Cancellation or suspension of ABSTUDY payments 102-10020020

If allocated a review on a suspended payment, go to Step 17.

Has the customer contacted about a payment that has already been cancelled or suspended?

• Yes, see Restoration of ABSTUDY payments
• No, for:
• Suspensions, go to Step 2
• Cancellations, go to Step 6

Do not suspend payments:

• Based only on suspicion/s that a customer is no longer eligible or due to unverified information, such as a tip-off. Even if the evidence seems significant, the customer must be asked to provide information, and given the chance to respond before any decisions are made
• If the customer has a correspondence nominee and contact with the nominee has not been made or attempted. Send the nominee copies of letters and notices

Has the customer been issued with an appropriate request for information/action?

• Yes, and the customer:
• has responded to the request. Go to Step 5
• has not responded to the request. Go to Step 4
• No, go to Step 3

Information must be requested from the customer via a notice under ABSTUDY Policy 1.5. Requests for information must include:

• details of the information/action required
• the timeframe for response (noting that this must be reasonable)
• the consequences of non-compliance, and
• the reference to the relevant Policy and/or Student Assistance Act under which the request has been made

Issue a written request for the required information. See Requesting information (CLK).

If the customer has a correspondence nominee, send the nominee copies of letters and notices.

Procedure ends here.

If the reasonable timeframe has elapsed and the customer has not responded to the request for information, determine if special circumstances (such as vulnerability indicators) exist to warrant an extension of time to respond.

Do special circumstances exist?

• Yes:
• Resubmit the request for information
• Record details on a DOC of the reason for extension including special circumstances, etc
• Go to Step 18
• No, the customer has failed to reply to correspondence, go to Step 8

Update the customer's record with the information provided.

If:

• the customer's circumstances preclude payment, payment will be automatically suspended or cancelled
• income affects payments, rate of payment or Income Bank balance may change

Record details on a DOC.

Procedure ends here.

ABSTUDY payments may be cancelled or suspended where one of the following occurs:

• the student, Australian Apprentice or applicant is no longer eligibility for ABSTUDY or
• another payment is more advantageous to the student for example, FTB
• the student voluntarily ceases payments

Is the decision to cancel or suspend ABSTUDY payments correct?

• Yes, for:
• Telephony staff, go to Step 7
• Processing staff, go to Step 9
• No, this procedure does not apply. Record details on a DOC of all relevant information. Procedure ends here

Smart Centre staff may take action to cancel or suspend ABSTUDY if the action does not require a complex assessment (for example, cancellation/suspension of an ABSTUDY secondary boarding student) and:

• the student is advising of a change in circumstances which affects their eligibility for ABSTUDY, or
• the student voluntarily ceases payments

Does the action require a complex assessment?

• Yes, go to Step 8
• No, go to Step 9

Staff must act depending on the customers circumstances where the action requires a complex assessment and cannot be resolved at the point of first contact. For example, the student has advised they have ceased studies but cannot advise their last day of attendance.

Do not make any updates for ABSTUDY secondary boarding students.

• Staff must send an ABSTUDY Boarder ACTION Request Fast Note to the ABSTUDY Smart Centre Processing team. Make sure all relevant details are included
  Select Auto text, use Students, ABSTUDY & Apprentices > Update > ABSTUDY Boarder ACTION Request > Confirm
• Procedure ends here

For all other circumstances, staff should suspend the payment from Date Paid To +1, for coding assistance go to Step 10.

Check the reason for the cancellation or suspension. See ABSTUDY cancellation, suspension and rejection codes for a list of which cancellation and suspension reason codes are automatic and which are manual.

• To action the update manually, go to Step 10
• To action the update automatically, go to Step 11

• Go to the Benefit Action (BA) screen
• Select Add. On the Create Benefit Action screen, update these fields:
• Benefit Type Code: ABY
• Benefit Action: CAN or SUS
• Reason: select the appropriate reason
• Date of Effect: record the date the event occurred (that is, the date the change in circumstances occurred)
• Select Save
• Update the Receipt Date and Channel. Select Save
• Select Assess and address any errors/warnings
• Select Assess again then select Finish
• Record details of the update
• Select Finalise

Go to Step 12.

• Go to the Benefit Action (BA) screen and code the following:
• Svc Rsn: ABY
• Action: CAN or SUS
• Reason: record the appropriate reason
• Effect Date: record the date the event occurred (that is, the date the change in circumstances occurred). Note: the date of effect will default to Date paid to +1 if left blank
• Record any relevant comments in the Notes: field
• Record the source and date of receipt in the Source: and DOR: fields

Go to Step 12.

