Oz govt pays teens 'no strings attached' $820 cash bonus

Melbourne, July 23 (ANI): Some teenagers on Youth Allowance have been paid a bonus of up to 820 dollars directly into their bank accounts in June and they don't even have to show how they spend it, it has been revealed.

It is almost four times the amount of the 220.40-dollars fortnightly Youth Allowance payments given to students who are under 18 and living at home.

The SchoolKids Bonus is designed to help pay for education costs at primary and high school, and the majority of payments were made to families receiving family tax benefit part A.

However, full-time students aged 16-19 on Youth Allowance, AbStudy (living allowance) or the disability support pension with pensioner education supplement are also eligible for the bonus.

Federal opposition education spokesman Christopher Pyne said that the "cash splash" could be spent on anything from a new pair of sneakers "to a trip down to the local pub and a flutter on the pokies.

"The failure of the policy is that it is not linked to education expenses," News.com.au quoted him as saying.

"The government paid this money as compensation for the carbon tax and dressed it up as education but it bears no relation to education.

"This government has a record of a shambolic handling of new government programs and spending commitments and this is just the latest example," he said.

According to The Sunday Telegraph, the revelations come after revealed many parents have also been paid the 820-dollar SchoolKids bonus despite not having children at school.

The Gillard government confirmed there was a loophole that did not require parents to offer proof of school attendance to get the cash. (ANI)