Assessing and coding a transfer to Austudy or Youth Allowance (YA) student claim from another payment 010-20020548
For Service Officers trained in Students processing.
This document outlines how to assess and code a transfer to Austudy or YA student from another income support payment.
On this page:
Assess early claims where study has not commenced
Assess eligibility and payability
Assess the YA/Austudy grant date
Assess rate, waiting periods, add-ons and finalise claim
Initial claim assessment
Table 1
Step |
Action |
1 |
Claim lodgement + Read more ... A claim work item is created for allocation and processing in Process Direct where a customer submits:
Where a paper claim is scanned onto a customer's record, the system creates a Social Online Application (SOA) Shell. Where a SOA Shell claim is allocated to a Student Processing skilled Service Officer and the claim is for a job seeker or Australian Apprentice, it must be re-categorised appropriately:
The Re-claim or Transfer for Austudy or Youth Allowance (SY089) paper claim is no longer accepted. Where an SY089 has been lodged with a:
A paper claim will not auto-create a SOA Shell where the claim is uploaded by the customer through Upload Documents. Manually create the claim using the SOA Shell application in Process Direct. If there is a submitted online claim, ACC or SOA Shell claim available to process in Process Direct, go to Step 2. |
2 |
Pre-assessment checks + Read more ... Complete all pre-assessment checks in Process Direct using the icons on the Transaction Summary (TS) screen. Checks may include selecting:
An Authorising a person or organisation to enquire or act on your behalf form (SS313) lodged with a new claim must be processed immediately, provided the Service Officer is satisfied of the nominee's identity. This is to ensure the nominee will also receive the outcome of claim letter. See Adding or rejecting a nominee request. |
3 |
Check course is approved + Read more ... Determine whether the course is an approved course of study for Youth Allowance (YA), Austudy and Pensioner Education Supplement (PES). Is the course approved?
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4 |
Response received from CALO + Read more ... When a response is received from a CALO, if the course is:
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5 |
Check customer meets eligibility requirements for being a student + Read more ... A customer applying for YA (student) or Austudy must meet qualification and eligibility requirements for being a student. They must be studying full-time or undertaking an approved concessional study load. For more information, see:
YA and Austudy students, who are temporarily incapacitated, may also be considered a student during that time. For more information, see:
Is the customer:
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6 |
Check course duration + Read more ... Note: there is no set duration for the length of an academic year. It depends on the education provider. If on the YA/Austudy grant date (see Table 5 for information on assessing the grant date), the remaining duration of the course is:
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7 |
22 – 24 years of age and receiving JSP + Read more ... If the customer was:
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8 |
Appropriate payment + Read more ... Determine whether YA/Austudy is the most appropriate payment before assessing the student claim. See Transfer to Austudy or Youth Allowance (YA) (student) from another payment. Do not take lodgement of a YA/Austudy claim as an indication of the customer’s preferred payment. Services Australia is obligated to ensure that customers are advised of their options. For JSP customers, where the rate and conditions of JSP appear to be more beneficial than YA/Austudy, care must be taken to determine whether JSP remains payable. Check the Activity and Exemption Summary (AEX) screen in Process Direct to see if the customer is Provider managed or Centrelink managed. Provider managed Check the AEX screen in Process Direct for a short course approval activity for the customer’s current study. Where there is no short course approval activity:
Record the details of all conversations/contact attempts with customers, in the claim outcome note/DOC. If the claim is being put on hold, record this in the Progress of Claim DOC. If contact is successful, explain the difference in rates and conditions. Ask the customer if they want to stay on JSP and whether:
If the customer answers yes to both of these questions, they will lose JSP eligibility from the date they cease to comply with the JSP requirements. YA/Austudy will be the only appropriate payment. If the customer wants to stay on JSP but has not discussed their study with their provider:
If both attempts are unsuccessful and JSP appears to be the most appropriate payment, reject the YA/Austudy claim COP – Another Payment is More Appropriate. If the customer later contacts and discussion of JSP payability shows that YA/Austudy is more appropriate, the claim may be reassessed. See Table 7 JSP remains payable only if the course is less than 12 months long If the course is:
Centrelink managed Centrelink managed job seekers are not required to report via PBAS. They meet their requirements through:
View activities and exemptions on the AEX screen. JSP remains payable for Centrelink managed customers as long as their course is less than 12 months long. If the course is:
See the Resources page for examples of appropriate and beneficial payments and dates. Is YA/Austudy the appropriate/preferred payment?
