Commonwealth Prac Payment

If you don’t meet the standard eligibility criteria but face significant barriers to completing your placement, you may still be eligible. You’ll need to provide documentation, and your application will be assessed individually.

The categories for exceptional circumstances are:  

• Disability: where your circumstances (disability) are such that you are unable to meet the eligibility requirements of the CPP.
• Health and Medical: where your medical condition is such that you are unable to meet the eligibility requirements of the CPP.  
• Acute personal or family life event: where you are experiencing significant personal or family impacts on yourself or someone who has significant relationship to you.

If TAFE Queensland determines that your circumstances may meet the criteria, your application and supporting documentation will be submitted to the Department of Education (DoE) for final approval.

To be eligible for the Commonwealth Prac Payment, you are required to undertake a minimum of 30 placement hours per week.

For the Bachelor of Nursing, the maximum number of weeks is 20 weeks for calendar year 2026.

You must be completing a mandatory placement that is required for professional accreditation and your CPP averages 30 hours or more per week.

The CPP is intended to help you manage placement related costs and ease the loss of income because of completing practical placements. It can be used for various expenses including travel, accommodation, uniforms, food, living expenses and essential items required to complete your placement.

If you are identified as being admitted into an eligible course & enrolled into PEP unit, you will receive an email link to the application form.     

You will need to supply supporting documents in your application – We recommend you gather all necessary documents ahead of time to ensure a smooth process.

Yes, you can save your application and return to complete it later. 

Note: Saving your application is different to submitting an application. You will need to submit your saved application

You will need to apply for the CPP for each placement you are attending and confirm your circumstances have not changed.

You may need documents like:

• Payslips / payroll prints / time and wages sheets  
• Proof of income support
• Placement confirmation
• Payment summary from another government agency confirming income
• a letter from your employer.   

For self-employed students, evidence might include:  

• client invoicing and billing information and/or sole trader timesheets. For CPP eligibility purposes, a sole trader's gross income means the income remaining after deducting business expenses.

You will be notified via your preferred email recorded on your student profile about your application outcome.  If your application is approved, your notification email will include a payment schedule and any further steps.

If we need any additional information, we’ll contact you. This may delay the processing time.

Your CPP application will be placed on hold if your placement details and allocation aren’t available in the student placement system at the time of processing.

If successful you will receive your payment in one or more instalments once your application has been finalised.  We will provide further clarity once we finalise the CPP process.

CPP will be paid into your nominated bank account by TAFE Queensland.

Please ensure that your banking details are up to date in the Student Portal to avoid delays in payment schedules.

Yes. The CPP counts as ordinary taxable income, so you must report it:

TAFE Queensland will give you a payment summary showing the total CPP income you received for the relevant financial year.

For more information please visit:

• For Centrelink income support payments: Income from Commonwealth Prac Payment
• For DVA payments: What you need to tell us about
• For the ATO: Government payments and allowances

No. CPP is capped at the minimum period of placement required to achieve entry-to-practice. You will not be entitled to the CPP for additional placement weeks required to complete your course.

The Commonwealth Government have prepared a frequently asked questions page for further information -  read more here.

You need to advise TAFE Queensland if your circumstances change as possible, by completing a CPP Change of Circumstances Form. 

Failure to notify us may result in:

• Recovery of overpaid CPP funds
• Loss of eligibility for future CPP payments
• Government action for debt recovery and compliance requirements

If you withdraw from your course before completing your placement and have already received the CPP, you will need to repay the portion of CPP, to TAFE Queensland, for any uncompleted weeks of placement. 

If you complete your placement prior to withdrawing, you will not be required to repay the amount of CPP received. 

You will need to submit a form for any change of circumstances relating to your Prac. Placement, as soon as possible to avoid any overpayments. 

If you need to defer your placement, you will need to submit a form for change of circumstances. 

This form is needed for any change of circumstances relating to your Prac. Placement. This helps avoid any issues like overpayments.

You can usually keep the payment you've already received, as long as you complete the placement later.  If CPP has already been paid for all of the allocated placement weeks, no additional payments will be made when recommencing the placement after a deferral.

If you have applied for the CPP and your placement is cancelled prior to receiving payment, you need to advise TAFE Queensland of the cancellation as soon as possible by completing a CPP Change of Circumstances Form.  

If your placement is cancelled after receiving payment, you will need to repay the portion of CPP for any uncompleted weeks of placement, to TAFE Queensland.

If you have applied for the CPP and your placement is deferred prior to receiving payment, you need to advise TAFE Queensland of your new placement dates as soon as possible, by completing a CPP Change of Circumstances Form.  

If your placement is deferred after receiving payment, you may retain the CPP until you complete the deferred placement, so long as your placement is deferred within the same calendar year.