ABSTUDY customer in state care 010-02040060

Has the customer contacted as they are turning 18 years of age or a Manual Follow Up (MFU) with keywords U18AFH and I033YB been allocated?

• Yes, go to Step 6
• No, go to Step 2

Is the student or Australian Apprentice currently, or have they ever been in state care?

• Yes, go to Step 3
• No, go to Step 9

A foster care allowance or similar allowance is a payment made by a State/Territory Welfare Department to a nominated carer which is intended directly for the upkeep or personal use of the person under care. For example regular Adolescent Community Placement or Placement Provider Reimbursement payments made directly or indirectly by the Victorian Government.

Note: the carer of an ABSTUDY customer must receive the foster care allowance or similar allowance on a 'regular basis'. Where a carer does not receive an allowance on a regular basis (for example respite carer receives an allowance for the upkeep of a student whilst in their care during school holidays), the respite carer will not be considered to be receiving a regular foster care allowance for ABSTUDY purposes.

Customers currently living in State Care must provide a statement from the relevant government agency:

• confirming that a direction or authorisation by a Minister, Court or Department is currently in effect in relation to their care
• advising of the care arrangements, including the name and address of the person(s), government agency or other organisation authorised to care for them, and
• advising whether the person or organisation authorised to care for them is receiving any continuous payment to assist directly with their upkeep

Note: where a State/Territory welfare department contracts out to a private provider to coordinate placement of a customer in care, the letter authorising the placement must be signed by an officer of the appropriate State/Territory authority.

Has suitable documentation been provided?

Yes:

• for Telephony staff, send a Fastnote to the processing team for action
• Select Auto Text use Students, ABSTUDY and Apprentices > Update > ABSTUDY action required. Procedure ends here.
• for Processing staff, go to Step 5

No, advise customer on what documentation is required, go to Step 10

For ABSTUDY purposes, the student or Australian Apprentice may meet the qualification for State Care.

If the student or Australian Apprentice is currently:

• 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, see Table 2
• in care of:
• an organisation, see Table 3
• a person, see Table 4
• not in state care due to age, see Table 5

A Manual Follow-up Activity (MFU) with the keywords U18AFH and I033YB is automatically created when the student reaches 17 years and 11 months of age. Confirm if a foster care or similar allowance will continue to be paid from the State or Territory government. This will determine the rate of ABSTUDY Living Allowance payable from the student's 18th birthday.

For:

• Initial MFU allocation, go to Step 7
• MFU allocation after Q999 letter has been sent, go to Step 8

Make 2 genuine attempts to contact the customer to determine whether the state or territory government will continue to pay a foster care or similar allowance on the customer's behalf. Explain the effects to the customer's rate of payment if the foster care allowance has or will cease.

If the customer is unable to provide this information, obtain permission from the customer to contact the carer and/or state or territory department.

Was all required information provided?

• Yes, see Table 5
• No, send an ABSTUDY student in state care turning 18 Q999 letter and record details of action taken on a DOC. Place the allocated MFU on hold for an additional 21 days to allow requested documents to be provided. Procedure ends here

Confirm and review that all the documentation requested has been provided.

Has confirmation the student is out of state care due to age been provided?

• Yes, see Table 5
• No, student will remain on current rate until documentation is provided. DOC record and cancel the MFU. Procedure ends here

The student or Australian Apprentice is not eligible for grant of away from home/independent status for ABSTUDY based on being, or having been in state care. Complete the following tasks:

• advise the customer of the decision (including reasons for the decision). Explain review and appeal rights to the customer
• consider whether the customer is independent on other grounds. See Independence for ABSTUDY customers
• consider whether the customer is eligible for the Away from Home rate. See Away from home rate for ABSTUDY
• if appropriate, refer the customer for other assistance, such as social worker, Indigenous Service Officer

Note: while general advice based on information provided by the customer can be given over the phone, encourage the customer to test their eligibility, particularly in cases of discretionary decisions.

Record details of decision or discussion on a DOC.

Procedure ends here.

• If the student or Australian Apprentice is applying with their ABSTUDY Claim (SY019), ensure questions on the student Circumstances or Australian Apprentice circumstances are completed
• If the student or Australian Apprentice has lodged their claim form (SY019) and not completed the above, send the customer an ABSTUDY Additional Information Form (SY023) and ask her/him to complete the relevant questions regarding their circumstances
• If the student or Australian Apprentice is applying for independent status after the grant of ABSTUDY, either:
• verbally obtain the required information from the customer, or
• ask the customer to complete an ABSTUDY Change of Circumstances/Enquiry Sheet (SY053), indicating they are claiming independent status because they have been in state care

Note: these forms should be sent out by Smart Centre staff or given to the student over the counter at a service centre.

