Youth Allowance student - independent, partnered, with dependent child
This page is a direct rule-based guide for AU_FEDERAL_YA_STUDENT_INDEPENDENT_PARTNERED_WITH_CHILD (rule version 2025-26, effective 1 January 2026). It explains the $733.20 fortnightly per-member rate that applies to YA students aged 16 to 24 who hold independent status, are partnered, and have at least one dependent child, the conflict that excludes the equivalent partnered no-child rule, the Commonwealth Rent Assistance couple-with-child band that this rule enables, and how partner income preprocessing combines with the $539 personal free area and 50 cent taper.
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Quick Answer
You may qualify when all of the following are true: you are aged 16 or older but under 25; your residency status is Australian citizen, permanent resident, special category visa, or other eligible visa; you are physically living in Australia; you are a full-time student or apprentice; ya_independence_status = independent; partner_status = partnered; and dependent_children = true. Note that a dependent child can itself be the criterion that establishes YA independence for applicants under 22.
You are blocked when independence status is not yet established, when partner status is single (route to single-with-child or single no-child YA student rules), or when there are no dependent children (route to the partnered no-child YA student rule, which this rule names directly in its conflicts array). The excludes.any set is empty, so the routing path is governed by the conflicts gate plus eligibility predicates.
Rate logic summary: base $733.20 per fortnight per claimant, with one cumulative taper step starting at $539 personal fortnightly income at 50 cents per dollar of excess. Partner income above the partner free area is added to income_fortnightly by the preprocessing layer. Floor cap of $0. Empty multiplier, no reduces_if, and no date_windows.
What Is This Payment?
This rule is the partnered-with-child variant of independent Youth Allowance student. In the rule database it is tagged as a monetary primary Federal benefit in the Youth Allowance parent cluster, with rule tags students, youth, centrelink, independent, partnered, and parent. The entitlement scope is per person and ongoing, paid for the duration of qualifying study while the partnered relationship and dependent child status continue.
The administering body is Services Australia. Intake runs through the standard Youth Allowance student claim form via the myGov online channel and at service centres; the application metadata lists only online and service_centre. Each partner submits a separate claim, and Services Australia steers the case onto this rule once the answers to independence status, partner status, and dependent-child indicators land in this combination.
This rule exists as a distinct routing target from the LTIS couple variant. Both pay $733.20 per fortnight per member, but they reach the rate via different pathways. This rule serves YA student parent couples through the regular independent-with-child path, where independence is typically established by parenthood itself for applicants under 22, and where no 26 of 39 weeks of prior non-student income support is required. The LTIS couple variant, by contrast, requires a long-term welfare history and is restricted to couples without children. The lifecycle here ends at age 25 (transitioning to Austudy partnered or single-with-child paths), when the dependent child no longer qualifies (dependent child ages out or care arrangement changes), or when partnership ends (routing to a single YA student rule).
How Much Can You Get?
The amount block is defined as a formula paid fortnightly. Base is $733.20 per fortnight per claimant. The rule note records this as the January 2026 official value confirmed against the Services Australia rate page for the partnered-with-child line. Annualised across 26 fortnights the unreduced figure is roughly $19,063 per year per partner. The output display period is yearly while the assessment mechanics remain fortnightly.
The income test runs as one cumulative step. The taper taps in at income_fortnightly > 539: every dollar of personal income above $539 reduces the payment by 50 cents. Partner income enters via the preprocessing layer: any partner-income excess above the partner free area is attached to income_fortnightly before the rule's taper applies. Per-child cash flows separately through Family Tax Benefit Part A (and where applicable Part B); none of those lift this rule's $733.20 base.
The cut-out is reached when the combined personal-plus-preprocessed-partner taper reduction equals the base. With personal income alone, the cut-out is around $2,005 per fortnight: $733.20 divided by 0.5 equals $1,466.40 of taper-zone earnings, plus the $539 free area. When partner income runs above the partner free area, the effective cut-out for the claimant's personal income falls because partner-side excess consumes part of the same $1,466.40 taper headroom. Above the cut-out the floor cap of minimum $0 takes over.
You can audit any estimate with a five-step recipe matching the YAML structure. First, confirm the per-member base of $733.20. Second, compute partner-income excess over the partner free area (preprocessing attaches that to income_fortnightly). Third, compute the assessable excess as max(income_fortnightly - 539, 0) on the combined figure. Fourth, multiply the excess by 0.5. Fifth, subtract from the base and clamp at zero. Worked example: personal earnings $600, partner earnings $1,500 (with $0 excess after partner free area) yields personal excess of $61, reduction of $30.50, and an estimated payment of $702.70 per fortnight for the claimant.
The rule stores an empty multiplier, no reduces_if entries, and no date_windows. Each claimant's $733.20 base is independent and applies per claim record; per-child cash sits in FTB rules and is not part of this YAML formula.
