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Sharer Status field on the Accommodation Details (AC) screen 108-18092640

Staff must start at Step 1. The following steps are a step-by-step guide.

This document explains details about sharing accommodation and determining the Accommodation Details (AC) option for the Sharer Status field.

Sharer Status field

Step	Action
1	Sharer Status field on the Accommodation Details (AC) screen The Sharer Status field on the AC screen indicates the customer's assessed sharing arrangements. This field may also be known as: Accommodation Status in some Process Direct claims Type of Accommodation in Assisted Customer Claim (ACC)
2	Sharing arrangements There are situations when the full rate of Rent Assistance (RA) will pay even if the Sharer Status field is updated with a sharing option. This includes customers who: do not meet the definition of a sharer, or do meet some exempt sharer criteria
3	Young person getting a dependent, at home rate of payment Different rates of payment apply to customers getting: Youth Allowance (YA) Disability Support Pension (DSP) aged under 21 years ABSTUDY (ABY) aged under 22 years Does the customer get a dependent, at home of rate of YA, DSP or ABY payment? Yes, and: they live with a parent; the correct sharers’ code is Lives with parents - LWP. Rent Assistance (RA) will not pay. Go to Step 16 they do not live with a parent, select the correct sharers’ code for their situation. RA will only pay if the customer pays rent and becomes independent or is granted away from home rate. Go to Step 5 No, and they are getting and/or applying for: YA, DSP, JobSeeker (JSP) or ABY, go to Step 4 another income support payment or Family Tax benefit (FTB), go to Step 5
4	Independent young customers living with a parent Some independent customers are not entitled to Rent Assistance (RA) if: they live permanently in the parental home, and they are a Youth Allowance (YA) or ABSTUDY accommodated independent person, or they are single, without children and getting and/or applying for: ABSTUDY aged 22 years to under 25 years JobSeeker Payment (JSP) under 25 years, or Disability Support Pension (DSP) aged 18 years to under 21 years YA Note: when an ABSTUDY or YA (student) customer does not permanently live in the parental home, and has returned home temporarily in a semester break while still maintaining their term residence. The Sharer Status should not be coded as LWP. Customers who are independent because they are in state care (supported or unsupported) should not be coded as LWP if residing with a foster parent or legal guardian. Does the customer live permanently in the parental home and meet the above criteria? Yes: the correct option is Lives with parents - LWP RA will not pay go to Step 15 No, go to Step 5
5	Type of rent Has the Type of rent been recorded as No rent paid – NRP or will it be recorded as No Rent Paid - NRP as part of this transaction? Yes, go to Step 15 No, go to Step 6
6	ABSTUDY and ABSTUDY Pensioner Education Supplement (PES) Customers can choose to have their residential charges paid for them if they are: getting ABSTUDY or ABSTUDY PES, and living in a residential college or hostel during an academic year Has the customer chosen to have their residential charges paid for them and they meet the above criteria? Yes: the correct option is Residential costs option - RCO go to Step 16 No, go to Step 7
7	Exempt accommodation other than boarding style For more details, review the definition for exempt accommodation or search exempt accommodation in the A-Z of Rent Assistance terms and codes. Is the customer living in exempt accommodation that is not boarding style? Yes: the correct option is Exempt - EXE the sharers' rate of Rent Assistance (RA) will not apply go to Step 16 No, go to Step 8
8	Boarding style exempt accommodation For more details, review the definition for exempt accommodation or search exempt accommodation in the A-Z of Rent Assistance terms and codes. Is the customer living in boarding style exempt accommodation? Yes: the correct option is Exempt from Sharers Rate - XSH the sharers' rate of Rent Assistance (RA) will not apply go to Step 16 No, go to Step 9