Check if the student or Australian Apprentice:

• was previously in state care
• 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

Does the student or Australian Apprentice meet the above criteria?

• Yes, go to Step 3
• No, see Table 1 Step 7

Update ABSTUDY independence details on the customer's record by completing the following fields on the NIH screen in the ISS system:

• in the Action: field, code 'HOM'
• in the Start Date: field, code the date of grant of independence status
• in the Start/Reject Reason: field, code 'HOE'
• in the Consent to Contact: field, code 'CNG'

Note: the End Reason and End Date fields do not need to be completed.

Is the student undertaking an approved scholarship course?

• Yes, for information on coding the RLD screen, see Relocation Scholarship (RS) payment and coding
• No, for all other students, go to Step 4

For under 18 year olds who are granted the independent status due to homelessness (UTLAH), ensure:

• the student or Australian Apprentice has provided their own bank account details and
• that these details are recorded on the system

This will avoid difficulties that are likely to arise if the ABSTUDY payments are incorrectly directed to the parent(s).

Ensure sensitive information (report from state/territory welfare department) is stored in a sealed envelope on the customer's file.

Note: these papers are destroyed when the customer turns 22.

Record details of decision or discussion on a DOC.

Procedure ends here.

Check if the student or Australian Apprentice:

• has turned 15 years age or older, and is undertaking either full-time primary or secondary studies (including non-schooling studies, such as via TAFE) and is eligible for the Schooling B Award, or
• has reached the minimum school leaving age and is undertaking a post-secondary course at either full-time or concessional study load, and is eligible for either the Tertiary or Masters and Doctorate Award

Does the student or Australian meet either of the above criteria?

• Yes, go to Step 3
• No, go to Step 2

Determine the Away from Home (AFH) rate by assessing why a customer is living away from the permanent home. When assessing this for ABSTUDY customers in state care, the 'Permanent Home' is defined as:

• For a student in state care who has a foster carer, the permanent home is the place where the foster carer normally resides
• For a student in state care who does not have a foster carer, the permanent home is the place where they normally reside

A customer may be placed into the care of a boarding school. In these cases, they do not have any place that they ‘normally reside’. These customers experiencing vulnerability are most likely placed with respite carers who may change every school holidays. These customers would be eligible for the AFH rate under ‘Home Conditions’ as they do not have a place where they ‘normally reside’. As the department still accepts ongoing responsibility for them, they are ineligible for the independent criteria ‘Unreasonable to Live at Home’.

Note: do not assess the AFH rate from the place that the child was removed from before being placed into state care.

Where the student is under 15 years of age and meets an Away from Home criteria, code NIH with state care reason of AFY or AFN. Place DOA DOC on the record with the Away from Home criteria met.

Does the customer meet an Away from Home criteria?

• Yes and they meet the provisions for either:
• Schooling B Award
• Tertiary Award, or
• Masters and Doctorate Award, go to Step 3
• No, the customer may be eligible for:
• ABSTUDY School Term Allowance
• ABSTUDY School Fees Allowance (SFA) at home rate (Group 1)
• record details of decision or discussion on a DOC. Procedure ends here

Note: a Mod JY is not required where a student is placed into the care of an organisation.

In most cases, customers in State Care would be placed into the care of a person. In some cases, customers are linked to the department.

For example, 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 etc. When this occurs, an organisation can be an applicant under ABSTUDY Policy 6.1.2 and an officer of that organisation should be able to sign the form. See the References page

Where staff of the organisation have not signed the application form as 'the applicant', any formal correspondence returned from the organisation regarding the child's care may be accepted. This is sufficient evidence that the information in the claim about the customer is correct.

For example, when the State Care organisation returns a letter advising that the student is boarding or planning to commence boarding at a boarding school or hostel. This is sufficient evidence that the child is in the care of the organisation. It can be accepted in lieu of the completion of the 'applicant's' signature on the ABSTUDY forms, in this instance. Where there is insufficient formal correspondence supplied to this effect, confirmation from the relevant state/territory department (verbal or written) is sufficient.

Therefore, Services Australia does not need a signature to grant the ABSTUDY for State Care customers in these situations.

