Claiming Youth Allowance (YA) (job seeker) 001-04020000

If the customer has ceased or deferred study:

• update the Customer Study Details/Education Course Details (EDC) screen, see Coding new study details, and
• update the Newstart Education Status (NES) screen:
  • In the Event Date: field, enter the date study ceased + 1
  • In the Student Status: field, key 'NST' for 'not a student'
  • In the Educ Level Attained: field, update the customer's level of education attained, if applicable
  • If the customer is under 18 years of age and has an exemption to study, key the exemption reason in the U18 Study Exemption Rsn: field. See field help (‘?’) for assistance
    Note: do not record an exemption for under 18 year old customers who cease full time study from 1 January 2008 or later, and did not advise Centrelink within 14 days
  • In the Exemption End date: field, record the end date for the exemption
  • Complete the Source: and DOR: fields
  • Key 'I' in the Action: field and press [Enter]

When a customer advises:

• more than 14 days after the date of event that they are deferring or ceasing studies:
  • they must lodge a new claim from date of contact
  • when updating the Education Course History (EDCH) and NES screens, make sure payment is cancelled from the date studies ceased plus 1 day
• within 14 days of the date of event that they are deferring or ceasing studies, see Payment of Youth Allowance (YA) and Austudy when a student is deferring or discontinuing study before the end of the course

Check access to online account

Check the customer has a Centrelink online account linked to myGov.

If they do not have an online account:

• there are 4 ways they can link Centrelink to myGov
• to register for a Centrelink online account, they must confirm their identity at:
  • their local service centre, or
  • an agent's site, where the specified personnel will use the Silver Service phone line
• tell customers how they can create a myGov account and link it to their Centrelink services. This will also enable them to receive Centrelink mail online through the myGov Inbox

Before the customer submits a claim, they may need to meet some more identity requirements. This could include:

• bringing acceptable photo identity documents to:
  • a service centre, or
  • an agent's site, where the specified personnel will use Silver Service
• uploading a document in their Centrelink online account or the Express Plus Centrelink mobile app

The agency will let the customer know if they need to do this.

Service centre staff can help customers with their online claim using Self Service Terminals.

Customers can check which payment is appropriate for them, and start their claim using the Payment and Service Finder:

• in their Centrelink online account, or
• on the Services Australia website

When discussing online claim options, Service Officers must check:

• if the remote indicator is showing on the Customer Overview, or
• if the residential address is in a remote location

To check if the address is in a remote location:

• search the town name in Office Locator
• view the Towns Result List
• view the Remoteness column

Customers who access Services Australia via an agent, Remote Service Centre, or phone, may require assistance to lodge an online claim.

Can the customer submit an Online claim?

• Yes, go to Step 2
• No:
  • If the customer lives in a remote Indigenous community, Smart Centre Service Officers can transfer the customer to the Remote Claims Processing (RCP) team using CXone Agent Workspace / Services Australia Workspace, to complete their Assisted Customer Claim (ACC). Procedure ends here
  • For all other customers, see the Assisted tab

Customers under 16 cannot claim Youth Allowance online. See Step 2 in Table 1 on the Assisted tab.

If the customer receives YA (student) and they try to access the Looking for Work life event, they will not be able to complete a claim online. A message tells them how long it is until their student end date.

More than 28 days until their student end date

Tells the customer their currently recorded end date, advises them to contact Services Australia if they need continuing payment within 14 days of the course end date, and advises them to use their online account to update the course end date if required.

Less than 28 days until their student end date

Tells the customer their currently recorded end date, advises them to contact Services Australia to discuss payment options, and advises them to use their online account to update the course end date if required.

Within 14 days after their student end date

Tells the customer they may already be eligible for payment, and they must call the agency to discuss their payment options. See Student to job seeker transfers.

