Abstudy Flights
What you need to know and how to plan ahead.
This document is designed to help you with ABSTUDY flights bookings, ensuring you have the most up to date information, can plan ahead, and are aware of allowances.
It also includes some key dates for the year that you might need to prepare for and the limits in place.
It is important to know that all bookings for school holidays are due seven (7) weeks prior to the holiday period and any ‘Special Purpose’ flights are due 10 days prior to the event. Emergency bookings are assessed and booked with urgency.
The list on the following page is not inclusive of ALL important events, so please ensure you are familiar with the PLC school calendar by clicking on the ‘PARENT CALENDAR’ tile on the home.plc website.
If you are aware of your travel plans many weeks or months in advance please do send your requests accordingly:
Start/End of term flights to: bhholidayTransport@plc.wa.edu.au
Any other type of booking to: Tegan.Maffescioni@plc.wa.edu.au
March
August
September
December
School Events
Orientation for the Boarding House and First day of school
25 - 27 January
Year 12 Ball
Saturday 14 February
Reconciliation Week
25 - 28 May
NAIDOC Week 22 – 27 June
Year 12 Father Daughter Dinner
Thursday 20 August
ABC@PLC
Saturday 5 September
Year 12 Valedictory
Thursday 15 October
Speech Night
Wednesday 2 December
2027 Dates to be sent out by Term 4 2026.
When Can Students Travel
If students are eligible, ABSTUDY Fares Allowance will pay for:
• prospective students to travel for boarding orientation as well as open days for the school or scholarship interviews
• students to travel to and from home and their boarding school or hostel at the start and end of term (mid-term breaks are not covered by ABSTUDY)
• Special purpose visit travel (form to be completed by parents) can help when family or community members need to attend a school event. For example, any of the following:
• an award ceremony
• a sporting event
• a school play
• a parent teacher interview
• NAIDOC Week events
• graduation events
It can also help a family or community member travel to the school when both of the following apply:
• a student is homesick, having trouble adjusting, or having mental health challenges
• a visit from their family or community member will help the student stay in school
Usually, you can request ABSTUDY help for up to three special purpose visit trips per year.
This limit does not apply to trips for any of the following reasons:
• NAIDOC Week events
• graduation (Valedictory) events
• reuniting students with family or community members when the student is homesick and having trouble adjusting to boarding
• travel for compassionate reasons or expulsions, if a student needs to attend a funeral for example, ABSTUDY will provide transport, provided you have provided documentation to confirm this such as a funeral notice.
You can book ABSTUDY compassionate travel if a student needs to go home during term because:
• they’re sick or injured
• they need to attend a community event under Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander lore or kinship obligations
• a close family member is critically sick or hurt
• a close family member has died
• they need to go to a close family member’s funeral.
You need to give us evidence to get Fares Allowance for compassionate travel. This may include a statement from:
• the education or board provider
• a doctor
• the hospital
• a community authority
• We can also accept statement from a community person responsible for cultural matters. This is only if the travel request is for the student being required to return home for a cultural activity
• travel during an emergency or disaster
Penalties for Missed Travel
To change travel, please give as much notice as possible. More that 48 hours.
For every trip they miss without a valid reason, they may incur a debt of up to $100. We’ll continue to book travel for these students, but they may incur further debts for every trip they miss. For missed flights you sometimes need to wait a week until you can ‘re-book’, therefore if your daughter misses a flight due to being sick, be sure to provide a medical certificate so we can re-book sooner.
Make sure your students know:
• what their travel arrangements are
• that missing travel can incur a debt.
Booking Accommodation
If you are travelling to Perth for a Special Purpose visit you can also book accommodation. Abstudy will not take preferences for accommodation without a valid reason such as access to public transport.
Please be aware that you will need to provide Photo ID at your hotel and must be prepared to
manage security deposits and extra costs independently, as ABSTUDY does not provide for this. This includes charges for damages, room upgrades, or minibar consumption.
