Customer will not commence full-time study for ABSTUDY, ABSTUDY Pensioner Education Supplement (PES), Assistance for Isolated Children (AIC) and AIC PES 102-07020180

Is the customer unable to commence the course due to an incapacity or illness, and they are still considered to be enrolled?

• Yes, for:
• ABSTUDY, see Payment of ABSTUDY when a student or Australian Apprentice becomes incapacitated
• AIC, see Assistance for Isolated Children (AIC) Scheme student becomes incapacitated
• No, go to Step 2

Is the customer not commencing study due to becoming an Australian Apprentice?

• Yes, see Identifying the most beneficial payment for students or Australian Apprentices
• No, go to Step 3

If the customer:

• is a new student and is currently having their claim for the new course processed, and they have a new claim recorded on the Activity List (AL) screen for the new course, go to Step 4
• was not eligible, or not in receipt of ABSTUDY allowances as a full-time student in the previous study period, was intending to commence a new course and payments have already been granted for the new course, go to Step 6
• is a continuing student, and was eligible for ABSTUDY allowances as a full-time student in the previous study period, but will not commence study into the:
• same course in the next study period, see:
  - Payment of ABSTUDY when a student is deferring or discontinuing study before the end of the course, or
  - Deferring or discontinuing study before end of the course for Pensioner Education Supplement (PES)
  Procedure ends here
• new course by the third Friday (this includes secondary school students moving from 1 year to the next), go to Step 5
• none of the above, go to Step 5

As the customer was not in receipt of ABSTUDY in the previous study period and a new claim is ready to be processed on the Activity List (AL) screen, they do not qualify for any payments for the new course as they have not commenced.

If the payment is:

• ABSTUDY, see Rejecting an ABSTUDY claim
• ABSTUDY PES, see Assessing claim for Pensioner Education Supplement (PES)
• Assistance for Isolated Children (AIC), see Assessing and coding claims for Assistance for Isolated Children (AIC) Scheme

Record details on a DOC of action taken.

Procedure ends here.

Identify which payment the customer is receiving.

For:

• ABSTUDY or ABSTUDY Pensioner Education Supplement (PES), go to Step 6
• Assistance for Isolated Children (AIC) or AIC PES, see Table 2 > Step 6

An ABSTUDY or ABSTUDY PES student advises they will not commence studying at a full-time level, or by the third Friday.

If the student:

• will continue to study at a part-time level, check if they are eligible for a workload concession. See Assessing study load concessions for ABSTUDY and ABSTUDY Pensioner Education Supplement (PES)
• will continue to study at a part-time level, see Assessing study load concessions for ABSTUDY and ABSTUDY Pensioner Education Supplement (PES)
• will be temporarily absent from studies as a result of circumstances beyond the student's control, see Exemptions from study for ABSTUDY
• was previously a secondary boarding student receiving ABSTUDY boarding entitlements, see Cessation of the ABSTUDY Away from Home rate

None of the above, go to Step 7.

If the ABSTUDY customer:

• is a continuing student who will not be commencing their studies in the new course in the next study period, including secondary school students moving from 1 year to the next, see Table 2 > Step 1
• is not a continuing student, and was to start a new course, but did not commence studies, see Table 2 > Step 5
• was in receipt of ABSTUDY entitlements as a full-time student in the previous study period, but will recommence as a part-time student without a workload concession in the following study period, see Table 2 > Step 4

If the ABSTUDY student was a continuing student in a new course and did not commence study at all in the new study period, or by the third Friday, including secondary school students moving from 1 year to the next, they will be entitled to payment of Living Allowance/PES up to the date they became aware they would not be recommencing as a full-time student.

Note: ABSTUDY customers going from year to year at a secondary level school are considered to be undertaking a 'new course' for the purposes of coding these steps.