Once the customer has linked their Centrelink online account to their myGov account, customers must:

• sign in to myGov and access their linked Centrelink online account
• check their personal details are correct. From the menu, select the My details > Personal and contact details > My profile to make updates:
  • on the My profile page, information from the customer's record is pre-populated
  • customers must select Update Section for any sections such as Address or Relationship details that require an update
    Note: accommodation details are covered within the claim questions
  • for each part of My profile updated, they must select Save
• select the Payments and claims > Claims > Make a claim menu option
• on the Make a claim page select the Get started link in the Looking for Work category
• answer the questions on the Check your Eligibility for Youth Allowance page to check if they are claiming the most suitable payment. If they would not be eligible for YA (job seeker) based on their answers, the online claim advises them why. It refers them to the Payment and Service Finder or advises them to contact the agency to discuss a more suitable payment. They can select Back to return to the Make a Claim page to begin another claim type
• after completing the questions, select Continue

The Next steps section advises the customer of any further information or documentation required for them to submit their claim.

Customers must provide all their required documents and verify their identity (if there is no Identify Confirmation (ICI) recorded) to be able to submit their claim. Exceptions will be made for some vulnerable customers.

Customers are also required to book a New Claim Appointment before submitting their claim (some exceptions apply). This will occur from the Next steps section and shows as a required task.

See Apply for a payment or concession card options online for more information.

Customers who provide a mobile phone number or email address are advised they are automatically subscribed to EM, unless they have previously declined EM. They are asked to nominate a preferred contact method (SMS or email) for electronic messages.

They are automatically subscribed to receive their Centrelink mail online in their myGov inbox.

They can opt out of these services at any time.

To access their online claim, customers must:

• sign in to myGov and access their linked Centrelink online account
• select MENU, Payments and claims > Claims > My online claims

A list of all online claims started by the customer will display.

If the status of the claim is incomplete, the customer can choose either to:

• continue claim - to display the next question set to be completed
• cancel claim - for them to confirm they want to do this. Once cancelled, the customer cannot view or continue the online claim and no claim information is recorded. The customer can start a new online claim at any time

The Claim navigation page displays the sections of the claim they must complete. The sections must be completed in order. They cannot start the next section until the previous section is complete.

They select Start to access the sections.

Each section contains modules with relevant questions. On each question page, the customer can select Previous to go back to the previous question.

Customers can read the (Digital Assistant) text for help with the questions on the current page.

After completing each section, they return to the Claim navigation page to select the next section. They can select Edit to return to a completed section to change their answers. To return to Claim navigation page they select the last dot on the side navigation and Continue.

Customers can use the dots on the side navigation of each page to go between screens in the online claim. If they answer a question incorrectly, a red cross appears in the dots on the right. Selecting the red cross takes them to the page with the error.

They do not have to complete the claim in one session. They can leave the Claim navigation page at any time and save their responses, to continue later.

They need to answer all mandatory questions before they can submit the claim.

For YA (job seeker) the customer will be asked the independence question set which includes:

• independence question
• Unreasonable to Live at Home (UTLAH)
• away from home, and
• regional classification

This question set will not display for the customer if:

• they already have a non-reviewable independence coded on their record
• they indicate in the relationships question set they are currently in a married or registered relationship
• they have been partnered for more than 12 months
• they have been in a partnered relationship that lasted at least 6 months and ended due to special circumstances

At the Next steps section, the customer can:

• Upload documents
• Book a new claim appointment (Participation Interview)
• Submit the claim

Customers can access their started online claim using their Centrelink online account or the Express Plus Centrelink mobile app to upload documents required to be able to submit their claim.

On the Next steps page, there is an Upload button to upload documents.

Help the customer upload the documents and submit their claim online.

If necessary, Service Officers can scan the documents and submit the claim for the customer.

• Scan the documents
• Run the Request & Manage Customer Tasks guided procedure to submit the claim

If the customer uploaded or provided documents before starting the online claim or ACC, the document displays as Required on the Next steps page. The customer can either:

• re-upload the document on the Next steps page
• contact by phone or in person to have the Request & Manage Customer Tasks guided procedure run to change the document status from Required to Provided

Booking an appointment displays as a required task at the customers Next steps section.