You daughter cannot stay with you at the accommodation as she should be able to reside in the Boarding House. Additional upgrades are at the expense of the family.
Accommodation/Airport Transport
Please be aware you can book transport to and from accommodation and the airport or airport and Boarding House.
Please look for the ABSTUDY transport at the airport, they will usually have a board with your name on it to help you to find them.
Things we need from you to request bookings:
• Dates of flights and details of destinations you wish to stay or be flown to from your home address
• Save travel plan, which is a plan for if your daughters travel gets delayed, redirected, or cancelled. If your daughter is travelling back to Perth, your local carer will be expected to collect your daughter in these circumstances. You will also need to provide details of an emergency contact from your home address, for when you or your daughter are flying to Perth.
For all travellers we require:
• Travellers CRN (For students only)
• Birth Date
• Relationship to student
• Full name
• Emergency contact x 2
When your daughter turns 16:
• Tax File Numbers
To remain eligible for ABSTUDY students must provide their Tax File Number prior to turning 16.
If the student has a Tax File Number but is unable to access it, they can contact the ATO Indigenous helpline on 131 030.
Alternatively, if the student does not have a Tax File Number, they can complete a Tax File Number application for an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. An authorised referee can complete the Proof of Identify reference section where appropriate.
Failure to supply a Tax File Number for any student will result in the suspension of their ABSTUDY payments when they turn 16.
Local Carers
It is a condition of enrolment at PLC that all boarding students have a nominated ‘Local Carer’ for both medical and general welfare. They are responsible for caring for your daughter if she is unwell, injured, or removed from the Boarding House for disciplinary reasons, where the parent is unable to immediately get to Perth. As ABSTUDY flights require at least 24 hours notice in most cases, it is imperative that you have a local carer who is aware of their responsibility in caring for your daughter if urgent or an emergency and can collect them from the Boarding House within 2-4 hours. If the local carer is unavailable, and your daughter requires one-to-one care outside of our usual Boarding House staffing arrangements, the staffing cost will be charged to you directly.
Gorna Liyarn
Tutoring
In addition to the boarding house tutoring program, students can access dedicated tutors who provide personalised 1:1 support tailored to their individual learning needs.
School Uniforms & Booklists
Uniforms
Uniforms (summer, winter, and sport) are included as part of the IYLP Scholarship. School shoes and sport shoes are not. There are two ways you can order uniforms for your daughter.
You can make a booking with the uniform shop by emailing uniformshop@plc.wa.edu.au (a time is allocated during Boarders’ Orientation). This is a perfect opportunity to try on the uniform and get help with requirements and fittings. Parents do not need to attend. Students need to provide their student number for payment.
Alternatively, if your student is older and you are just requiring the next size and are familiar with the uniform, your daughter can attend the uniform shop during opening hours, without an appointment and purchase the uniform. She will just need to provide her student number.
Booklist Orders
Booklists are also ordered by the school. For Years 7 to10, booklists are ordered on behalf of student. You are welcome to have them delivered to your home address so you can label etc prior to starting, however you must let the school know of this preference prior to ordering in late December (for the following year).
For Years 10 and 11 students transitioning to Years 11 and 12 in Term 4, booklists are ordered at the end of Term 3, in consultation with your daughter.
Whilst the booklists do come with basic necessary stationery, any personal items such as a pencil case, special pens, highlighters and other preferences are not included. You are welcome to view booklist online to aid in discussions with your daughter about the extras she may require.
Please note that this is only available for students on IYLP scholarship.
Key Contacts
Indigenous Co-ordinator: Tegan Maffescioni Tegan.Maffescioni@plc.wa.edu.au
Deputy of Boarding (Wellbeing): Katherine Hazlewood Katherine.Hazlewood@plc.wa.edu.au
Head of Senior School: Rebecca Watts Rebecca.Watts@plc.wa.edu.au
Director of Boarding: Susie Edwards Susie.Edwards@plc.wa.edu.au