Eligibility Conditions
The eligibility block is an all set, so every item must pass.
- Age floor:
age >= 16. Applicants under 16 do not qualify for any YA student rate. - Age ceiling:
age < 25. Applicants aged 25 or over transition to the relevant Austudy rule. - Residency status:
residency_status in {australian_citizen, permanent_resident, special_category_visa, other_eligible_visa}. Most temporary visa classes and bridging visas are out of scope. - Presence in Australia:
living_in_australia = true. YA student is generally not portable for sustained overseas study. - Full-time student or apprentice:
full_time_student_or_apprentice = true. At least 75 percent of full-time load with limited 25 percent concession in approved cases. - Independence status:
ya_independence_status = independent. Independence may be established by age (22 and over), by having a dependent child, by 18 months of full-time work after leaving school, or by other Centrelink-recognised paths. - Partner status:
partner_status = partnered. Single applicants route to one of the single YA student rules. - Dependent child:
dependent_children = true. At least one dependent child must be in the applicant's care; the partnered no-child variant takes over when this flag is false.
Required fields for assessment are explicit: age, residency status, YA independence status, partner status, dependent children flag, full-time student or apprentice flag, fortnightly income, and living-in-Australia status. The required field set drives both the rate and the routing into this rule rather than the partnered no-child sibling.
The exclude block is empty. The conflicts list names AU_FEDERAL_YA_STUDENT_INDEPENDENT_PARTNERED, the partnered no-child variant, ensuring the two cannot both apply. Mutual exclusivity is a function of the dependent_children field, which can take only one boolean value; the conflict gate makes the routing explicit rather than relying solely on field consistency.
Two practical considerations sit at the edge of the eligibility test. First, "dependent child" follows the Centrelink dependency definition: typically a child under 16, or a 16-19 year old still in full-time secondary education and meeting the dependent child income test. Second, the affects.rule_id entry for AU_FEDERAL_CRA_COUPLE_1_2_CHILD with effect enables means that once this rule is paying, Commonwealth Rent Assistance is assessed against the couple-with-1-or-2-children band rather than the couple no-child band, raising the CRA cap.
How To Apply
Application metadata defines two channels: online and service centre. The myGov online channel is faster because Centrelink can confirm independence status, partner link, and dependent child registration from existing customer records and FTB child registrations without document upload.
Evidence requirements are explicitly listed in the rule and should be prepared in advance:
- identity document (driver licence or passport, with secondary documents matching the Centrelink points test)
- enrolment confirmation from the registered education provider, showing the unit list and percentage of full-time load
- tax file number
- proof of dependent children - typically the child's birth certificate or the FTB child registration record, plus shared care percentages if applicable
Two practical tips help with this rule. First, have the dependent child registered in Centrelink before lodging the YA student claim; an unregistered child can stall the routing into this rule and force interim payment at the no-child rate. Second, prepare partner income evidence at intake; partner-side preprocessing happens before this rule's taper and missing partner data is a frequent cause of estimate-vs-final mismatches at first reconciliation.
Rule-Based Scenarios
Scenario 1: full base, both partners under the free area, one toddler
Talia is 21, partnered to Marek, with a 2-year-old daughter, an Australian citizen, completing a Bachelor of Early Childhood Education at full-time load. Independence is established because she has a dependent child. Personal earnings are $300 per fortnight from a casual childcare role; Marek earns $1,000 per fortnight, sitting under the partner free area, so partner-side excess is zero. Personal income is also below the $539 threshold. Talia receives the full base of $733.20 per fortnight, plus FTB Part A and Part B flow through their own rules independently. The auto-issued Health Care Card lifts CRA assessment into the couple-with-child band.
Scenario 2: partial taper from a busy retail fortnight
Brendan is 23, partnered to Aroha, with a 4-year-old son, a permanent resident, in his second year of a Bachelor of Civil Engineering. Independence is established by age (22 and over) and reinforced by parenthood. He works at a hardware retailer earning $1,100 per fortnight; Aroha earns $1,200 per fortnight (under the partner free area). Personal excess over $539 is $561; the 50 cent reduction is $280.50. Estimated YA student payment is $452.70 per fortnight. CRA continues to apply at the couple-with-child cap.
Scenario 3: payment to zero, eligibility preserved
Mei is 24, partnered, with two young children, an Australian citizen, completing a Master of Pharmacy at full-time load. During a clinical placement her personal earnings spike to $2,500 per fortnight; her partner earns $1,400 per fortnight, sitting under the partner free area. Personal excess over $539 is $1,961; the 50 cent reduction is $980.50, exceeding the base. The floor cap of $0 applies for that fortnight. Eligibility is preserved and the rule resumes paying once income drops back below the cut-out of $2,005 per fortnight.
