Youth Allowance at pending status (YAL/PSA) and dependent siblings 108-02010120

A change of circumstances for a dependent customer may have a significant impact on the entitlement of their sibling(s) if they are included in the family pool.

Some examples of change in circumstances include:

• a customer's Rent Assistance increases or decreases
• a customer becomes eligible for, or stops being eligible for, the away from home rate
• a customer gains independence, or stops being independent following a review
• a customer turns 18 years of age
• a student stops full-time study and no longer qualifies for payment
• a job seeker finds full time work
• a customer transfers to a payment other than YA, ABSTUDY or Assistance for Isolated Children (AIC) Scheme

Note: Family Tax Benefit (FTB) and regular care children aged 0-15, and 16-19 in full-time secondary study may be considered a dependant sibling for inclusion in the family pool. Changes in their circumstances may also have a significant impact or ripple effect on the customer's entitlement.

When processing a claim for a dependent YA customer whose YA rate is reduced to $0 by the income of the parent(s)/guardian(s), the claim status will show as pending (YAL/PSA) for one day (until the end of the next working day after the claim was processed) after finalisation, unless the claim is manually rejected at the time of assessment.

At the end of the second day, an automatic reassessment will occur and will change the pending status to rejected Parental Income Too High (PIH).

If a sibling's claim is processed, or a sibling joins or returns to the family pool within the Pending Status (PSA) review period and the parental income is at a level where both the customer and sibling become payable, then the claims will grant automatically. This includes where a sibling is recorded as an FTB or regular care child.

If the parental income is at a level that requires 3 or more dependant siblings for YA be payable, the PSA review period will be reset for the customer, to expire at the same time as their siblings' PSA review.

After the PSA review period has elapsed, if parental income is too high the claims will reject PIH. If a third sibling claims within 13 weeks, all siblings' claims may be reassessed.