Centrelink Academic Reassessment Transformation (CART) reviews 110-07030000

On 16 September 2019, the agency stopped asking for student data from the 41 universities participating in the CART data exchange process.

Students identified for these CART reviews will have a notification generated. It will ask them to complete an online review.

• Part time (PUE), or
• Withdrawn (WUE)

Students who register for online services can access the online study review using their Centrelink online account through myGov.

Students not registered for online services will receive a CART initiation letter. It will ask them to:

• register for online services to complete the review, or
• contact by phone or face-to-face

A customer may contact the agency following a request to complete the online CART review. To view correspondence sent to the customer regarding a CART review:

• use Search Workspace to find Search Outbound Correspondence (Customer Communication) in Customer First
• select Search. A list of correspondence for that customer will display
• click on History Id that shows the letter category as CART Letters
• click on LIR number to view the date the customer opened the correspondence in the Tracking date field

• Select Customer Summary from the landing page in Process Direct
• Input the Customer Reference Number in the CRN field
• Select the relevant customer from the Search Results
• Select the Notes tab. Review the CART Review Initiated Note. This will display the information received from the university or any updates to the CART review

If a student enquires about the CART review initial notification, check if they have an active Centrelink online account. See Centrelink self service - access status, locking and unlocking.

If the customer is:

• registered for Centrelink online services, advise them to complete the CART review online and provide supporting documents, where required
• not registered for Centrelink online services, encourage customer to register for online services to complete the CART review and provide supporting documents, where required
• unable or unwilling to action the review online, staff must create a Fast Note on the student's record. Use the CART template CART Review Enquiry. This open DOC will then allocate to a CART skilled Service Officer, to action the review

If the documents have not been provided:

• remind the customer that their payment may stop if they fail to provide their documents
• if the payment is already suspended, do not restore
• annotate the CART Review Initiated Notes in Process Direct with the details of the contact and advice given

If the customer states that their documents have been provided:

• check the CART Review Initiated Notes in Process Direct to identify the student's circumstances and any notes relevant to the status of the review
• check the record for scanned documents
• tell the customer their documents and review will be assessed as soon as possible. If the customer's payment is suspended SLR, do not restore

For help with identifying suitable proof of enrolment and documents for study load concessions, see:

• Proof of enrolment (POE) in a course of study
• Youth Allowance (YA) student or Australian Apprentice becomes incapacitated or impacted by unforeseen or extreme circumstances
• Changing study load from full-time to part-time or concessional study load for Youth Allowance (YA), Austudy or PES
• Study requirements for ABSTUDY

If a student fails to complete the CART online review within 22 days of the start of the review, their payments will suspend, reason SLR - Study Load Reduced.

Note: Service Officers outside of CART or Payment Review teams must not manually restore payments suspended with reason of SLR via the Benefit Action (BA) screen.

If a student's payment status is SUS-SLR, the student must complete the CART online review within the next 14 days to have their payment reassessed and/or restored.

• Read the CART Review Initiated Note in Process Direct to identify the student's circumstances and any notes relevant to the status of the review
• Check the Tasks icon in Process Direct to identify whether documents were requested and if so, the type of document the student is required to supply
• Check Scans to determine whether required documents have been supplied

Has the customer completed the online review?

• Yes, tell the customer their review will be assessed and their payment will be restored if they remain qualified for payment
• No, tell customer to complete the CART review online and provide supporting documents, where required

Where a student fails to complete their CART online review within 36 days of the start of the review, data provided by their institution is automatically applied to the student's record. This may result in a cancellation of payment for reason NST - Not a Full Time Student or AGD - Does not meet age requirements.

Service Officers must read the CART Review Initiated Note for any additional information relevant to the review.

If the customer has requested a reassessment of the decision, advise the customer to supply additional evidence to support their case.

If the customer is dissatisfied with the outcome of the assessment of evidence, they can apply for a formal review. This applies whether the enrolment data was automatically or manually applied to their record.

CART skilled staff are responsible for reassessments relating to CART review outcomes, including debts (excluding ABSTUDY and ABSTUDY Pensioner Education Supplement debts).

Where the customer has provided new information or evidence in relation to a CART review decision:

• create a Fast Note on the student's record, using the CART template CART Review Enquiry
• scan the documents to the customer's record if they are provided at the service centre

If the customer is vulnerable and in financial hardship, see Table 3.

When a customer contacts the agency indicating they are experiencing financial hardship, or they are vulnerable, the CART team may be contacted to request priority processing of their review.

Service Offices must ensure the student has completed the CART review, and supplied all appropriate evidence before referring the customer for priority processing.

For more information, see Table 3.

A customer may request an explanation of a decision made by the agency. Taking the time to explain a decision in full may avoid the need for an application for a formal review.

Service Officers must:

• read the CART Review Initiated Notes, and
• explain the decision to the customer

If the matter is complex or the Service Officer cannot give a satisfactory explanation, and the customer wants an explanation of the decision , run the Internal Review/Explanation script and refer the request for an explanation to region CRT

If the customer has requested a reassessment of the decision, tell them they must provide any additional supporting evidence within 13 weeks of the original decision, to support their case.

If the customer is dissatisfied with the outcome of the assessment of evidence, they can apply for a formal review. This is whether the enrolment data was automatically or manually applied to their record.

If a student contacts the agency about a debt that has been raised as a result of a CART review and/or the CART review, Service Officers must:

• check whether the overpayment has resulted from a student's response to the CART Review, or from failure to respond
• read the CART Review Initiated Notes and provide the customer with an explanation of the decision

See Request for an explanation or application for a formal review (CLK) if the customer:

• wants an explanation of the decision
• is seeking a reassessment, or
• wants to apply for a formal review of the decision

If the student contacts about repayment of the debt, see Debt Recovery general information.

If the customer's payment is suspended with the code SLR, only the CART processing team can restore it after the customer's study review is assessed.

Before escalating for urgent processing, Service Officers must:

• check the CART Review Initiated Notes in Process Direct to identify the student's circumstances and any notes relevant to the status of the review
• check if the customer has provided all information and documents have been correctly scanned

Has all required documentation been provided?

• Yes, go to step 2
• No, see 'Documents required' in Table 2

A referral for urgent attention can be made when the customer:

• is identified as vulnerable or,
• is in financial hardship

If the customer is requesting priority processing for:

• Financial Hardship, go to Step 3
• vulnerabilities, go to Step 4

For the customer to be eligible for urgent processing they must:

• meet the definition of financial hardship, and
• need immediate help, and
• there must be no other referral for immediate help available

Note: financial hardship provisions do not apply to:

• customers transferring from one income support payment to another unless their previous income support payment was cancelled more than 14 days ago
• dependent Youth Allowance (YA) students, Jobseekers and Australian Apprentices and ABSTUDY Apprentices living with parent(s)/guardian(s) or away from home
• Pensioner Education Supplement (PES) including ABSTUDY PES.
  Note: PES is a supplementary payment paid and does not meet the criteria for priority CART review processing

Does the student meet the criteria for urgent CART review processing request due to financial hardship?

• Yes, go to Step 5
• No, customer does not meet the criteria to be prioritised. Procedure ends here

A customer is considered to be vulnerable if they are or have recently been:

• subject to domestic or family violence
• homeless
• hospitalised or suffering from a temporary incapacity arising from a medical condition
• released from prison or psychiatric confinement
• experiencing unusually high stress associated with a relationship separation
• a new parent
• affected by the death of an immediate family member
• a humanitarian entrant to Australia
• usual place of residence is in a remote area and the customer is physically present in a remote area
• a person whose principal place of residence was lost or sustained major damage as a result of an extreme circumstance, or
• subject to other special circumstances beyond the person's control

Does the student meet the criteria for urgent CART review processing request due to vulnerability?

• Yes, go to Step 5
• No, customer does not meet the criteria to be prioritised. Procedure ends here

If it is established that the customer is vulnerable or in financial hardship and they have requested urgent processing, send an open ACTDOC to the CART Processing team. Use CART Review Enquiry Fast Note.

DOC the customer's record. Include the discussion with the customer and reason for the urgent referral.

Create a Fast Note:

• Select Auto Text, use Students, ABSTUDY & Apprentices > CART > Select appropriate template for: CART Review Enquiry
• Select Confirm

Fill out the DOC text accordingly and ensure the appropriate Service Reason is selected.