Commencing or returning to work for Austudy and Youth Allowance (Students) 102-07030040

If a YA or Austudy student contacts about starting work, they must be referred to self-service to complete the updates unless:

• self-service channels are currently unavailable (confirmed by Network News Update (NNU)/mySupport)
• the Service Officer decides the transaction is not appropriate to be self-managed by the student in that instance, or
• the student is from a remote area and cannot reasonably access online services

If the student is unable to complete the details online, get the following details:

• date they started work
• employer's name, address and phone number
• date paid by their employer
• gross amount paid (this is, the gross amount as shown on their payslip before tax and other deductions are taken out)
• pay period (that is, weekly, fortnightly, monthly etc)
• pay frequency
• if applicable and required, hours worked within the reporting period
• are they employed as a full-time Australian Apprentice (apprentice or trainee)?

• They may be entitled to Special Employment Advance (SEA). If the customer wishes to apply for this, they must attend a service centre
• Customers with a current Low Income Health Care Card (LIC) may still qualify for their LIC if their income does not exceed 125% of the income limit for qualifying for this card

Note: the system will automatically calculate whether the LIC income limit is exceeded by 125% or more and a letter will be sent to the customer.

• Yes, go to Step 4
• No, go to Step 5

There may be continuing entitlement to YA or Austudy as an Australian Apprentice depending on the customer's circumstances. See Identifying the most beneficial payment for trainees or Australian Apprentices for more details. Australian Apprentices are subject to the same income and assets tests as students but are not subject to the full time study requirements.

No paperwork is needed. Services Australia will Obtain the Australian Apprenticeship details from the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations. If there is a gap between ceasing study and commencing the Australian Apprenticeship, and the customer wishes to access income support for this gap, they may need to claim payment (Youth Allowance or JobSeeker Payment, depending on their age) as a job seeker.

For details of the benefit transfer process for Australian Apprentices, see Existing recipient starts an Australian Apprenticeship.

Procedure ends here.

Ask the customer whether they intend to continue their full-time studies. For example, they may be employed full-time during the Christmas - New Year vacation period only or may even be continuing in full-time study whilst also in full-time employment.

• Yes, YA or Austudy payments may continue. Go to Step 8
• No, go to Step 6

Update the Education Course Details (EDC) screen with the study end date in the Student End Date: field. It is also necessary to update the Newstart Education Status (NES) screen:

• In the Event Date: field, type the date last studied +1
• In the Student Status: field, enter 'NST' (Not a student)
• Update the Education Level Attained: field if necessary
• If the customer is aged under 18, in the U18 Study Exemption Rsn: field, type 'OTH'
• Code the customer's 18th birthday in Exemption End date: field
• Complete footer details and press [Enter]

Finalise the activity on the Assessment Results (AR) screen

Is the customer aged 22 years or over?

• Yes, the payment will cancel automatically. Go to Step 8
• No, go to Step 7

• If the customer is starting full time employment:
• Their Student Income Bank balance will transfer to a Working Credit balance to a maximum of 3,500 credits
• They will remain qualified for YA until the working credit balance is zero
• They must declare employment income from the date they started work until their last Entitlement Period End Date (EPED). Note: as they are no longer a student they will have to meet their reporting requirements as a job seeker
• Customers must be transferred to job seekers for working credit to be depleted, although they will not be connected with an Employment Services Provider
• Update the customer's employment income
• If the customer is starting part time or casual work, they may still qualify for YA. For more details, see Unemployed eligibility for JobSeeker Payment (JSP) and Youth Allowance (job seeker)

Tell the customer that:

• they must declare their employment income every fortnight, and
• any income bank credits which have accumulated will be used before their income from employment affects their rate of payment

Determine the Date of Event for employment income before recording the customer's income details. For a customer with:

Variable income:

• Place the customer on 2 weekly reporting, see Reporting requirements for students and Australian Apprentices
• Where needed, code employment income via the earning and reporting workflow
• Advise of their reporting options via self-service
• Advise the next date they are due to report

Regular income (the same amount each fortnight):

Continuous income frequencies (1WE, 2WE and MTE) can only be recorded in limited circumstances. Customers cannot select a continuous frequency through self-service channels and must contact to determine eligibility (with the exception of customers whose records are in Environment I with an overseas address).

It is the Service Officer’s responsibility to determine if the customer is eligible to have a continuous income frequency applied.

Check if the customer is paid regular income and meets the 1WE or 2WE exception.

If the customer is paid irregular income or does not meet the exception, they must:

• be placed onto statement reporting, and
• income will be recorded with a non-continuous frequency (IOP/LOP)

Where a continuous income frequency is recorded, the Service Officer must record in a DOC how the customer has met the exception criteria.

Tell the customer that regardless of the income frequency, their qualification for payment will cease if their employment income, after application of the income test, or income bank, precludes payment for more than six consecutive fortnights.

Does the customer have a partner?

• Yes, go to Step 9
• No, go to Step 10

If the customer has a partner receiving an income support payment or pension, reassess the partner's entitlement:

• Advise the effect of the employment income on the partner's continuing entitlement
• If the customer was placed on 2 weekly reporting, consider placing the partner on 2 weekly reporting to prevent over payment

Note: students placed on reporting are Employment Income Reporters (EIR). If the partner is also placed on two weekly reporting as an EIR, only one customer will need to report to release both the customer’s and partner’s payments.

Check if the customer needs to revise their current income estimate (and advise choices available to help reduce the chance of an overpayment during the reconciliation process.

See Updating income estimates for the current financial year.

Record details on a DOC including employment details and all action taken.

DOC minimum standards

These only need the collection and recording of enough details about the employer (for example, contact name and address or phone number) to allow income assessment, as well as contact with the employer if necessary.

Contact may be necessary for

• verification of the income details provided
• conducting reviews resulting from Data Matching with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO)

Some customers (for example, those who work in sensitive areas like women's refuges, etc.) may not want all employment details (for example, business name) recorded on a DOC. This does not affect the requirement to collect sufficient details for assessment or review purposes.