:
(i)the Commission considers essential for achievement of the student's vocational aim; and
(ii)no other tertiary course that would qualify the student for a youth allowance under Part 2.11 of the SSA.
This study must be undertaken on a full time basis.
A student undertaking part time study may be deemed to be studying full time under the Schemes where:
(a)the Commission is satisfied that the amount of study that the student must complete in order to finish a course constitutes less than one year full-time study; or
(b)through geographical isolation, the student is unable to take advantage of full-time study facilities; or
(c)for health, economic or academic reasons, the student has shown ability to undertake full-time studies but needs to study part-time temporarily.
A student will be eligible to receive education allowances for a full time course of study if it is a course that would qualify them for youth allowance. Section 10 of the Student Assistance (Education Institutions and Courses) Determination 2009 (No.2) (November 2009) contains a list of courses that are approved courses – that is – courses that will qualify a student to receive youth allowance:
The document has several Schedules attached that are relevant to VCES and MRCAETS. Schedule 2 lists the general types of courses that are approved (ie, Bachelor, Masters bridging course). Schedule 3 lists Masters courses that are also considered tertiary courses.
PhD level courses (with the one exception of Juris doctor courses) are not included as approved tertiary courses in the Student Assistance (Education Institutions and Courses) Determination 2009 (No.2). They are not courses that qualify a student for youth allowance and, therefore, a student undertaking these courses will not qualify for VCES payments.
The one exception to this is where the Board approves a course of study on the basis that it is essential to achievement of the student's vocational aim. In such an instance, it will be necessary for the Board to acquire a letter from the university or study institution stating that the course is essential to achievement of the student's vocational aim. In most instances, study at a PhD or Masters level is not considered essential.
The EAS database contains a list provided by Centrelink of all accredited educational institutions within Australia. Additionally, the following websites may be useful in determining accredited higher education institutions and courses (including TAFE courses). http://www.goingtouni.gov.au/Main/CoursesAndProviders/ProvidersAndCourses/HigherEducationProviders/Default.htm [12]
http://www.aqf.edu.au/RegisterAccreditation/AQFRegister/tabid/174/Default.aspx [13]
Study at an honours level is considered to be a continuation of an approved course. For example, if a student has undertaken a Bachelor of Arts degree and is enrolled in the Honours course for that degree, it will be considered to be an approved course.
Where a primary or secondary student ceases to participate in the normal activities of a course for more than fifteen days in any year without reasonable cause, the Commission may review the student's eligibility for continuing benefits under the Scheme and may suspend the payment of allowances.
Where the Board is satisfied that the student's absence is due to sickness or reasons beyond the student's control, the absences may be disregarded.
Where the Board is satisfied that the absences are without reasonable cause and the student's progress has been affected, the case may be referred to the Commission and the Commission may determine that the education allowance and/or other benefits will be suspended.
The Commission may determine that the student's benefits will be restored if it is satisfied that the student has resumed satisfactory progress.
A student is not to be paid benefits under the Schemes if they receive a financial benefit from any other Commonwealth Department of agency in the nature of educational assistance or income support.
A student who receives a financial benefit from the Commonwealth may be paid a benefit under the Scheme only if the educational assistance or income support:
(a)is provided (whether directly or indirectly) by the Department or the Commission; or
(b)is provided under a scholarship from the Commonwealth known as the Commonwealth Education Costs Scholarship; or
(c)is provided under a scholarship from the Commonwealth known as the Commonwealth Accommodation Scholarship.
A student may choose to transfer to VCES or MRCAETS from another Commonwealth benefits scheme.
Note: The Student Start-up and Relocation Scholarships introduced in 2010 do not affect a student's payments, as they are paid directly by the Department.
Clearance must be sought from Centrelink before granting VCES or MRCAETS assistance to a secondary or tertiary student. Where the student is transferring to the Scheme from another Commonwealth educational assistance or income support scheme an agreed “cut-off” date must be negotiated with Centrelink.
In some cases it is to the student's advantage to transfer to the VCES retrospectively, in which case an adjustment of the arrears payment will be required to offset the resultant overpayment of the Centrelink benefit. This circumstance generally occurs if the student's Youth Allowance has been significantly reduced by the income test and where VCES benefits can be backdated for a significant period.
Clearances should reduce the number of overpayments, and consequently the number of recoveries necessary. However in instances where a scholarship amount is paid to a person by both DVA and Centrelink 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 (as contained in the Instruments and the Social Security Act) ceases if the person has received the same amount in the previous 6 or 12 months (depending on the scholarship) i.e. the other agency paid it first.
If a student receives an education allowance under the Scheme, that student is, in the absence of a contrary intention, ineligible to receive any other education allowance under the Scheme.
Links
[1] https://clik.dva.gov.au/user/login?destination=comment/reply/23822%23comment-form
[2] https://clik.dva.gov.au/user/login?destination=comment/reply/23827%23comment-form
[3] https://clik.dva.gov.au/user/login?destination=comment/reply/23919%23comment-form
[4] https://clik.dva.gov.au/compensation-and-support-reference-library/departmental-instructions/2007/c092007-dates-effect-veterans-children-education-scheme-vces-and-military-rehabilitation-and-compensation-education-and-training-scheme-mrcaets
[5] https://clik.dva.gov.au/service-eligibility-assistant-updates/all-determinations-order-date-signed-oldest-most-recent/determinations-under-vea
[6] https://clik.dva.gov.au/compensation-and-support-reference-library/overpayment-management-manual/ch-2-what-overpayment/28-veterans-children-education-scheme-vces-overpayments
[7] https://clik.dva.gov.au/service-eligibility-assistant-updates/all-determinations-order-date-signed-oldest-most-recent/determinations-under-mrca
[8] https://clik.dva.gov.au/user/login?destination=comment/reply/23929%23comment-form
[9] https://clik.dva.gov.au/user/login?destination=comment/reply/23857%23comment-form
[10] https://clik.dva.gov.au/user/login?destination=comment/reply/23837%23comment-form
[11] http://www.comlaw.gov.au/comlaw/Legislation/LegislativeInstrument1.nsf/0/5F1A41BF5470D7F4CA257678000E983F?OpenDocument
[12] http://www.goingtouni.gov.au/Main/CoursesAndProviders/ProvidersAndCourses/HigherEducationProviders/Default.htm
[13] http://www.aqf.edu.au/RegisterAccreditation/AQFRegister/tabid/174/Default.aspx
[14] https://clik.dva.gov.au/user/login?destination=comment/reply/23901%23comment-form
[15] https://clik.dva.gov.au/user/login?destination=comment/reply/23873%23comment-form
[16] https://clik.dva.gov.au/user/login?destination=comment/reply/23851%23comment-form
[17] https://clik.dva.gov.au/user/login?destination=comment/reply/23892%23comment-form