The State Care customer needs to be PIT linked to a person record.

Due to system limitations, follow this process where the ABSTUDY student or Australian Apprentice who is in State Care does not have a carer (person) to PIT link to.

Identify which state/territory welfare department is responsible for the customer, to ensure the organisation has not already been added as a person in all environments. Undertake a national search on the Name Search (IN) screen in the ISS (for ABSTUDY) system. Use PER as the search type.

If there’s no record or a new person, create a new one in the same environment as the ABSTUDY customer:

• enter the organisation details on the IN screen:
• Surname of Person: field, state/territory welfare department name
• First Name or Initial: field, Department of
• Gender: field, select from female, male, or non-binary
• Date of Birth: 29/02/1920
• ServRsn: field, PAR
• Activity: field, ADD
• select Search
• if the search has identified that ‘no record has been found’, code AP in the Nxt: field
• update the Add Person (AP) screen:
• Surname First Name, Gender, and Date of Birth should default from IN screen
• Address: the address of the state/territory welfare department. Note: a contact phone number is not compulsory
• Interpreter Language: field, ENG - English
• Indigenous Indicator: field, D
• Note: use field help ('?') if unsure of what to code in a particular field
• Accept (Y/N): field, code a Y for Yes, if an N for No is coded, return to the IN screen to conduct another search and repeat the above.
• select Continue
• when the organisation's details are recorded on the AP screen, the system will create a record for the parent, generating a CRN
• code the tax file number exemption reason. See Coding pre-booked Fares Allowance (FAA) entitlements for ABSTUDY and ABSTUDY Pensioner Education Supplement (PES)
• finalise the PAR/ADD activity. Select this activity on the Activity List (AL) screen of the record, type FIN in the Nxt: field and then press [Enter]

When the record has been added, or if a record is already created, make note of the CRN, as it will need to be used to for PIT linking. See Creating, updating and ending Parental Income Test (PIT) links with dependent student, Australian Apprentice and job seeker recipients or claimants.

Coding NHI screen

The Foster Parent PIT Exemption Reason should display on the NHI screen to ensure the young person is:

• entitled to the full rate of applicable allowance irrespective of the carer's financial circumstances, and
• not subject to the Parental income Test provisions

This will occur when correctly linking the carer or guardian as FSP on the NPPS screen.

Record a Display on Access (DOA) DOC on the customer's record advising the student is in State Care. Include the organisations name and contact details.

For NIH coding, go to Step 5.

Customers in state care are only eligible for the 'at home' rate of payment where;

• they meet the Away from Home category
• their carer receives regular foster care or similar allowance, and
• they are placed into the care of an organisation. For example, a boarding school

Update the Independent/Homeless Away From Home Details (NIH) screen based on the students circumstances.

If a current entry exists and the entry:

• reflects the customers current circumstances, no update required
• does not reflect the customers current circumstances, select the current line and update the End Date field

If a new entry is required code the following:

• Action: 'AFH'
• Reason:
• 'AFN' (State Care - Foster Allowance not payable to carer, ABSTUDY Away from Home rate payable to customer), or
• 'AFY' (State Care - Foster Allowance payable to carer, ABSTUDY at home rate payable to customer)
• Start Date: the date from which the Away from Home rate is granted

Note: where the student is under 15 years of age and meets an Away from Home criteria, code NIH with the state care reason of AFY or AFN. Place DOA DOC on the record with the Away from Home criteria met.

Is the student undertaking an approved scholarship course?

• Yes, for information on coding the Regional Location Details (RLD) screen, see Relocation Scholarship (RS) payment and coding
• No, for all other students, record details of decision or discussion on a DOC. Procedure ends here

Check if the student or Australian Apprentice:

• has turned 15 years age or older, and is:
• undertaking either full-time primary or secondary studies (including non-schooling studies, such as via TAFE), and
• eligible for the Schooling B Award
• has reached the minimum school leaving age and is:
• undertaking a post-secondary course at either full-time or concessional study load, and
• eligible for either the Tertiary or Masters and Doctorate Award

Does the student or Australian meet either of the above criteria?

