Education

Financial support assistance is available to Year 11 and 12 students whose nearest school is more than 40 kilometres from their usual home. The allowance is not income tested.

$1,472 is available for full-time students who study for the full academic year (payments of $736 twice a year). The allowance is limited to a maximum of two years, unless special circumstances exist. Application forms are available on the Department for Education, Children and Young People website or from the Financial Assistance Unit via email.

Eligibility:

• Students who are required to travel more than 40 kilometres between their usual parental/guardian home in Tasmania and the closest school in Tasmania offering their chosen course of study and are therefore required to make alternative accommodation arrangements are eligible for the allowance. Special provisions apply for students from Bass Strait Islands.
• Students are eligible for SAA if their local school does not offer a complete range of subjects that will allow a student to complete their full course of chosen study.
• Full-time students are those enrolled for 600 or more contact hours. Approved courses are TQA subjects and/or Vocational Education and Training (VET) subjects in an approved Tasmanian Senior Secondary School.
• Students enrolled in courses associated with apprenticeships or traineeships are not eligible for the allowance.
• A satisfactory attendance is required in all enrolled subjects. The allowance is only payable to permanent Tasmanian residents, not to interstate or overseas students who are attending Tasmanian schools.
• The allowance is not available for students whilst their parents are residing interstate or overseas.
• Parents/guardians of students who attend non-government schools are required to provide confirmation of enrolment with their SAA application form. A second confirmation of enrolment and consistent attendance must be received by 15 September 2026.

Contact:

Department for Education, Children and Young People
Phone: 1800 827 055
Email: FAU@decyp.tas.gov.au
Web: www.decyp.tas.gov.au

Concession cards:

View more card information.

Concessions on fees for most adult education courses are available to full-time students and holders of eligible concession cards.

Please note that carers supporting learners with disability can attend classes free of charge.

Eligibility:

• Full-time student.
• Eligible concession card holder.

Contact:

Libraries Tasmania 
Phone: 6165 5564
Email: adulteducation.libraries@libraries.tas.gov.au
Web: www.adulteducation.libraries.tas.gov.au

Concession cards:

View more card information.

Contribution toward the cost of travel and accommodation for eligible apprentices and trainees. For travel in Tasmania, apprentices and trainees can receive:

• 41 cents per kilometre for off-the-job training travel over 42 kilometres return.
• 45 cents per kilometre for off-job training travel over 42 kilometres return for West Coast students.
• $55 per night accommodation allowance when travel is 61 kilometres or more each way.

Where apprentices and trainees must travel interstate for training, the Tasmanian Government will:

• Contribute to the cost of airfares.
• Pay $100 accommodation allowance per night.

Eligibility:

• Have an active training contract under the Training and Workforce Development Act 2013.
• Be funded under the Apprentice and Trainee Training Fund or TasTAFE Deed.
• Be a Tasmanian resident.
• Be required to travel to attend off-the-job training or assessments that are part of their agreed training plan.
• Be undertaking an entry level qualification required for the apprentice or trainee’s occupational outcome.

Contact:

Skills Tasmania
Phone: 6165 6055
Email: travelclaims@skills.tas.gov.au
Web: www.skills.tas.gov.au

Concession cards:

View more card information.

The Conveyance Allowance Program contributes toward the cost of transporting a student from home to school or the closest bus stop servicing that school.

There are two types of Conveyance Allowance:

• Private Car Travel contributes toward the cost of using a private car to transport a student from home to school or a bus stop servicing that school. It recognises that it is not practical to run a school bus service close to every child’s home in regional Tasmania.
• Air Travel contributes toward the cost of using air travel to transport a student from home, on a Bass Strait Island, to an educationally appropriate school on mainland Tasmania or Australia.

Submission of a new Conveyance Allowance Program application is required each year. All supporting documents must be dated with the current school year. Applications submitted between:

• 15 January and 15 May: will be assessed for the whole year.
• 16 May and 15 November: will be assessed for term 3 and term 4 only.

Eligibility - Private Car Travel

• Live more than five kilometres from the nearest government intake area school, educationally appropriate school or bus stop servicing the school.
• Live outside an area with an urban bus service.
• Be aged between five and 18 in the year of application.
• Be enrolled full-time (includes kindergarten).
• Be enrolled at a school recognised by the Department for Education, Children and Young People.

Eligibility - Air Travel

• Be in grade 11 or 12 OR need to attend an educationally appropriate school on mainland Tasmania or Australia.
• Be aged between five and 18 in the year you apply.
• Be enrolled full-time (includes kindergarten).
• Be enrolled at a school recognised by the Department for Education, Children and Young People.
• Live on a Bass Strait Island.

Contact:

Building Tasmania
Phone: 1300 135 513
Email: passenger.transport@building.tas.gov.au
Web: www.transport.tas.gov.au

Concession cards:

View more card information.

Assistance to buy government school uniforms may be available for students in exceptional or extenuating family circumstances.

