Non-student travellers for ABSTUDY 010-02100180

If a response has been received from the Level 2 Policy Helpdesk, see Step 4 in Table 2.

To assess a travel request for a non-student traveller, eligibility to FAA must be established for the student. See Assessing eligibility for Fares Allowance (FAA) for ABSTUDY.

Has eligibility for FAA been determined?

• Yes, go to Step 2
• No, see Step 7 in Table 2

FAA may be paid for a person other than the student.

When the travel request is for:

• a supervisor, go to Step 3
• dependant/s of a student not undertaking an Away from Base activity, go to Step 5
• dependant/s of an Away from Base (AFB) student, go to Step 7
• dependant/s of an approved supervisor, go to Step 8
• family (including dependants of parents/guardians) or community members of the student, go to Step 9
• travelling companion (including a service animal) for ill, injured or disabled student, see Step 2 in Table 2
• education provider representatives, see Step 3 in Table 2

Is the student/group of students studying at a secondary school, and/or under 18 years of age?

• Yes, go to Step 4
• No, see Step 7 in Table 2

The supervisor must be a:

• parent/guardian
• family member
• community representative, or
• representative of the student's school or hostel

All travel types are available for a supervisor.

The supervisor is eligible for one return journey between their permanent home address and the student's study location for each approved occasion. A supervisor may also elect to travel one way and terminate their journey at the destination, or earlier if there are multiple legs.

For group travel, the ratio of supervisors to students is assessed separately for each journey. Consideration is given to the student's circumstances and the circumstances of the journey. In general, the rule is one supervisor is allowed for every 6 students.

As the approved traveller, the nominated supervisor is the only person entitled to undertake the journey. If another person undertakes part or all of the journey, the nominated supervisor will be marked as a No Show for that travel. Penalties and overpayments may be applied to the nominated supervisor.

Does the supervisor meet one of the above criteria?

• Yes, see Step 5 in Table 2
• No, see Step 7 in Table 2

Travel for a student’s dependant/s may only be approved if:

• the student is eligible for Parenting Payment Single (PPS),
• the student's partner is eligible for Parenting Payment Partnered (PPP),
• the student or student's partner:
• holds a Health Care Card (HCC), a Low Income Health Care Card (LIC) or Pensioner Concession Card (PCC), and
• has a dependent child

Is one (or more) of the above conditions met?

• Yes, go to Step 6
• No, go to Step 9

The types of travel entitlement available for dependant travellers are:

• travel at the commencement and end of study
• Special Purpose Visit travel
• Orientation Visit travel
• school vacation travel
• travel on compassionate grounds

Other types of specified travel may be approved for dependent travellers in exceptional circumstances. This is assessed on a case by case basis.

Dependants are normally expected to travel with the student but may use FAA to travel separately (for example to travel to the place of study after the student has found accommodation).

Note: the student is not eligible for mid-year travel if the dependants have travelled to the place of study.

Is the dependent an approved traveller for one of the above travel types?

• Yes, see Step 5 in Table 2
• No, and:
• assessment for different travel type is required, go to Step 9
• dependent is not considered an approved traveller, See Step 7 in Table 2.

If a student is approved to travel for an Away from Base activity, their dependent/s may be allowed to travel with them. They can access ABSTUDY Additional Assistance in lieu of Fares Allowance to cover their travel costs in certain situations.

An AFB student can access Additional Assistance for a maximum of 2 dependants. This includes fares, meals and reasonable additional accommodation costs (for example, cot hire or additional bed fee). Other costs, including childcare, are the responsibility of the student. In exceptional circumstances, where a student requires additional support for their dependant, escalate these instances to DSS.

For the dependent to be approved, the student must meet the following circumstances:

• there is no appropriate alternative care for the dependant and
• there are alternative caring arrangements for the dependant while the student participates in the AFB activity, and the AFB:
• student's dependant is under school age
• student's dependant is vulnerable, or
• student is receiving Parenting Payment Single (PPS)
• the travel of the dependant would support the student to attend the AFB activity

Are the above conditions met?

• Yes, the dependent is approved, see Step 5 in Table 2
• No, go to Step 11

If a parent or guardian is travelling with a child under 2 years old, the child is considered an approved traveller. The airline will not charge for the child’s seat. The child will be added to the parent or guardian’s itinerary. See Step 5 in Table 2.

ABSTUDY Additional Assistance in lieu of Fares Allowance can be approved for up to a maximum of 2 dependants per supervisor.

To approve travel for a dependant over 2 years of age for an approved supervisor all of the following must be met:

• the supervisor is the student's:
• parent/guardian or community representative (including a family member), or
• private board provider
• there is no alternative supervisor for the student
• there is no other care for the supervisor's dependent/s
• the supervisor's dependent/s are aged 17 or under
• it would be unreasonable to use the student's entitlements to Special Purpose Visit travel

This does not apply if the dependent traveller is included in the reasonable number of travellers for the event and the travel reason is one of the following:

• NAIDOC Week events
• graduation events
• the student is experiencing serious problems with adjustment or similar circumstances

Are the above conditions met?

• Yes, the dependent is approved, see Step 5 in Table 2
• No, go to Step 9

To assess entitlement to travel under FAA for a family or community member traveller, the student cannot exceed the entitlement limit for the calendar year. For further information see:

• Compassionate Travel for ABSTUDY
• Special Purpose Visit travel for ABSTUDY
• Orientation Visit travel for ABSTUDY

Has the student reached the entitlement limit for approval of the applicable travel type?

