Under 18, Moving Out, Youth Allowance (1 Viewer)

[Ziff]

Hi,
I was wondering if anyone had moved out of home whilst they were under 18 and if they claimed the full amount of youth allowance.
How long does it take for you to get your first youth allowance payment and how long does it take for you to get rent assistance?
Can you get it before you move out or do you have to move out first? Say that your family situation is a total shambles and you absolutely have to move out because you're under intense stress from your parents and your situation (living in a pisspoor garage with no windows, ventilation, security or insulation) otherwise you're just going to snap. Can you get any sort of moving out assistance from the government?
Also, has anyone who has done this, did they have a job at the time or get one not soon after? I've been trying to get a job for a while now and it's a bit hard down here in Wollongong.

Any other advice you might have besides "talk it through with your parents and find a resolution so you can stay at home" or anything like that (they're encouraging it as at least I'll be better off and in a healthier, less stressed environment) would be appreciated.

 

[Lexicographer]

You should talk it through with Centrelink themselves. They would know the procedures better than anyone here, and they may be able to pull something unexpected.

 

[White Rabbit]

Like Lex said, talk to Centrelink - but under your circumstances, you should be eligable under Family Breakdown/Unsuitable to live at home and be classed as independant for Centrelink purposes - you will have to talk to a social worker though, it's manditory if you plan on taking that road, and they will give it to you only if you have exahusted all other options. But give em a call, go to your local office, they'll help you out

..Good Luck

 

[gemita]

I just recently got put on YA. Since I'm not moving out for another couple of weeks they have me on the at-home rate, but that will automatically switch over on the 12th when I go to B&G. It's all pretty easy actually, I got a letter of acceptance 2 days after handing in my form. But I'm considered dependent, so I guess it's different for me. Definitely go and see Centrelink though, or at least give them a call. I've been eligible for 2 years and didn't even know until I called Centrelink to check somnething totally unrelated. Just give it a try, you never know what you might be eligible for!

 

[Grobus]

I dont know about Youth Allowance, but I feel for you at home with your situation. I used to live with my dad and it was awful. Eventually I got so depressed and stressed by it that my life was almost totally consumed by what was going on at home. Luckily I could move to my mums though.

 

[mmm_sofay]

Centrelink suck. Put a vendetta on them.
the only good thing centrelink did for me is give me a healthcare card.
stupid fucktards.
but yeah, go to centrelink, they might love you more then they love me.

 

[katie_tully]

Go to the website, but depending on what your parents earn depends on whether you'll get it, or how much you get. You can try for living away from home allowance, or Austudy, but your best bet is to go and see them at your nearest office.
That said, Centrelink are pretty useless so you might want to check the website or ring the head office for better info.

 

[kalli]

yes ring centrelink... i think the number is 132490...

just a bit of info... u will most probably need to be classed as independant. to be independant you have to either:

1. earned a heap of money after leaving school
2. have a child
3. lived in a marriage like relationship for 12 months
4. have parents who cannot exercise their respolsibilities

if ure going for number 4 your parents will have to sign forms saying they cannot care for you and DOCS may become involved...

if you want to claim youth allowance as a dependant, your parents will have to fill out MANY MANY forms to declare their income. if their combined income is over something like 28000 then u will not get paid the full amount. your parents will have to fill out new forms every year...

i think thats all you will need to know... go to this site for more info!

http://www.centrelink.gov.au/internet/internet.nsf/payments/youth_allow.htm

 

[Ziff]

BTW: This thread was started on 2nd February 2004. The current year is 2005, so stop asking me about my age or why I "just" or "recently" posted this.

 

[Grobus]

LOL WTF, why would you bump a one year old thread.

So did you manage to get it?

 

[Ziff]

Gemita was the one who bumped the thread
She was just being helpful or searching for YA related things on BOS, who knows.

 

[seedorf]

lol im giving gemita rep.

 

[Ziff]

Anyway, I'll give you a run down of the process if you choose to go down the independent route...

