Processing Fares Allowance and Away from Base entitlements in advance or reimbursements 010-02100050

Applicants (student, parent/guardian or third party who incurred the cost) enquiring about claiming Fares Allowance (FAA) reimbursement or additional costs associated with travel already undertaken need to lodge an ABSTUDY Fares Allowance Claim (SY032) form to assess FAA eligibility.

For applicants claiming payment in advance or reimbursement for an Away from Base (AFB) activity, see Approval of ABSTUDY Away from Base assistance for document lodgement requirements.

For organisations claiming reimbursement of AFB assistance for multiple travellers, they must submit the ABSTUDY Reimbursement Authorisation - Booking Form to the ABSTUDY Smart Centre Away from Base Team via the positional mailbox.

Has the applicant (student, parent/guardian or third party who incurred the cost) lodged an ABSTUDY FAA Claim (SY032) or ABSTUDY Reimbursement Authorisation - Booking form?

• Yes:
• Telephony Service Officers, go to Step 2
• Travel and Away from Base Service Officers, go to Step 4
• No, for:
• AFB funding paid in advance, go to Step 8
• All other claims, go to Step 7

Access the Travel Management Application. Has the applicable FAA or AFB reimbursement claim already been assessed?

• Yes, advise applicant of the outcome. Procedure ends here
• No, go to Step 3

See Completing the ABSTUDY Fares Allowance Claim (SY032).

Has the SY032 been completed in full and all required information to assess the claim been provided?

• Yes, advise the claimant the FAA claim will be assessed as soon as possible
• No, advise the applicant to lodge the required documentation so an assessment can be made

Note: if the completed SY032 is not ‘open’ for allocation in Workload Manager, send a Fast Note to the ABSTUDY Travel Team. Use the Fast Note - select Auto text, use Students, ABSTUDY & Apprentices > Fares Allowance > Fares Allowance ACTDOC.

Add in the keywords:

• ABY
• TRAVEL
• AFB – If the reimbursement is for an Away from Base activity

Procedure ends here.

ABSTUDY FAA and AFB claims must be lodged by the relevant closing date. See Start and closing date for ABSTUDY claims.

Has the applicant (student, parent/guardian or third party who incurred the cost) lodged the ABSTUDY Fares Allowance Claim (SY032) or ABSTUDY Reimbursement Authorisation - Booking form by the relevant closing date, or been granted an extension of time to lodge their claim?

• Yes, go to Step 5
• No, the applicant is not eligible for FAA or AFB reimbursement. See Table 3 to code the rejection in the Travel Management Application (TMA)

Is the traveller eligible for ABSTUDY FAA or Away from Base assistance?

• Yes, go to Step 6
• No, the applicant is not eligible for FAA or AFB reimbursement. See Table 3 to code the rejection in the Travel Management Application (TMA)

Approved travellers will not qualify for FAA or AFB reimbursement if:

• They have utilised frequent flyer points or other reward points to undertake their trip and are seeking reimbursement of FAA.
  FAA may be reimbursed for a non-frequent flyer portion of a fare where evidence is provided. For example, an approved traveller booked a flight using a combination of frequent flyer points and payment
• Quotes or purchase orders are lodged
• Travel was organised directly with a travel carrier or travel agent on the provision ABSTUDY would reimburse these costs directly to the provider

Note: FAA or AFB reimbursement can only be paid if proof of payment for travel arrangements has been provided. Paid tax invoices, receipts and/or travel tickets must be lodged as proof of payment.

Does the approved traveller meet one or more of the above?

• Yes, the applicant is not eligible for FAA or AFB reimbursement. See Table 3 to code the rejection in the Travel Management Application (TMA)
• No, see Step 1 in Table 2

Advise the applicant to complete the ABSTUDY Fares Allowance Claim (SY032) with details of the journey undertaken and/or additional costs associated with the travel.

The Resources page contains a link to online forms.

Prior to paying AFB funding in advance, these checks need to be made:

• Confirm activity is approved in principle and confirm acquittal of any earlier activity, see Assessing and processing ABSTUDY Away from Base activities
• Calculate Travel Allowance entitlement, see Approval of ABSTUDY Away from Base assistance

Is the activity approved in principle and the entitlement calculated?

• Yes, see Table 3
• No, advise applicant what is required before funding can be paid in advance. Procedure ends here

The cost of travel together and any additional costs (associated with travel or Travel Allowance) associated with travel may be reimbursed after the journey.

