Decreasing study load for ABSTUDY or ABSTUDY Pensioner Education Supplement (PES) 102-07020190

ABSTUDY or ABSTUDY Pensioner Education Supplement (PES), customer/student advises that they are reducing their study load.

• Send a Fast Note to the ABSTUDY Smart Centre Processing team:
• Select Auto text, use Students, ABSTUDY & Apprentices > Update > ABSTUDY Study Update Required
• Include all relevant information
• Scan any paperwork supplied by the customer
• Procedure ends here

If their study load will be:

• 75% or more of the normal amount of full-time study, the student is considered a full-time student and there is no need to reassess payments. Procedure ends here
• less than 75% of the normal amount of study, and the customer is:
• a tertiary student studying at a higher education institution, go to Step 2
• not a tertiary student studying at a higher education institution, go to Step 3

If a customer is studying at a tertiary institution which has a normal period of enrolment of a year, they may be able to take advantage of the aggregation of study load rules.

Aggregating is 'adding' the study load of semesters/trimesters or equivalent periods together to determine whether someone is undertaking full-time study.

For more information, see Aggregation of study load.

Could the student still be considered full-time if their study load is aggregated over the full academic year?

• Yes, record details on a Note/DOC of all relevant details of the aggregation of study load and decision. Procedure ends here
• No, go to Step 3

If the student's study load will be:

• between 25% and 74% of the normal amount of full-time study, go to Step 4
• less than 25% of the normal amount of full-time study, for:
• ABSTUDY, see Table 2 > Step 1
• ABSTUDY PES, see Table 2 > Step 3

Students undertaking between 25% and 74% of the normal amount of full-time study, may be eligible to either the disability study load concession, pensioner study load concession or two-thirds study load concession, see Assessing study load concessions for ABSTUDY and ABSTUDY PES.

Does the student meet the eligibility criteria for a study load concession?

• Yes, see Assessing study load concessions for ABSTUDY and ABSTUDY PES
• No, see Table 2 > Step 1

ABSTUDY or ABSTUDY PES students who do not meet the requirements for a concessional study load can test their eligibility for other allowances under the ABSTUDY scheme.

This includes the ABSTUDY Part-time Award.

Is the student now eligible for the Part-time Award?

• Yes, for:
• ABSTUDY, go to Step 2
• ABSTUDY PES, go to Step 3
• No, go to Step 5

• Send a Fast Note to the ABSTUDY Smart Centre Processing team:
• Select Auto text, use Students, ABSTUDY & Apprentices > Update > ABSTUDY Study Update Required
• Include all relevant information
• Scan any paperwork supplied by the customer
• Procedure ends here

Staff should determine that the customer meets the eligibility criteria to receive the Part-time Award. Then use the Education Course Details (EDC) screen to update:

• Select the course that the student has reduced their study load
• Update the Participation Status Event Date field to the date they reduced their study load
  Note: if a customer reduces their study during a term/semester break, the date to be used is the first day of the new term/semester. The date should not be the last day of the previous term/semester
• Code the Participation Status: as 'PTS' Part-time student
• Select Ins in the Action: field and select Continue. This will then display 2 lines on the Education Course History (EDCH) screen for the current course, one as full-time and one part-time
• Select the new entry that was just created for the part-time study load on the EDCH screen
• Update the Student Start Date: to the same date that was used for the Participation Status Event Date (the date the student reduced their study load)
• Update the Inst Course End Date (if applicable) and the Student End Date to match the new Course End Date
• Select Chg in the Action: field and select Continue
• Select the original FTS entry from the EDCH screen
• Correct the Student End Date to the day before the student reduced their study load
• Select Chg in the Action: field and select Continue
• Finalise the activity on the Assessment Results (AR) screen and record details on a DOC

The student will now be entitled to allowances under the ABSTUDY Part-time Award eligibility criteria.

Go to Step 7.

Students studying less than 25% study load or studying 25-74% and do not meet a study load concession are not eligible for ABSTUDY PES.

