Verifying evidence for Apprenticeship Wage Subsidy (AWS) claims 043-22032122

Work items will be allocated through Workload Manager (WLM) if an Apprenticeship Wage Subsidy (AWS) claim has:

• evidence that training has commenced, and/or
• wage evidence not verified through automation

Note: only use information the employer uploads within the claim in the Apprenticeships Data Management System (ADMS) when verifying evidence. Do not use information from outside of ADMS.

Claims can be allocated through Work Optimiser or Process Direct. To open the claim:

• Select the ‘Open in ADMS’ option within Work Optimiser, or
• Copy the claim ID and paste it into ADMS to begin reviewing the AWS claim

Use ADMS to review the claim. See Apprenticeship Data Management System (ADMS).

Employers who are claiming for multiple apprentices will have their claims bundled together. There is no limit on the bundle size.

When presented with the Allocated the Following Bundle pop up:

• ensure all AWS claims are selected
• accept the full bundle, and
• not de-select any work items associated with the employer

If there are AWS claims in the inbox at the end of the processing shift:

• Retain the claims until the following day, unless the following day is a weekend or public holiday, or
• Discuss with the Team Leader about reassigning the claims to another available Service Officer

Note: it is not appropriate to call employers on weekends or public holidays, unless directed to by Operational Planning. Unassign the work item using the reason Second Contact Required, if:

• there are work items left in the Inbox on a Friday afternoon, and
• the Team Leader is unable to reassign the work items to another Service Officer

To search for a single AWS claim work item in Work Optimiser:

• Select the Worklist tile
• Input the ADMS Claim Application ID number in the Work Item ID field
• Select Search

To Search for all claims associated with an employer

• Select the Worklist tile
• Select the Customer Search worklist view
• Input the employer’s ABN in the Customer ID field

Note: if a Service Officer accidently accesses the record of a person with whom they have a perceived conflict of interest. declare the access by following the standard agency procedure and completing the Inadvertent Access form (also known as ”OOPS” register).

Review the Service Notes details in ADMS before taking further steps to verify claim evidence or make an outbound contact attempt.

Notes must be recorded every time:

• an outbound contact is made or attempted, after an AWS claim is allocated to a Service Officer for evidence verification
• an inbound enquiry is received from an employer
• a claim is escalated to AWSE

To review the notes, select Service Notes from the right-hand side bar.

Note: Apprentice Connect Australia Providers can view the Service Notes in ADMS. Record sufficient detail to allow Apprentice Connect Australia Providers to manage any enquiries.

Check the status of the claim. See Apprenticeship Data Management System (ADMS) for statuses and definitions.

Claims with a status of Assessment:

• have been submitted by the employer
• were unable to be verified through automation, and
• require Services Australia verification

This may be the first time the claim has been submitted, or a resubmission following a request for more information.

If the employer has contacted regarding a claim with a different status, see Employer enquiries about Apprenticeship Wage Subsidies (AWS).

In the Apprenticeships Data Management System (ADMS), check Comments in the Actions section of the claim to identify which evidence requires verification.

An ADMS System message will display if a claim requires verification of:

• Training Evidence - Training evidence has been added to this claim application and requires review before it can be approved
• Wage Evidence - STP and OCR checks unsuccessful. All wage evidence attached to this claim application requires review, or
• Wage Evidence - The following wage evidence files require review: <wage evidence file name> for <start pay period> to <end pay period>

No ADMS System message displays where a claim is finalised through automation.

Note: if a claim requires review of both wage and training evidence, verify all documents before changing the status.

Check bank account details if status is 'Inactive bank account', see Step 6 in the Managing employer enquiries table.

When uploading evidence, employers only have the option to select from:

• Wage evidence, or
• Training evidence

Sometimes uploaded supporting documents are neither. Check if the supporting documents have been requested before and if so, action appropriately.

If the training evidence attachment is a statement from the employer on company letterhead, requesting the claim to be rejected or withdrawn, go to Step 13.

Training evidence is not required if the apprentice's workplace address is in the following exempt states and territories:

• ACT
• NSW
• SA
• TAS

If an employer in an exempt state or territory attaches training evidence, do not review the attached evidence. Accept that the training evidence requirement is met.

For all other states and territories, training evidence is required unless an employer has provided it before.

Check the Claim details section of the claim. Employers who advise they have previously submitted evidence that training has commenced are not required to attach training evidence.

Has the employer attached training evidence?

• Yes, and the apprentice's workplace is:
• located in an exempt state or territory, go to Step 8
• not located in an exempt state or territory, go to Step 7
• No, go to Step 8

Training commences when the apprentice, employer, and Registered Training Organisation (RTO) sign an agreed individual Training Plan for the apprenticeship. For suitable documents, see the Training evidence requirements for Apprenticeship Wage Subsidies table.

