omg i hate centrelink! agreed?

Yvan, I wasn't having a dig at you! Sorry if it sounded like that! The post was intended for other ppl if they were considering working or not. Everyone has different circumstances

Hey, check out the SMH article on uni students and their income:

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/sydneys-skint-but-smart-set-how-students-survive-below-the-poverty-line-20110421-1dpx3.html

Oh my god - don't get me started on HECS; or more specifically, the people who complain about the HECS (or FEE-HELP, whatever it is called now) system.  Yes, it sucks that not that long ago university education was free in Australia.  But you want to look at students who are struggling, have a look at what's happening in the UK right now, and the blatant inequality in-ground within the system in the US.

Yvan - In regards to the other posts between you and I: I certainly understand what you're saying, I was just offering my opinion.  I think it's time for us to agree to disagree.  Fundamentally, we both think that Centerlink is a good thing for students, so no need to get nitpicky.

Oh just remembered another thing on top of my own experience with centrelink.

A former work mate had 4 kids and his wife stayed home as 2 were young and child care was too expensive for them.

If he gave up work, he would have been $10 a week better off with centrelink payments!!  

He talked to the bosses several times asking for more money cause he wanted to work and didnt want to be a 'dole bludger' but it cost him $ to work!! They ended up firing him cause he kept on about it too much.

How is it fair that they can pay more for people to not work, than give someone who is genuinely trying anything worthwhile  

I'm not saying I'm not greatful that it's there and I got something, even if it was barely enough to cover my pet food & gas for my car.
But it's pretty offensive that they give nothing to people honest people who need help and give others more to not work!!

It sounds like that the reason why he'd earn more on centrelink than work is because his wife is the principal carer for their children. She'd be eligible for the Parenting Payment, which is a payment for families with young children where the parents total income and assets are below a certain amount.

This is not a lifetime payment. It lasts until the children reach a certain age (between 6 to 8 years of age) and the amount received diminishes as your partner's income increases. Every family with young children is eligible for this provision;, it's that a good number of families have assets and income that don't require them to use this provision.

Your friend would receive a Newstart allowance for being unemployed which would add to the parenting payment received. Money received as Newstart Allowance also counts against the size of the parenting payment, so they don't compound on their full values.

He wouldn't be able to stay on Newstart forever, unless he's willing to undergo extensive training periods after his first three job-seeking months are up, and even then that's subject to periodic review.

In the short term they'd benefit from this arrangement, which points out the complexities of labor industries and the wages they set (a race to the bottom?). While it's understandable to criticize someone who is receiving 'money for nothing' while others slave away at jobs paying less then these perceived offenders, it would be prudent to also look at why jobs pay as little as they do and how they contribute to the overall problem of social inequality.

And maybe I should work for Centrelink.

Yeah I took your posts a bit too personal my bad xD.

My good friend is doing her Masters full time, volenters at a radio station AND works 30 hours a week at Centrelink

Alot of people work to support study, some study full time and some may only be able to study part time and work.

hey I have been reading your comments and thought this may help...

I think you may have some of the criterias wrong for Youth Payments

You said you have to be 25 to be inderpendent, that has changed, the age is now 23.
45,000 combined parental income and less is for the full rate of youth payments cut off point is alot higher than that.
BUT 
you say you travel 2 hours to get to uni and that its your first year!
Ok so here are some options to look into, 
Firstly, living 90 mins one way trip away from Uni and you look at moving closer to uni, because of the 90 minute travel time from the parental home you could be eligible for the Away from Home rate which is the same payment rate as the independence rate plus you can get rent assistance on top of that.
 Living away from home to study brings up the parental income threshold significantly. And that's not all, because you are first year Uni and live away from home to study you will get the Relocation Scholarship that is a one of payment of $4000.00 (to help with costs of living away from home) and the Start up Scholarships that are two one of payments of $1097.00 each.

Now when working, you can earn upto $236.00 per fortnight without in affecting your centrelink payment. Anything over that is deducted at .60cents in the dollar, so that's a pretty good deal! And when being on the youth allowance payment you accumulate student income bank, these are credits that work in your favour. When you earn over the 236.00 instead of deducting that .60cents out of every dollar you earn over will deducts out of your credits instead of your youth payments leaving you with your full pay from centrelink. You can accumulate 6000 of these credits pretty fast.

So back to the Parental income, as I was saying, depending on your circumstances will depend on how the threshold is calculated. 
For example having other siblings who are over 16 and studying will bring the threshold higher, living 90mins travel to study, living away from home to study will make the threshold higher...

Here is a really good tool to test your eligibility (click the "I Accept" button at the bottom of the page) and it will bring up a calculator:

http://www.deewr.gov.au/HigherEducation/Programs/YouthAllowance/Pages/Disclaimer.aspx

If you really feel that you are not getting the info you need from the person on the other end of the phone, I would suggest asking them if you can talk to a technical officer. 

Hope this helps!

  impatient, jaded employee  

Wow. Thanks for all that! >.< Damn this is complicated.
So, I can get a fair bit more if I move out of home (Which I want to do anyway) than if I live with my parents, so I just have to work it if that, plus my pay from work will be sufficient for living away from home.
Providing that it is sufficient, I have to find a place to rent and probably one or two flatmates. Then I'd have to actually go set this up with Centrelink.
How would I do that? Do I have to see them in person? Do I have to be living outside of home straight away to claim that, or can I be about to move out of home? I mean, can I have found a place, but not be moving in just yet?

-_-' sorry for all my rambling and questions. Suddenly not being a high school student and having to worry about all this is so intimidating!

Oh, and thank you for all the information. You made it so much clearer than anyone else I've spoken to.

Oh, and back onto the topic of needing financial assistance and whether or not that means we should all just 'get off [our] computer[s] and pay', I've just started applying for a THIRD job, preferably night fill, since night time is all the free time I have to work, which will be difficult to get since I don't have my Ps yet (because due to the idiocy of the minority, the majority now must complete 25 hours of driving over 6 MONTHS! Something I could do in 9 weeks) and regardless, due to the mere fact that my birthday is at the end of the year, I will be paid as a minor, despite having the financial needs of an adult.

Ahem. Sorry. I'm just still a little offended that dealing with financial hardship must automatically mean that I am a lazy, self-entitled student who needs to get off their arse.