• Yes, go to Step 3
• No, go to Step 2

Determine the Away from Home (AFH) rate by assessing why a customer is living away from the permanent home. When assessing this for ABSTUDY customers in state care, the 'Permanent Home' is defined as:

• For a student in state care who has a foster carer, the permanent home is the place where the foster carer normally resides
• For a student in state care who does not have a foster carer, the permanent home is the place where they normally reside

A customer may be placed into the care of a boarding school. In these cases, they do not have any place that they ‘normally reside’. These customers experiencing vulnerability are most likely placed with respite carers who may change every school holidays. These customers would be eligible for the AFH rate under ‘Home Conditions’ as they do not have a place where they ‘normally reside’. As the department still accepts ongoing responsibility for them, they are ineligible for the independent criteria ‘Unreasonable to Live at Home’. Do not assess the AFH rate from the place that the child was removed from before being placed into state care.

Note: where the student is under 15 years of age and meets an Away from Home criteria, code NIH with state care reason of AFY or AFN. Place DOA DOC on the record with the Away from Home criteria met.

Does the customer meet an Away from Home criteria?

• Yes and they meet the provisions for either:
• Schooling B Award
• Tertiary Award, or
• Masters and Doctorate Award, go to Step 3
• No, the customer may be eligible for:
• ABSTUDY School Term Allowance
• ABSTUDY School Fees Allowance (SFA) at home rate (Group 1)
• record details of decision or discussion on a DOC. Procedure ends here

Customers in State Care are not considered to be independent, however are exempt from the parental income test if:

• they are in the guardianship, care or custody of a Court, Minister or Department; or there is a current direction or authorisation from a court, Minister or Department placing them in the guardianship, care or custody of someone who is not their natural or adoptive parent, or
• they stopped being subject to the direction only because of age

The following information is required when a student is in State Care and placed into the care of a person, if the student is:

• 16 years of age or over - as the student is the applicant, the claim for ABSTUDY can still be processed if the carer has not signed the claim form or Mod JY. Where no carer information has been received, carer information can be obtained over the phone
• under 16 years of age - as the carer is the applicant, a signed claim form or Mod JY must be supplied. Note: this will not apply for ABSTUDY Schooling A claims where the applicant is not required to return the Customer Declaration Form (CDF)

Link customers in State Care to the person with whom they have been placed into the care of. For more information, see Creating, updating and ending Parental Income Test (PIT) links with dependent student, Australian Apprentice and job seeker recipients or claimants.

Record a Display on Access (DOA) DOC on the customer's record advising the student is in State Care, include the organisations name and contact details.

Coding NHI screen

The Foster Parent PIT Exemption Reason should display on the NHI screen to ensure the young person is:

• entitled to the full rate of applicable allowance irrespective of the carer's financial circumstances, and
• not subject to the Parental income Test provisions

This will occur when correctly linking the carer or guardian as FSP on the NPPS screen.

Record a Display on Access (DOA) DOC on the customer's record advising the student is in State Care, include the carer’s name and contact details.

For NIH coding, go to Step 5.

Customers in State Care can be entitled to receive ABSTUDY at either the Away from Home or the at home rate of payment.

Coding NIH screen

To pay the Away from Home rate, update the following on the Independent/Homeless/Away From Home Details (NIH, NIHS) screen:

If a current entry exists and the entry:

• reflects the customers current circumstances, no update required
• does not reflect the customers current circumstances, select the current line and update the End Date field

If a new entry is required code the following:

• Action: 'AFH'
• Reason:
• 'AFN' (State Care - Foster Allowance not payable to carer, ABSTUDY Away from Home rate payable to customer), or
• 'AFY' (State Care - Foster Allowance payable to carer, ABSTUDY at home rate payable to customer)
• Start Date: the date from that the Away from Home is granted

The End Date, End Reason and Consent to Contact: fields are not required.

Note: where the student is under 15 years of age and meets an Away from Home criteria, code NIH with state care reason of AFY or AFN. Place DOA DOC on the record with the Away from Home criteria met.

Is the student undertaking an approved scholarship course?

• Yes, for information on coding the Regional Location Details (RLD) screen, see Relocation Scholarship (RS) payment and coding
• No, for all other students, record details of decision or discussion on a DOC. Procedure ends here

For ABSTUDY purposes, a student or Australian Apprentice meeting the qualification for State Care but has ceased care only because of their age, can qualify for entitlements available to students or Australian Apprentices who are still formally in State Care.