9	Determine if customer is not a sharer A customer is not a sharer for Rent Assistance (RA) purposes if any of the following applies: Single and living alone. This includes customers who may share accommodation areas such as the laundry if they have the exclusive legal right to a bathroom, kitchen, and bedroom Shares accommodation only with a partner and/or their dependent child/ren Note: this does not apply to YA or ABSTUDY customers who live with their partner and are assessed as dependent. These customers are not considered to be partnered for RA purposes and may be considered a sharer Sharing their accommodation with a person/s other than their partner and/or dependent child/ren, and: the customer has the exclusive right to use a bathroom, kitchen, and a bedroom, or they share accommodation with another person but have no legal right to do so. They do not pay rent and can be asked to leave at any time. The customer is a guest. For more details, insert 'legal right' in the filter of the Rent Assistance (RA) A-Z search another person/s use the same bathroom, kitchen, and/or bedroom but they have no legal right to do so. This other person is known as a 'guest'. For more details, insert 'legal right' in the filter of the Rent Assistance (RA) A-Z search Lives alone in a caravan, boat or mobile home in a caravan park or marina, even if they share a major area of the accommodation, for example a bathroom Does the customer meet any of the above criteria? Yes: the correct option is Does not live in Shared Accommodation - NAS the sharers' rate of RA will not apply go to Step 16 No, go to Step 10
10	Customer living with a recipient child A customer is exempt from the sharers' rate of Rent Assistance (RA) when they are living only with a recipient child/ren. This is when the customer is a single parent living only with child/ren who: get a Social Security payment, ABSTUDY, a Service Pension or Veteran Payment, or Youth Allowance (YA) student, and do not get RA Legislation does not specify what age a recipient child can be. For example, a single customer aged 65 living only with their 40-year-old child who gets ABSTUDY and no RA, is living with a recipient child, and therefore is not classed as a sharer. If there is a third party sharing the accommodation, this exemption does not apply. Does the customer meet the above criteria? Yes: the correct option is Lives with recipient child only, no RA - REC the sharers' rate of RA will not apply go to Step 16 No, go to Step 11
11	Disability Support Pension (DSP) or Carer Payment (CP) If the customer is sharing accommodation and they get DSP or CP, use the sharers’ code that applies to the customer's living situation. The system automatically identifies these payment types as exempt from the sharers’ rate and will apply the correct rate of Rent Assistance (RA). Does the customer get RA with their DSP/CP? Yes, go to Step 13 No, go to Step 12
12	Income support payment customer with dependent child Does the customer get Rent Assistance (RA) with their income support payment (excluding DSP/CP) and they are single with dependent child/ren and sharing accommodation? Yes: the correct option is Exempt - EXE the sharers' rate of RA will not apply go to Step 16 No, go to Step 13
13	Shares accommodation with the homeowner Does the customer live in a home which is the principal home of the owner of the property? Yes: the correct code is Shares accommodation with homeowner - SHH go to Step 16 No, go to Step 14
14	Lives in shared accommodation For all other customers sharing accommodation the correct option is Lives in shared accommodation - SHR. Net rent rules will determine what Rent Assistance (RA) rate is applicable. Go to Step 16.
15	No rent paid – NRP When a customer updates their details as part of an online claim or using the online service and the type of rent recorded is No rent paid - NRP, the sharer status applied by the online process may be: Does not live in Shared Accommodation - NAS Shares accommodation with homeowner - SHH Lives in shared accommodation - SHR The online process determines the sharer status codes based on the customer's answers. As Rent Assistance (RA) is not payable to customers who do not pay rent, these sharer status codes do not impact payment correctness and do not need to be changed. If the type of rent recorded is No rent paid - NRP: the preferred option is Does not live in Shared Accommodation - NAS when rent type is NRP, the sharer code will not impact payment correctness RA is not payable to customers who do not pay rent go to Step 16
16	Complete the AC screen See Completing the Accommodation Details (AC) screen including assessing Rent Assistance (RA) to finalise the update. Note: if this procedure was accessed from that page, it will have opened in a new window. Close this procedure and return there.