Note: FAA or AFB reimbursement may still occur where:

• student and/or non-student traveller meets eligibility criteria for FAA, but
• travel has not been undertaken due to unforeseen and exceptional circumstances, and
• travel costs have been incurred

If the applicant is:

• claiming for the cost of the travel, go to Step 2
• only claiming for additional costs, go to Step 7
• only claiming for Travel Allowance, go to Step 9

If an approved traveller has not taken a direct route home or back to their study location, and/or they did not travel using the appropriate mode of transport, they will only be reimbursed FAA at the rate of the appropriate mode of transport for the most direct route.

Has the approved traveller travelled to/from an appropriate travel destination via an appropriate mode of transport?

• Yes, go to Step 3
• No, go to Step 5

Was the appropriate mode of transport a private motor vehicle?

• Yes, go to Step 4
• No, the approved traveller is eligible for reimbursement as per the costs of the tickets lodged with their claim. See the Resources page for examples of reimbursing ticket costs. Go to Step 6

The applicant must provide evidence the journey has been undertaken. Evidence may include:

• petrol receipts, however, they are not to be used when calculating the rate of MVA
• attendance sheet or statement from the institution confirming the approved traveller's attendance
• Away from Base acquittal form confirming the approved traveller's attendance

See the References page for MVA rates and the Resources page for examples to assist with calculation and a link to determine engine capacity where engine capacity is not stated.

Note: Google maps is to be utilised to calculate the distance in kilometres for MVA assessments, see the Resources page for a link.

Has the applicant provided proof of the journey?

• Yes, the approved traveller will be eligible for reimbursement as per the current MVA rates. Go to Step 6
• No, the applicant is not eligible for FAA reimbursement. See Table 3 to code the rejection in the Travel Management Application (TMA)

Determine the cost of the most appropriate mode/s of transport.

The applicant is eligible for reimbursement as per the cost of the appropriate mode/s of transport, or the cost of the ticket/s paid - whichever is cheaper. See Resources page for examples of reimbursing ticket costs.

Go to Step 6.

Were there costs associated with the travel (such as transport terminal transfers or accommodation costs)?

• Yes, go to Step 7
• No, go to Step 9

To determine if the additional costs are approved, see Additional costs associated with travel for ABSTUDY.

Are the additional costs approved?

• Yes, for:
• AFB reimbursements, go to Step 9
• All other reimbursements, go to Step 10
• No, go to Step 8

Advise the applicant the additional costs are not approved and they will not be reimbursed for these costs.

Was the claim for additional costs only?

• Yes, the applicant is not eligible for FAA reimbursement. See Table 3 to code the rejection in the Travel Management Application (TMA)
• No, for:
• AFB reimbursements, go to Step 9
• All other reimbursements, go to Step 10

To calculate the applicant entitlement to Travel Allowance, see Approval of ABSTUDY Away from Base assistance.

Once entitlement is calculated, go to Step 10.

The applicant is eligible for FAA and/or AFB reimbursement.

Calculate the total amount of FAA, AFB and/or additional costs to be reimbursed.

Note: applicants requesting an Urgent Payment of their FAA must meet the usual eligibility requirements to receive an immediate payment, that is, unusual and unforeseen circumstances.

See Table 3 to code the reimbursement in the Travel Management Application (TMA).

The entitlement Start Date must be checked to prevent any errors when finalising the activity.

In the students record:

• navigate to the Education Payment Start Date (EPDC) screen, and
• locate the entitlement Start Date

Reimbursement or payment in advance activities require a booking to be created in the TMA with a Booking Status of Reimbursed.

For non-student travellers, the current process of linking to a student or notional student booking within the TMA still applies. The reimbursement is then keyed on the student’s booking. This coding cannot be carried out against any other traveller type.

For organisations who claim reimbursement for multiple students, the total amount must be apportioned between each student to reflect their actual individual cost. See the Resources page for examples.

Note: where a completed reimbursement activity has been paid to an incorrect payee, the variation cannot be completed in 1 activity. Reject the component leaving the payee details unchanged and finalise the update in the TMA and Process Direct. A debt will be raised against the applicable debtor. Navigate back to the TMA and reselect the rejected component. Recode with the new payee details and applicable result. Finalise the activity to generate payment to the correct payee.

