13.3.9 Who may an education allowance be paid to
This chapter contains the following sections:
13.9.1 Students Living At Home
13.9.2 Students Living Away From Home
13.9.3 Homeless students
13.9.4 Payments where there is Shared Care of a child/ren
13.3.9.1 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.
13.3.9.2 Students Living Away From Home
Payment of education allowance for primary or secondary students living away from home shall be made to:
(a) the person who is entitled to be paid family tax benefit under A New Tax System (Family Assistance) (Administration) Act 1999; or
(b) to the institution or person, if any, providing board to the student; or
(c) 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 under sub-paragraph 3.4.2(a) 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 described at sub-paragraph 3.4.2(a) 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.
13.3.9.3 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 paragraph 1.2.1 of the Instruments.
13.3.9.4 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
Custody – Percentage of Care | Shared Care Payment Percentage |
Less than 35% | 0 % |
35% to 47% | 25% plus 2% for each percentage point over 35% |
48 % to 52% | 50% |
53% to 65 % | 51% plus 2% for every percentage point over 53% |
More than 65% | 100% |
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:
Formal or legally binding agreements will generally take precedence over informal agreements.
Where the parents or carers do not agree on the level of care, the delegate will determine the care percentage to be applied based on the available evidence of the actual pattern of care.
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
Shared care and Special Assistance/Additional Tuition
See 13.5.4 and 13.5.3.
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 VCES 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 VCES and continue receiving their percentage of FTB, but the other parent wishes to surrender FTB and continue receiving their percentage of VCES, 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.