Start and closing date for ABSTUDY claims 106-05010110

What type of claim, course, activity, or training is the customer participating in?

• Lawful Custody, go to Step 2
• ABSTUDY PES, go to Step 5
• An Open Universities Australia course of study, go to Step 7
• A testing and assessment activity, go to Step 6
• A full year or late starting course, go to Step 3
• A course of less than one year, including short courses which overlap consecutive calendar years, go to Step 4
• An Australian Apprenticeship, go to Step 12
• If applying for reimbursement of Fares Allowance, go to Step 8
• If applying for Away from Base assistance, go to Step 9

For a Lawful custody claim for:

• an advance payment or upfront payment to the provider, a claim must be lodged:
• for ABSTUDY Student or Australian Apprentice in lawful custody (SY022)
• by the end of the course
• reimbursement of either essential course costs (under Lawful Custody Allowance) or Away from Base Assistance,  a claim must be lodged:
• for ABSTUDY Student or Australian Apprentice in lawful custody (SY022)
• before 1 April in the year immediately following the year of study or apprenticeship activity

Was the Lawful custody claim lodged by the above date?

• Yes, the claim has been lodged by the closing date, the customer will receive the full entitlement. See Processing an ABSTUDY claim
• No, go to Step 10

Has the student lodged their claim by 31 December in the year of study, which is also the year they wish to receive arrears?

• Yes, the claim has been lodged by the closing date, they will receive full entitlement in accordance with their eligibility. See Table 2
• No, go to Step 10

Has the student lodged their claim by the end of the course?

• Yes, the claim has been lodged by the closing date, they will receive full entitlement in accordance with their eligibility. See Table 2
• No, go to Step 10

Has the ABSTUDY PES student lodged their claim by the relevant closing dates for PES?

• Yes, the claim has been lodged by the closing date, they will receive full entitlement in accordance with their eligibility. See Calculating the start date for Pensioner Education Supplement (PES) and ABSTUDY PES. Procedure ends here
• No, go to Step 10

Was the claim for Testing and Assessment lodged by the Testing and Assessment claim closing date?

• Yes, the claim has been lodged by the closing date, the student will receive the full entitlement. See Table 2
• No, go to Step 10

A claim must be lodged by end of the Open Universities Australia study period. The Resources page contains a link to the Open Universities Australia website. The site has details of the study periods.

Was the claim lodged by the end of the Open Universities Australia study period for the assistance sought?

• Yes, the claim has been lodged by the closing date, the student will receive full entitlement in accordance with their eligibility. See Table 2
• No, go to Step 10

If applying for reimbursement of Fares Allowance, an ABSTUDY Fares Allowance Claim (SY032) must be lodged by either of the following dates. The applicable date is whichever date provides the greater amount of time and beneficial outcome for the customer:

• 12 months after the date of travel, or
• Before 1 April in the year immediately following the year of study

Has the claim for reimbursement of Fares Allowance been lodged prior to the closing date?

• Yes, the claim has been lodged by the closing date. See Reimbursing fares and additional costs after travel has been undertaken for ABSTUDY. Procedure ends here
• No, go to Step 10

If applying for Away from Base assistance, a submission must be lodged by the institution or individual student by the relevant Away from Base submission closing date.

Has the claim for Away from Base assistance been lodged prior to the closing date?

• Yes, the claim has been lodged by the closing date. Procedure ends here
• No, go to Step 10

When a claim is lodged past the closing date due to circumstances beyond the applicant's control, students may still receive full benefits.

The applicant must provide the claim as soon as possible and a written statement explaining the reason for late lodgement. Evidence may be requested if the decision maker considers it necessary.

Was the claim lodged past the closing date due to circumstances beyond the applicant's control or has the customer claimed under vulnerability provisions?

• Yes, and the claim is for:
• ABSTUDY, See Table 2
• ABSTUDY PES, see Calculating the start day for Pensioner Education Supplement (PES) and ABSTUDY PES. Procedure ends here
• No, and the claim is for:
• ABSTUDY, the claim must be manually rejected using the reason code OTH. See Rejecting an ABSTUDY claim
• ABSTUDY PES, go to Step 11

ABSTUDY PES claims lodged after the relevant closing dates for PES, but before discontinuing study may still be granted from the date of claim.