Training contracts are not an acceptable document.

Select the attachment to view the document and verify that it is acceptable. To be acceptable, the evidence:

• must be legible
• meet the training evidence requirements, and
• must match details supplied in the claim

Can the training evidence be verified?

• Yes, and:
• the claim also has wage evidence to be verified, go to Step 8
• there are no other evidence attachments to be verified, go to Step 10
• No, and:
• the evidence is assessed as fraudulent, go to Step 12
• there is wage evidence requiring verification, go to Step 8
• there is no wage evidence requiring verification, return the claim to the employer for further information. Go to Step 11

In ADMS check Comments in the Actions section of the claim to identify if the evidence was verified by the system.

Does the message 'The claim application has been STP approved and therefore no review of wage evidence is required' display?

• Yes, do not review the wage evidence document/s:
• accept the wage evidence as verified
• update the claim status to Eligible or Returned. Service Officers must update Service Notes to state no wage evidence checks were undertaken as this evidence was verified by ADMS. Go to Step 10
• No, go to Step 9

Repeat this step for each wage evidence attachment requiring verification.

Select the attachment to view the document and verify that it is acceptable. To be acceptable, the evidence:

• must be legible
• meet the wage evidence requirements, and
• must match those supplied in the claim

Wage evidence documents can include documents that start and/or end outside the claim period, if the documents relate to dates within the claim period (for example, payslips straddling claim period start or end dates). The dates and amount the employer declares in the claim must match the wage evidence it relates to. See the Wage evidence examples table on the Resources page.

Can the wage evidence be verified?

• Yes, and the training evidence was:
• also able to be verified, or not required, go to Step 10
• required but unable to be verified, return the claim to the employer for further information, go to Step 11
• No, and the document is assessed as fraudulent, go to Step 12. Otherwise return the claim to the employer for further information, go to Step 11

Check the Claim amounts payable for the amount of subsidy to be paid.

If the claim is paying a $0 subsidy:

• Return any claims where the employer has made an error or further information is required, or
• Escalate the claim to AWSE if the details provided by the employer is correct

Staff must not to reject the claim.

Otherwise, where all required evidence is verified, update the claim as Eligible:

• go to the Claim Eligibility section
• select the Eligible radio button
• add comments to explain that evidence was verified (for example 'Payslip was blurred but legible. Wage evidence is acceptable and verified') Note: comments for Eligible claims are not visible to employers
• select Submit

ADMS will notify the employer of the outcome.

Once the claim status in ADMS is marked as Eligible, the work item status in WLM will update to COMP.

Procedure ends here.

Where any required evidence is unable to be accepted and verified, update the claim as requiring more information:

• Go to the Claim Eligibility section
• Select Requires More Information
• Select the relevant option(s) from the Changes for Employer section (training evidence is requested using the Claim details option)
• Copy and paste the approved text into the Comments for Employer field. See Approved Comments for employer text table on the Resources page
• Select Submit

Text entered in the Comments for Employer field appears in the email to the employer. Ensure the correct, approved text is used.

Go to Step 1 in Table 2.

For Service Officers

Service Officers can use the Contact card web form to escalate the following types of issues:

• employer contacts about a missing payment, and the bank account is incorrect
• employer contacts about a possible over/under payment
• a $0 subsidy has been calculated by ADMS
• the AWS claim has been rejected in error
• a recommencement date has not been populated in the claim
• the employer has contacted and is requesting a review of their claim
• the claim is for BAC claiming period 6-11 or CAC claiming period 2-7 and has been returned to the employer once before

Escalate complex issues to LPS for support or escalation to the AWSE line. See Tier 0 technical support - self-sufficiency.

The DEWR AWSE line is for Services Australia LPS staff only. Do not give the number or web form to customers or employers.

Referrals can be made by LPS to the DEWR AWSE line for:

• evidence identified as fraudulent
• employer details are incorrect
• employer contacts about a missing payment, and the bank account is correct
• complex claims. Examples of complex claims may include, but are not limited to:
• the business name on the wage evidence does not match the claim and there is no Australian Business Number (ABN)
• wage evidence inquiries

For Service Officers:

• Unassign the work item in Work Optimiser using the reason Recategorised
• Update the Work Type: field to ZCLM_ZAWS_ESC (Escalated AWS Claim)
  For information about recategorising work items, see Work Optimiser for staff
• Procedure ends here

For LPS, go to Step 1 in Table 3.

When the employer contacts Services Australia by phone to request a rejection or withdrawal of their claim, see Managing employer enquires table in Employer enquiries about Apprenticeship Wage Subsidies (AWS).

Procedure ends here.

