Social Security Act 1991

Austudy payment is not payable to a person, for the period starting in accordance with section 576B and ending in accordance with section 576C, if:

the person commits an austudy participation failure; and

the Secretary requires the person:

to comply with the requirement, or undertake the activity, to which the austudy participation failure relates; or

to comply with a particular requirement, or undertake a particular activity, in place of the requirement or activity to which the failure relates;

the person fails to comply with the requirement.

This section does not apply in relation to the failure if:

the Secretary is satisfied that the person had a reasonable excuse for the failure referred to paragraph (1)(c); or

the Secretary is for any other reason satisfied that subsection (1) should not apply to the failure.

The Secretary must, by legislative instrument, determine matters that the Secretary must take into account in deciding whether, for the purposes of paragraph (2)(a), a person had a reasonable excuse for a failure of a kind mentioned in paragraph (1)(c).

To avoid doubt, a determination under subsection (2A) does not limit the matters that the Secretary may take into account in deciding whether, for the purposes of paragraph (2)(a), a person had a reasonable excuse for the failure referred to in paragraph (1)(c).

The participation failure instalment period for the austudy participation failure is the next instalment period of the person to start after the day on which the Secretary first became aware that the person committed the failure.

This section does not apply to an austudy participation failure if section 577 applies to the failure.