Scholarships and Centrelink Payments

Following is a summary of Centrelink’s procedures regarding income tests for students receiving Centrelink payments:

  • Commonwealth Equity Scholarships will continue to be fully exempt from the personal income test, the new scholarships awarded through Centrelink will also be fully exempt
  • In addition students may receive up to $7,310 from other equity or merit-based scholarships that will not affect Centrelink payments
  • Amounts above the $7,310 amount from the other equity or merit-based scholarships will be considered as income and may affect Centrelink payments (this is calculated from the total of income from these scholarships)
  • Any scholarship must be declared by the student to Centrelink, to avoid incurring a debt due to the income test