Start and closing date for ABSTUDY claims 106-05010110

Item

Scenario

1

Student starts a short course

Shannon has started a Certificate 2 in Hospitality at TAFE NSW.

The course is 20 weeks in duration, starts on 3 February and finishes on 23 June.

To have entitlement assessed from the course start date of 3 February, Shannon needs to lodge the claim for ABSTUDY on or before 23 June.

2

Student starts a short course that overlaps consecutive calendar years

After completing the Certificate 2 in Hospitality, Shannon has now decided to study a Certificate III in Hospitality online via TAFE NSW.

The course is 25 weeks in duration, starts on 3 October and finishes on 27 May in the following year.

To have entitlement assessed from the course start date of 3 October, Shannon needs to lodge the claim for ABSTUDY on or before 27 May.

3

Student starts a late starting course

Elly has started a Certificate 4 in Youth Work online through National Training Solutions.

The course is 33 weeks in duration, starts on 3 May and finishes on 20 December.

To have entitlement assessed from the course start date of 3 May, Elly needs to lodge the claim for ABSTUDY on or before 31 December in the year of study.

4

Student starts a late starting course which overlaps consecutive calendar years

Jamison has started a Certificate 4 in Bookkeeping online via TAFE NSW.

The course is 35 weeks in duration, starts on 10 November and finishes on 13 July in the following year.

To have entitlement assessed from the course start date of 10 November, Jamison needs to lodge the claim for ABSTUDY on or before 31 December in the year of study.

If Jamison lodges the claim after 31 December in the year study started, but before 13 July, entitlement can only be backdated to 1 January in the year after study started.

5

FTB child finishing Year 12 transferring to ABSTUDY

Layla is a Year 12 secondary student whose parent is currently receiving FTB entitlements on Layla’s behalf.

Layla will be starting university the year after completing Year 12 and is wanting to apply for ABSTUDY assistance.

Layla’s final exam is on 30 October 2023, therefore FTB entitlement will cease 28 days after this.

To ensure ABSTUDY entitlement is paid from FTB DPT+1, Layla must lodge the ABSTUDY claim by 31 December in the year when Year 12 is completed.

If Layla lodges the claim in the year after Year 12 is completed, ABSTUDY can only be backdated to 1 January of that year.

6

Student starts a full year course

Charlotte has started a Certificate 4 in Design at TAFE NSW.

The course is 40 weeks in duration (including holidays), starts on 3 February and finishes on 10 November.

To have entitlement assessed from the course start date of 3 February, Charlotte needs to lodge the claim for ABSTUDY on or before 31 December in the year of study.

7

Student starts a degree course

Kyla has started a Bachelor of Education (Primary) through the University of Newcastle.

The course is 4 years in duration and started on 6 March 2017.

The closing date for a full year course is 31 December in the year of study. To ensure ABSTUDY entitlement is assessed from 6 March 2017, Kyla must lodge the claim before 31 December 2017.

However, Kyla did not apply for ABSTUDY until 20 January 2018. Kyla is, therefore, only eligible to have ABSTUDY entitlement assessed from 1 January 2018.

8

Tertiary student starts a Masters course

Edward is studying a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of New England.

In the final year of the degree, Edward has chosen to study over the summer study period, from November to February, in order to complete the Bachelor degree earlier.

Edward will then start a 2 year Masters of Arts course in March.

Edward is only entitled to the higher Masters and Doctorate rate of Living Allowance from when the Masters of Arts course starts in March.

The system will attempt to pay Edward back to 1 January in the year the Masters course starts. In order to prevent this, the new course (Masters of Arts), will need to be coded within a New Claim activity after the current course (Bachelor of Arts) finishes and ABSTUDY cancels End Date Reached (EDR).

The New Claim activity will allow input of the correct start date on the Education Payments Start Date (EPDC) screen, ensuring the higher rate of Living Allowance is only paid from the Masters course start date in March.

9

Student requests backdating of ABSTUDY over same period YA was paid

Nioka has been undertaking the first year of a 3-year degree, a Bachelor in Nursing.

Nioka has received Youth Allowance for the first 9 months of the course and then realises they qualify for ABSTUDY. Nioka lodges an ABSTUDY claim, prior to the closing date of 31 Dec. Nioka is also requesting Away from Base assistance and a placement in Semester 1.

It is more beneficial for Nioka to be paid ABSTUDY instead of YA from the start of the course. As Nioka lodged a claim prior to 31 December, ABSTUDY can be backdated.

Nioka’s YA is cancelled from 1 January and ABSTUDY is granted from the same date (Nioka was in year 12 the year prior, so qualifies for ABSTUDY from 1 January).

The YA overpayment must be fully recovered from the ABSTUDY arrears payment.

10

Debt Offset - FAA/AFB

Sharni started studying an online course at the University of New England on 26 February.

Sharni is currently receiving JobSeeker Payment (JSP) and has lodged a claim for ABSTUDY on 14 April.

Sharni attended a compulsory residential school activity on 3 March and is wanting to claim a reimbursement for costs incurred to the value of $650.

To be eligible for the reimbursement of the travel costs, Sharni will need to be eligible for ABSTUDY from 3 March.

Since 3 March, Sharni has received:

• $2,247.60 JSP, and
• $554.40 Rent Assistance (RA)

If granting Sharni's ABSTUDY from 3 March, Sharni would be entitled to arrears of:

• $2,247.60 JSP
• $554.40 RA, and
• $650 ABSTUDY Fares Allowance (FAA)/Away from Base (AFB)

As it is more financially beneficial for Sharni’s ABSTUDY to be granted from 3 March, JSP can be cancelled from this date and offset the debt created with the ABSTUDY arrears.

11

Debt Offset - Jobseeker to ABSTUDY Masters

Britney is studying a Master of Architecture degree at the University of Canberra, starting 5 February.

Britney is currently receiving JobSeeker Payment (JSP) and has lodged a claim for ABSTUDY on 27 March.

Since 5 February, Britney has received:

• $2,996.80 JSP, and
• $739.20 Rent Assistance (RA)

This combined totals $3,736.

If granting Britney’s ABSTUDY from the course start date of 5 February, Britney would be entitled to arrears of $4,925.60 ABSTUDY.

As it is more financially beneficial for Britney’s ABSTUDY to be granted from 5 February, JSP can be cancelled from this date and offset the debt created with the ABSTUDY arrears.

As students on the ABSTUDY Masters and Doctorate rate have no entitlements to RA, the RA debt created will have to be reduced from the ABSTUDY Living Allowance arrears. The debt shell totalled $3,736, the ABSTUDY arrears being generated are $4,925.60.

The Service Officer would reduce the arrears to only pay the difference. $1,189.60 of ABSTUDY will be released after the adjustments are made on the Period Rates Summary (RATS) screen.

$4,925.60 - $3,736 = $1,189.60

12

Start date calculation - Jobseeker to ABSTUDY Tertiary

Beau is studying a Bachelor of Economics at UNSW, starting 12 February.

Beau is currently receiving JobSeeker Payment (JSP) and has lodged a claim for ABSTUDY on 19 March.

Steve is assessing the claim on 25 March.

For the period 12 February to 25 March (3 fortnights), Beau has received:

• $2,247.60 JSP, and
• $651.84 Rent Assistance (RA)

If Steve were to grant Beau’s ABSTUDY from the course start date of 12 February, Beau would be entitled to arrears of:

• $2,247.60 ABSTUDY, and
• $651.84 RA

As there is no financial benefit for Beau’s ABSTUDY to be granted from 12 February, Beau's JSP can be cancelled DPT+1 and granted ABSTUDY from this date.