Household worked through · rates of 20 September 2026
A university student living away from home
Zoe, 19, moved to the city for university. She shares a house for $330 a fortnight and earns about $7,800 a year in a café. She is assessed as independent.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How we calculate
A 19-year-old full-time student living away from home, sharing a rental at $330 a fortnight and earning about $7,800 a year from a part-time job, receives about $813 a fortnight of Youth Allowance at the 2026 rates, Rent Assistance included, if she is independent or her parents' income does not reduce her rate. The away-from-home rate is $677.20 a fortnight plus an Energy Supplement of $7. Her earnings average $300 a fortnight, under the student free area of $539, so they do not reduce anything, and the unused part of the free area builds up in her income bank for busier fortnights. As a sharer, her Rent Assistance is capped at $149.20; at $330 she receives $129.15. A dependent student would also face the parental income test, which this example leaves aside.
More details: ages, assets, child care fees
What this household gets, per fortnight
$813
$21,147 a year
- Youth Allowance (you)$813
Rent Assistance included
An income support payment is paid, so Family Tax Benefit is worked out without the family income test. How this is worked out.
Why her job does not reduce the payment
Full-time students have a much larger income free area than job seekers: $539 a fortnight in 2026 (Social Security Guide 4.2.8.50). Zoe's café shifts bring about $300 a fortnight on average, well under it. Her Youth Allowance is therefore paid in full, and each fortnight she adds about $239 of unused free area to her income bank, up to $13,500.
A busy month
In the exam break Zoe works full time for a while and earns $900 a fortnight. Without the income bank, her payment would fall to about $607.45: 50 cents per dollar between $539 and $646, 60 cents above. With credits in the bank, the $361 above the free area is absorbed first, and her payment stays at the full rate until the bank runs out. The calculator above does not track the bank, so it shows the reduced figure.
Rent Assistance as a sharer
Zoe shares a kitchen and bathroom with three other students, so she is assessed at the sharer rate: the threshold is the same as for a single person, $157.80 a fortnight, but the maximum is $149.20 instead of $223.80 (Social Security Guide 5.1.7.10). At $330 her rent is close to the sharer cap, so a rent increase would add little.