Eligibility for student payments when enrolled in Open Universities Australia 010-07010130

Where a student tells us they are studying at OUA via:

• a new claim, go to Step 2
• an online, paper or verbal study update, go to Step 2
• additional information in response to a Request for Information (RFI), or the RFI activity has fallen due, go to Step 4

Has the customer nominated a single, or an approved combined, course of study in their online claim or update?

• Yes, go to Step 4
• No, go to Step 3

If the customer has not nominated a course of study, Service Officers must attempt to obtain this information verbally by making 2 attempts to contact the customer by phone. If contact via the phone is:

• Successful and the customer is studying a single, or approved combined, course of study, go to Step 4
• Successful and the customer is not studying a single, or approved combined, course of study, go to Step 5
• Unsuccessful, or the customer is unable to advise of a single course of study, request proof of enrolment. In Process Direct:
• select > Request Documents
• ensure the Benefit displays the customers payment type and all other fields are correct
• select the drop down for Information to be supplied within and choose 14 days + Delivery
• select Next
• search Open Universities
• select both the 'Evidence of Open Universities - confirm name of degree' and 'Evidence of Open Universities Australia enrolment' options
• select Next
• enter the Institution name advised by the customer
• select Next
• enter details of the requests in the Staff Notes
• Select Finalise

Has the document request been issued within a study update or new claim transaction in Process Direct?

• Yes, the work item is automatically placed 'On Hold', pending the return of the requested information. Procedure ends here
• No, if the document request is created as a stand-alone activity it will not place any work items on hold. Staff must place the existing work items 'On hold' manually, pending the return of the requested information. Procedure ends here

Service Officers must identify whether the course of study is approved for student payments. See Open Universities Australia (OUA) on the National Course Approvals sub-site.

Note: approved Masters degrees delivered through OUA will be listed under the partner University awarding the Master's degree.

If the customer is:

• undertaking an approved course, at an approved study load, go to Step 8
• not undertaking an approved course, or has not responded to a Request for Information, go to Step 5
• undertaking an approved course but insufficient study load, go to Step 7

The customer is not eligible to receive a student payment if:

• the course is not approved
• the customer has not nominated a single, or approved combined, course of study, or
• the customer has not provided evidence requested

Is the customer already receiving a student payment for another course of study?

• Yes, see:
• Effect of end of course on payments for students, for students who have completed their course
• Changing or correcting course of study for Youth Allowance, Austudy and Pensioner Education Supplement students or
• Changing or correcting course of study and/or educational institution for ABSTUDY students, for customers who are changing their course
• No, go to Step 6

Where the course is unapproved or the customer has failed to provide evidence, the student does not qualify for payment.

For new claims:

• Remove any details that have populated from the new claim on the following screens. Do this before coding the rejection:
• Customer Study Details (EDCH) screen in Process Direct or Education Course History (EDCH) screen in Customer First
• Newstart Education Status (NES) screen
• Accommodation History (ACS) screens
• Go to the Benefit Action (BA) screen:
• Benefit Type Code: field, select the correct benefit type
• Action: field, REJ - Reject
• Reason: field, NAC - Not an approved course or FSD - Fail to supply documents
• select the Streamline Indicator, and
• Save
• Once on the Entitlements (ELD) screen, make sure the outcome is correct, then select Finish
• Record finalisation details on a Note/DOC

For existing customers:

• Go to the Benefit Action (BA) screen:
• Service Reason: field, select the correct benefit type
• Action: field, select CAN - Cancel
• Reason: field, NAC - Not an approved course or FSD – Fail to supply documents
• Effect date: field, record the date Services Australia was first notified the customer was studying an unapproved course
• Record the details in a Note/DOC

Procedure ends here.

A customer is not qualified for Youth Allowance (YA) or Austudy when they:

• are not studying full-time
• are not approved for a concessional study load
• do not meet aggregation requirements
• do not meet the temporary incapacity rules (YA students only), or
• are not studying towards a degree or award

Even if the course is approved, a student does not qualify for payment unless undertaking an approved study load.

For new claims:

• Remove any details that have populated from the new claim on the following screens. Do this before coding the rejection:
• Customer Study Details (EDCH) screen in Process Direct or Education Course History (EDCH) screen in Customer First
• Newstart Education Status (NES) screen
• Accommodation History (ACS) screens
• Go to the Benefit Action (BA) screen:
• Benefit Type Code: field, select the correct benefit type
• Rejection Reason Code: field, NST - Not a Full-time Student
• select the Streamline Indicator, and
• Save
• Once on the Entitlements (ELD) screen, make sure the outcome is correct, then select Finish
• Record finalisation details on a Note/DOC

For existing customers:

• Go to the Benefit Action (BA) screen:
• Service Reason: field, select the correct benefit type
• Action: field, select CAN - Cancel
• Reason: field, NST - Not a full time Student
• Effect date: field, record the date Services Australia was first notified the customer was not studying towards a degree
• Record the details in a Note/DOC

Procedure ends here.

Record the study details on the Customer Study Details (EDC) screen in Process Direct or Education Course Details (EDC) screen in Customer First:

• Education Institution Id/Institution: field, code for OUA is 3A999
• Course End Date/Inst Course End Date: field, code the appropriate course end date
• Student End Date: field, has POE been provided?
• Yes, code the end of the relevant study period, unless proof of enrolment has confirmed the student is enrolled in more than one consecutive study period, then record the end date of the last enrolled study period
• No, code the relevant study period only

For all other fields on the EDC screen and NES coding, refer to Coding new study details and Coding ABSTUDY education details.

Once the EDC and NES screens have been updated (where appropriate), finalise the activity.

Record details in a Note/DOC.