• Send a Fast Note to the ABSTUDY Smart Centre Processing team:
• Select Auto text, use Students, ABSTUDY & Apprentices > Update > ABSTUDY Study Update Required
• Include all relevant information
• Scan any paperwork supplied by the customer
• Procedure ends here

Code the change on the customer's record. On the Education Course History (EDCH) screen:

• Select the course that the student has reduced their study load
• Input a new Participation Status Event Date as the date they reduced their study load. Note: if a customer reduces their study load on the first day back after a break, the date to be used is the first day of the new term/semester. The date should not be the last day of the previous term/semester
• Change the Participation Status: 'U25'
• Select Ins in the Action: field select Continue. This will then display 2 lines on the EDCH screen for the current course, one as full-time and one as the concessional study load
• Select the new line that was just created
• Update the Student Start Date: as the same date that was used for the Participation Status Event Date (the date that the student changed to a concessional student)
• Select Chg in the Action: field select Continue
• Select the original entry from the EDCH screen
• Correct the Student End Date to the day before the student reduced their study load
• Select Chg in the Action: field and select Continue

Cancel the ABSTUDY PES payment as the student is no longer studying full-time or concessional study load. This will not affect their PES attracting payment. To cancel the payment:

• Go to the Benefit Action (BA) screen. Update:
• Service Reason: EPA - ABSTUDY - PES
• Action: CAN - CANCEL
• Reason: NAS - NOT A STUDENT
• Date of Effect: the date that the student changed to a concessional student
• Select Submit Change

The system generates a letter advising the customer of the decision and their review and appeal rights.

Record details on a DOC and finalise activity.

Go to Step 4.

As the customer is still entitled to the Part-time Award, an ABSTUDY new claim is required to display the Part-Time Award entitlements. Note: the customer does not need to complete a new claim form. The new claim activity is due to system restrictions.

• Send a Fast Note to the ABSTUDY Smart Centre Processing team:
• Select Auto text, use Students, ABSTUDY & Apprentices > Update > ABSTUDY Allowance NCL Action Required
• Include the following:
  Student has reduced their study load below 25%. ABSTUDY PES has been cancelled to allow ABSTUDY Incidentals only to be granted
  Date study load was reduced: DD/MM/YYYY
  New end date: DD/MM/YYYY
  Please assess and grant ABSTUDY INC only

To create and assess the new claim for the Part-time Award, see Processing an ABSTUDY claim.

Procedure ends here.

The ABSTUDY customer does not meet the requirements for a concessional study or the Part-time Award.

• Send a Fast Note to the ABSTUDY Smart Centre Processing team:
• Select Auto text, use Students, ABSTUDY & Apprentices > Update > ABSTUDY Study Update Required
• Include all relevant information
• Scan any paperwork supplied by the customer
• Procedure ends here

End the current course of study on the Education Course Details (EDC) screen:

• Select the course that the student has reduced their study load
• Update the Student End Date to the day before the student reduced their study load
• Select Chg in the Action: field and select Continue
• Finalise the activity on the Assessment Results (AR) screen and record details on a DOC

Where an ABSTUDY customer has ceased study prior to the course end date, it is important that only the Student End Date: field is amended. Do not amend the Inst. Course End Date: field in these circumstances.

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

For:

• PES customers, go to Step 6
• all other customers, go to Step 7

The ABSTUDY PES payment will automatically cancel as the customer is no longer eligible (this will not affect their PES attracting payment). The system should generate a notice in writing advising the customer of the decision and their review and appeal rights.

Procedure ends here.

ABSTUDY payment will automatically cancel as the customer is no longer eligible (this will not affect their PES attracting payment). The system generates a letter advising the customer of the decision and their review and appeal rights.

The customer will have to test their eligibility for another payment type if they wish to continue to receive assistance, see:

• Eligibility for JobSeeker Payment (JSP)
• Eligibility for Youth Allowance (YA) (job seeker)

If the customer wishes to claim a different payment, or they are uncertain what payment they may claim, the Service Officer will need to identify if the customer is eligible for income support and other products and services.

Customers must claim payments as a jobseeker on or before their ABSTUDY cancellation date to ensure no gap between payments.

Whenever a customer discusses claiming a payment with Services Australia it must be recorded in a DOC.