At the end of 2007, home education students who were receiving the Youth Allowance received letters from Centrelink stating that their registration with the VRQA was now deemed insufficient evidence of study in a suitable course. Consequently their payments ceased.
The problem is one of two different levels of government – the VRQA is a state body and registration with them is sufficient evidence for the state government that home education is taking place.
Youth Allowance is a Social Security payment for young people based on the family’s means, which is paid through Centrelink, a federal body. Centrelink’s policy is that to be eligible a young person under 18 normally needs to be a full-time student in approved education at an approved institution. Home educated students may be deemed to meet the educational requirements if the relevant State Authority has given specific approval for the student to undertake home study and the authority confirms that the study is full-time and conforms with, and will be accredited towards, the secondary qualification accredited by that authority. Some home educators were granted the allowance on the basis that their registration with the VRQA fully satisfied the eligibility criteria, but, at the end of 2007 Centrelink said that registration with the VRQA satisfies their first criterion but not the second, and that the allowance was therefore granted in error.
Home ed students with ACHS received letters to the same effect in 2009 as ACHS is no longer deemed by VRQA and/or Centrelink to meet the criteria of a full time course towards a qualification with a recognised institution. Contact Sue Wight for more details at wighthouse(at)southernphone.com.au
To avoid this problem, some home ed students look at alternatives to VCE. Others have successfully entered ‘home education’ as a ‘short course’ for a short term solution although the acceptance of home education as a short course is at the discretion of each Centrelink office.
Another option is when your teen turns 16 and you receive notification from Centrelink that your payment will be cut off, go in and request to stay on the Family Payment. Although this is less than the Youth Allowance, homeschool teens are still eligible for this and it is better than having your payment cut off.
Hi,
I was wondering if there will be any effect on homescoolers wishing to go straight into uni from home, and being eligible for Youth allowance (living away from home). In all my research, it appears that you must have completed a yr 12 or equivalent. We do ACE and my daighter will have her yr 12 ACE certificate – but we have heard that this is still not recognised as a relevant yr 12 course and therefore may not be eligible for YA. I have been on every web site and cannot get any information on this. Have you heard of others going through this?
Cheryl
Hi Cheryl,
I don’t know of a university that accepts the ACE Year 12 certificate but you could contact ACA and ask them.
However, if you don’t wish to use the VCE, your daughter could use the following routes to university – TAFE, SAT tests, Open University or direct application to the university she wishes to attend. Which one will meet her needs is dependent on the course that she’d like to get into. My advice is to approach the university directly and speak to the admissions staff for the course she wishes to do. Explain your situation and ask which of the alternative entry routes they would prefer her to take.
Many home ed kids go on to university without VCE.
All the best with finding the right route for your daughter,
Sue
Im a sole parent starting my own business because I cant get to work at the moment. My youngest is 5 and Ive all kinds of problems with my teens. We have pulled out of secondary school for the second time. Bullying by teachers and students. I need youth allowance to pay the rent. But no one wants to let us have it. I was going to try for a short time exemption. I am going to try and move and put kids into another school end of year. Anyone having problems? Id love to hear from you. thanks Maretta
Hi Maretta,
Youth Allowance is really difficult for home educators to get – especially in Victoria. Part of the problem is that Youth Allowance is administered by a federal department – Centrelink while education (including home education) is regulated by a state department. In order to meet state law, Victorian home educators have to be registered with the VRQA but, in order to claim the Youth Allowance, students need to be enrolled in a full-time recognised course with a recognised institution and Centrelink say that VRQA registration does not meet that requirement. One way around the problem is to enrol in the AYCE programme which requires attendance once a week. There are also programmes (including VCE) run through neighbourhood centres that can satisfy the requirement. In the short term, some home educators have been permitted to list ‘home education’ as a short course to claim youth allowance on a short term basis while locating a suitable course.
Regards, Sue