Eligibility isn’t limited to concession card holders. Support is set case by case.

Eligibility:

• Support is on a case-by-case basis.

Contact:

Contact a social worker at the student’s school.

Concession cards:

View more card information.

The Spectacles Assistance Scheme helps low-income families buy glasses from participating optometrists.

For approved applicants, we will pay for one pair of standard prescribed lenses and standard frames. You will only receive this assistant once a year unless special circumstance applies (i.e. a prescription change).

Optometrists submit an invoice for the cost of spectacles and lenses directly to DECYP. If anything, other than standard frames and lenses are selected, you will have to pay the additional cost directly to the optometrist.

Eligibility:

• Students in out of home care are automatically eligible for spectacles assistance.
• Assistance is also available to grandparents who are legally responsible for their grandchildren.

Eligible students must be enrolled in either:

• a Government School
• a registered Non-Government school, or
• home education.

Application forms are available from optometrists participating in the scheme. Make sure your optometrist is participating in the scheme before your appointment. Phone 1800 827 055 for details of participating optometrists.

Contact:

Department for Education, Children and Young People
Phone: 1800 827 055
Email: service.centre@decyp.tas.gov.au
Web: www.decyp.tas.gov.au

Concession cards:

View more card information.

The Student Assistance Scheme (STAS) assists eligible families by waiving levies for students. It applies to students enrolled in a school from kindergarten through to year 12.

STAS is not a direct payment but means you won’t have to pay the levy charge.

Eligibility:

• Eligible concession card.
• Students in out of home care are automatically eligible for spectacles assistance.
• Assistance is also available to grandparents who are legally responsible for their grandchildren.
• Humanitarian, refugee, and asylum seeker visa holders, including those on relevant bridging visas, are eligible for STAS.

Contact:

Department for Education, Children and Young People
Phone: 1800 827 055
Email: stas@decyp.tas.gov.au
Web: www.decyp.tas.gov.au

Concession cards:

View more card information.

Closed until  30 June 2027

A Student Bus Pass for Free Travel - Special Circumstances provides full-time students aged 18 and over with free travel between home and school.

Free travel applies between 6:00 am and 7:00 pm on school days only.

Eligibility:

• Completion of a Student Bus Pass for Free Travel - Special Circumstances application. The following supporting documentation needs to be included:
  • your school Principal, Assistant Principal or Student Coordinator to complete section six of the application form.
• A letter from your school Principal, Assistant Principal or Student Coordinator. The letter must be on official letterhead and include the following information about you:
  • your name
  • your date of birth
  • your enrolments details
  • the special circumstances that make you eligible
  • include a copy of your valid concession card if you have one or a copy of your Immicard, and/or letter from a registered humanitarian support organisation.

If the student holds a concession card, they may be eligible to travel for free.

Contact:

Building Tasmania
Phone: 1300 135 513
Email: bus.passes@building.tas.gov.au
Web: www.transport.tas.gov.au

Concession cards:

View more card information.

Closed until 30 June 2027

A Student Bus Pass for Free Travel provides full-time students under 18 with free travel between home and school.

Free travel applies between 6:00 am and 7:00 pm on school days only.

Eligibility:

• Under 18, or turning 18 in the year of study.
• A full-time student enrolled at an education facility recognised by the Department for Education, Children and Young People.
• Hold an eligible concession card or be under a Care and Protection Order.
• Attends a home area school.

Contact:

Building Tasmania
Phone: 1300 135 513
Email: bus.passes@building.tas.gov.au
Website: www.transport.tas.gov.au

Concession cards:

View more card information.

Fees can be waived in full, or reduced to concession rate or other amount, for students in extreme financial hardship or for eligible Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.

Students are referred to a Student Counsellor or Aboriginal VET Officer for assessment.

Eligibility:

• Financial hardship.

Contact:

TasTAFE
Phone: 1300 655 307
Web: www.tastafe.tas.edu.au

Concession cards:

View more card information.

Up to a 25% reimbursement of childcare costs (to a maximum of $400 per student per year) is available to eligible students.

This concession is subject to available funds.

Eligibility:

• Enrolled in an accredited course at TasTAFE, and
• With childcare provided through a carer registered under the Family Day Care Scheme or a day care service or carer licensed by the Department for Education, Children and Young People.

Contact:

TasTAFE
Phone: 1300 655 307
Web: www.tastafe.tas.edu.au

Concession cards:

View more card information.

A reduction on the normal tuition fee for government subsidised program for each qualification or skill set is available to enrolled eligible students.

Eligibility:

• Receiving a Centrelink allowance such as Newstart, Youth Allowance, Disability Support Pension, a Pension, Austudy or Abstudy.
• Listed on a current Centrelink Card as a dependant.
• Hold an eligible concession card.

Contact:

TasTAFE
Phone: 1300 655 307
Web: www.tastafe.tas.edu.au

Concession cards:

View more card information.