Essentially, if you apply to go independent because of an irretrievable breakdown of the relationship between your parents and yourself then you have to rock up to Centrelink and make an appointment to see a social worker, you also get a form. They cannot and will not even consider seeing you unless you state on the form you no longer live at home (you must put down a different address to either of your parents). Now, this, I think is silly and makes it really difficult for you to get the assistance to move out in the first place, but, whatever.
Then you go to the social worker, with the form, and you talk to them about why you need to move out and why you have gone independent, what problems are going on in your family etc. If you're "lucky" enough to have a police/mental health report or anything official, it helps your case. The social worker then spends the next week ringing up your parents and a third party who knows of your situation (which you must also supply). This third person can be a counsellor, relative, doctor etc (though I understand that people often prefer to keep their situation private and in such cases it can be hard to find someone to corroborate the story, though like I said, official documents help).

The social worker then writes up a case report, sends it to his/her superior who then decides if you should get the payment.

Unless you have a friend who you can stay with or claim you're staying with, getting this is near impossible. What's worse however, is that IF you do want to move out into your own accommodation, expect a lot of discrimination. Real estate agents and landlords, though bound by the Anti Discrimination Act 1977, they will still discriminate because it is upto them to decide who lives in the residence. They generally look down on you if you're a) young, b) a student, c) on welfare and you fill find it nigh impossible to find a place. Share house is an option, however, if you need to study in order to finally break free of your problems, you're stuffed because those places can be roudy and studying at Uni is different to HSC work or if they all work then they will party at night

There is one benefit, however, that once you are able to attain independent status, if you move back in home, whilst your payment will be reduced back to dependent status (and you'll probably have to give all the money to your parents), when you move out again, you will be placed back on the independent rate. So once you do finally move out for good, you'll at least have the financial assistance to help you.

 

[Ziff]

The other solution, of course, is to get married for Youth Allowance purposes

 

[ur_inner_child]

i've done it before.

Here goes:

Youth allowance payments - you get about $170 per fortnight to start off, and it shouldn't be less if you're a school leaver and working. YOu either have to be working full time, or going to school/uni/tafe full time. If you're not, and under 18, you can claim something else, where you have to go to a certain amount of job interviews in a fortnight in order to receive payment.

About your income affecting your payments - You generate "points" from school. As a school leaver myself, I've earnt $5900 worth of points, meaning I can earn up to $5900 without my income affecting my youth allowance payments.

To receive more youth allowance, you must claim independence. You can do this if you can live away from home for 18 months. In doing so, you get close to $400 a fortnight, although your income may become a factor. If you're enrolled at full-time education, this shouldn't be too much of a problem.

Another way to gain the independence title, is to have an authoritive figure (eg teacher/principal/counsellor) say how abusive your parents are.

You can gain other payments such as rent assistance. Yet your rent must be over a certain amount (I think it was $90 a week, I forget) for them to pay you anything. You can claim this even if you are receiving youth allowance.

You can also contact DOCS if you are in any sort of SERIOUS (and when I say serious, i mean SERIOUSLY SERIOUS) financial trouble.

There are other ways but these are the ones I learnt about when I left home.

Hope that helps.

 

[ur_inner_child]

oops, nevermind!

 

[mmm_sofay]

i got a letter from centerlink today.
im getting my HCC renewed. thats the only thing Centerlink is good for.
cheap medications.

 

[kalli]

My mother is a sole parent, but she earns around $70K p.a. without tax and such. I'll be 17 when I move to uni, but I'll be around 1000 kilometres away, with no income and studying at uni. Will I be able to get youth allowence?

Will a scholarship change anything?

scholarships that are for education purposes (which most are) wont affect youth allowance but i dont think you will be able to get youth allowance in the first place.

you need to take a year off and earn 18000 or you need to get your mum to disown you if you want youth allowance...

im in a similar situation to you but my parents dont earn that much. i recently lost my centrelink payments even though i live about 1800km away and dont get any financial assistance off my parents. i had to get a job and now work 6-10pm every weeknight (but i do have a scholarship woohoo!!)

 

[gemita]

Oops...*feels embarassed*. Yeah, I was doing a "moving out" search and kinda didn't check the date. But look at the stream of replies I started!

 

[Shuter]

Hmmm, my dad is selling this house and moving to queensland, also, I live over 90 minutes away from univeristy at the moment (which is all that's required to make sure I can get out of home rate rather than at home rate), can I somehow be able to claim myself as independant when I (have to) move out of this house, as my dad is retiring and says I cannot live with him in queensland.