ABSTUDY Hostel Agreements 010-02060040

For students residing in a hostel, an ABSTUDY Hostel Agreements determines the conditions for payment of:

• ABSTUDY Away from Home rate of Living Allowance
• Rent Assistance, and
• Remote Area Allowance

Hostels which are signatories to an ABSTUDY Hostel Agreement can be paid ABSTUDY as an ABSTUDY boarding instalment.

If a:

• hostel is seeking payment via the ABSTUDY boarding instalment method, go to Step 2
• hostel has signed into an agreement and updates are required to students record, see Table 3

Check the Document List (DL) on the hostel's organisation record in Customer First. If a hostel is a signatory to the ABSTUDY Standard Hostels Agreement for the current 3 year period, there should be a DOC noting this.

A hostel that:

• has an Agreement for a previous expired period, is deemed to not have a valid current agreement
• is not covered by the Bilateral Management Agreement, needs to have an individual agreement for each hostel they operate - even if the hostels are operated by the same over-arching Company

Note: the Resources page lists all hostels who are signatories to an agreement and each individual expiry date.

Is the individual hostel a signatory to the ABSTUDY Standard Hostels Agreement for the current 3 year period?

• Yes, the hostel can be paid ABSTUDY as an ABSTUDY boarding instalment. Procedure ends here
• No, go to Step 3

A number of Aboriginal Hostels Limited (AHL) hostels provide dedicated student accommodation for secondary school students living away from home. Services Australia and AHL have signed a Bilateral Management Agreement governing the conditions of payment of ABSTUDY Away from Home allowances. These hostels are not required to sign individual ABSTUDY Standard Hostels Agreements with Services Australia.

Note: hostels covered by the Bilateral Management Agreement with AHL are listed in the Resources page and are identified on the individual hostel record via a DOC.

Is the hostel covered by the Bilateral Management Agreement?

• Yes, the hostel can be paid ABSTUDY as an ABSTUDY boarding instalment. Procedure ends here
• No, go to Step 4

The hostel must enter into an ABSTUDY Standard Hostels Agreement for the current 3 year period in order to receive ABSTUDY Away from Home allowances.

Has the hostel been a signatory to an Agreement previously?

• Yes, go to Step 6
• No, go to Step 5

To enter into an ABSTUDY Standard Hostels Agreement an organisation must first have met:

• all local and State/Territory government requirements to operate as a hostel. This includes local council approval for 'business use of the premises' as a hostel or lodging house
• local building and facility requirements
• State/Territory governments various requirements to operate as an accommodation facility for children

Note: if a hostel is seeking guidance as to the appropriate approval process and requirements to operate as a hostel, refer them to their local council.

Go to Step 6.

Before entering into an agreement, contact the hostel. Advise the hostel:

• the necessity of the hostel having all the necessary government approvals to operate as a hostel
• that an Agreement must be entered into, or renewed if previously a signatory, in order to access ABSTUDY Away from Home allowances via the ABSTUDY boarding instalment payment method
• ABSTUDY payments cannot be paid to a hostel that is not a signatory to the ABSTUDY Standard Hostels Agreement
• that Services Australia will make contact with them within 7 days to discuss a new agreement

Note: the ABSTUDY and AIC Programs Team has responsibility of negotiating all ABSTUDY Standard Hostels Agreements and communicating the outcome with the relevant provider.

For expiring agreements, advise the hostel that payments for current and new ABSTUDY customers who are residing at the hostel may be affected if the new agreement is not signed and approved by the current expiry date of their agreement.

Has the ABSTUDY Standard Hostels Agreement enquiry been sent to the Level 2 Policy Helpdesk?

• Yes, go to Step 7
• No, refer the request to a Service Support Officer (SSO). Procedure ends here

Has the Level 2 Policy Helpdesk advised that the hostel agreement process has been completed?

• Yes, the hostel:
• agreed to all the conditions of the ABSTUDY Standard Hostels Agreement, go to Step 2 in Table 2
• did not agree to all the conditions of the ABSTUDY Standard Hostels Agreement, go to Step 1 in Table 2
• No:
• advise the hostel/student/parent or carer that an outcome will not be reached until it has been confirmed that the hostel is a signatory to either of the ABSTUDY Hostel Agreements
• Contact the Level 2 Helpdesk for the current status
• Procedure ends here

Where the hostel is not covered by an ABSTUDY Hostel Agreement, payment of ABSTUDY allowances must be ceased.

