Processing ABSTUDY School Term Allowance payments 010-02050030

A student must meet attendance requirements to qualify for ABSTUDY School Term Allowance (STA) payments.

• Term 1 - will issue automatically to qualified students enrolled in and attending a secondary school in Term 1 of the school year
• Terms 2, 3 and 4 - will require qualified students to have attendance of 85 per cent or more in the previous term

The ISIS system assesses the qualification requirements for STA against the relevant term entitlement period. Students who lose their qualification for STA before the start of a school term in a state or territory, but within the term entitlement period, may still be eligible for STA payment for that term. See the Resources page for examples.

School Term Allowance (STA) rates are the same for:

• Terms 1 and 3
• Terms 2 and 4

Changes to a student's circumstances throughout a term may affect the rate of STA paid for that term.

See Rates and Thresholds for rate information.

Payments will issue when there is a recorded attendance result as Satisfactory (SAT). This confirms the student has met the 85% attendance requirement for the relevant term.

The following will need a manual assessment when a student:

• commences study late in a term
• discontinues studying part way through a term
• changes schools during the school term

These students may be eligible for STA if they have attended at least 85% of the total days of the school term.

ABSTUDY students who are enrolled in:

• Home Schooling
• Distance Education, or
• Undertaking secondary schooling at a vocational education and training institution, for example, TAFE

Are considered to have met the 85% attendance requirement where the education authority appropriate to their method of study that is, a state or territory education authority, a distance education provider or vocational education and training provider certify they have met the requirements of the course for the previous term.

An ABSTUDY Schooling A claim submitted or finalised before the closing date, but after the Term 1 entitlement period, will require a manual retrospective assessment. Arrears of STA payments will be issued once attendance has been confirmed and recorded.

There are some circumstances where the system cannot correctly pay School Term Allowance to a qualified student. Issuing of the payment must occur through the Payments Adjustment (PYAJ) screen. This includes circumstances where a student has turned 16 years old midway through a school term.