Assessing eligibility for Away from Home entitlements for ABSTUDY customers 010-02060070

Students and Australian Apprentices may be eligible for ABSTUDY Away from Home entitlements if they need to live away from home to study or work.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, some students were unable to attend or required to leave their term accommodation. Many students transitioned to online study, as face-to-face teaching was unavailable.

Secondary boarding students

Secondary boarding students who were eligible for or receiving the Away from Home (AFH) rate and unable to commence or continue boarding because of COVID-19, remained eligible for the AFH rate as long as:

• the student stayed enrolled/registered for the same boarding arrangement, and
• the student's boarding spot was held for their return as soon as they could reasonably commence or resume boarding, and
• the school/boarding provider kept in touch with the student and/or their family during this time, and
• if the student usually lived at a boarding school, the school provided the student with the curriculum and necessary educational support and pastoral care to keep the student engaged in remote learning.

During this period, the student was considered to be boarding away from home for school attendance.

This also applied to situations where the student did not start or return to school because of community and family concerns around the safety of travel, including the risk of contracting COVID-19.

Tertiary students

Tertiary students who were receiving the AFH rate and temporarily transitioned to online learning because of COVID-19, remained eligible for the AFH rate. To continue to be eligible for the AFH rate, tertiary students must have returned to face-to-face study as soon as it became available.

Where a student had to move out of education provider accommodation (such as on campus) and were temporarily staying at their home address, they remained eligible for the AFH rate providing they:

• remained enrolled in their course of study, and
• intended to return to their campus accommodation as soon as the education provider allowed them to return

In this case, the change in accommodation should be assessed as temporary.

Residential Costs Option (RCO)

Students approved for RCO with a medical condition that required them to return home temporarily due to COVID-19, remained eligible for the AFH rate of Living Allowance for the period COVID-19 prevented them from returning to on-campus accommodation, as long as:

• the student remained enrolled in the course of study, and
• the education institution did not charge residential fees for the period