Assessing ABSTUDY home conditions for the away from home rate 010-02060130

In assessing whether home conditions constitute a serious impediment to the customer's educational progress or ability to continue working in an Australian Apprenticeship, consideration is to be given to:

• whether the student's educational progress is being impeded, or whether the student is having social difficulties unrelated to study
• if the conditions originate from outside the home, whether these conditions are affecting the student's ability to study whilst living at the permanent home, the amount of homework necessary for the course and the accessibility of alternative places where the student may study (such as homework centres or libraries)
• the impact of home conditions on a student's results or performance at school
• for cases of overcrowding, the size of the dwelling and the number and age of occupants
• for an Australian Apprentice, whether the home conditions make it difficult for the customer to attend work or satisfactorily complete their TAFE studies (where applicable)

Customers granted the away from home rate under 'Home Conditions' who attend a Special Assistance school, will qualify for Interstate travel, where:

• they are specifically recommended to attend the Special Assistance School, or
• a Special Assistance School is available in their home state, but does not provide the special program, facilities or environment appropriate for their needs

Note: customers may not understand exactly what information is required for assessment of 'home conditions', and may also be reluctant to discuss these private matters. Therefore, where the information provided is insufficient to grant the Away From Home rate, it may be necessary to investigate the situation more closely before making a final assessment of the home conditions.

If the customer is deprived of basic necessities at home they may be eligible for the Away from Home rate. Basic necessities include:

• food
• clothing
• power
• water
• shelter
• sleep

See the Resources page for an example.

Examples of serious threats to the customer's health or well-being include:

• alcohol or drug abuse
• criminal or illegal activities
• family and domestic violence (actual or threatened) in the home
• serious and continuing breakdown in family relationships

See the Resources page for examples.

Examples of home conditions that prevent or seriously disrupt the customer's ability to study or attend work include:

• excessive noise
• overcrowding
• lack of facilities for doing homework
• chronic illness

There may be circumstances where multiple children from the one household are claiming away from home due to overcrowding reasons. Where the approval of AFH under this criteria would reduce overcrowding in the home, and there is uncertainty in approving AFH for additional children, escalate the enquiry to the Level 2 Policy Helpdesk.

See the Resources page for examples, and link to Level 2 Policy Helpdesk.

The home conditions which constitute a serious impediment to the customer's educational progress or ability to continue working in an Australian Apprenticeship, can also be widespread across a community to the extent that all community members are adversely affected by:

• a lack of basic necessities
• threats to health
• disruption to study or ability to attend work

In circumstances where it has been established that the above conditions adversely affect an entire community, the Away from Home rate can be approved for an application by any individual whose home is within that community. This means that applications from individuals within that community can be approved without each application providing individual documentation to verify 'home conditions' circumstances.

See the Resources page for examples and a current list of approved communities.

The following are not included in home conditions which constitute a serious impediment to a customer's progress:

• influences to which the student or Australian Apprentice may be exposed outside the dwelling which is the permanent home, unless these are impacting on the student or Australian Apprentice's ability to study whilst living at the permanent home
• minor difficulties of a kind which can be commonly encountered in a family situation
• not having a room to themselves for private study

See the Resources page for examples.

A customer/applicant may be approved on the basis of home conditions if:

• written supporting documentation and/or verification from an independent third party is provided detailing the customer's home or community's circumstances that affect the student's educational progress in the home. An independent third party can include:
• an Independent authority (as identified in step 8) who has firsthand knowledge of the home circumstances of an individual customer determines that a criterion for approval has been met, or
• a Service Officer or Indigenous Service Officer interviews the customer or applicant and assesses that, on the basis of the evidence available, a criterion for approval has been met
• the community's circumstances are such that the entire community is adversely affected, and therefore it is reasonable to determine an away from home criterion has been met for all community residents

A statement from the customer's parent or guardian detailing the home circumstances and how it affects the customer's educational progress or ability to work may also be provided, however this is not necessary to support the claim.

Where a Social Worker has recommended the grant of the Away from Home rate, no further evidence is required. Go to Step 9.

Circumstances affecting individuals

In most cases, it will also be necessary for the claim from the student or applicant to be verified in writing by at least one independent authority with a firsthand knowledge of the circumstances or an authorised Services Australia officer who has firsthand knowledge of the home or community circumstances.

Examples of independent authorities from whom written verification may be sought, as appropriate, are:

• a Commonwealth or State/Territory health, police or welfare authority
• a school or education provider authority, including a counsellor or Aboriginal Education Assistant
• an Aboriginal community official
• a medical practitioner or specialist
• an officer of a private welfare agency, clinic, shelter or refuge

As independent authorities can usually provide the most reliable and articulate description of customer circumstances, such independent verification should be sought as a priority where reasonable and practical. Appropriate privacy requirements are to be adhered to when seeking customer information.

This is particularly the case for customers residing in remote communities where home or community circumstances are well known to such authorities. For remote communities the identification of an appropriate authority should be actively sought by the ABSTUDY Smart Centre Processing team. Lookup ABSTUDY Smart Centre National Processing team in Office Locator for contact details.

It is not essential that a parent or guardian provide a plan of the dwelling and provide details on the number and ages of occupants who normally live there. Whilst it can be useful in some cases, it should not be requested as a standard part of documentation for assessment where other sources of verification can be utilised.

In circumstances where evidence of home conditions for an individual indicates those circumstances apply across an entire community and impact all residents, that community ought to be considered for an assessment for a community wide approval of the Away from Home rate under the 'home conditions' criteria.

Circumstances affecting entire communities

Verification of community wide circumstances should be sought firstly from an appropriate government body. That can be an Australian State/Territory or local government department or agency that has responsibility to provide services to the community.

Usually a Services Australia Remote Servicing Team would be able to assist with first-hand knowledge of the community or be able to refer to another appropriate agency for verification of community circumstances.

Other independent authorities as identified above for an individual person's verification of home conditions can also be used to provide supporting information for verifying a community's circumstances. However, the applicable local Services Australia Indigenous servicing team should always be consulted for their local knowledge.

Final approval is to be granted from an ABSTUDY Smart Centre team leader.

In remote communities where an appropriate independent authority confirms circumstances do affect all community members, and that particular community is seemed to have a blanket approval for Away from Home rate, individual applicants are not required to provide verification documentation with their claim.

Blanket approval for an individual community should be regularly reviewed to ensure the most up-to-date circumstances are assessed. A review should occur no later than every second year, with an annual review to occur if deemed appropriate for an individual community. A review does not require another full assessment of a community, but rather confirmation from the appropriate government body or appropriate servicing team from within Services Australia that the circumstances in the community remain unchanged and applicable for blanket approval of home conditions.

See Resources for examples on blanket approval.

Complete the following fields on the Independent/Homeless/Away From Home Details (NIH) screen to record the approval of Away from Home rate based on home conditions. If there is a previous entry on the NIH screen you will be taken to the NIHS screen. If there is a current entry, this will need to be end-dated before a new line can be entered. Once end-dated, press Enter for a new NIH screen and in the:

• Action field, key 'AFH'
• Start/Reject Reason field, key:
• AHC (Home conditions impede educational progress)
• Start Date field, key the date from which the Away from Home rate has been granted

See Coding away from home rate for ABSTUDY for procedures on fully coding a student qualified for Away from Home rate.

Is the student undertaking an approved scholarship course?

• Yes, key 'Y' in the field To update regional classification details, go to RLD field. Go to Step 10
• No. For all other students, go to Step 11

For information on keying the Regional Location Details (RLD) screen, go to the Process tab of Relocation Scholarship (RS) payment and coding.

Record detail of decision or discussion on a DOC.