If the customer is:

• in receipt of Schooling A award, see Payment of ABSTUDY when a student is deferring or discontinuing study before the end of the course
• a tertiary or secondary non schooling customer (including customers who are at a secondary school and are eligible to receive Incidentals Allowance as they are 18 years of age at 1 January), go to Step 2
• a continuing secondary school student (or secondary non-schooling student who is not eligible for Incidentals Allowance as they are under 18 years of age at 1 January) who was intending to commence a new course in the upcoming study period, go to Step 3

Payments can be cancelled as follows:

• Key 'ISS' in the Sys: field and 'SVABY' (ABSTUDY) in the Nxt: field
• Delete the Education Course Details (EDC) screen showing details of the non-commenced course
• Select the details of the preceding course from the Education Course History (EDCH) screen and amend the Student End Date: field to the date they became aware they would not be recommencing as a full-time student
  Note: payment cannot continue beyond the third Friday after the new course commencement date
• If the existing Allowable Time End Date: field has a date earlier than this, amend this to the date they became aware they would not be recommencing as a full-time student
  Note: when changing the Allowable Time End Date: field as a work around to pay a customer in the new study period, record details on a DOC if the customer's Allowable Time entitlement has expired in the previous study period
• Do not amend the Inst Course End Date: field
• Go to the Assessment Results (AR) screen and finalise the activity

Note: if the activity created a debt shell, processing staff should complete the debt raising process end to end. See Raising ABSTUDY debts.

Record details on a DOC of action taken.

Procedure ends here.

• Key 'ISS' in the Sys: field and 'SVABY' in the Nxt: field
• Go to the Education Course History (EDCH) screen and delete the non-commenced course
• Select the Education Course Details (EDC) screen with details of the previous course
• Amend the Student End Date: field to the date they became aware they would not be recommencing as a full-time student
• Go to the Assessment Results (AR) screen and finalise the activity

Note: if the activity created a debt shell, processing staff should complete the debt raising process end to end. See Raising ABSTUDY debts.

Record details on a DOC of action taken.

Procedure ends here.

• Key 'ISS' in the Sys: field and 'SVABY' in the Nxt: field
• Go to the Education Course History (EDCH) screen and select the non-commenced course
• Amend the Course Start Date: and the Student Start Date: fields to 1 Jan of the year the non-commenced course was due to begin
• Amend the Student End Date: field to the date they became aware they would not be recommencing as a full-time student
• Go to the Assessment Results (AR) screen and finalise the activity

Note: if the activity created a debt shell, processing staff should complete the debt raising process end to end. See Raising ABSTUDY debts.

Record details on a DOC of action taken.

Procedure ends here.

A continuing student who has been paid Living Allowance over the vacation period, and will commence in the following study period as a part-time student (without qualifying for a study load concession), will only be eligible to entitlements under the Part-time Award.

However the student will remain entitled to Living Allowance up to the date they became aware they would not be recommencing as a full-time student. No overpayment is raised for Living Allowance paid over the vacation period.

For continuing students who will commence as a part-time student in a course in the upcoming study period:

• Key 'ISS' in the Sys: field and 'SVABY' in the Nxt: field
• Update the Education Course Details (EDC) screen as follows:
• Select the listed current year course details from Education Course History (EDCH) screen
• Input a new Participation Status Event Date as the date they became aware they would not be recommencing as a full-time student
• Change the Participation Status: to 'PTS'
• Input an 'I' in the Action field to insert the new information and press [Enter]. There will be 2 lines on the EDCH screen for the current course - one as full-time and one as part-time
• Select the new line that was created for the part-time study, from the EDCH screen
• Update the Student Start Date: field to the same date that was used for the Participation Status Event Date (the date the student changed to part-time study)
• Input a 'C' in the Action field to change the EDC details

Procedure ends here.

The student is not entitled to ABSTUDY, reject the payment:

• Go to the Benefit Action (BA) screen. Update:
• Svc RSN: ABY or EPA
• Action: REJ
• Reason: NAS - Not a student
• Go to the Education Course History (EDCH) screen
• Delete the Education Course Details (EDC) screen for the non-commenced course
• Go to the Assessment Results (AR) screen and finalise the activity
• Record details on a DOC of action taken

See Rejecting an ABSTUDY claim for more information.

Note: if the activity created a debt shell, processing staff should complete the debt raising process end to end. See Raising ABSTUDY debts.

Procedure ends here.

An AIC student must be participating in approved study to continue to receive AIC or AIC PES.

If the student has ceased study, cancel the AIC payment.

Note: if the student is not studying full-time or at a reduced level due to a disability or health-related condition, and the school still considers the student is full-time, and the student is at least 16 years of age (or 15 years of age and an independent YA customer), check if the student qualifies for YA.