Recognised Relationship

For Student Allowance, a recognised relationship is when you and your partner are:

• both 24 or over
• in a relationship, which can be either a:
  • marriage
  • civil union
  • de facto relationship.

If either of you is under 24, one of you must have a child in your care to be in a recognised relationship.

You or your partner are 16 or 17

If either you or your partner are 16 or 17 and in a de facto relationship, a Family Court Judge must consent to your relationship. You’ll need to show us the court order from the Family Court Judge.

Before 14 August 2018, we accepted written consent from the parents of the 16-17 year old. If you’ve already given this to us before then, we can still use it. You don’t need to get consent from a Family Court Judge.