Has the student lodged their claim before discontinuing study?

• Yes, see Calculating the start day for Pensioner Education Supplement (PES) and ABSTUDY PES. Procedure ends here
• No, manually reject the claim using the reason code OTH. See Rejecting an ABSTUDY claim

Australian Apprentices will receive payments (where eligible) from the date they submit a claim unless they are:

• experiencing vulnerability or
• not able to lodge due to circumstances beyond their control

Note: they may be entitled to an extension of time to lodge their claim due to a medical condition or special circumstances.

See Table 2.

What claim type is being assessed?

• Incidentals only, go to Step 2
• ABSTUDY and transferring from Family Tax Benefit, see Step 9 in Table 3
• Australian Apprentice, see Step 5 in Table 3
• Schooling A Award, see Step 6 in Table 3
• Schooling B Award for a student boarding at a school or hostel, see Calculating the commencement date of away from home rate for ABSTUDY
• an ABSTUDY Award/payment not listed above, go to Step 3

If the customer:

• is lodging their claim in the year they started study, the start date is the course start date
• is lodging their claim in a subsequent year, the start date will be 1 January. For example, the customer started a 4 year course of study in 2022, is lodging a claim in 2023, making the start date 1 January 2023
• was in receipt of another income support payment for their course of study, the start date is the Date paid to + 1 (DPT+1)

Procedure ends here.

Did the student start study:

• by the 3rd Friday of the relevant study period, or
• after the 3rd Friday of the relevant study period due to circumstances beyond their control

If:

• Yes, and the student is undertaking:
• secondary level studies, see Step 1 in Table 3
• tertiary or secondary non-schooling studies, go to Step 4
• No, see Step 4 in Table 3

If the customer was a full time or concessional student in the previous study period, they may be entitled to be paid from an earlier date.

There is no requirement to provide evidence of a previous course(s) for the purposes of determining if a student has resumed study after a break. Previous course(s) information can be supplied within a new claim and must be used.

Is the student resuming full-time or concessional study load study after a break?

• Yes, and the break was:
• less than or equal to one semester and they will start their full time study between 1 January and 31 March, see Step 1 in Table 3
• less than or equal to one semester and they will start their full time study between 1 July and 31 July, see Step 2 in Table 3
• greater than one semester, go to Step 5
• No, see Step 3 in Table 3

Did the student have a break greater than one semester due to circumstances beyond their control?

• Yes, and they will start their full time study:
• between 1 January and 31 March, see Step 1 in Table 4
• between 1 July and 31 July, see Step 2 in Table 4
• No, see Step 3 in Table 3

Advise the student their start date will be 1 January in the year they started studies if they:

• are otherwise qualified for ABSTUDY, and
• have applied for ABSTUDY before 31 December of the year they started the course

For the same period that ABSTUDY is eligible to be backdated to, was the customer receiving:

• a Social Security payment
• Family Tax Benefit, or
• Pandemic Leave Disaster Payment?
• Yes, see Step 1 in Table 4
• No, ABSTUDY start date is 1 January. If the student did not apply for ABSTUDY by 31 December or meet any of the late lodgement concessions, they are only eligible from 1 January of the year in which they submitted their claim. Record details on a DOC.

Procedure ends here.

Advise the student that providing they are otherwise qualified for ABSTUDY, and have applied for ABSTUDY before 31 December of the year they started the course, the start date will be 1 July of the year in which their study started.

For the same period that ABSTUDY is eligible to be backdated to, was the customer receiving:

• a Social Security payment
• Family Tax Benefit, or
• Pandemic Leave Disaster Payment?
• Yes, see Step 1 in Table 4
• No, ABSTUDY start date is 1 July. If student did not apply for ABSTUDY by 31 December or meet any of the late lodgement concessions, they are only eligible from 1 July of the year in which they submitted their claim. Record details on a DOC.

Procedure ends here.

Advise the student that providing they are otherwise qualified for ABSTUDY, their start date will be the first day the course starts.

Some students may be eligible from a date prior to the start of the course if they were undertaking study in a previous study period. For further information, see Specific coding requirements for paying ABSTUDY students over a vacation break.

