Part-time or full-time study as an approved mutual obligation requirement for Youth Allowance (YA) 001-09070220

Early school leavers (ESLs) are:

• YA job seekers who are under 22 and have not completed Year 12 or an equivalent level of education (Certificate III or higher) qualification
• required to undertake approved requirements and/or job search to meet their mutual obligation requirements. For job seekers aged 18-21, some combinations of study and work may meet their mutual obligation requirements

As with other job seekers, YA ESLs will generally only have study or a combination of activities including study, approved by their provider once they have commenced in employment services.

Study, training and job search may be undertaken in combination with other approved activities. If undertaking:

• approved requirements, it must be for at least 25 hours per week
• a combination of approved requirements and job search, their provider will determine the number of job searches required in addition to their other activities
• job search only, they must look for work of at least 25 hours per week and the number of job searches will be determined by their provider

Job seekers with a PCW or TRWC of 15-29 hours per week, or who are principal carers, are expected to undertake at least 15 hours of approved study or approved combinations of activities.

Note: job seekers with a temporarily reduced work capacity or partial capacity to work of 0-14 hours per week will be exempt from the study requirement. These job seekers will only need to attend a compulsory Quarterly Participation Interviews (QTI) with Services Australia to meet their mutual obligation requirements. However, study or training may be undertaken on a voluntary basis.

YA job seekers (who are not eligible as a student or apprentice) are expected to focus on job search. However, some short courses may be appropriate if the job seeker is unlikely to find work with their existing skills, and the course will enhance their immediate employability. As such, they are generally subject to short course approval policy.

The issue of whether a job seeker can have their full-time study approved by their employment services provider or not, does not determine their qualification for YA (job seeker). A job seeker can fail to qualify for YA (job seeker) due to full-time study, only where:

• they have been advised (either at grant or at a later time) by their provider that their full-time study will not fully meet their mutual obligation requirements, and
• the job seeker is not willing to satisfy other mutual obligation requirements such as job search

Otherwise, it is up to the provider to negotiate appropriate activities for the job seeker and to instigate compliance action as necessary when failure to meet points target occurs.

In general, when a person is studying full-time, they should test their eligibility for a student payment. However, full-time study in certain circumstances, for example, courses of less than 12 months, may be approved by a provider or Services Australia as an approved requirement for job seekers.

If a YA job seeker is already connected with a provider or has claimed YA and is referred to a provider through normal processes, they should be advised to discuss approval for any full-time study with their provider.

In limited circumstances, Services Australia can approve full-time short courses as fully meeting requirements and make job seekers Centrelink managed prior to them commencing in employment services.

Services Australia should not be approving and coding a short course for a job seeker who is already provider managed, in accordance with the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations Short Course Guidelines. The job seeker should be referred to their provider to discuss their participation and approval in a short course. This is important because it may impact the level of servicing the provider can offer. If the provider approves the short course, they will code the course details in the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations system. However, if the job seeker is enrolled in a course that would make them eligible for a student payment, then this should be discussed with the job seeker and, where necessary, the job seeker should be transferred to another more appropriate income support payment.

If a job seeker is undertaking a course of full-time study which cannot be approved under short course policy, and they are not eligible for a student payment, they will not remain qualified for YA unless they can reduce or re-organise their hours of study so that the course is considered part-time, and/or they can still undertake job search or other requirements to fully satisfy their mutual obligation requirements. In this way, full-time study which cannot be approved, can be undertaken as long as the job seeker continues to meet all of their mutual obligation requirements and their points target, including attending appointments and accepting offers of employment.

Employment Services Providers have the primary role in the approval of full-time short courses for YA job seekers, regardless of the current Stream of the job seeker. The provider can approve a full-time short course for YA job seekers at any time after they have commenced participation with the provider.

Providers can approve short courses for a job seeker on the condition that the course is:

• vocationally orientated
• less than 12 months
• highly likely to provide a job seeker with a qualification that will result in an Employment Outcome, improve their employability or lead to qualifications in an identified area of skills shortage

Note: providers are responsible for identifying what training relates to skills in demand in each particular Employment Region, as there is no defined list.

When an Employment Services Provider gives approval for a job seeker to undertake a full-time short course, Services Australia will receive a notification automatically from the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations.

Services Australia, in limited circumstances, can approve a full-time short course as an approved requirement if the job seeker is undertaking qualifying study for YA job seekers. The agency can only approve full-time study for YA job seekers who are Centrelink managed (if they have not yet commenced employment services) if all the following conditions apply:

• the course is full-time (or at least 15 hours per week for principal carers or job seekers with PCW of 15-22 hours per week)
• the job seeker has a confirmed offer of employment in writing from the employer, pending the completion of a specified short course
• the course runs from one to 13 weeks
• the course has a clear vocational application; and
• the job seeker is prepared to meet any costs involved

For mutual obligation requirements, the duration of full-time education or training courses is defined as follows:

