Working age, students and new parents · calculator
Youth Allowance calculator
For full-time students and apprentices up to 24 and job seekers up to 21: the fortnightly rate after your earnings, with Rent Assistance.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How we calculate
Youth Allowance pays a single student or apprentice living away from home $677.20 a fortnight in 2026, plus an Energy Supplement, and $482.40 to a single person aged 18 or over living at home. It is for full-time students and Australian Apprentices aged 16 to 24 and for job seekers aged 16 to 21. Students have a much larger income free area than job seekers: $539 a fortnight before the payment falls by 50 cents per dollar, and 60 cents above $646, plus an income bank that stores unused free area for later. A student living away from home who earns $450 a fortnight and shares a house at $320 receives about $805.85 including Rent Assistance. A dependent young person's rate can also be reduced by the parental income test, which this calculator does not model: the result here applies to an independent young person, or one whose parents are on income support or under the parental free area.
Youth Allowance per fortnight
$790.85
Stops at about $1,875 of your income a fortnight
| Basic rate | $677.20 |
| Energy Supplement | $7 |
| Rent Assistance | $106.65 |
| Reduction for your income | − $0 |
Student income test: higher free area, and the income bank can absorb a work peak. How this is worked out.
The rates by situation
| Situation | Basic rate | Energy Supplement |
|---|---|---|
| Single, under 18, at home | $418.90 | $3.90 |
| Single, 18 or over, at home | $482.40 | $4.60 |
| Single, away from home | $677.20 | $7 |
| Single, with children | $854.20 | $9.20 |
| Partnered, no children | $677.20 | $7 |
| Partnered, with children | $733.20 | $7.70 |
Student or job seeker: two income tests
A full-time student or Australian Apprentice can earn $539 a fortnight before Youth Allowance falls, then loses 50 cents per dollar up to $646 and 60 cents above. A job seeker on Youth Allowance has the same free area as JobSeeker, $150, then 50 cents to $250 and 60 cents above (Social Security Guide 4.2.2). A young job seeker at home aged 19 earning $300 a fortnight receives about $407; as a student with the same earnings, the payment would not be reduced at all.
Independent or dependent
Most young people are treated as dependent on their parents until they show otherwise, for example by supporting themselves through work for a set period, being partnered or having a child, or being unable to live at home. A dependent young person's Youth Allowance is subject to a parental income test: combined parental income above the parental income free area reduces the rate by 20 cents per dollar, shared across the siblings who also depend on that income (Social Security Guide 4.2.8.10). Parents on an income support payment are exempt. Because the free area for 2026 is not stated in the sections read for this site, the calculator leaves the parental test out.
Living at home or away
The rate for living away from home is higher because the young person meets their own housing costs. A dependent young person is usually paid the away-from-home rate only when they need to live away from home, for example to study, or when they cannot live at home. An independent young person living away from home receives that rate as a matter of course.
From Youth Allowance to other payments
A student who turns 25 moves to Austudy, which pays a similar rate with the same student income test but without the parental tests. A job seeker who turns 22 moves to JobSeeker Payment. A teenager still at secondary school is usually covered by the parents' Family Tax Benefit until 18; see Family Tax Benefit for teenagers.