There are changes that came into effect on 1 July 2017 that people who are looking for work or studying may need to be aware of.

The Government is providing extra support to young job seekers by offering a suspension of their income support payments for 26 weeks when they start a job under the Youth Bonus Wage Subsidy.

This means Centrelink will restore their payment without the need to reclaim, should they lose their job through no fault of their own.

As well as the job being under the Youth Bonus Wage Subsidy, your clients will need to have been receiving Newstart Allowance or Youth Allowance to be eligible.

To get a job under this subsidy, people must be under 25 years of age and have been registered with a jobactive or Transition to Work provider for six months or more.

Your clients can talk to their provider about their eligibility for employment under the Youth Bonus Wage Subsidy and if the job is part of this.

Providers will let the Department of Human Services know if this is the case and a letter will be sent to recipients to confirm the suspension of their payment.

However, if they lose their job because of their behaviour or by choice during the 26 week suspension, then they’ll need to claim again online.

Your clients can let the Department of Human Services know if they lose their job by completing the ‘Advise End of Employment Service’ in their Centrelink online account through myGov.

Student Start-up Loan

For people who are studying, another change from 1 July relates to the Student Start-up Scholarship, which has been replaced by the Student Start-up Loan for all students.

The Student Start-up Loan is a voluntary $1,035 loan for eligible students, which they can get up to two times a year (once in each loan period).

The loans are tax-free and they don’t need to declare them as income for their regular student payment. However, they will have to pay back the loan once they start earning a certain amount of income.

Information

If you or your clients would like more information on the Student Start-up Loan they can visit humanservices.gov.au and search for ‘Student Start-up Loan’. Information for job seekers is available at humanservices.gov.au/jobseekers