Outbound contact to an employer is required when requesting further information in ADMS (for example, when flagging the claim Requires “More Information”).

Employer contact, or a contact attempt is required, regardless of whether the claim has been submitted once, or multiple times.

Determine if a claim has been resubmitted by reviewing Comments, Service Notes in ADMS. Comments in ADMS display requests made to employers for more information. A claim has been resubmitted if the comments show:

• a request for more information has been made and the claim status is currently Assessment, or
• multiple requests for more information

Contact the employer to advise which information was unable to be verified:

• training evidence
• wage evidence

If employer contact is for a resubmitted claim:

• review Comments and Service Notes in ADMS, to determine the reason for contact, and
• why the claim was returned to the employer

To identify the employer contact details in ADMS:

• go to the Employer Details section of the claim
• take note of the:
• employer contact name, and
• employer contact number

Employer contact numbers may display without an area code. Where there is no area code, note the state that the business operates from and use the appropriate state area code.

Only obtain employer contact details from ADMS.

When contacting the employer:

• apply the Outbound Contact Protocols. See the Outbound Contact Protocols table on the Resources page, and
• use the call scripts. See the Outbound Call scripts table on the Resources page

Tailor the conversation, depending on whether the employer has submitted the claim more than once.

If the contact is successful and the person specified in the Employer Contact Name field advises they do not work for the business:

• Record a Service Note, stating the employer contact person no longer works for the business, and
• Contact the employer using the Alternate contact details

If the Alternate contact person also no longer works for the business, include this information in the Service Notes. To create an AWSE referral to obtain further contact details, go to Step 12 of Table 1.

Procedure ends here.

After the contact attempt has been made, select Service Note Details in ADMS.

Record the call as an outgoing contact and select if the call was Successful or Not Successful. Record any notes about the contact in this field.

Return to Employer cannot be selected in ADMS until both questions have been completed.

Include the appropriate approved text in the Comments for Employer field. See Resources page, Approved comments for employers text. Do not alter the approved text to include suggested types of wage evidence.

Once the claim status in ADMS is marked as Eligible, Ineligible, or Requires More Information, the work items status in WLM will update to COMP.

Note: only Local Peer Support (LPS) can select ineligible, if approval has been given by the Department of Employment & Workplace Relations (DEWR).

For LPS action only.

The DEWR AWSE line is for Services Australia LPS staff only. Do not give the number or web form to customers or employers.

Referrals can be made for:

• evidence identified as fraudulent
• employer details are incorrect
• if after 10 business days since the claim has been approved, the employer has not received their BAC/CAC payment and bank account listed is correct
• complex claims. Examples of complex claims may include, but not limited to:
• the business name on the wage evidence does not match the claim and there is no Australian Business Number (ABN)
• claims that have a $0 amount payable
• claim status is Verified or Approved, but has resulted in an under or overpayment

Do not create DEWR AWSE line referrals relating to problems with work allocation. Raise issues about work allocation through normal site escalation processes.

The DEWR AWSE line will:

• provide advice to resolve the issue
• refer to compliance, or
• escalate matter as a complex claim

LPS should contact the DEWR AWSE line telephony service during hours of operation and:

• Provide the claim ID, employer name and apprentice name, and
• Specify if the claim is a BAC or CAC

Only use the Contact Card web form outside of the hours of operation or where the telephony service is unavailable.

LPS will need to provide their Services Australia logon ID, name and Services Australia email address to the DEWR Service Officer. If the referral is:

• unable to be resolved during a call, an acknowledgement email is sent after the call ends and a resolution email once the referral is resolved.
• resolved during a call, a resolution email is sent

LPS must create a Service Note, include comments such as:

• 'Evidence accepted/approved by AWSE - date/time', or
• 'Returned claim on advice from AWSE - date/time'

No follow up is required when a resolution email is received. Any actions resulting from DEWR AWSE line referrals are completed by LPS monitoring the Apprenticeship Wage Subsidies LPS form entries.

Was the enquiry resolved during a call to the DEWR AWSE line?

• Yes, continue processing the claim
• No, including enquiries escalated to AWSE using the Contact Card WEB FORM, go to Step 2

For LPS skilled staff only.

If the DEWR AWSE line resolves the referral with instructions to update the claim status to Returned or Eligible, update the claim appropriately.

Do not mark claims as Not eligible in ADMS without advice from the DEWR AWSE line.

If the DEWR AWSE line returns the query with instructions claim status should be Rejected:

• Go to the Claim Eligibility section
• Select Not Eligible
• Add the ineligible reason as provided by DEWR in the Comments for Employer field of the claim application
• Select Submit

Claim will update to Rejected status.

Update the Apprenticeship Wage Subsidies LPS form entries.

Procedure ends here.