Commonwealth Prac Payment for teaching students: rate, eligibility and how to apply

What the Prac Payment is and why it exists

Teaching degrees include blocks of full-time, unpaid placement in schools: at least 80 days in an undergraduate degree and 60 days in a postgraduate one. During those weeks most students can't keep their usual part-time job, which researchers and unions have called placement poverty. The Commonwealth Prac Payment is the federal government's answer. It started on 1 July 2025 and pays a weekly amount for the weeks you're on an eligible placement.

It is paid by the Australian Government through your university. The school you're placed in doesn't pay it, and it isn't a wage. You don't have to pay it back, and it isn't added to your HECS-HELP debt.

Who is eligible

Employment-based students are a special case. If you're already being paid by a school while you train (as in Nexus or similar programs), your paid school work isn't the kind of unpaid placement the payment is designed for. Ask your program provider how it treats any unpaid placement blocks.

How the means test works

The payment is means-tested so it goes to students who need it. If you already get Youth Allowance (student), Austudy or ABSTUDY, you're generally treated as meeting the test. If you don't, your university uses the application to assess your income (and, where relevant, your partner's or parents' income) against the department's rules. The exact thresholds sit in the department's guidelines and can change, so read the version your university links to rather than relying on a figure you saw online.

How to apply, step by step

What it's worth over a whole degree

Budgeting for a placement block

The Prac Payment doesn't always replace what you lose. Work out your own gap before each block so you're not caught short. The example below uses a student who normally earns $400 a week from a casual job and can't work during a 4-week placement.

Tax, Centrelink and other payments

Treat the Prac Payment as taxable income and include it in your tax return unless your university's documents say otherwise. For most students it won't create a tax bill, because a student's total income for the year is often under the $18,200 tax-free threshold. If you also work, ask the university whether it withholds tax and keep the payment summary it gives you.

If you receive Youth Allowance, Austudy or ABSTUDY, ask your university and Services Australia how the Prac Payment interacts with your payment and what you need to report. Rules on reporting change, and getting this wrong can create a debt later.

State placement money on top

Some states add their own placement support. Victoria pays Pre-service Teacher Placement Grants of $100 to $200 per placement day at eligible regional, remote or specialist government schools for placements between 28 January and 31 December 2026. NSW's teach.Rural Scholarship includes a rural practicum allowance of $500 a week, up to $5,000. These are separate from the Commonwealth payment. Your state's become-a-teacher page lists what's available locally.