Eligibility
Eligibility criteria
To be eligible for receipt of the EMA:
- The student must be below the age of sixteen; and
- The student must be enrolled at a primary or secondary Government or registered school in Victoria on census day, 29 February 2012 for the first instalment and 3 August 2012 for the second instalment; and
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The claimant must on Eligibility Day, 1 February 2012 for the first instalment and 16 July 2012, for the second instalment:
- be a parent or legal guardian of the student; and
- be an eligible beneficiary within the meaning of the State Concessions Act 2004, that is, a holder of Veterans Affairs Gold Card or be an eligible Health care card (HCC) or Pensioner Concession Card (PCC) holder or
- be a foster parent.
- Submit their application to the school by the due date.
The Pension Concession Card (PCC) or Health Care Card (HCC) is subject to electronic confirmation with Centrelink to verify the cardholder’s entitlement on eligibility day. The EMA web system will validate the Customer Reference Number (CRN), and the surname and first name that are provided with the CRN. The validation will usually occur within a few seconds .
School Start Bonus - From 2012, eligibility for the School Start Bonus will be based on similar eligibility to the Education Maintenance Allowance. Details of School Start Bonus eligibility.
Foster parent eligibility
Under the special consideration category, the foster parent may apply for the foster child only. Temporary caregivers, including kinship carers, through the Department of Human Services are considered to be foster parents.
This applies to eligibility for the EMA and the SSB.
Concession card codes eligible for EMA in 2012
The following card holders are eligible for EMA provided that they are receiving the eligible benefit on 1 February 2012 for the first instalment and 16 July 2012 for the second instalment.
Eligible Pension Concession Cards (PCC):
- Age pension (card code - AGE/AGE BLIND)
- Bereavement Allowance (card code - BVA)
- Carer payment (card code - CAR)
- Disability support pension (card code - DSP)
- Disability support pension - blind (card code - DSP BLIND)
- Mature age allowance (card code - MAA)
- Mature age partner allowance (card code - MPA)
- Newstart allowance - over 60 (card code - NSA)
- Newstart mature age allowance (card code - NMA)
- Parenting payment - partnered over 60 (card code - PP)
- Parenting payment - single (card code - PPS)
- Partner allowance - over 60 (card code - PA)
- Sickness allowance - over 60 (card code - SA)
- Special benefit - over 60 (card code - SL)
- Widow allowance - over 60 (card code - WA)
- Wife pension (card code - WFA, WFD, WFW)
- Widow B pension (card code - WID)
Eligible Health Care Cards (HCC):
- Exceptional circumstances relief payment (card code - DR)
- Family tax benefit - part A (card code - FA)
- Farm help income support (card code - FFR)
- Low income card (card code - LI)
- Newstart allowance (card code - NS)
- Newstart mature age allowance (card code - NMA)
- Parenting payment - partnered (card code - PP)
- Partner allowance (card code - PA)
- Sickness allowance (card code - SA)
- Special benefit (card code - SL)
- Widow allowance (card code - WA)
- Youth Allowance (card code - YA)
Parents or guardians ineligible for EMA
Parents or guardians who receive a Carer Allowance (formerly Child Disability Allowance), Mobility Allowance, Remote Area Allowance or any other benefit not income tested by Centrelink are not eligible for the EMA (or SSB) unless they are also holders of one of the eligible cards listed above.
Key documents
Memorandum - EMA Processing and Policy 2012 (Word - 3.2Mb) . This document provides detailed information regarding the Department's EMA policy and processing arrangements for 2012.
The following Policy Statements provide advice concerning the EMA eligibility for students living in institutions and families on temporary visas:
- Policy Statement - Education Maintenance Allowance concerning students who are living in institutions or foster care (PDF - 40Kb) - this document provides the policy on students living in institutions and out of home care as well as the policy on foster parents.
- Policy Statement - Families on a Temporary Visa or a Bridging Visa (PDF - 21Kb) - this policy clarifies the difference between families on a Temporary Protection Visa and families on a Bridging Visa (Refugee Status).