Commonwealth Prac Payment
The Commonwealth Prac Payment (CPP) is available from 1 July 2025.
As this is a new program, many aspects are continuing to develop. We'll update this page as new information becomes available.
Before submitting an application or enquiry, we strongly encourage you to review all the information on this page.
4. Exceptional circumstances
The Australian Government recognises students at risk of placement poverty may have exceptional circumstances which prevent them meeting eligbility for the minimum weekly placement hours or 'Need to work' and Income criteria.
The Department of Education will consider applications from students with exceptional circumstances if UQ is satisfied and can demonstrate that the circumstances meet the Department’s requirements.
Because these applications must be referred to the Department by UQ, they will take longer to assess. You should submit your application at least 6 weeks before starting the relevant placement.
Eligibility
Exceptional circumstances must:
- Be outside the student’s control and/or temporary, uncommon, irregular or unusual.
- Have impacted the student within the 4 week ‘evidentiary period’ or the placement period.
- Be supported by documented evidence that demonstrates a direct and significant impact on the student’s ability to meet one or more of the CPP eligibility requirements related to placement hours or the Need to Work and Income Test.
- In the case of the income support and/or income eligibility requirements, be expected to be satisfied in the applicant’s regular day to day life when undertaking their normal studies.
Exceptional circumstances may be ongoing or episodic in nature. They may be experienced by the student, or by someone they have a significant relationship with (e.g. if the student has demonstrated caring responsibilities).
Circumstances that can normally be considered under these provisions include:
Disability, mental health or medical condition, illness, injury or caring responsibilities
This may apply if you are enrolled in an eligible course and either:
- receive an eligible Income Support Payment or meet the Need to work and Income test, but are unable to undertake a full-time placement averaging at least 30 hours per week due to the impact of your condition or circumstances
- are undertaking an eligible placement, but are unable to meet the Eligible Income Support Payment or Need to work and Income test due to the impact of your condition or circumstances.
The functional impacts of your condition and required adjustments must be verified and documented through a Student Access Plan.
Inability to meet documentation equirements due to severe, unusual and unexpected circumstances beyond your control
This may apply to you if circumstances beyond your control, such as a natural disaster, prevent you from providing acceptable documentation of an eligible Income Support Payment or the Need to work and Income test.
- You must be able to provide acceptable documentation to demonstrate these exceptional circumstances in your application
- If your application is approved, you may be required to provide acceptable documentary evidence of an Eligible Commonwealth Income Support Payment or the Need to Work and Income Criteria at a later date.
Exceptional circumstances applications will not be accepted in the following circumstances:
- you are not a domestic student
- you are not enrolled in an eligible program or eligible course
- you are allocated a placement that does not meet the eligible placement requirements due to limited availability of full-time placements
- you do not have a Commonwealth Supported Place in your program
- your circumstances are not unusual, uncommon, irregular or beyond your control.
Documentation
Your application must identify the relevant exceptional circumstances category that has prevented you from meeting one or more of the CPP eligibility requirements. This should be accompanied by the below documentation:
- A completed Exceptional Circumstances application form (PDF, 636 KB). This form includes further details on how to complete the application and the additional documentation required.
- Documentary evidence of your circumstances:
- If you have or had an approved Student Access Plan (SAP) for the semester for which you are applying, you can submit a copy of your SAP and the forms and documentation provided to the student adviser when you applied for the SAP.
- If you do not have an approved SAP in place (or don’t wish to use it), ask your qulaified health practitioner to complete one (or both, if applicable) of the following forms:
The following documentation is acceptable for each category of exceptional circumstances. This is not an exhaustive list:
Disability
Documentation from a registered health practicioner outlining the general details of the disability or condition which affects the student's ability to engage with work or study.
This documentation should also include the kinds of adjustments to work or study that a student may require.
Health and Medical
Medical certificate or statements/letters of support from a registered health practitioner outlining the:
- general details of an illness, or chronic condition which affects the student's ability to engage with work or study
- kinds of adjustments to work or study a student may require as a result of their condition and how long these should apply
- estimated time the applicant will be unable to meet eligibility requirements.
Health and Medical - Carer
Additional documentation may be required for the circumstance of care giving, where the applicant is providing care to someone with a significant relationship to them.
Letters of support should be provided by one of the following for the person receiving the care:
- registered health practitioner
- treating registered health practitioner, or
- service.
Social Work
Acceptable documentation includes:
- statutory declarations
- medical certificate or statements or letters of support from registered health practitioner
- death certificate, death or funeral notice - if obtaining this documentation is difficult or not culturally appropriate, you may instead provide a letter from a medical or mental health professional who can attest to the impact your circumstances had on your health or wellbeing
- evidence of mandatory relocation
- documentation from local governments, State or Territory governments, Australian Government departments or agencies such as evidence of income support payments from Services Australia, ATO statements of income
- pay slips from employers or timesheets/invoicing information for sole traders
- support from the Indigenous Higher Education Unit of the Higher Education Provider
- family violence support service documents, documents issued by a police service, or documents issued by a court as per the Fair Work Ombudsman’s publication, Notice and evidence for family and domestic violence leave
- evidence from a registered service provider
- evidence of residence in an area affected by natural disaster or emergency
- evidence of compulsory legal proceedings or court-imposed requirements or conditions.
How to apply
If you believe exceptional circumstances will prevent you from meeting the eligibility criteria for minimum weekly placement hours or the Need to Work and Income criteria, you can apply for consideration under exceptional Circumstances provisions when you submit the CPP application through My Requests from your my.UQ dashboard.
You can track your request in your my.UQ Dashboard under My Requests. You'll also be notified via your UQ student email account as your application progresses.
If you have already submitted your CPP application, please use the enquiry form to request your application to be reassigned to you via the my.UQ dashboard.
You can also use the enquiry form to contact us if you need advice on your specific circumstances.
Contact
If you've read through the information on this page and have questions, you can submit an enquiry.