Partner Allowance (PA) From 20 October 2003, Partner Allowance was closed to new claimants. People on Partner Allowance before this date can remain on the allowance while they remain that is ‘current’, retain eligibility and entitlement for the allowance. Partner Allowance was for dependent partners of pensioners and allowees. Partners had to be born before 1 July 1955, have no dependent children and have little or no recent workforce experience. Partner Allowance had no job search requirement. See Explanatory Notes for history. Service Centre A DHS Service Centre that provides DSS and other payments and related information and services to recipients. Service Centres are managed by Service Zones. Service Zone A set of Service Centres, grouped together for operational purposes on a geographic basis. Service Zones replaced Areas and Area Support Offices in July 2011. Short-term recipients Persons on Newstart Allowance or Youth Allowance who have been receiving income support for less than 12 months. Duration of short-term recipients can be reset to zero if they exited from payments for more than 6 weeks. Widow Allowance (WA) From 1 July 2005 Widow Allowance new grants may only be made to women born on or before 1 July 1955. Widow Allowance, a non-activity tested payment, is payable to females aged 50 years or over who have become widowed, divorced or separated since turning 40 years if they have little or no recent work experience and meet a number of other criteria relating to current marital status. See Explanatory Notes for history. Youth Training Allowance (YTA) From 1 January 1995 eligible persons aged under 18 years who were registered as unemployed with the CES were paid Youth Training Allowance. From 1 July 1998, Youth Training Allowance was replaced by Youth Allowance. See Explanatory Notes for history. Youth Allowance (YA) Youth Allowance is payable to eligible full-time students aged 16 to 25 years, and to eligible unemployed persons aged 16 to 21 years who satisfy the activity test. Note, there are certain exceptions for some 15 and 25 year olds. See Explanatory Notes for history.
Partner Allowance (PA) From 20 October 2003, Partner Allowance was closed to new claimants. People on Partner Allowance before this date can remain on the allowance while they remain ‘current’, that is retain eligibility and entitlement for the allowance. Partner Allowance was for dependent partners of pensioners and allowees. Partners had to be born before 1 July 1955, have no dependent children and have little or no recent workforce experience. Partner Allowance had no job search requirement. See Explanatory Notes for history. Service Centre A DHS Service Centre that provides DSS and other payments and related information and services to recipients. Service Centres are managed by Service Zones. Service Zone A set of Service Centres, grouped together for operational purposes on a geographic basis. Service Zones replaced Areas and Area Support Offices in July 2011. Short-term recipients Persons on Newstart Allowance or Youth Allowance who have been receiving income support for less than 12 months. Duration of short-term recipients can be reset to zero if they exited from payments for more than 6 weeks. Widow Allowance (WA) From 1 July 2005 Widow Allowance new grants may only be made to women born on or before 1 July 1955. Widow Allowance, a non-activity tested payment, is payable to females aged 50 years or over who have become widowed, divorced or separated since turning 40 years if they have little or no recent work experience and meet a number of other criteria relating to current marital status. See Explanatory Notes for history. Youth Training Allowance (YTA) From 1 January 1995 eligible persons aged under 18 years who were registered as unemployed with the CES were paid Youth Training Allowance. From 1 July 1998, Youth Training Allowance was replaced by Youth Allowance. See Explanatory Notes for history. Youth Allowance (YA) Youth Allowance is payable to eligible full-time students aged 16 to 25 years, and to eligible unemployed persons aged 16 to 21 years who satisfy the activity test. Note, there are certain exceptions for some 15 and 25 year olds. See Explanatory Notes for history.