Youth Allowance at pending status (YAL/PSA) and dependent siblings 108-02010120

A change of circumstances for a dependent customer can have a significant impact on the entitlement of their sibling(s) if they are included in the family pool.

Some examples of a change in circumstances include:

• Rent Assistance rate increasing or decreasing
• becoming eligible for, or ceasing eligibility for, the away from home rate
• gaining independence, or ceasing being independent following a review
• turning 18 years of age
• a student ceasing full-time study and no longer qualifying for payment
• a job seeker securing full time work
• transferring to a payment other than YA, ABSTUDY or Assistance for Isolated Children (AIC) Scheme

Note: Family Tax Benefit (FTB) and regular care children aged 0-15, and 16-19 in full-time secondary study may be considered a dependant sibling for inclusion in the family pool. Changes in their circumstances may also have a significant impact or ripple effect on the customer's entitlement.

For more information see Family taper for the Parental Income Test (PIT).

When a YA claim is finalised for a dependent customer whose rate is reduced to $0 under the Parental Income Test (PIT), the claim will have a status of Pending Sibling Assessment (PSA) until the end of the working day after the claim was processed (unless the claim is manually rejected at the time of assessment). This is called the PSA review period.

If a sibling's claim is processed, or a sibling joins or returns to the family pool within the Pending Status (PSA) review period and the parental income is at a level where both the customer and sibling become payable, then the claims will grant automatically. This includes where a sibling is recorded as an FTB or regular care child.

If the parental income is at a level that requires 3 or more dependant siblings for YA to be payable, the PSA review period will be reset for the customer, to expire at the same time as their siblings' PSA review.

After the PSA review period, if parental income is too high the claims will reject PIH. If a third sibling claims within 13 weeks, all siblings' claims may be reassessed.