A tertiary student, who has studied over a summer study period and then starts a Masters or Doctorate course immediately after, is only entitled to the higher Masters and Doctorate rate of Living Allowance from the student start date of the Masters or Doctorate course.

Resources contains examples of entitlement start dates and system coding.

For the same period that ABSTUDY is eligible to be backdated to, was the customer receiving:

• a Social Security payment
• Family Tax Benefit, or
• Pandemic Leave Disaster Payment?
• Yes, see Step 1 in Table 4
• No, ABSTUDY start date is the first day the course starts. Record details on a DOC. Procedure ends here

Advise the student that providing they are otherwise qualified for ABSTUDY, their start date will be the first day they started study in their course.

For the same period that ABSTUDY is eligible to be backdated to, was the customer receiving:

• a Social Security payment
• Family Tax Benefit, or
• Pandemic Leave Disaster Payment?
• Yes, see Step 1 in Table 4
• No, ABSTUDY start date is the first day the student started study. Record details on a DOC. Procedure ends here

The start date of ABSTUDY for Australian Apprentices is the latter of the:

• date the customer lodges a claim/intention to claim, or
• start date of the Australian Apprenticeship

Australian Apprentices may be entitled to an extension of time to lodge their claim due to a medical condition or special circumstance. See Intent to claim and vulnerable customers.

Note: care must be taken that a new claim is not actually being lodged as way of providing additional information for a previously rejected claim. There is no closing date for acceptance of additional information.

For the same period that ABSTUDY is eligible to be backdated to, was the customer receiving:

• a Social Security payment
• Family Tax Benefit, or
• Pandemic Leave Disaster Payment?
• Yes, see Step 1 in Table 4
• No, ABSTUDY start date is the latter of the above. Record details on a DOC. procedure ends here

Did the student come into the applicant's or the applicant's partner's care in the current calendar year?

• Yes, go to Step 7
• No, go to Step 8

Do the following apply prior to the student start date?

The applicant or the applicant's partner:

• has the student in care, and
• qualifies for one of the prescribed forms of Commonwealth Government assistance, or
• is taken to be receiving their income support payment during an employment nil rate period, or
• is the holder of a current:
• Low Income Health Care Card (LIC), or
• automatic issue Health Care Card (HCC), including an HCC issued on the basis of receipt of maximum rate Family Tax Benefit (FTB) Part A or an extension HCC

If:

• Yes, and the student start date was:
• on or before the third Friday of Term 1, the start date will be the date the change in care occurred
• after the third Friday of Term 1, the start date will be the student start date
• No, the start date will be the later of:
• the student start date, or
• when the applicant’s or applicant’s partner met the above qualification, or
• the date the change in care occurred

Do the following apply prior to the student start date?

The applicant or the applicant's partner:

• has the student in care, and
• qualifies for one of the prescribed forms of Commonwealth Government assistance, or
• is taken to be receiving their income support payment during an employment nil rate period, or
• is the holder of a current:
• Low Income Health Care Card (LIC), or
• automatic issue Health Care Card (HCC), including an HCC issued on the basis of receipt of maximum rate Family Tax Benefit (FTB) Part A or an extension HCC

If:

• Yes, and the student start date was:
• on or before the third Friday of Term 1, the start date will be 1 January of the applicable year
• after the third Friday of Term 1, the start date will be the student start date
• No, the start date will be the date the applicant or applicant’s partner met the above qualification

Note: an exception applies when the applicant’s or applicant’s partner’s qualification date is between 1 January and the beginning of Term 1. The ABSTUDY start date will be the date of qualification.

End of secondary studies

If the customer was paid FTB and they completed the school year, FTB entitlements may not always be paid up to 31 December.