• Yes, the travel is not approved, go to Step 11
• No, for:
• compassionate travel, see Step 1 in Table 2
• Orientation and Special Purpose Visit travel, go to Step 10

Return travel costs between the student’s term address and the approved traveller's home address may be approved for:

• parent/guardian
• partner
• other nominated family members, or
• community members

A reasonable number of approved travellers with significant ties to the student, may be given approval to travel. A community member that has been involved in supporting or raising the student and/or who the student considers as having played an important part in their life, is considered to have a significant tie to the student. See the definitions of Kinship and Extended family.

Children less than 2 years of age are:

• required to travel with a parent/guardian
• considered to be an approved dependant traveller
• added onto the itinerary and they travel on the ticket of the parent/guardian. The airline does not charge a seat ticket for the child

Is the request for 6 or more approved travellers for one student?

• Yes, determine, if all travellers have a significant tie to the student, if:
• all travellers are deemed suitable, see Step 5 in Table 2
• the travellers are deemed unsuitable, travel is not approved, see Step 7 in Table 2
• the assessing officer is unable to determine approval, escalate via LPS to Level 2 Policy Helpdesk for approval of FAA. Go to Step 11
• No, see Step 5 in Table 2

Where the non-student traveller/s did not meet the outlined conditions, they are not considered an approved traveller.

Travel or Away from Base Service Officers can seek approval by completing a direct SSO referral to the ABSTUDY Travel and Away from Base SO5. See Tier 0 technical support - self-sufficiency.

Use the email template to forward any supporting documents provided by the approved traveller to the ABSTUDY Travel and Away from Base SO5 once the direct SSO referral has been submitted. See the Resources page for the email template.

The Booking Status of the non-student traveller/s is to remain as New until a Level 2 Policy Helpdesk provides a response.

Record details of the travel request and escalation on the non-student traveller/s and approved traveller’s bookings.

Procedure ends here.

Return travel costs to the student's term address may be approved for a parent/guardian, partner, other nominated family members or community members between the approved traveller's home address and the student's term address.

If the student has a terminal illness, approval may be granted for both parents/guardians to visit.

Children less than 2 years of age are:

• required to travel with a parent/guardian
• considered to be an approved dependant traveller
• added onto the itinerary and they travel on the ticket of the parent/guardian. The airline does not charge a seat ticket for the child

Go to Step 5.

It would be considered undesirable to travel alone in various circumstances, such as:

• the health of the student is likely to deteriorate and/or results in the student being unable to adequately travel alone
• an injured student is unable to travel alone and negotiate the necessary requirements (for example, stairs, baggage etc.)
• a disabled student cannot undertake travel without assistance (for example, the student is blind and needs to travel with a service animal (dog))

See Resources for examples.

Is it undesirable for the student travel alone?

• Yes, a travelling companion may be approved for FAA. All types of travel are available for a travelling companion. Go to Step 5
• No, go to Step 7

Where student/s are qualified for FAA, representatives of an education provider or hostel may be approved to travel to the student/s home community in the following circumstances:

• the student/s are eligible for Orientation Visit travel or Special Purpose Visit travel, and
• the proposed travellers have direct contact with ABSTUDY students at the boarding location, and
• the purpose of the trip is to engage with the family, where a family or community member is unable to visit the boarding location for a school event such as parent-teacher interviews

or

• the student/s are eligible for Orientation Visit travel or Special Purpose Visit travel, and
• the proposed travellers have direct contact with ABSTUDY students at the boarding location, and
• there are at least 6 ABSTUDY students at the school/hostel who come from the communities to be visited and there is likely to be a continued boarding connection between the education provider and the community

or

• the student is eligible for Away from Base travel, and
• the student will be participating in either a testing and assessment activity or a residential school, and
• the education provider can demonstrate that it is cost-effective for its representatives to travel to a community or communities instead of the students/parents travelling to the education provider location

Have any of the above conditions been met?

• Yes, travel may be approved for up to 2 education provider representatives. Go to Step 5
• No, go to Step 7

The Level 2 Policy Helpdesk will advise the assessing Travel Officer if travel for non-student traveller/s has been approved.

Has travel for the non-student traveller/s been approved?

• Yes, go to Step 5
• No, go to Step 7

An approved non-student traveller is also eligible for additional costs associated with travel for such things as meals and accommodation when an overnight stay in required as part of the journey.

An approved non-student traveller is responsible for any:

• security deposits required at check-in
• penalties or other costs incurred as part of the journey such as a No Show penalty
• lost tickets, or
• additional costs charged by an accommodation provider. For example, mini-bar, damage to room, lost keys etc

Advise the non-student traveller/s they are approved

Determine if FAA is to be:

• authorised and booked in advance of travel or
• costs reimbursed after the travel has been undertaken. The traveller will be required to complete a Fares Allowance Claim (SY032). The Resources page contains a link to the SY032

Procedure ends here.

Advise the non-student traveller/s they are not eligible for FAA.

If the travel request has been received by:

• ABSTUDY Smart Centre Telephony:
• record details of discussion on a DOC
• explain their review and appeal rights
• procedure ends here
• ABSTUDY Smart Centre Travel or Away from Base Teams:
• finalise the travel Booking Status as Rejected in the Travel Management Application (TMA)
• record details of the decision in the Notes field. See Coding pre-booked FAA entitlements for ABSTUDY and ABSTUDY Pensioner Education Supplement (PES)
• procedure ends here