Scholarships & Allowances

NSW Department of Education and Communities administers two financial support programs for eligible families who must board their children away from home to obtain secondary education. These are the:

• Living Away From Home Allowance (LAFHA) which is a NSW Government allowance supporting access to secondary education for isolated students.
• Boarding Scholarship for Isolated Students (BSIS) which is a Department of Education and Communities equity provision for isolated rural students accessing NSW government specialist high schools.

Separate to state government support programs, there is also Australian government support through Centrelink, which manages the Assistance for Isolated Children (AIC) scheme. The scheme pays allowances for children who must live away from home to attend a school. 

In this section you will find more information and application forms about:

• The NSW government  programs, LAFHA and  BSIS.
• How you may under specific criteria obtain a statement of support to assist your claim for AIC with Centrelink.