Who is the ABSTUDY applicant and interim claims 010-02010030

Claims for ABSTUDY can be lodged by:

• students
• Australian Apprentices
• parents or guardians, or
• interim applicants

An interim claim can be used when a student, or the person who would normally apply on behalf of the student is unable to apply due to exceptional circumstances such as serious illness, floods or remote locality. Services Australia must believe, by accepting an interim claim, it is following the wishes of the student or parent/guardian in respect of the student's schooling. The 'interim applicant' is the person who is completing the interim claim.

The interim applicant must:

• have temporary care of the student
• be able to make an informed declaration about the student's Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander status, and
• be prepared to accept ABSTUDY conditions as outlined in the ABSTUDY Policy Manual

An interim applicant can be a person, institution or boarding school.

Institutions may be considered applicants for the purposes of:

• Away from Base submissions, and
• interim claims for boarding school students

Interim claims can only be accepted from boarding schools if all of the following circumstances apply:

• The student or person who would normally apply on behalf of the student cannot submit a claim because of exceptional circumstances, such as serious illness or remote locality
• The claim is lodged in the student's first term at the school
• The boarding school accepts responsibility for obtaining a full claim from the applicant
• The institution accepts responsibility for the student's boarding and tuition fees where a complete claim is not subsequently lodged by the applicant
• By accepting an interim claim, the agency has no reason to believe it is not following the wishes of the applicant in respect of the student's schooling

Where the above circumstances are met, only ABSTUDY non-income tested allowances and Fares Allowance (FAA) for Terms 1 and 2 can be approved. Where a full claim from the student's parent/guardian has not been received by the end of Term 2, no further FAA is to be approved.

The ABSTUDY interim claim provisions do not apply to Australian Apprentices.

There is no specific claim form for interim claims. The interim applicant must complete the paper claim form relevant to the payment being claimed. If the student is likely to be eligible for:

• Schooling A, the claim for ABSTUDY Schooling A is SY018
• Schooling B, the claim for ABSTUDY is SY019
• ABSTUDY Remote Areas, the claim form for ABSTUDY is SY092

Where an interim claim is accepted, the delegate may, based on available information, approve only ABSTUDY non-income tested allowances. A full application must be received from the original applicant as soon as possible.

Allowances not subject to income testing are:

• non-means tested portion of Group 2 School Fees Allowance
• Pensioner Education Supplement (PES)
• Incidentals Allowance
• Additional Incidentals Allowance
• Fares Allowance
• Lawful Custody Allowance
• Away-from-base entitlements
• Remote Area Allowance (RAA)
• Pharmaceutical Allowance (PhA)
• Rent Assistance (RA)

The person who lodges the claim is referred to as the 'applicant'. For further information on determining who is the applicant, see the Process page.