Academic Requirements

Workload Requirements

Full-Time Study

Unless a workload concession applies, students are required to maintain a full time workload

Workload concessions - Youth Allowance and Austudy Payment

There are several concessions available for students who are unable to undertake a full time workload.


Time limits and satisfactory progress

Normally, you can only get Youth Allowance or Austudy Payment if, at the start of the year, you haven't studied for longer than the normal minimum duration of your current course plus a semester.

Centrelink takes into account any previous study you have already attempted at the same level as your current course. There are different rules for the length of time you are allowed to study depending on whether you are a Youth Allowance or Austudy recipient. There are a number of concessions to these rules, so check before commencing your course with Centrelink or Student Financial Aid.


Approved Courses

Centrelink considers that there are four levels of study.

The four levels are TAFE certificate courses; Associate Diplomas; undergraduate courses; and postgraduate courses below the level of Masters. No payments are available for Doctorate study and some Masters courses. With Austudy payment a student can only get payment to do one course from each level in any order. Youth Allowance currently has no restrictions on studying a second course at the same level.


Masters and PhD

It has been previously announced that all Masters by coursework will be approved for Centrelink study payments in 2014. This has now been delayed until 2017. Please note that this should not affect the courses already approved and listed on this page. Contact Centrelink or Student Financial Aid if you require more details.

Presently only some Masters courses have been approved for Centrelink. However, even courses that are not approved may receive a Centrelink study payment if there is a lower level course 'nested' in the course structure. For example, often students may exit a Masters course after one year with a Graduate Diploma. The student is usually entitled to a Centrelink payment up until this point in the course, even if they intend to continue on and finish the Masters degree.

It is not possible to receive Austudy Payment or Youth Allowance to study a Ph.D. course. If you have already completed a Ph.D. then you are ineligible for an Austudy Payment. If the Ph.D. was incomplete or it was completed overseas and is not equivalent to an Australian Masters or Ph.D., then it may be disregarded.

Please note that some courses offered by the University, despite including the word 'Doctor' in their title, remain Masters level courses.

The currently approved University of Melbourne Masters level courses are: