Raising Fares Allowance (FAA) debts 107-09120020

Enter a new debt on the Debt Management and Information System (DMIS) if a customer was:

• not entitled to receive a payment of Fares Allowance (FAA), or
• a penalty charge relating to FAA was imposed

Calculate the amount of the new debt.

Waive the debt if it was:

• less than $50, or
• due solely to administrative error, and
• it was received in good faith, and
• was not raised within 6 weeks of the first incorrect payment, or
• the customer complied with a notification obligation, within 6 weeks of the end of the notification period

Note: if the debt should be waived due to special circumstances, see Special circumstances debt waivers.

Is the debt subject to waiver?

• Yes:
• and the debt is less than $50, go to Step 3
• otherwise, go to Step 4
• No, go to Step 8

Create the debt on DMIS for the waiver to be recorded.

• On the Add Debt (OPAD) screen, commence coding the fields down to the Calculated Amount $: field
• In the Benefit Type field, key:
• 'FAA' for Austudy, Department of Social Services (DSS) Pensioner Education Supplement (PES) or Youth Allowance (YA) customers
• 'ABS' for ABSTUDY secondary or primary customers
• 'ABT' for ABSTUDY tertiary or secondary non-school customers
• In the Reason field, key
• 'FAE' for Austudy, DSS PES or YA customers. This code is also used for ABSTUDY customers ineligible for FAA (excluding travel penalties)
• 'NAS' for ABSTUDY FAA penalties against secondary or primary customers
• 'NAT' for ABSTUDY FAA penalties against tertiary or secondary non-school customers and/or their associated non-student travellers
• In the Section of the Act field, key:
• '1061ZAAA' (enabling provision for FAA) for Austudy, DSS PES or YA payments. Note: the literal for this code will be 's1223(1) - Person not entitled to payment'
• For ABSTUDY, this field will auto default to S39-Students Assistance Act 1973
• Complete the Date of Event, Start Date, and End Date fields with the relevant dates
• In the Calculated Amount $ field, enter the amount of the excess payment
• Complete the Date of Notification field, for waiver of accounts in excess of $50.00. In those cases, enter the date the customer notified the change of circumstances or the date of the first incorrect payment
• Press [Enter]
• The system will navigate to the Assessment Finalisation (OPAF) screen and the debt will be auto-waived on finalisation

Go to Step 7

Create the debt on DMIS for the waiver to be recorded.

• On the Add Debt (OPAD) screen, commence coding the fields down to the Calculated Amount $: field
• In the Benefit Type field, key:
• 'FAA' for Austudy, Department of Social Services (DSS) Pensioner Education Supplement (PES) or Youth Allowance (YA) customers
• 'ABS' for ABSTUDY secondary or primary customers
• 'ABT' for ABSTUDY tertiary or secondary non-school customers
• In the Reason field, key:
• 'FAE' for Austudy, DSS PES or YA customers. This code is also used for ABSTUDY customers ineligible for FAA (excluding travel penalties)
• 'NAS' for ABSTUDY FAA penalties against secondary or primary customers
• 'NAT' for ABSTUDY FAA penalties against tertiary or secondary non-school customers and/or their associated non-student travellers
• In the Section of the Act field, key:
• '1061ZAAA' (enabling provision for FAA) for Austudy, DSS PES or YA payments. Note: the literal for this code will be 's1223(1) - Person not entitled to payment'
• For ABSTUDY, this field will auto default to S39-Students Assistance Act 1973
• Complete the Date of Event, Start Date and End Date fields with the relevant dates
• In the Calculated Amount $ field, enter the amount of the excess payment
• Complete the Date of Notification field, for waiver of accounts in excess of $50.00. In those cases, enter the date the customer notified the change of circumstances or the date of the first incorrect payment
• In the Was debt solely due to system or clerical error? field, key:
• 'S' for system error or 'C' for clerical error
• Press [Enter]
• Key 'OPWAA' in the Nxt field to go to the Add Waiver (OPWAA) screen

• Complete the Date Waived field
• In the Reason Waived field, enter the appropriate reason the debt is being waived. Use field help ('?') for assistance
• In the Amount Waived field, enter the amount of the debt to be waived. Note: the Service Officer must have the correct delegation to waive the debt. See Administrative error waivers for more information
• Complete the Comments field with further details, if required
• Press [Enter]

The system will navigate to the Key Date (OPKD) screen for details of the Account Payable advice. Complete the details as required.

The system will navigate to the Assessment Finalisation (OPAF) screen. Complete this screen as required and press [Enter].

Contact the customer, either by phone or in writing, for example, send a manual advice (Q999 letter) to advise the outcome of the decision.

• Record details of the decision on a DOC
• Procedure ends here

Note: see the Resources page for details of who is regarded as the responsible payee for ABSTUDY FAA.

Is the responsible payee an institution?

• Yes,
• create a new Institution debt record on DMIS
• Go to Step 9
• No, go to Step 9

A debt shell will not be created for an excess payment of FAA. Create a new debt manually via the Add Debt (OPAD) screen.

• On the OPAD screen, commence coding the fields down to the Calculated Amount $: field
• In the Benefit Type field, key:
• 'FAA' for Austudy, Department of Social Services (DSS) Pensioner Education Supplement (PES) or Youth Allowance (YA) customers
• 'ABS' for ABSTUDY secondary or primary customers
• 'ABT' for ABSTUDY tertiary or secondary non-school customers
• In the Reason field, key:
• 'FAE' for Austudy, DSS PES or YA customers. This code is also used for ABSTUDY customers ineligible for FAA (excluding travel penalties)
• 'NAS' for ABSTUDY FAA penalties against secondary or primary customers
• 'NAT' for ABSTUDY FAA penalties against tertiary or secondary non-school customers and/or their associated non-student travellers
• In the Section of the Act field, key:
• '1061ZAAA' (enabling provision for FAA) for Austudy, DSS PES or YA payments. Note: the literal for this code will be 's1223(1) - Person not entitled to payment'
• For ABSTUDY, this field will auto default to S39-Students Assistance Act 1973
• Complete the Date of Event, Start Date, and End Date fields with the relevant dates
• In the Calculated Amount $ field, enter the amount of the excess payment
• Complete the Date of Notification field for waiver of accounts in excess of $50.00. In those cases, enter the date the customer notified the change of circumstances or the date of the first incorrect payment
• In the Was debt solely due to system or clerical error? field, key 'N' for no error
• Press [Enter] twice

The system will navigate to the Account Payable (OPAOD) screen for the details of the debt. Completion of this screen will result in the Account Payable letter being sent to the student.

• See Sending Account Payable letters for further information
• Record details of the decision on a DOC