3.1.4.5 Students
Special provisions are made for workers who are full-time Full-time worker means a worker who is employed for at least the normal number of hours fixed in any industrial award applicable to the worker or if there is no applicable award the prescribed number of hours students at the time of injury.
Post-secondary students
Claims first received by the Agent before 5 April 2010
PIAWE for full-time student workers who when injured were:
- undertaking a course of studies that qualified them for Austudy or
- full-time students as defined in the Commonwealth Student and Youth Assistance Act 1973 (Cth)
- is calculated as usual until the time that the worker would have completed the course of full-time studies.
From the time that the worker would have completed their full-time studies, PIAWE is calculated as if their PIAWE was $1,960 (indexed annually).
Claims for weekly payments first received by the Agent on or after 5 April 2010
PIAWE for full-time student workers who were injured during a course of studies at a post-secondary institution as defined in the Education and Training Reform Act 2006 (other than students employed under a practical placement agreement as defined in Part 5.4 of that Act), is calculated as usual until the time that the worker would have completed the course of full-time studies.
From the time that the worker would have completed their full-time studies, PIAWE is calculated at twice the State average weekly earnings (currently $2,660).
Full-time primary or secondary students
For a worker who was a full-time primary or secondary student at the time of injury, PIAWE is calculated as usual until the date that the worker would have completed secondary school.
From the time that the worker would have completed secondary school, PIAWE is calculated at $1,550 (indexed annually).
Other students
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Item 10 – Full time tertiary students (e.g. university, TAFE) – from the time the worker, but for the injury, would have completed the course, PIAWE is twice the State average weekly earnings ($2,660 from 1 July 2023, indexed annually);
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Item 11 – Full time primary or secondary school students – from the time the worker, but for the injury, would have completed secondary school, PIAWE is $1,550 (rate from 1 July 2023, indexed annually);
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Item 12 – School students under a work experience arrangement or a structured workplace learning arrangement under Part 5.4 of the Education and Training Reform Act 2006 (ERTA) – PIAWE is deemed under section 5.4.9(6) of the ETRA;
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Item 13 – Post-secondary school students under a practical placement under Part 5.4 of the ETRA - PIAWE is deemed under section 5.4.16(5) of the ETRA.
3.1.4.6 Seasonal or itinerant workers
In general, PIAWE is based on the earnings of the worker from continuous employment by the same employer for the period of 52 weeks immediately before the injury (or if less than 52 weeks, then the period of actual employment).
An exception to this is where the worker is employed by more than one employer at the time of injury.
If the worker does not have fixed ordinary hours of work and a fixed pay rate use the average of the actual weekly earnings in the relevant period.
If at the time of injury, the worker had been employed by the employer for less than four weeks, the PIAWE may be based on the expected weekly earnings of the worker in the 52 week period after the injury.
3.1.4.7 Workers who receive piece rates
Piece rates/tally bonus payments are payments which might be in addition to the worker’s ordinary time rate of pay. They are usually based on the output of a worker and calculated daily. They are common in the clothing, footwear and the meat industries.
The piece rate/tally bonus payment can be based on the individual output of a worker or the output of a team – this will depend on the terms of the worker’s employment.
Examples of payments for industry are:
- extra payments based on the number of garments produced in a specified period or
- in the meat industry – extra payments based on each head of stock treated in excess of a minimum tally.
Piece rates/tally bonus payments may be the sole means of remuneration of workers in some industries, such as fruit picking.
Annual bonuses or other incentive based payments or bonuses are not included as part of a piece rate or tally bonus. Commissions are separately included in the worker’s ordinary earnings.
If an ordinary rate of pay is fixed and a piece rate/tally bonus payment is payable, the worker’s ordinary earnings for the purposes of PIAWE calculation are the sum of the:
- earnings calculated at that rate for ordinary hours in that week and
- piece rate/tally bonus payments paid in that week.