Conveyance Allowance Program

Criteria 1 to 3 — Applicable to all students (whether attending mainstream or specialist settings in the government or non-government sector)

Criterion 1 — Reside 4.8km or more from the school

To be eligible for the conveyance allowance a student must reside 4.8km or more from the school/campus they attend. This distance is measured as the shortest practicable route from the student’s residence to the school/campus using all-weather public roads drivable by car.

The Student Conveyance Allowance System (SCAS) assesses this eligibility criteria by:

• determining the shortest route between the student’s address and the school/campus attended (whereas other public mapping tools commonly measure the shortest travel time)
• producing a table showing distances to nearby like schools, for comparison, which assists schools to determine whether the student is attending their nearest school/campus

The distance measured does not include private driveways.

Where families consider the route determined by SCAS cannot be driven or is inaccurate:

• families may make a written request to their school, addressed to the principal, for their child’s application to be reviewed by the department’s Conveyance Allowance Unit (CAU), which sits within the Student Transport Unit (STU)
• families wishing to have the application reviewed must provide a document setting out the proposed alternative route. Schools are encouraged to support families to identify the correct shortest route
• the school must submit a new application on SCAS together with the revised route provided by the family

Criterion 2 — Be of school age and reside in Victoria

Students must be eligible to attend school. School is compulsory for all Victorian children aged between 6 and 17 years but children commonly attend school between 5 and 18 years old. In some circumstances, students may be as young as 4 or aged up to 20 and eligible to attend school. Refer to the Enrolment Policy for information on age eligibility.

Criterion 3 — Be enrolled in a school for 3 or more days per week

Students must be enrolled at and attend school for 3 or more days per week.