How are weekly CTP benefits calculated for students?
A student is not automatically paid weekly benefits from the accident date based on a hypothetical graduate salary. Schedule 1 contains a specific full-time student rule that starts when the person would have completed the course and is at least 15. A student who separately met the ordinary earner definition through work may also have a different early-period issue.
For a full-time student, Schedule 1 clause 5 treats the person as an earner from the time the course would have been completed, provided the person is at least 15, and bases PAWE from that time on the weekly earnings the person would have received after completing the course. Before that trigger, actual part-time or casual employment must be analysed under the ordinary earner rules. Apprentices, trainees and certain workers under 21 with contractual increments use the separate week-by-week rule in Schedule 1 clause 6.
Key points to check
Use these points to match the guide to the document or issue you are dealing with.
Does every student receive weekly CTP payments?
No. Entitlement depends on the applicable earner provision, accident-related loss and the relevant period. The full-time student rule has a future completion trigger.
Is a graduate salary used from the accident date?
No. Clause 5 applies on and from the time the course would have been completed and the person is at least 15.
Can part-time work while studying count?
Potentially. Actual employment may independently satisfy the ordinary earner definition and should be evidenced separately.
The full-time student rule has a future trigger
Clause 5 does not simply replace low student wages with a graduate wage from the day after the accident. The person is taken to be an earner on and from the time the course would have been completed and the person has attained at least 15 years. From that time, PAWE is based on the weekly earnings the person would have received upon employment after completing the course.
For a full-time secondary student, the legislation assumes successful completion of the final school year for this purpose. Guidelines clause 4.59 requires consideration of the course, academic results, relevant published graduate wage data, work experience, ABS age and industry data, the claimant’s individual circumstances and other relevant circumstances.
A student may also have an ordinary earner question
A student who worked before the accident may independently satisfy the Schedule 1 earner definition. That can affect weeks before the expected course-completion date. The actual wage record, employment history and accident-related loss must be assessed; being enrolled does not erase paid work, and being a student does not itself prove an early weekly-payment entitlement.
Keep the actual employment calculation separate from the future clause 5 student calculation. The relevant figure and start date may change over the claim.
Apprentices, trainees and contractual increments use a different rule
Clause 6 applies to an earner who was under 21, an apprentice, or employed under a training arrangement where the contract entitled the person to earnings increments as employment continued. For each post-accident week, PAWE is based on the weekly earnings likely payable in that week had the accident not happened and the employment continued.
This is not a general licence to project any young person’s preferred career. The contract, award progression, training milestones and employer evidence must support the increment.
Worked example: expected course completion
Assume a full-time university student would have completed the course on 30 November 2026 and was then expected, based on the course, results, work experience, published graduate data and individual evidence, to earn AUD 1,200 gross per week. If clause 5 applies, the student PAWE basis would begin from the statutory completion trigger at AUD 1,200 per week, not automatically from the accident date.
This is an illustration only. The expected earnings figure must be determined from clause 4.59 evidence; it cannot be selected from a job advertisement or a claimant’s preferred salary. Any actual pre-completion part-time earnings and weekly entitlement are assessed separately.
Student and young-person evidence checklist
Build both an education chronology and an earnings chronology. They answer different statutory questions.
- Enrolment record, course load and expected completion date.
- Academic results and evidence of likely course progression.
- Work experience, placements, qualifications and relevant applications or offers.
- Published graduate wage and ABS material relevant to the individual course and industry.
- Payslips, rosters and tax records for actual pre-accident work.
- Apprenticeship, traineeship, award or contractual increment documents.
- Medical and rehabilitation evidence explaining delayed study or work transition.
- Insurer decision identifying the clause, trigger date and evidence used.
Common errors and review steps
Errors include using only a low casual wage after the clause 5 trigger, applying an assumed graduate wage from the accident date, overlooking actual earner status before completion, treating an aspirational career as established, or ignoring contractual apprenticeship increments. Ask for the written decision and the evidence used for the course-completion date and weekly figure.
If the decision is disputed, provide a dated course-and-work chronology, targeted wage sources and the alternative calculation. Keep PAWE separate from work capacity and damages. Check the decision-specific internal-review and PIC timing immediately.
Last reviewed: 11 August 2026. Source basis: Motor Accident Injuries Act 2017 (NSW), Schedule 1; SIRA Motor Accident Guidelines version 10.1, including clauses 4.44–4.70; and current official SIRA and PIC material.
When individual review is necessary
Interrupted study, a changed course, uncertain completion, combined study and work, postgraduate plans or an informal job prospect can make automation unsafe. The calculator should not produce a definitive student PAWE in those pathways. Send the insurer decision, enrolment record and employment evidence for individual review.
Frequently asked questions
- Does every student receive weekly CTP payments?
- No. Entitlement depends on the applicable earner provision, accident-related loss and the relevant period. The full-time student rule has a future completion trigger.
- Is a graduate salary used from the accident date?
- No. Clause 5 applies on and from the time the course would have been completed and the person is at least 15.
- Can part-time work while studying count?
- Potentially. Actual employment may independently satisfy the ordinary earner definition and should be evidenced separately.
- How is the expected post-course wage selected?
- Guidelines clause 4.59 lists the course, results, published graduate data, work experience, ABS data and individual circumstances among the relevant factors.
- Are apprentices treated as students?
- Not necessarily. Clause 6 provides a separate week-specific method for apprentices, trainees and certain workers with contractual increments.
- Does student PAWE determine future damages?
- No. Common-law economic-loss damages have separate fault, injury, causation and evidentiary requirements.
Sources
Official public sources relevant to this guide.