ABSTUDY customer in state care 010-02040060

A student or Australian Apprentice may be considered to be in state care if:

• they are not living with a parent and they are in the guardianship, care or custody of a court, a government minister or department of an Australian state or territory government, or
• there is a current direction from a court, government minister or department placing the student or Australian Apprentice in the guardianship, care or custody of someone who is not their parent, or
• the student or Australian Apprentice stopped being in one of the above situations only because of their age

A student or Australian Apprentice under a court, ministerial or departmental order or direction is considered to be in state care regardless of their legal guardianship status.

Note: in general, Australian states and territories provide the upkeep of children in their care until the child is 16 years old. Australian state and territory governments retain a welfare responsibility for young people in state care.

A student or Australian Apprentice may be considered to not be in state care if they have left the carer's home to live in a government funded or subsidised refuge or residential care facility and the state/territory welfare department has not accepted ongoing responsibility for them.

Students or Australian Apprentices who are in state care may be eligible for payments under the following ABSTUDY Awards:

• Schooling B Award, if either:
• they have reached 15 years of age, or
• they are under 15 years of age but meets the criteria for the Away from Home entitlements
• Tertiary Award or Masters and Doctorate Award, if either:
• they have reached the minimum school leaving age, or
• they are under the minimum school leaving age but meets the criteria for the Away from Home entitlements
• Schooling A Award

Note: Australian Apprentices may only qualify for an ABSTUDY payment under the Tertiary Award.

ABSTUDY customers in state care are exempt from the Parental Means Test.

Where the student or Australian Apprentice is considered to be in state care and is entitled to Living Allowance, it is paid at the following rates:

• if the carer receives a regular foster care or similar allowance, the standard rate of Living Allowance is payable; or
• if the carer does not receive a regular foster care or similar allowance, the Away from Home rate of Living Allowance is payable

Note: the above applies even where the student or Australian Apprentice meets the criteria for Away from Home entitlements. That is, a student in state care is eligible for the Away from home criteria and lives away from their carer, however as the carer receives a regular foster care allowance, the at home rate of Living Allowance is paid.

Those students or Australian Apprentices who are 15 years or younger and who are entitled to Living Allowance are paid at the 16-17 year old rate.

The student or Australian Apprentice may also be exempt from the ABSTUDY personal income test if they are under 16 years of age.

There is no category of independence based solely on a student or Australian Apprentice being, or having been, in state care.

Instead, a customer in this circumstance applying for ABSTUDY may be considered independent under the Unreasonable to Live at Home (UTLAH). The customer may be considered independent if they meet following:

• has left the carer's home
• is living in a government funded or subsidised refuge or residential care facility, and
• the state/territory welfare department has not accepted ongoing responsibility for the customer

A student or Australian Apprentice in state care may be considered homeless if:

• they have reached the minimum school leaving age, and
• have left the carer's home, and
• are living in a government funded or subsidised refuge or residential care facility, and
• the state/territory welfare department has not accepted ongoing responsibility for the customer

These students or Australian Apprentices can be granted independent status based on the UTLAH criteria (homelessness), providing they supply verification of their circumstances from the state/territory welfare department.

Note: where the student is not considered to be in state care and does not meet the UTLAH criteria or other independence categories for ABSTUDY customers., consider Youth Allowance see Assessing independence when a customer is in state care.

Students or Australian Apprentices who qualify for ABSTUDY under this provision receive their allowances direct. For more details on who is the payee for students in state care, see the Resources page in ABSTUDY Living Allowance.

The following information is required from a customer who is in state care when they have been placed into the care of a person.

• Under 16 years - the carer is the applicant. If the carer is lodging a paper claim form, a signed claim form or Mod JY must be provided by the applicant to process the claim. If the carer is lodging a claim via the ABSTUDY Claiming Tool, a verbal declaration must be offered. See ABSTUDY Claiming Tool process
• 16 years or over - the student or apprentice is the applicant. If the student or apprentice is lodging a paper claim form, an ABSTUDY claim may be processed without the carer signing the relevant claim form or Mod JY. However, carer information must still be provided and can be accepted verbally over the phone. If the student or apprentice is lodging a claim via the ABSTUDY Claiming Tool, a verbal declaration must be offered and the carer can provide their information verbally over the phone as part of the claiming process. See ABSTUDY Claiming Tool process

In the Northern Territory, it has been determined that Territory Families (Northern Territory Government) maintain a high level of daily care and control of children when they are placed into the care of the Chief Executive Officer of Territory Families. Therefore, when the child is placed with a foster carer by Territory Families, they are considered to be placed into the care of an organisation.

In most cases, customers in state care would be placed into the care of a person. But in some situations, customers are linked to the department. For example, a customer is placed directly into a boarding school, residential facility, only provided with respite care during school holidays. Or the state government department maintains a high level of daily care and control after the customer has been placed with a foster carer. When this occurs, an organisation can be an applicant and an officer of that organisation should be able to sign the form.

If staff of the organisation have not signed the application form as 'the applicant', Services Australia may accept a formal letter from the organisation about the child's care to verify the information in the claim about the customer. For example, when the state care organisation returns a letter advising the student is boarding or planning to start boarding at a boarding school or hostel, this verifies the child is in the care of the organisation. It can be accepted in lieu of the 'applicant's' signature on the ABSTUDY forms. If there is insufficient formal correspondence supplied to this effect, confirmation from the relevant state/territory department (verbal or written) is sufficient.

A person usually ceases to be in State Care from the age of 18 years. If a foster care or similar allowance is paid to a carer to support a person in State Care, the allowance usually ceases from the person in State Care's 18th birthday. However, some State and Territory governments continue to support people in State Care, including through payment of an allowance, after their 18th birthday.

When making an unfavourable decision, speak to the customer:

• explain the decision
• give them a chance to provide more information, and
• advise their review and appeal rights