For:

• bulk reimbursement activities from organisations, including claims for additional costs only, go to Step 3
• individual FAA reimbursement activities, including claims for additional costs only, go to Step 4
• reassessments of previously completed AFB or FAA activities, go to Step 5
• payment/rejection of Away from Base assistance (Travel Allowance) paid in advance or as a reimbursement, go to Step 8.
• acquittal of Away from Base funds, go to Step 9

Organisations claiming reimbursements for multiple travellers must submit the below to the ABSTUDY Smart Centre Travel Team via the positional mailbox for processing:

• ABSTUDY Fares Allowance Claim form (SY032), and
• ABSTUDY Reimbursement Authorisation - Booking Form

To process a reimbursement claim for an Organisation:

• save the ABSTUDY Reimbursement Authorisation - Booking Form to the desktop
• select the Travel Management tile from the Process Direct landing page. Note: this access only allows selection of the Maintenance icon in the TMA. Only use when uploading input spreadsheet as part of a group upload.
• follow the process in Table 2 in Authorising and coding pre-booked Fares Allowance (FAA) entitlements for ABSTUDY and ABSTUDY Pensioner Education Supplement (PES) to complete the group upload
• once the booking is created, check the Booking Upload Log for any errors, such as CRNs failing validation or duplicate bookings. Key the fields as per the reimbursement claim

Go to Step 10.

To process a reimbursement claim for an individual student or non-student traveller, create a new booking:

• Access the Travel Management Application (TMA) in the relevant customer's record
• select Create New Booking
• create a new booking and key the fields as per the reimbursement claim, see Authorising and coding pre-booked Fares Allowance (FAA) entitlements for ABSTUDY and ABSTUDY Pensioner Education Supplement (PES)

Check to ensure the:

• Course ID relevant to the travel dates is selected on the Overview tab
• Booking Status is set to Reimbursed
• Forward Travel Date and Return Travel Date reflect the actual period of travel

Select Save and then navigate to the Reimbursements tab.

Select Edit and then select Create Reimbursement.

Go to Step 10.

Reimbursement activities may require reassessment because further evidence has been supplied or there has been a formal review of a decision.

Reassessments can include:

• varying an existing component to generate arrears, including where components have been rejected
• varying an existing component to raise an overpayment
• varying an existing component to change the payee
• adding a new component to a previously reimbursed activity

Was the forward travel date after the ABSTUDY entitlement start date?

• Yes, go to Step 6
• No, go to Step 7

To vary/add a component in an existing reimbursement activity, access the Travel Management Application (TMA) in the relevant customer's record and locate the applicable Booking ID#.

To vary an existing component type, navigate to the Reimbursements tab:

• select the applicable Component Type
• select Edit
• Go to Step 10

To add a new component type, navigate to the Reimbursements tab:

• Select Edit
• Select Add Component
• Go to Step 10

The Travel Assessment Date cannot be altered once the activity has been completed. To pay any additional entitlement a new booking will need to be created,

Note: only the additional entitlements are required to be coded in the new booking. See Resources for an example.

• Access the Travel Management Application (TMA) in the relevant customer's record
• select Create New Booking
• create a new booking and key the fields as per the reimbursement claim, see Authorising and coding pre-booked Fares Allowance (FAA) entitlements for ABSTUDY and ABSTUDY Pensioner Education Supplement (PES)

Check to ensure the:

• Course ID relevant to the travel dates is selected on the Overview tab
• Booking Status is set to Reimbursed
• Forward Travel Date and Return Travel Date reflect the actual period of travel

Select Save and then navigate to the Reimbursements tab.

Select Edit and then select Create Reimbursement.

Go to Step 10.

A new booking will need to be created. Access the Travel Management Application (TMA) in the relevant customer's record, then select Create New Booking.

Complete the fields as per the reimbursement claim, see Authorising and coding pre-booked Fares Allowance (FAA) entitlements for ABSTUDY and ABSTUDY Pensioner Education Supplement (PES).

Check the following to ensure the:

• Course ID relevant to the travel dates is selected on the Overview tab
• DOR is corrected to the date the reimbursement request was received by the agency
• Booking Status is set to Reimbursement
• Travel Reason is set to Away From Base
• Forward Travel Date and the Return Travel Date reflect the actual period of the travel and/or Away from Base activity

Select Save.

For an Away from Base activity being paid in advance or as a reimbursement:

• navigate to the Reimbursements tab
• select Edit and then select Create Reimbursement

Go to Step 10.

To acquit Away from Base components paid in advance or approved in principle, including when funds cannot be acquitted, locate the applicable Booking ID#.

Navigate to the Reimbursements tab, choose the component that needs to be acquitted, select Edit.

Is an update required to the Away from Base components paid in advance?