The student's record must be coded correctly to ensure ABSTUDY Away from Home allowances are ceased. See Processing an ABSTUDY claim for coding.

Create a DOC on the hostel's organisation record. Include:

• details of the contact with the hostel, and
• that an Agreement will not be entered into by the hostel for the current 3 year period

Procedure ends here.

Where the hostel is covered by an ABSTUDY Hostel Agreement, they can be paid ABSTUDY via ABSTUDY boarding instalments.

Display on Access DOC

Record details of the acceptance of the Agreement for the relevant 3 year period on a Display on Access DOC on the hostel's or AHL organisation record.

Scan a copy of the Agreement

Scan a copy of the ABSTUDY Hostel Agreement (provided by the ABSTUDY and AIC Program Team in their work allocation request) to the organisation record. Use the AHL organisation record for the Bilateral Management Agreement covering all AHL hostels.

Update the record

Update the hostel organisation record, where required, with any changes to:

• contact person
• address
• telephone
• email
• other

Procedure ends here.

Where the hostel has now signed into an ABSTUDY Hostel Agreement, student’s records must be updated to have the payment of ABSTUDY allowances activated.

Students are only entitled to ABSTUDY allowance from the date the new agreement is signed and approved from.

These screens may include:

• AC
• EYSB
• PIPI
• EPRC

Code the AC screen. Select the option for each field, according to the type of boarding arrangement or claim type. If the instruction is not broken down by boarding arrangement or claim type, the detail included applies to all:

• Address Type: TER (Term)
• Event Date: date +1 the previous agreement ceased
• Home Ownership: NHO (Non-Homeowner)
• Type of Rent: BOA (Board and Lodgings). Note: where a scholarship covers 100% of a student's boarding costs, key 'NRP' (No rent paid)
• Sharer Status: XSH (Exempt Sharer)
• Gross/Total Household Rent: leave blank
• Net Rent Amount: code the annual board charge of the school/hostel
• Code the actual net amount charged to the student by the school. For example, if a student receives a scholarship that covers all or most of the boarding fees, only code the amount charged after the scholarship has been deducted
• Leave blank if Type of Rent is NRP (No Rent Paid)
• Freq: key 'ANN' (Annually) or leave blank if Type of Rent is NRP
• Rent Verification: EXB (Exempt - Customer in Boarding Style accommodation)
• Government Sub-tenant: NAP (Not applicable to customer)

Update the EYSB screen so the Group 2 School Fees Allowance (SFA) can be paid. Code the actual net amount charged to the student by the school.

Go to the EYSB screen and code as follows:

• Event Date: date +1 the previous agreement ceased
• Annual Fees/Tuition Amount: code the annual school fee charge
• Boarding School/Hostel Action: AHO
• Annual Boarding School/Hostel Amount: code the annual board charge
• Actual Term Start Date: first date of school term in which the student commenced at the Away from Home rate
• Weekly Private Board Amount: leave blank
• Scholarship Contribution Amount: code the amount a school or scholarship provider contributes to an approved scholarship for the Away from Home rate. If EYSB error mandatory coding Scholarship contribution occurs, code $0.00

Go to the PIPI screen.

Two entitlements will be presented:

• SFA-Boarding - used to pay the students Tuition fees
• LivAllow-OTP - used to pay the students Boarding fees

Students can board at one institution and study at another. The ABSTUDY entitlements must be directed to the correct Institution/Hostel.

Locate the Institution:

• Key 'O' in the SFA-Boarding: field and press [Enter] to view the ON screen
• Search for the institution using their Name or CRN. Note: key the institution's exact name or partial name with an asterisk (*) at the end (the '*' acts as a wildcard and searches for matches that are close to what was keyed)
• Select the payee and select [Enter] to view the PIPD screen:
• check the details on this screen are correct
• key 'Y' in the Confirm Link: field to send the ABSTUDY payment to the third party

Repeat the above steps for the LivAllow-OTP field.

In the Rate Component Override (EPRC) screen:

• key 'D' beside a current line
• press [Enter]
• repeat above for any remaining current lines

• Go to the Assessment Results (AR) screen
• Check and finalise the activity
• Record details of the claim on a DOC