The appointment task displays once all required tasks are completed unless exceptions apply.

When the customer books the appointment, they are directed to the Book Appointment page. The system sets the appointment and contact type, the customer is asked to:

• find an available date and time
• if they have a current correspondence nominee, select who will be attending
• what number they wish to be contacted on, they can select an existing number or 'other' where they are prompted to enter a number

The customer selects Next to show their appointment details including:

• date and time
• appointment type
• contact type
• nominee details (if applicable)
• what details to bring (where applicable)

A Reschedule button displays allowing the customer to reschedule if needed.

If the customer has indicated they require an interpreter, they are prompted to contact Multilingual Services rather than booking an appointment online. Multilingual Services will book an appointment with an interpreter at the customer's local service centre.

If the customer does not have a contact number recorded in My profile, a message tells them to call or visit their nearest service centre to make an appointment or to have their mutual obligation requirements assessed.

To manually book a job seeker online claim appointment for a customer, complete the relevant fields as below:

• Appointment Type Jobseeker Online Claim Appointment
• Service Reason Youth Allowance
• Appointments Booking page will display the next available appointments within the customer's Service Zone area. Change the On this day field to the current day's date and select Find to allow all available appointments to populate
• Select the most appropriate Time
• Confirm details with customer before selecting the Finish button

Once booked, the customer's task will display as Done. The View button displays so they can view or reschedule the appointment.

The customer is prompted to submit their claim. Note: the system will check each night if appointments for the following day link to a submitted claim. If the customer has not submitted their claim, the system will cancel the appointment and the customer task will return to a status of Required.

To be able to submit their claim, customers must:

• answer all mandatory questions
• provide all their required documents
• verify their identify (where there is no Identity Confirmation Indicator (ICI) recorded)
• book an appointment

Exceptions will be made for some vulnerable customers.

Claims not submitted within 13 weeks will expire.

The claim cannot be submitted if the Required tasks are not complete. Once the relevant tasks are completed, the button will change to Submit so the customer can submit the claim.

If the customer is identified as dependent, they will display with a required task of either MOD JY or A2115 with an option to View.

When View is selected, they are provided with details about how to access and complete the PIT. They can print the information to take to their parents.

To complete the online Parent(s)/Guardian(s) details - for the base Tax Year and current Tax Year for Dependent Youth Allowance or ABSTUDY Customers (MOD JY), Parents do not:

• have to be authenticated, or
• provide a Customer Reference Number (CRN)

To locate the service, parents must search for Advise Parental Income:

• in the menu, if they are logged into their online account, or
• in the Search field on the Services Australia website if they are not authenticated

The verification code provided to the customer on the Next steps page identifies the child for whom the parent is providing the information.

Authenticated parents will be taken directly to the Verification Code page and will have any known data re-used or pre-populated.

Unauthenticated parents will first have to enter their personal details, and CRN (if available), before the Verification code page displays.

The number of questions asked will vary depending on whether the parents:

• are receiving an income support payment, and
• have previously provided parental income and assets for the appropriate tax year

Income and asset information already held on record will not display to the parent but will upload during claim processing.

This service replaces the paper MOD JY and gathers the following details:

• other dependent children
• payment destination (if the YA customer is under 18)
• income details, unless parent(s) currently on an income support payment

Parents can save and exit this service if they are unable to provide all required information in one session. This can be resumed by:

• locating the Advise Parental Income service online, and
• re-entering the verification code provided to the customer on Next steps

'Channel hopping' allows:

• the customer to start a claim online and have it continued by a Service Officer, or
• a Service Officer to help a customer with starting a claim, which would then be completed by the customer online (a Centrelink online account linked to myGov is required)

For more information, see the Assisted Customer Claims (ACC) table on the Assisted tab.

Responses to some questions in the Youth Allowance claim will be used to pre-populate similar questions in the Job Seeker Snapshot. The job seeker will have the opportunity to:

• review the responses, and
• make changes where required within the Job Seeker Snapshot online or staff assisted