• For YA job seekers with full-time requirements - 20 or more hours per week, with at least 15 hours spent in the classroom or other directed activities and up to five hours spent in private study
• For YA job seekers assessed with a PCW of 15-29 hours per week - 15 or more hours per week, including any combination of contact and non-contact hours, or any course which is classified as full-time by the institution or organisation providing the course
• For YA job seekers who are principal carers - 15 or more hours per week (or 30 hours per fortnight), including any combination of contact and non-contact hours, regardless of whether the study is classified as full-time or part-time by the institution or organisation providing the course

If a full-time short course requirement is approved for a Centrelink managed job seeker, the job seeker will be deemed to be satisfying their mutual obligation requirements for the duration of the course. Where a provider approves the short course, job seekers are still required to look for and accept work, but not where it conflicts with the time of the course or if it would prevent them from completing the course. Job seekers will be required to undertake up to 20 job searches per month. There is no automatic reduction in job search requirements for undertaking a full-time short course. Job seekers are required to accept any suitable work that does not conflict with the course and they are not permitted to limit their job searches only to areas relating to the course.

Job seekers with full-time mutual obligation requirements who are undertaking full-time short courses are required to remain connected with their provider. Job seekers are also required to attend an appointment with their provider or the agency if notified of a requirement to do so. However, appointments should be scheduled for times that do not conflict with the job seeker's study timetable.

Job seekers (excluding those with Disability Employment Services (DES)), may have their job search requirements reduced by their provider if they are:

• connected to a Workforce Australia provider, and
• undertaking 40 or more contact hours of study and/or paid work per fortnight

If the job seeker is undertaking 70 or more contact hours of study and/or work per fortnight, their job search requirements may be fully met.

Job seekers must negotiate their job search requirements with their Workforce Australia provider.

If the job seeker is undertaking 70 or more contact hours of study and/or paid work per fortnight, their job search requirements may be fully met. Only a provider can approve the combination of paid work and study for 70 hours per fortnight to fully meet a job seekers mutual obligation requirements. If suitable, they will be either suspended or exited from employment services, become Centrelink Managed and require a Centrelink Job Plan to be negotiated.

YA job seekers must undertake study or training to meet their mutual obligation requirements unless they can provide verified evidence of completion of Year 12 or an equivalent level of education (Certificate III or higher) qualification.

For other YA job seekers, any type of part-time study, which cannot be approved under short course policy, can be undertaken as long as the job seeker continues to meet all of their mutual obligation requirements, including attending appointments and accepting offers of employment. For example, a job seeker may be studying at night and willing to look for work during the day. If the job seeker is seeking and willing to undertake suitable work, and their studies do not appear to be fixed in time or place so as to restrict their ability to satisfy their mutual obligation requirements, they will remain qualified for YA, even where the course cannot be approved as fully meeting or counting towards their mutual obligation requirements.

However, such study can only be approved by their provider. Services Australia staff need only record details of any part-time study on the job seeker's record.

Principal carers on YA can participate in approved study of at least 15 hours per week (30 hours per fortnight) in any combination of contact and non-contact hours to fully meet their mutual obligation requirements. This is whether the institution regards the course as full-time or part-time. If the study is less than 15 hours per week, the principal carer must participate in another requirement. This could be a combination of paid work and study, or self-employment and study. If no other requirement can be approved to fully meet the job seeker's requirements, they will have job search requirements, in addition to their hours of study.

Job seekers assessed as having a TRWC or PCW of 0-7 or 8-14 hours per week can volunteer to participate in part-time or full-time study. However, these job seekers will still have a compulsory Quarterly Participation Interviews (QTI) as their only mutual obligation requirement.

Job seekers transferring from transitional DSP (granted between 11 May 2005 and 30 June 2006) to YA job seeker, are able to continue their studies in the same course they were undertaking whilst on DSP if, at the time of transfer, they were studying and receiving Pensioner Education Supplement (PES). They can continue to undertake the course as their approved requirement until the course has been completed, even if the remainder of the course is longer than 12 months, or until they cease to be eligible for YA.

If a job seeker is undertaking full-time or part-time study as a PP recipient and then transfers to YA as a job seeker (for example, child leaves care), they can continue to complete their course of study even if the remainder of the course is longer than 12 months. They will be taken as meeting their mutual obligation requirements in full while completing their course as long as they continue studying in the same course for at least 30 hours per fortnight (including contact and non-contact hours).

The job seeker does not have to be a principal carer on YA following the transfer for the study to continue to be allowed.

YA job seekers with less than 12 months of their course remaining who are not eligible for YA as a student may have the remainder of their course as a full-time student approved by a provider as an approved requirement. In all cases, an assessment should first be made as to whether the job seeker has exhausted their allowable/satisfactory progress time, and whether they have any eligibility for a student payment or not. The progress time limit may be extended if they have failed a subject for reasons beyond their control, such as illness, family trauma, or a natural disaster.

Generally, full-time study of more than 12 months or Masters or Doctorate study cannot be approved for YA recipients except for the groups to which the short course exception rules apply:

• people transferring to YA from transitional DSP
• people transferring to YA from PP