Eligibility for Assistance for Isolated Children (AIC) Scheme Boarding Allowance (BA/ABA) 010-03040010

General AIC eligibility criteria must be met for the applicant and student.

BA is payable for eligible students who need to live away from the principal family home in an approved board arrangement during school term to have daily access to appropriate schooling.

If a student needs to board for short periods during the year, for example, to undertaking diagnostic testing and/or receive support for a learning disability, or when access from the principal family home to the school is cut off due to special weather conditions, short-term BA is available.

BA is payable for eligible students living in a special institution catering for students with disabilities or health-related conditions where they are residing there for a period of at least 20 continuous school days.

BA is not payable for students who have been formally placed in full-time residential care at a special institution by a state/territory authority which provides foster care allowance to the institution for the upkeep of the student.

If the student receives Disability Support Pension (DSP) or Parenting Payment Single (PPS), and is undertaking primary or equivalent ungraded study and qualifies for BA, AIC Pensioner Education Supplement (PES) is the appropriate payment.

Maximum rate Boarding Allowance (BA) is payable for students boarding full-time - at least 4 nights per week. Otherwise, the rate is based on the number of nights per week boarding, or the short-term boarding period.

ABA is the only AIC allowance that is means tested. It is payable for students:

• who qualify for BA
• whose parental income complies with the Parental Means Test
• whose annual boarding costs (made up of the actual boarding charges plus $250 for incidentals) exceed the maximum annual Basic Boarding Allowance rate

The rate of ABA is calculated as a combination of PIT income and the amount of Actual boarding charges paid/to be paid.

The actual boarding charges paid, is the amount of boarding fees levied by the institution, less any boarding reductions, scholarships, refunds or subsidies. This includes state or territory boarding subsidies such as WA's Boarding Away from Home Allowance (BAHA). See Resources for an example on how to calculate boarding fees paid.

Other arrangements to pay boarding fees (that is, contributions by private sources such as friends or relatives) do not affect the level of actual boarding charges and are considered as the equivalent as paid by the applicant.