To ensure there is no gap in payments, a customer can transfer to ABSTUDY and be paid from the FTB DPT+1, as long as they:

• intend to enrol in a full-time or concessional study load, in an approved course, in the next available study period, and
• lodge a claim for ABSTUDY by the closing date, which is 31 December in the year secondary school finished, and
• are eligible for ABSTUDY

Turning 16

FTB can continue to be paid in addition to the ABSTUDY if the secondary student is:

• aged 16 years or over, and
• boarding Away from Home to undertake study

For students living at home, ABSTUDY can be backdated to the student’s 16th birthday, which may create an FTB overpayment. The FTB customer and the student will need to decide which payment is more beneficial before backdating ABSTUDY. In these cases, ABSTUDY is granted from the DPT+1 of FTB. If the FTB customer cannot be contacted, ABSTUDY is only to be granted from DPT+1.

Service Officers will not be required to manually cancel FTB. The system will automatically cease FTB for the student from the grant date of the ABSTUDY (if applicable).

Record details on a DOC.

Procedure ends here.

A retrospective cancellation or rejection to backdate ABSTUDY can only occur if it:

• covers the same period for which any one of the following payments / benefits were paid to the customer, or paid in respect of the customer, and
• a Social Security payment (for example, JobSeeker Payment (JSP), Youth Allowance (YA), or Austudy), or
• Family Tax Benefit, or
• is more financially beneficial for the customer to be in receipt of ABSTUDY for the same period

Is the student studying a Master or Doctorate level course?

• Yes, ABSTUDY can be backdated. Go to Step 7
• No, go to Step 2

The rules for ABSTUDY for a continuing student are different than the rules for other payments.

Is the ABSTUDY entitlement start date before the student’s current payment’s start date?

• Yes, ABSTUDY can be backdated over the Social Security payment, FTB or Pandemic Leave Disaster Payment. Go to Step 7
• No, go to Step 3

Did the student start a course in a previous year for which they received a payment?

• Yes, ABSTUDY can be backdated over the Social Security payment, FTB or Pandemic Leave Disaster Payment. Go to Step 7
• No, go to Step 4

Does the student want to claim Fares Allowance or Away from Base Assistance for a period they were on a Social Security payment or Pandemic Leave Disaster Payment?

• Yes, ABSTUDY can be backdated over the Social Security payment or Pandemic Leave Disaster Payment. Go to Step 7
• No, go to Step 5

Is the student entitled to the AFH or IND rate of ABSTUDY for a period they were:

• receiving Social Security payment or Pandemic Leave Disaster Payment, and
• not eligible for the AFH or IND rate?
• Yes, ABSTUDY can be backdated over the Social Security payment or Pandemic Leave Disaster Payment. Go to Step 7
• No, go to Step 6

Is the student now entitled to ABSTUDY for a period which they had attracted FTB payments?

• Yes, and the entitled ABSTUDY rate is:
• greater than the received FTB rate. ABSTUDY can be backdated over FTB. Go to Step 7
• equal to or less than the received FTB rate. ABSTUDY is only payable from FTB DPT+1. Procedure ends here
• No, ABSTUDY is only payable from the Social Security payment, FTB or Pandemic Leave Disaster Payment DPT+1. If doubt exists, escalate to the Level 2 Helpdesk through Local Peer Support. Procedure ends here

If it is determined that ABSTUDY is payable from the earlier date, the customer no longer has an eligibility for the Social Security payment, FTB or Pandemic Leave Disaster Payment for the same period.

Refer to the following for cancellation/rejection of the relevant payment:

• Jobseeker:
• JSP - JobSeeker Payment (JSP) job seekers returning to full-time study
• YAL - Youth Allowance (YA) job seeker or Australian Apprentice returning to full-time study
• YAL/Austudy - Cancellation of Austudy or Youth Allowance (YA) students and Australian Apprentices
• FTB - Service Officers will not be required to manually cancel FTB. The system will automatically cease FTB for the student from the grant date of the ABSTUDY

Note: a retrospective cancellation or rejection of FTB can only occur if the FTB customer agrees.

The customers ABSTUDY will be granted from their start date determined in Table 2 once the cancellation/rejection has been actioned.

Customers who lodge an incorrect or inappropriate claim for ABSTUDY, will have their YA, or Austudy rejected and ABSTUDY granted from their start date.

An overpayment may occur because of the retrospective cancellation and must be offset against the ABSTUDY arrears unless the cancellation is FTB. FTB overpayments must not be offset by ABSTUDY arrears. See Resources for examples.

Procedure ends here.