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9 |
Outstanding compliance action + Read more ... Customers receiving the following participation payments are not granted any exemption from their mutual obligation requirements while their claim for YA or Austudy is being assessed:
If the customer has failed to comply with any mutual obligation requirements before the YA/Austudy claim is finalised, compliance action may have been generated or applied in the period since the new claim was submitted. Outstanding compliance action, such a participation suspension, should not prevent finalisation of the YA/Austudy claim. After the YA/Austudy claim has been finalised and payment granted, background processing will finalise any outstanding compliance action that is no longer required. Where payment suspension for a participation reason is before the start date of the YA/Austudy claim, the customer may need to contact either their provider or the Participation Solution Team (PST) as previously notified. Further action by staff in Student Processing is not required. For more information, see Services Australia's responsibilities for managing compliance with compulsory requirements. |
10 |
Claim lodgement date + Read more ... Customers receiving income support payments may choose to transfer to a student payment at any time during their studies. When assessing a transfer for these customers, the student start date only needs to be considered if the customer is making an early claim or more than 14 days have passed since their outgoing payment cancelled. For information regarding the cancellation of a JobSeeker payment when a customer has started full time study, see JobSeeker Payment (JSP) job seekers returning to full-time study. When was the claim lodged?
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11 |
JSP customer, claim lodged more than 13 weeks after student start date + Read more ... Consider JSP payability from the study start date. Customers may remain payable for JSP if they were:
Did the customer meet the above requirements?
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12 |
Claim is not a transfer + Read more ... Is the outgoing payment cancelled?
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Assessing study details
Table 2
Step |
Action |
1 |
Determine if an allowable time assessment is required + Read more ... See Determining allowable time/reasonable time for a course of study. Is an allowable time assessment required?
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2 |
Check information for the allowable time assessment + Read more ... Do not reject a claim where the customer has not yet reached their allowable time. Do not hold a claim to request an academic transcript if the student is currently eligible for their student payment. Is there enough information available to make the allowable time assessment?
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3 |
Academic transcript + Read more ... Before requesting a transcript, the following must be considered:
Where the customer indicates they will continue to study beyond their allowable time end date:
If considering requesting a transcript:
Coding the Miscellaneous Update Details (NMIS) screen may be required to cancel JSP. This is to reduce any overpayment for JSP where:
See JobSeeker Payment (JSP) job seekers returning to full-time study.
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4 |
Determine study status + Read more ... |
Assess early claims where study has not commenced
Table 3
Step |
Action |
1 |
Check if the claim can be assessed early + Read more ... For the following customers, claims cannot be processed before the YA/Austudy qualification date (for example, the course start date):
Do any of these circumstances apply to the customer?
|
2 |
Apply system limitations workaround + Read more ... The claim cannot be assessed early due to system limitations. Use Status to hold the claim using the hold reason Future Transfer until the day before the course start date. The claim is allocated for processing by Workload Management (WLM) on that date. Record the reasons for holding the claim on a Note/DOC:
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Assess eligibility and payability
Table 4
Step |
Action |
1 |
Assess if customer is entitled and payable + Read more ... Make sure the customer is both entitled and payable.
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2 |
Assess qualification for Austudy + Read more ... When assessing qualification for Austudy, consider if the customer:
When assessing payability consider:
For Allowance asset thresholds, see Income and asset tests/cut-offs, Assets Test for Allowance (Independent) on the Rates and thresholds page. If the customer is entitled and payable, see Table 5. If the claim is to be rejected Allowable time reached (ATR), see Assessing satisfactory progress for tertiary students for Austudy. If the customer is not entitled or payable for any other reason, see Table 7. If further information is required and it was not requested when the claim was submitted, go to Step 4. |
3 |
Assess qualification for YA + Read more ... When assessing qualification for YA, consider if the customer:
When assessing payability consider:
For Allowance asset thresholds, see Income and asset tests/cut-offs, Assets Test for Allowance on the Rates and thresholds page. If the customer is entitled and payable, see Table 5. If the claim is to be rejected Allowable time reached, see Assessing satisfactory progress for Youth Allowance (YA) tertiary students. If the customer is not entitled or payable for any other reason, see Table 7. If further information is required and it was not requested when the claim was submitted, go to Step 4. |
4 |
Additional information required for assessment + Read more ... Contact the customer to request required information:
If unable to contact the customer by phone, request the required information using Request Documents in Process Direct. See Requesting information (CLK). This automatically holds the claim for 14 days. |
Assess the YA/Austudy grant date
Table 5
Step |
Action |
1 |
Transferring from different payments + Read more ... To determine the most beneficial payment for the customer, before proceeding, see:
The YA/Austudy grant date will depend on:
It may be the date the:
Making a decision on the most beneficial payment on the date the claim is lodged is only required if the customer:
