ABSTUDY Living Allowance 010-02070080

Student or apprentice details

Payee

The student or Australian Apprentice (apprentice) is in one or more of the following categories:

• studying at a secondary non-school, tertiary or Masters and Doctorate level
• undertaking an Australian Apprenticeship
• 18 years old or over
• has independent status

Payee is the student or apprentice.

The student is 16-17 years old and a secondary school student and has dependent status.

Payee is one of the following:

• parent/guardian
• boarding school
• boarding hostel which is signatory to an ABSTUDY Hostels Agreement
• private board provider, if requested by the parent/guardian
• student, if requested by the parent/guardian
• student, if the student is not benefiting from the allowance because the parent/guardian uses it for other purposes, for example, gambling, alcohol

The student is under 16 years old and a secondary school student and has dependent status.

Payee is one of the following:

• parent/guardian
• boarding school
• private board provider, if requested by the parent
• boarding hostel which is a signatory AN ABSTUDY Hostels Agreement

Item

Description

1

Payee where student boarding at a hostel that is not an ABSTUDY Hostels Agreement

Where the student is boarding at a hostel that is not a signatory to the Standard Hostels Agreement or the Bilateral Management Agreement, the student is not eligible for Living Allowance, and the hostel is not eligible to receive payments on behalf of the student.

See ABSTUDY Hostel Agreements.

2

Payee for an ABSTUDY boarding instalment of Living Allowance

Where Living Allowance is being paid as an ABSTUDY boarding instalment, payments must be made direct to the boarding school or hostel. See Payee for ABSTUDY Away from Home allowances.

3

Payee for Residential Costs Option

Where a student has opted for the Residential Cost Option, payments of residential costs are to be made direct to the residential college or hostel. For fortnightly Living Allowance payments made under the Residential Costs Option, see provisions in Determining the Payee for Living Allowance table.

See Payment of Residential Costs Option (RCO) for ABSTUDY and ABSTUDY Pensioner Education Supplement (PES).

4

Customers in State Care

Students/Australian Apprentices (apprentice) who are in State Care receive their allowances direct unless they are a student who is boarding at a school or hostel that is a signatory to an ABSTUDY Hostels Agreement. The carer does not receive payments on the customer's behalf; however, the authority may request payment be made direct to the carer or a person nominated by the customer if:

• the relevant government authority or an organisation approved by that authority believes payment of allowances direct to younger students/ apprentices could jeopardise the customer-carer relationship, or
• it is determined the student/ apprentice is unable to manage his/her own finances (for example, a customer in a special school)

In these cases, the request must be included in the documentation from the welfare department. Payment directions (that is, name and bank account) must be included in the relevant section of the ABSTUDY claim form.

Scenario

Example

1

Student under 16 in secondary non-school studies is living at home and has appropriate evidence

Nathaniel is 15 years old and living at home. Nathaniel is studying a secondary level course through TAFE and lodges a claim for ABSTUDY. Evidence is provided with the claim that Nathaniel has been granted an exemption by the State/Territory education authority to attend TAFE.

When assessing Nathaniel's claim, code the NIH screen using the Action code U16 and the Start/Reject Reason PNS to ensure that the claim can be granted and will pay the correct ABSTUDY U16 Living Allowance rate.

2

Student under 16 in secondary non-school studies is living at home and does not have appropriate evidence

Natarsha is 14 years old and living at home. Natarsha is also studying a secondary level course through TAFE and lodges a claim for ABSTUDY.

Natarsha does not have evidence of being granted an exemption by the State/Territory education authority in order to attend TAFE, and has not reached the minimum school leaving age as defined by the relevant State/Territory education authority.

When assessing Natarsha's claim, leave the NIH screen blank, as Natarsha does not meet the criteria to receive the ABSTUDY U16 Living Allowance rate. Leaving the NIH screen blank ensures the system will reject the claim under reason AGD (Doesn't meet age requirements).

3

Student under 16 in tertiary studies is living at home and has appropriate evidence

Christian is 15 years old and is studying a tertiary level course. Christian is living at home to study and lodges a claim for ABSTUDY. Evidence is provided with the claim that Christian has been granted an exemption by the State/Territory education authority to attend tertiary studies.

When assessing Christian's claim, no NIH coding is required as Christian is studying at a tertiary level course and living at home. The system will allow the claim to be granted and will pay the correct ABSTUDY U16 Living Allowance rate.

4

Student under 16 in secondary non-school studies is living away from home to study and has appropriate evidence

Mia is 15 years old and is studying a secondary level course through TAFE. Mia needs to live away from home to study, as conditions at home impede educational progress.

Mia lodges a claim for ABSTUDY. Evidence is provided with the claim that Mia has been granted an exemption by the State/Territory education authority to attend TAFE. Evidence is also provided of the home conditions.

When assessing Mia's claim, code the NIH screen using the Action code AFH and the Start/Reject Reason AHC. The system will allow the claim to be granted and will pay the correct ABSTUDY Away from Home rate.