• Yes, go to Step 10
• No, update the Assessment Outcome field to Acquitted and select Save. Go to Step 16

Complete the Reimbursement fields:

• Travel Assessment Date: defaults to the Forward Travel date from the Bookings tab, but can be altered. The date can only be altered on input of the initial component. For any subsequent components, the date will auto-default based on the initial entry. The Travel Assessment Date can be altered to release a payment in advance to ensure funds are paid prior to an activity (subject to system limitations, that is, funds cannot be released if the customer is not current)
• Date of Receipt: defaults to the Date of Receipt (DOR) entered on the Bookings tab. DOR will need to be altered and corrected to the date the reimbursement claim was received by Services Australia. For any subsequent components, the DOR will auto-default based on the date entered on the initial component. If the DOR is altered on any component, it will change on all components within the reimbursement activity
• Component Type: select the applicable component - Accommodation, Fares, Meals or Motor Vehicle Allowance
• Amount Claimed: for this student, input the total amount claimed for the component
• Amount Paid: input the amount to be paid for the component. For rejected components, this will be zero

Note: the same component type cannot be added to a reimbursement activity more than once. If a claim requires the same component type to be paid to different payees, 2 separate bookings / reimbursement activities are required on the student record. To ensure no errors, each reimbursement activity must have a different Travel Assessment date.

Go to Step 11.

Continue the reimbursement coding:

• Payee Type: select either Customer, Organisation or Third Party Person
• Payee (CRN/ID): for Payee Type:
• Customer, defaults to the student's CRN
• Third Party Person, this will display a Payee ID# once the Payee Name has been
• Organisation, the organisation CRN must be entered
• Payee Name: for Payee Type:
• Customer, defaults to the student's name
• Third Party Person field allows a selection to be made from existing payees recorded on the Payment Instruction Summary (PIPS) screen in the student’s record
• Organisation, this defaults to the organisation name applicable to the Payee CRN

Continue the reimbursement coding:

• Result: select the applicable result - Approved, Rejected or Varied
• Rejection/Variation Reason: select the applicable rejection or variation reason
• Assessment Outcome: select the applicable outcome – Reimbursed, Paid in Advance or Acquitted
• Issue Letter: Yes/No toggle. Any change to the issue letter decision within a reimbursement claim will change the result for all components to that payee

Note:

• to prevent a letter from being sent to unaffected payees within a reassessment, ensure the Issue Letter toggle is set to No for that payee
• any reassessment resulting in a reduction to an amount paid, that is, either rejecting component/s or varying to a lower amount, (unless the reassessment results in a rejection of all components to a payee), the reassessment letter must be inhibited as the debt advice letter will notify the claimant of the outcome
• for bulk reimbursement claims for Organisations, do not generate the automated letter/s. Select No in the Issue Letter toggle for the relevant payee/s. Issue a Q999 manual letter and Reimbursement Report

Select Save.

To attach documentation supporting the reimbursement assessment (such as receipts), see Travel Management Application (TMA).

Is another component type required?

• Yes, go to Step 13
• No, and the reimbursement for travel that occurred:
• Prior to the start date, go to Step 14
• After the start date, finalise the assessment. Go to Step 15

To add another component:

• select Edit
• select Add Component
• complete the Reimbursement fields displayed, using details in steps 10-12
• select Save

Is the reimbursement for travel that occurred prior to the Start Date?

• Yes, go to Step 14
• No, to finalise the assessment, go to Step 15

The date entered in the Travel Assessment Date field on the Reimbursements tab populates the Travel Date field on the Travel Details (TRVD) screen in Customer First.

Bookings that include return travel, the Return Travel Date field on the Bookings tab populates the Return Date field on the TRVD screen.

If required to reimburse for travel that occurred prior to the entitlement Start Date:

• Alter the Travel Assessment Date to a date that is on or after the Start Date. Do not amend the Forward Travel Date field on the Bookings tab
• Where the booking includes return travel, alter the Return Travel Date field on the Bookings tab to the Travel Assessment Date +1

Note: when the reimbursement activity is finalised, correct the Return Travel Date on the Bookings tab back to the actual date of the return travel.

To finalise the assessment, go to Step 15.

Once all necessary coding is saved on the Reimbursements tab of the applicable Booking ID#, the Change of Circumstance activity (CoC Status) will show as Draft.