No consideration can be given to paying the current payment for any longer than the customer is qualified and payable for that payment. See the Resources page for examples of appropriate and beneficial payments and dates. On the date the claim was lodged, if the most beneficial payment (or the only payment that the customer is qualified and payable for) is:
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2 |
JSP most beneficial payment + Read more ... Where the date of receipt of the claim is before the YA/Austudy qualification date:
Where the date of receipt of the claim is after the YA/Austudy qualification date, the grant date will be JSP date paid to plus one day. |
3 |
Continue to process the claim + Read more ... Make sure the following are the same as the Manual Start Date:
When finalising the claim, the customer's JSP cancels (JSP/CAN-STU-CUS COMMENCE/RESUME STUDIES *AUTO) from the YA/Austudy grant date. Cancelling JSP may lead to a debt, which may be offset by arrears of YA/Austudy. |
4 |
YA/Austudy most beneficial payment (JSP customer) + Read more ... The grant date depends on when the customer first qualified for YA/Austudy and the date the customer loses entitlement to JSP. See Step 2 in Table 2 of JobSeeker Payment (JSP) job seekers returning to full-time study for information on determining the JSP cancellation date. If the customer:
Within the claim activity, update the Miscellaneous Update Details (NMIS) screen:
Key the grant date in the:
Code the Date of Commencement (NDC) screen. If the grant date is:
Cancelling JSP may cause a debt, which may be offset by arrears of YA/Austudy. |
5 |
YA/Austudy most beneficial payment (any other income support payment customer) + Read more ... The grant date is the day their outgoing payment ceased or will cease as a result of coding the transfer. The student claim is granted from the grant date, unless the customer:
The Date of Effect for a rate increase is the Date of Event. See Calculating the start day for a transferee. Cancel the current payment, using a Date of Event (DOV), matching the grant date:
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6 |
Any other income support payment most beneficial + Read more ... The grant date is the date the customer will lose eligibility for their outgoing income support payment (for example, Parenting Payment (Partnered) customer will lose care of only dependent child). Where the date of receipt of the claim is before the YA/Austudy grant date:
Note: for further information, see:
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7 |
Income too high on grant date + Read more ... If the customer and/or their partner's employment income was enough to preclude payment for the entitlement period in which the grant date falls, the claim will reject:
To prevent this, go to the NDC screen and update:
See Table 6, Step 1. |
Assess rate, waiting periods, add-ons and finalise claim
Table 6
Step |
Action |
1 |
Assess entitlement to the Long-Term Income Support (LTIS) rate + Read more ... Customers who transfer from an income support payment to YA or Austudy may be entitled to the LTIS rate for YA or Austudy. To determine eligibility for this rate and the process to code a rate override (if required), see:
Once LTIS is assessed, go to Step 2. |
2 |
Assess entitlement to the Education Entry Payment (EdEP) + Read more ... Determine if the customer is entitled to EdEP. EdEP has a similar rule to the LTIS rate. The 52 weeks is immediately before the customer first commences the course. If on the day the claim is processed the customer:
If the NMIS screen cannot be coded for a JSP customer transferring to YA/Austudy who is also eligible for an EdEP, go to the One Off Payments (OOP) screen. Enter:
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3 |
Check eligibility for Student Start-up Loan + Read more ... See Student Start-up Loan (SSL) when a customer advises in their claim they want to apply for an SSL. |
4 |
Assess waiting periods + Read more ... |
5 |
Assess the JSP to YA/Austudy claim + Read more ... Select Assess to take the claim to the Entitlement (ELD) screen, but do not finalise the assessment. |
6 |
Check Relocation Scholarship (RS) assessment + Read more ... Is the customer eligible for a Relocation Scholarship?
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7 |
Final checks and outcome + Read more ... Check that the grant date is correct on the Benefit Status (XBS) screen, if not, code a manual start date on the Date of Commencement (NDC) screen. Check the results on the ELD screen:
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8 |
Record claim assessment details on a DOC + Read more ... Finalise the claim. Record details of the assessment on a DOC.
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9 |
Finalise the YA/Austudy claim + Read more ... Finalise the claim. Record details of the assessment on a DOC.
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10 |
Determine eligibility for Education Entry Payment (EdEP) + Read more ... If the system has not auto assessed entitlement to EdEP, determine eligibility for EdEP. If the customer is eligible for EdEP, use the One Off Payments (OOP) screen Process Direct
Customer First
Procedure ends here. |
Reject claim
Table 7
Step |
Action |
1 |
Rejection + Read more ... Before coding the rejection, if the customer is now receiving another payment, remove any details that have populated from the new claim from the following:
If the claim is to be rejected:
For all other reasons, see: |
2 |
Course is not approved + Read more ... As the course is not approved, the customer is not qualified for YA or Austudy. Streamline reject the claim:
If the customer is currently receiving JSP and returning to full-time study, see JobSeeker Payment (JSP) job seekers returning to full-time study. Procedure ends here. |
3 |
Customer is not undertaking sufficient study load to qualify for YA or Austudy + Read more ... A customer is not qualified for YA or Austudy, when they:
Streamline reject the claim:
If the customer is currently receiving a qualifying payment for Pensioner Education Supplement (PES) or ABSTUDY PES, issue a PES claim using the Mail Forms guided procedure. Procedure ends here. |
4 |
Another payment is more appropriate + Read more ... If the customer is entitled to a more appropriate payment, streamline reject the claim:
If the more appropriate payment is:
Procedure ends here. |
5 |
Claim submitted more than 13 weeks before qualification + Read more ...
Procedure ends here. |
6 |
Course of study less than twelve months + Read more ...
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7 |
Not entitled to STARTUP-HELP + Read more ... Go to the Benefit Action (BA) screen:
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