Commonwealth Prac Payment (CPP)

To be eligible, you must:

• Be a domestic student enrolled in a Commonwealth-supported place (CSP),
• Completing an eligible course in teaching, social work, nursing, or midwifery (see eligible courses) and undertaking eligible placement units (see eligible placement units)
• Participate in 30 placement hours or more per week for the duration of the placement OR as part of course of study in midwifery known as continuity of care placements which prevents you from being able to maintain paid work due to the need to ensure availability during placement.

AND

• Receive an eligible Commonwealth income support payment (ISP):
  • Centrelink income support payments include ABSTUDY Living Allowance, Age Pension, Austudy, Carer Payment, Disability Support Pension,  JobSeeker Payment, Parenting Payment, Special Benefit, Farm Household Allowance, Youth Allowance
  • Department of Veteran Affairs payments include Age Pension, Income Support Supplement, Service Pension, Veteran Payment, Education Allowance, or;
     
• Meet the criteria of both the:
  • Need To Work Test: working on average more than 15 hours per week either in the four-week period immediately prior to applying for CPP or commencing placement, whichever is earlier. Payslips must be from your most recent study period and not during holidays or placement, and;
  • Income Test: Income Test - not earning more than $1,500 on average a week (before tax) (including any scholarships you receive or similar financial cost of living assistance from Commonwealth States and Territories).

Students can submit applications through MyCPP, our application portal.

Eligible students will be sent an email invitation to apply for the CPP at least two weeks before their placement start date. Access to MyCPP will be rolled out to ensure students on placement or with upcoming placements are prioritised.

If you have a placement start date that is within the next two weeks and you have not received an email invitation granting you access to MyCPP, please contact scholarships@cdu.edu.au

Successful applicants will receive payments every fortnight after the commencement of their placement (not prior to 1 July 2025).

Students will be required to provide their bank details on MyStudentInfo - under the 'Finance' tab. Need help? Check out this step-by-step guide.

If you receive an income support payment from Centrelink, you must provide a copy of your most recent Income Statement or Centrelink Payment Details.

Note: Screenshots or bank statements will not be accepted as evidence. 

The statement should include:

• your full name
• the income payment you are receiving and the amount. It must show current and/or future payments.

If you work a minimum of 15 hours per week during an ordinary study period and earn less than $1,500 per week (before tax) from all income sources, you must provide: 

• Your most recent payslips for a continuous four-week period immediately prior to either your application or before the start of your placement, whichever occurs first
  Example:
  If your placement runs from 1 December to 28 December and you submit your CPP application on 30 November, your evidentiary period is 20 October to 16 November and you should submit your payslips for this period.
   
• Evidence of income from all other sources including any scholarships you receive or similar financial cost of living assistance from Commonwealth States and Territories
   
• For sole traders or self employed students, you must be able to provide your ABN information and acceptable evidence/documents must show 4 continuous weeks of gross income and can include: sole trader timesheets, client invoicing and billing information.

Notes: 

• Fortnightly or monthly pay slips will be averaged to get weekly hours and gross wage.
   
• All documents must include: your name, dates, hours of work, business name and gross income (preferably in pdf format).