Coding Away from Home rate for ABSTUDY tertiary students 010-02060030

Check the Independent/Homeless/Away from Home Summary (NIHS) screen in Customer First for the customer's current status.

Enter 'S' in any line to go to the Independent/Homeless/Away from Home Details (NIH) screen for details of each assessment.

A '?' in the reason box gives a list of codes to check.

If the ABSTUDY customer is:

• dependent, the NIH will be blank or have an AFH/IND reason reject code or grant code showing in the Start/Reject reason: field. See Table 2, Step 1
• independent, a current grant code for reasons IND or HOM shows in the Start/Reject reason field. Go to Step 2

Independent customers who live away from the parental home will automatically receive the higher rate of ABSTUDY, regardless of the reason they live away from home.

Update the Address Details (AD) and Accommodation Details (AC) screens if the independent customer has had a change of address. See Updating address details.

Independent ABSTUDY customers may be eligible for some Away from Home allowances depending on their circumstances.

If the customer:

• wants to claim for Residential Costs (RCO), see Payment of Residential Costs Option (RCO) for ABSTUDY and ABSTUDY Pensioner Education Supplement (PES)
• wants to claim for Relocation Scholarship (RS), see:
• Relocation Scholarship (RS) eligibility
• Relocation Scholarship (RS) payment and coding to code the Regional Location Details (RLD) screen
• does not want to claim for RCO or RS, procedure ends here

Identify why the student or Australian Apprentice is living away from home. See Assessing eligibility for Away from Home Entitlements for ABSTUDY customers.

Where full details for an Away from Home assessment are not available, do not reject the ABSTUDY claim. Pay the customer at the 'At home' rate until further evidence is provided.

Is the dependent ABSTUDY customer eligible for the Away from Home rate?

• Yes, and the NIH screen has:
• current Away from Home details coded, go to Step 2
• no Away from Home details coded, go to Step 3
• No, and the NIH screen has:
• current Away from Home details coded, go to Step 2
• no Away from Home details coded, record details on a DOC of the decision. Where the customer has requested to be assessed for the Away from Home rate in their online claim and they are not eligible, delete the provisional entry on the NIH table. Procedure ends here

Check the student's eligibility for the current coded Away from Home criteria is still correct.

• ABSTUDY dependent students who were eligible for the Away from Home rate and permanently return to the permanent home, will cease to be eligible for the Away from Home rate. See Cessation of the ABSTUDY Away from Home rate
• If the customer has moved back into the permanent home, update the address and accommodation details to reflect they now live with their parents. See Returning to the permanent home when in receipt of the Away from Home rate of ABSTUDY

Is the customer entitled to the Away from Home rate for another approved reason?

• Yes, go to Step 3
• No, record details of the decision on a Fast Note. Procedure ends here

Code the new NIH screen as follows:

• Action: field, enter AFH (Away from Home)
• Start/Rejection Reason: field, enter the appropriate reason code based on the reason the customer has been approved to live away from home
• Start Date: field, enter the date the Away from Home rate will start

Is the customer studying an approved scholarship course and wants to claim for the relocation scholarship?

• Yes, go to Step 4
• No, and:
• wants to claim RCO, see Payment of Residential Costs Option (RCO) for ABSTUDY and ABSTUDY Pensioner Education Supplement (PES)
• does not want to claim RCO, go to Step 5

If the customer is studying an approved scholarship course, an assessment of their eligibility for the Relocation Scholarship (RS) is required. See Relocation Scholarship (RS) eligibility.

To code the Regional Location Details (RLD) screen, see Relocation Scholarship (RS) payment and coding.

The customer's address details must include the student's actual home (HOM) address and term (TER) address at the study location.

Check the following are current:

• Address Details (AD)
• Accommodation (AC)

Tertiary students are subject to normal Remote Area Allowance (RAA) entitlement provisions.

To code the AC screen, see Completing the Accommodation Details (AC) screen and assessing Rent Assistance (RA).

Once all coding for the Away from Home rate is completed, the outcome of the assessment will display in:

• Process Direct - Entitlement (ELD) screen
• Customer First - Assessment Results (AR) screen

Check the details to ensure the assessment has produced the correct outcome.

Once satisfied the correct result is displaying:

• complete the activity, and
• record details on a DOC of the assessment