Qualification for ABSTUDY Lump Sum Bereavement Payment 099-02020030

ABSTUDY LBP may be available to an ABSTUDY Living Allowance customer only when their partner dies.

An ABSTUDY customer who has a dependent child who dies will not be subject to any bereavement assistance under the ABSTUDY scheme but can be eligible for family assistance.

If an ABSTUDY customer advises of the death of a child stillborn on or after 1 March 2014, they may be eligible for Stillborn Baby Payment (SBP).

An ABSTUDY customer will be eligible for LBP if:

• the student or Australian Apprentice qualifies for one of the following Awards:
• Schooling B Award
• Tertiary Award
• Masters and Doctorate Award, and
• the student or Australian Apprentice is in receipt of ABSTUDY Living Allowance at the time of the event, and has been in receipt of Living Allowance continuously for a period of 52 weeks prior to the date of their partner's death, or
• if the student or Australian Apprentice has not been in receipt of ABSTUDY Living Allowance continuously for the previous 52 weeks, they must have been in receipt of ABSTUDY Living Allowance on the date which is 52 weeks prior to their partner's death, and Living Allowance has not ceased for more than six weeks in that 52 week period and
• the student or Australian Apprentice is a member of a couple and
• the person's partner dies and
• immediately before their partner died, the partner was:
• receiving ABSTUDY Living Allowance, a Social Security benefit, allowance or any combination of the above allowances for the previous 52 weeks, or was in receipt of one of these allowances on the date 52 weeks prior and not had more than six weeks loss of recipient status in that 52 week period, or
• was in receipt of a Social Security Pension and
• The rate of the new single fortnightly ABSTUDY Living Allowance payable to the student or Australian Apprentice is lower than the previous combined member of a couple rate paid

Note: this customer and partner qualification is the same as the requirement for Bereavement Payment for Social Security benefits where customers are deemed as 'long term social security recipients'. See Assessing entitlement to a Lump Sum Bereavement Payment (LBP). The ABSTUDY requirement is based on the Social Security Act requirement.

Notification of the death of their partner must occur within 14 days of the date of death or the person is not eligible for Bereavement Payment.

A Manual Follow-up (MFU) is created on the surviving partner's record where qualification for LBP has been met. This identifies that an ABSTUDY LBP is to be calculated and paid, see Calculation of a Lump Sum Bereavement payment.

Note: if an MFU is not created, it normally means qualification for LBP has not been met. However an MFU will also not be created if either the customer or partner were suspended at the time of death, or if partner records are in separate environments. Status of customer and partner records should be checked where it looks like qualification may have been met but an MFU is not produced.