Scenario 4: routed off when child status ends
Jordan is 24, partnered, with a child who has just turned 19 and finished secondary school. The child no longer satisfies the Centrelink dependent definition, so dependent_children updates to false. The eligibility test fails and this rule no longer applies. The case routes automatically to the partnered no-child YA student rule, which is the named conflict on this side. The base remains $733.20 per fortnight per partner because the no-child variant uses the same per-member figure, but CRA drops back to the couple no-child band.
Common Mistakes
- Assuming dependent-child status alone gives independence at any age: the dependence-via-child path applies for YA student independence purposes for applicants under 22; from 22 onward independence applies by age regardless. Lodging at age 16 with a child is allowed but Centrelink still verifies the dependent-child criterion against shared-care percentages and primary carer evidence.
- Reading the partnered-with-child rate as different from the partnered no-child rate: both pay $733.20 per fortnight per member. The presence of a child does not lift the YA student per-member base; child cash flows separately through FTB Part A and Part B. Treating this rule's headline as higher than the no-child path overstates expected cash for the household.
- Reporting child support inside personal income: child support transfers between former partners are not part of
income_fortnightlyfor the YA student income test. Including them double-counts the household income picture and incorrectly tapers the payment; child support is handled separately in the FTB Part A maintenance income test. - Treating a child still in primary school but not on the FTB record as not dependent: Centrelink's dependent-child definition is broader than the FTB Part A registration. A primary-school-aged child in shared care can still satisfy the dependent-child gate even if their FTB registration sits with the other parent. Failing to update the dependent-child flag stalls routing into this rule.
- Forgetting that the partnered-with-child rule enables CRA at the couple-with-child band: the affects list records that this rule enables CRA at the couple-with-1-or-2-children level. An applicant who manually applies for CRA at the couple no-child band underclaims rent assistance until the child band is recognised.
- Confusing this rule with the LTIS couple variant: both pay $733.20 per fortnight per member but they have different eligibility tests. The LTIS couple variant requires the long-term income support gate and excludes dependent children; this rule requires a dependent child and does not require the LTIS gate. Routing one through the other generates incorrect required-field prompts.
Related Rules And Interactions
The conflicts list, affects list, and parent cluster define the interaction surface.
- Youth Allowance student - independent, partnered (no children) - direct conflict; same per-member base of $733.20 routed by absence of dependent children. Switching between the two is governed by the
dependent_childrenflag. - Youth Allowance student - independent, single, with dependent child - the routing target when partnership ends while the dependent child remains; uses a higher single-with-child rate.
- Youth Allowance student - long-term income support, couple, no children - same per-member rate of $733.20 reached via a different gate (LTIS prior support); restricted to couples without children.
- Commonwealth Rent Assistance - couple, with 1 or 2 children - enabled by this rule's
affectsentry; CRA cap lifts to the couple-with-child band while this rule pays. - Health Care Card - auto-issued via the affects list while this rule pays; covers PBS and bulk-billing concessions.
- Family Tax Benefit Part A - companion family payment that handles per-child cash flows independently of this YA student per-member base.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the per-member base for this rule?
$733.20 per fortnight per member, recorded in the YAML as the January 2026 official value confirmed against the Services Australia rate page for the partnered-with-child line. Annualised across 26 fortnights the unreduced figure is roughly $19,063 per year per partner.
How does this rule differ from the LTIS couple variant?
Both pay the same $733.20 per-member rate but route through different eligibility tests. This rule requires dependent_children = true and does not require the long-term income support flag. The LTIS couple variant requires the 26 of 39 weeks prior support test and excludes dependent children. Routing between them depends on the field combination.
How does partner income reduce the payment?
Partner income above the partner free area is added to the claimant's income_fortnightly by the preprocessing layer before the 50 cent taper from $539 runs. The single cumulative step in the YAML then handles the combined excess; there is no separate partner-side rate inside the rule.
Does this rule require independence to be already established?
Yes. The eligibility test requires ya_independence_status = independent. For applicants under 22, having a dependent child can itself be the trigger that establishes YA independence. From age 22 onward independence applies automatically by age regardless of parental status.
What does this rule do to Commonwealth Rent Assistance?
The affects list records that this rule enables AU_FEDERAL_CRA_COUPLE_1_2_CHILD. Once the partnered-with-child YA student rule is paying, Centrelink evaluates CRA against the couple-with-1-or-2-children band rather than the no-child band, lifting the CRA maximum cap accordingly.
What income makes the payment drop to zero?
Combined assessable fortnightly income (personal plus preprocessed partner excess) of around $2,005 or more zeroes the payment under the floor cap. The arithmetic: $733.20 divided by the 0.5 rate gives $1,466.40 of taper-zone earnings, plus the $539 free area equals $2,005.40.
What happens when the dependent child status ends?
The eligibility test fails and the case routes to the partnered no-child YA student rule, which this rule names directly in its conflicts array. The per-member base remains $733.20 because the partnered no-child sibling uses the same headline figure, but CRA drops to the couple no-child band.
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