Youth Allowance (YA) customer leaving the parental home 102-03010100

Check the Independent/Homeless/Away From Home Details (NIH) screen. For further information, see The away from home rate for Youth Allowance (YA) customers.

If the customer is currently:

• a dependent YA customer, go to Step 3
• independent and:
• receiving the accommodated independent rate, go to Step 2
• exempt from the accommodated independent rate, the customer’s rate of basic benefit will not change, go to Step 7

Note: to receive the away from home rate, the customer's Accommodation (AC) screen must be updated to reflect the customer's new verified accommodation circumstances.

• When updating the address details for a YA student who, during school terms or semesters, is temporarily not living at their permanent home run the Change in Contact Details workflow
• The Address Type: field is to be coded as 'TER' (Term Address Type) on the Address Details (AD) and AC screens. Update their phone number at the address where they are living while studying/looking for work as a Contact number 'CON' on the Telephone Details (TD) screen. Their permanent home details (usually the parents’ details) will remain as the home address
• When a YA customer permanently moves away from the parental home then the place of the new residence is to be coded as 'HOM'

Go to Step 7.

• Yes:
• run the Change in Contact Details workflow to update the customer’s address
• as the change of parent may affect the customer's rate of payment, see Changes which may affect the Parental Income Test (PIT)
• record details on a DOC
• procedure ends here
• No, go to Step 4

When a dependent YA customer leaves the parental home, review their circumstances to find out whether they are now independent.

A YA customer may be considered independent and therefore not subject to the Parental Means Test if it is unreasonable for them to live at the home (UTLAH) of either or both parents for any of the following reasons:

• extreme family breakdown, or similar exceptional circumstances, or
• living at home would cause a serious risk to the customer's mental or physical well-being due to family and domestic violence, sexual abuse or other similar unreasonable circumstances, or
• parents are unable to provide them with a suitable home because of their own lack of stable accommodation

Is the customer stating they are leaving the parental home due to any of the above reasons?

• Yes, and customer is:
• under 18, book a Social Work Unreasonable to Live at Home (UTLAH) appointment to determine eligibility for independence based on unreasonable to live at home. Go to Step 7
• 18 years and over, go to Step 7
• No, go to Step 5

• Yes, code the independence details on the Independent/Homeless/Away From Home Details (NIH) screen. For further information, see Independence for Youth Allowance (YA) customers. Go to Step 7
• No, go to Step 6

A YA customer may still be considered dependent (and therefore still be subject to the Parental Means Test) but entitled to an away from home rate if they are required to live away from home to:

• access full-time study, or
• improve their employment prospects

Is the customer qualified for the away from home rate of YA?

• Yes, code the away from home details on the NIH screen. For further information on how to do this, see The away from home rate for Youth Allowance (YA) customers. Go to Step 7
• No, the customer continues to receive their current rate. Run the Change in Contact Details workflow to update their address details

Procedure ends here.

YA customers leaving the parental home may now be paying rent, therefore, eligibility for Rent Assistance needs to be assessed.

• Run the Change in Contact Details workflow to update the customer’s address, and
• Update the customer’s rent details
• When updating address details for a YA student who, during school terms or semesters, is temporarily not living at their permanent home, run the Change in Contact Details workflow
• The Address Type: field is to be coded as 'TER' (Term Address Type) on the Address Details (AD) and AC screens. Update their phone number at the address where they are living while studying/looking for work as a Contact number 'CON' on the Telephone Details (TD) screen. This will leave the permanent home details (usually the parents' details) as the home address

Note: if a YA customer permanently moves away from the parental home, the place of the new residence is to be coded as 'HOM'.

Is the YA customer eligible for Remote Area Allowance?

If the YA customer is entering or leaving a remote area, their eligibility for Remote Area Allowance (RAA) will also need to be assessed.

For further information for students, see Payment of Remote Area Allowance (RAA) when term address changes.

Record details of changes on a DOC.

For customers 18 years or over who have advised it is unreasonable for them to live at home, go to Step 8. For all other customers, procedure ends here.

Note: If a customer has received Crisis Payment and a change has occurred, a manual reassessment of Crisis Payment may be required. For more information, see Reviewing and reassessing Crisis Payment (CrP).

The Over 18 UTLAH team (O18) assess UTLAH for customers 18 years and older. No appointment is required. Issue the following forms:

• Youth Allowance: Statement for Young Person (SY015)
• Youth Allowance: Unreasonable to live at home Statement for Parent(s) (SY016)

Warm transfer the customer to O18 if they indicate that:

• their parent/s will not complete the SY016
• contacting their parent/s will put them at risk
• they will not give permission for the Over 18 UTLAH Assessment Team (O18) to contact their parent/s, or
• they have not had any contact with their parent/s for at least 2 years

Procedure ends here.