Update the student's record to reflect the change in their circumstances. The system will automatically action the cancellation or suspension.

The coding required to update the student's record will depend on their situation. For example, if a student has discontinued study, updating the Student End Date: field on the Customer Study Details (EDC) screen in Process Direct or Education Course Details (EDC) screen in Customer First will result in an automatic cancellation.

Go to Step 14.

A manual Q134 letter will be required if a suspension activity has been actioned manually or where a manual cancellation with a reason of OTH (other) is required for an ABSTUDY payment, (e.g. Payment on Advice), the correct letter (Q134) is required to be issued within the activity.

Staff must complete the Q134 letter within the activity to prevent an unnecessary Manual Follow-up (MFU) activity generating.

Is a manual letter required?

• Yes, go to Step 13
• No, go to Step 14

Create a manual letter (Q134) and include:

• reasons for the cancellation or suspension of the ABSTUDY payment
• date of effect
• relevant section of the ABSTUDY Policy, and
• recipient's review and appeal rights

When creating the Q134 letter, the Service Officer must insert the following text into the free text: field and update the correct policy reference(s) for the cancellation or suspension action:

• 'This {cancellation or suspension} has been made under <1.5 and 2.4> of the ABSTUDY Policy Manual'

When prompted to select the reference to the relevant Act under which the decision was made, the Service Officer must select:

• 'This decision has been made under the Student Assistance Act 1973'

• Go to the AR/ELD screen and finalise the activity
• Record details on a Note/DOC of the action taken

If the activity creates a debt shell, processing staff should complete the debt raising process end to end. See Raising ABSTUDY debts.

Has the payment been suspended manually?

• Yes, for:
• suspensions due to complex coding, go to Step 15
• all other manual suspensions, go to Step 16
• No, procedure ends here

Where the payment was suspended due to complex coding:

• Send an ABSTUDY action request Fast Note to the ABSTUDY Smart Centre Processing Services team for follow-up
• Select Auto text, use Students, ABSTUDY & Apprentices > Update > ABSTUDY action requests > Confirm
• Add the following details in the Fast Note:
• ABSTUDY has been suspended DPT+1: (SUS date)
• Reason payment has been suspended:
• Details of further investigation is required to determine entitlement end date: (for example, student unable to provide last day of attendance)
• Please investigate ABSTUDY entitlement end date

Procedure ends here.

• If the payment is suspended manually, in Customer First, create a manual review on the Review Registration (RVR) screen and complete the fields as follows:
• Service Reason: ABY
• Review Reason: REV
• Due Date: 13 weeks after date of suspension
• Source: INT
• Date of Receipt: today's date
• Notes: 'ABSTUDY suspended xx/xx/xxxx. Check if customer qualifies for the payment and the payment is payable. Return to OB 102-10020020 for action.'
• Keywords: ABYRES
• Workgroup: leave blank
• Position: leave blank
• Transfer to Region: ABS
• The review will mature on the Due Date coded in the RVR activity. Workload Management will allocate the review for manual action
• Update the DOC on the customer record with the date the review falls due

Note: if a customer is experiencing vulnerability or risk issues, or remains without income support payment for a minimum of 6 weeks due to an automatic suspension or cancellation, the customer will require manual intervention. Customers who are overseas permanently are not eligible for this initiative. Cancel any MFUs generated for customers in this situation.

Procedure ends here.

If the review due date has been reached, review the person's qualification for and payability of the payment.

Does the customer meet eligibility for payment to be restored?

• Yes, and there is:
• no note on a DOC to prevent restoration, restore payment. Procedure ends here
• a note on a DOC to prevent restoration, follow DOC instructions. Procedure ends here
• No, go to Step 10

When special circumstances have granted an extension for the customer to provide the requested information, a manual review is required.

• In Customer First, create a manual review on the Review Registration (RVR) screen and complete the fields as follows:
• Service Reason: ABY
• Review Reason: REV
• Due Date: determined extension date
• Source: INT
• Date of Receipt: today's date
• Notes: 'ABSTUDY request for information due xx/xx/xxxx. Check if customer has supplied requested information. Return to OB 102-10020020 for action.'
• Keywords: ABYRES
• Workgroup: leave blank
• Position: leave blank
• Transfer to Region: ABS
• The review will mature on the Due Date coded in the RVR activity. Workload Management will allocate the review for manual action
• Update the DOC on the customer record with the date the review falls due