To finalise the reimbursement activity:

• Navigate to the Reimbursements tab and select the ID number hyperlink of any component
• Process Direct will open in a new window
• Select Process
• Select Assess. The Entitlements (ELD) screen will display
• To confirm the correct outcome for each component:
• Customer payee type: view the result by navigating to the Payment Summary (PS) screen in Process Direct within the activity
• Third Party or Organisation payee type: access the customer’s record in Customer First while still in the provisional activity in Process Direct. Select the started activity from the Event Summary (ES) screen and navigate to the PS screen. Select the applicable payment from the PS screen and navigate to the Payment Details (PD) and Third Party Payment Details (PDD) screens to view the result
• Customer First should only be accessed to confirm the correct third party payee. Do not amend or finalise the activity in Customer First
• If the outcome results in an overpayment:
• navigate to the Assessment Consequences (ASC) screen in Process Direct
• confirm the debt is raised against the CRN of the applicable debtor
• select Investigation Reqd in the Debt Action field
• select Update
• If the outcome results in unexpected arrears or a Before Limiting Date (BLD) line, this must be actioned in Process Direct prior to finalisation, see Payment of arrears after reassessment and stopping a payment
• Select Finish
• If required, add notes in the dialogue box displayed and then select Finalise
• Close the message box which confirms the activity has been finalised
• Close Process Direct and return to the TMA
• The CoC Status will still show as Draft. To ensure the status displays correctly, navigating to another tab in the TMA and back to the Reimbursements tab will refresh the CoC Status to Completed
• If the Return Travel Date field on the Bookings tab was altered to allow for payment of travel that occurred prior to the Start Date, this must be corrected back to the actual date of the return travel. Where the reimbursement activity has been selected for quality checking, this correction must occur after completion of the quality check

Note: if the ID number hyperlink is selected and the activity is not completed in the secondary Process Direct window (for example, an error was encountered and the secondary Process Direct window is closed to resolve the error), the CoC status in the TMA will display For Manual Action. This status denotes a started activity, which must be finalised via Process Direct. Cancel the started activity in Customer First, do not amend or finalise the reimbursement activity in Customer First. Once the activity in Customer First is cancelled, reselect the ID number hyperlink in the TMA and follow the process as above.

While the TMA will auto-record the decision within the Notes tab, the outcome must also be recorded on a DOC on the Document List (DL) screen in the relevant record/s.

Go to Step 16.

Reimbursement activities require a DOC to be recorded on the applicable record.

Away from Base activities require a DOC to be recorded on the student's and/or the third party organisation's records.

To ensure the DOC meets Getting it Right (GIR) Minimum Standards, the following must be recorded:

• the decision itself, that is, the result
• the Act/Guide reference upon which it is based, and
• the reason for making the decision (the discretionary aspects of the decision)

Further details which may be included in the DOC are:

• Result - Paid in advance, Reimbursement or Acquitted
• Type of activity (for example, residential school)
• Period of activity (commencement date to end date)
• Cost of the activity:
• education institution record - total cost of the activity
• student record - student's individual component cost
• Component cost breakdown of the activity (for example, meals, accommodation and fares if chartered transport used)
• Amount Claimed
• Amount Paid
• Rejection/Variation Reason (if applicable)
• Education institution record only - names of students who undertook the activity

Note: some limits on Away from Base activities for the course apply and clear and accurate recording of the period and cost of activities is necessary to ensure limits are not exceeded.

See the Resources page for the ABSTUDY Travel Minimum Doc Standards.

Delete all the customer information from desktop and local drives when all required action is taken.

Go to Step 17.

Advise customers of the outcome of an assessment.

When a Fares Allowance reimbursement or Away from Base assessment (including reassessments and acquittals) is finalised, letters will be automatically created for each payee recorded as part of the assessment.

If an auto-letter to a payee is not required or not sufficient, to prevent the auto-generated letter from sending select No in the Issue Letter toggle on the Reimbursements tab. Issue a manual Q999 letter. For bulk Fares Allowance and Away from Base reimbursement assessments, include the Reimbursement Report which provides detailed information about the assessment.

For example, when completing a bulk claim from an Organisation, auto-letters to each payee can be stopped and 1 manual letter sent advising the outcome.

See the Resources page for manual letter free text templates and Reimbursement Report table.

Is the assessment for Travel Allowance Paid in Advance?

• Yes, go to Step 18
• No, procedure ends here

Set a review for Proof of Attendance for acquittal.

In Customer First, create a manual review on the Review Registration (RVR) screen and complete the fields as follows:

• Service reason: ABY
• Review reason: REV (Manual review)
• Due date: one calendar month after end of block
• Source: INT
• DOR: today's date
• Notes: 'Acquittal/POA required for AFB. TA Advance Period: xx/xx/20xx to xx/xx/20xx. TMA Booking No. xxxxxx.'
• Keywords: SY034 and AFB
• Workgroup: leave blank
• Position: leave blank
• Transfer to Region: ABS

The review will mature on the Due Date coded in the RVR activity. Workload Management will allocate the review for manual action.