• If the customer remains living with the carer they were placed with, they will remain PIT linked to that person
• If the customer ceases to live with a carer but was already PIT linked to State or Territory Department as a 'dummy' person record, then that link can remain current to ensure the customer continues to receive the correct rate
• If the customer ceases to live with that carer they still need to be PIT linked to a person record so as the higher rate continues to pay. This is due to system limitations. End the PIT link to the Carer they left, and create a new link to the State or Territory Department they were previously in the care of (even if they are no longer in that department's care, this process is to ensure the customer continues to receive the correct rate)

Is the customer living with the carer they were placed with?

• Yes, go to Step 2
• No, go to Step 3

Customers in State Care must be linked to the person with whom they have been placed into the care of. For more information, see Creating, updating and ending Parental Income Test (PIT) links with dependent student, Australian Apprentice and job seeker recipients or claimants.

Record a Display on Access (DOA) DOC on the customer's record advising the student is in State Care. Include the organisations name and contact details.

Coding NHI screen

The Foster Parent PIT Exemption Reason should display on the NHI screen to ensure the young person is:

• entitled to the full rate of applicable allowance irrespective of the carer's financial circumstances, and
• not subject to the Parental income Test provisions

This will occur when correctly linking the carer or guardian as FSP on the NPPS screen.

Record a Display on Access (DOA) DOC on the customer's record advising the student is in State Care, include the carer’s name and contact details.

For NIH coding, go to Step 4.

Due to system limitations, follow this process where the ABSTUDY student or Australian Apprentice who is in State Care does not have a carer (person) to PIT link to.

Identify which state/territory welfare department is responsible for the customer, to ensure the organisation has not already been added as a person in all environments. Undertake a national search on the Name Search (IN) screen in the ISS (for ABSTUDY) system. Use PER as the search type.

If there’s no record or a new person will need to be created, it is preferable that it is created in the same environment as the ABSTUDY recipient:

• enter the organisation details on the IN screen:
• Surname of Person: field, state/territory welfare department name
• First Name or Initial: field, Department of
• Gender: field, select from female, male, or non-binary
• Date of Birth: 29/02/1920
• ServRsn: field, PAR
• Activity: field, ADD
• select Search
• if the search has identified that ‘no record has been found’, code AP in the Nxt: field
• update the Add Person (AP) screen:
• Surname First Name, Gender, and Date of Birth should default from IN screen
• Address: the address of the state/territory welfare department. Note: a contact phone number is not compulsory
• Interpreter Language: field, ENG - English
• Indigenous Indicator: field, D
• Note: use field help ('?') if unsure of what to code in a particular field
• Accept (Y/N): field, code a Y for Yes, if an N for No is coded, return to the IN screen to conduct another search and repeat the above.
• select Continue
• when the organisation's details are recorded on the AP screen, the system will create a record for the parent, generating a CRN
• code the tax file number exemption reason TFN request from ATO
• finalise the PAR/ADD activity -select this activity on the Activity List (AL) screen of the record, type FIN in the Nxt: field and then press [Enter]

When the record has been added, or if a record is already created, make note of the CRN, as it will need to be used to for PIT linking. See Creating, updating and ending Parental Income Test (PIT) links with dependent student, Australian Apprentice and job seeker recipients or claimants.

Coding NHI screen

The Foster Parent PIT Exemption Reason should display on the NHI screen to ensure the young person is:

• entitled to the full rate of applicable allowance irrespective of the carer's financial circumstances, and
• not subject to the Parental income Test provisions

This will occur when correctly linking the carer or guardian as FSP on the NPPS screen.

Record a Display on Access (DOA) DOC on the customer's record advising the student is in State Care, include the organisations name and contact details.

For NIH coding, go to Step 4.

Customers out of State Care due to age are entitled to receive ABSTUDY at the Away from Home rate of payment.

Coding NIH screen

To pay the Away from Home rate, update the following on the Independent/Homeless/Away From Home Details (NIH, NIHS) screen:

If a current entry exists and the entry:

• reflects the customers current circumstances, no update required
• does not reflect the customers current circumstances, select the current line and update the End Date field

If a new entry is required code the following:

• Action: 'AFH'
• Reason: 'AFN' (State Care - Foster Allowance not payable to carer, ABSTUDY Away from Home rate payable to customer)
• Start Date: the date from that the Away from Home is granted

Note: the End Date, End Reason and Consent to Contact: fields are not required.

Is the student undertaking an approved scholarship course?

• Yes, for information on coding the Regional Location Details (RLD) screen, see Relocation Scholarship (RS) payment and coding
• No, for all other students, record details of decision or discussion on a DOC. Procedure ends here