Separate to your eligibility for a CSP and/or HELP loan, you may be eligible for other financial support from the Australian Government while you study.
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Prac Payments
From 1 July 2025, a Commonwealth Prac Payment (CPP) will be introduced to provide financial support to eligible students while they complete placements related to their course.
Students studying bachelor or masters degrees in teaching, nursing and midwifery, and social work students may be eligible to receive the CPP.
For 2025, eligible students will be able to access $331.65 per week while they’re undertaking a placement. The payment is benchmarked to the single Austudy rate and will be indexed each year.
Eligible students include those accessing Commonwealth income support payments such as Youth Allowance for Students, Austudy and ABSTUDY and those who need to work more than 15 hours per week on average during their normal university studies to support themselves.
For the purpose of the CPP, students need to show that they need to work for 15 or more hours per week to support themselves while they study. This will be evaluated using a 4-week period during the normal study period. Students must also have an individual income under the threshold of $1,500 per week (before tax) during the 4-week period.
Your university or higher education provider will assess your eligibility for a CPP.
The CPP will be delivered through your university or higher education provider.
More information
More information on Prac Payments including a fact sheet is available on the Department of Education website at: Commonwealth Prac Payment - Department of Education, Australian Government.
More detail on Prac Payments, such as the eligibility criteria, will become available as it gets closer to the July 2025 commencement date.
Tertiary Access Payment
The Tertiary Access Payment (TAP) is a one-off payment of up to $5,000 to help students with the cost of moving from a regional or remote area for higher education.
To receive the TAP you must meet the eligibility criteria.
The eligibility criteria include that you:
- are a first year higher education student who finished Year 12 (or equivalent), and
- are 22 years old or younger, and
- are studying full-time in a higher education award course
- have to move away from home to live closer to your university or higher education provider.
If you are dependent on your parents for financial support, your parents’ combined income must be under the $250,000 threshold for you to be eligible for the TAP.
The eligibility criteria for the TAP are available on the Services Australia website.
The TAP is $5,000 for students from outer regional and remote areas, and $3,000 for students from inner regional areas.
You can determine your region by using the Student Regional Area Search on the Services Australia website.
The TAP supports first year higher education students which means that there is a timeline to apply.
If you finished school or completed your year 12 equivalency in 2024, you can apply for the TAP at any time between 1 January and 31 December 2025.
From 1 January 2025, students who did not commence higher education immediately after finishing year 12 (e.g took a gap year) may now also be eligible to apply for a TAP as long as they are 22 years old or younger and meet the other eligibility criteria. TAP applications for students in these circumstances will be open from mid-June 2025.
Service Australia is responsible for administering the TAP.
Follow the how to claim instructions on the Services Australia website to apply.
More information on the TAP is available on the Services Australia website.
Services Australia - Other Financial Support
This support, such as Austudy, ABSTUDY, Youth Allowance and Rent Assistance, is available through Services Australia.
Useful links and resources
To find out which payment(s) you could be eligible for while you study, use Services Australia’s Payment and Services Finder.
You can also check Services Australia's Guide to Payments.