ABSTUDY Incidentals Allowance 010-02050080

The customer must meet the eligibility criteria for one of the following:

• Schooling B Award
• Tertiary Award
• Part-time Award
• Masters and Doctorate Award

The above Awards include recipients of ABSTUDY Pensioner Education Supplement (PES) and another Centrelink payment, such as Parenting Payment Partnered, who want to remain on that payment and claim ABSTUDY Incidentals Allowance.

Australian Apprentices must qualify for the Tertiary Award.

Students undertaking study at secondary level

Students undertaking study at a secondary level must be 18 years or older at 1 January of the year of study to be eligible for Incidentals Allowance.

Students undertaking a secondary level preparatory course (also known as bridging, access, enabling or orientation courses) at a university are eligible for Incidentals Allowance irrespective of their age.

Students already receiving ABSTUDY

Students that are already in receipt of ABSTUDY and are now applying for a concurrent course may receive allowances under ABSTUDY for the new course.

Does the student or Australian Apprentice qualify for one of the above awards for their new course or apprenticeship?

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

• Tell the customer they may not be eligible for Incidentals Allowance
• Record details on a Note/DOC

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

Procedure ends here.

The customer's initial Incidentals Allowance entitlement is automatically calculated and paid as part of their new claim for ABSTUDY or ABSTUDY Pensioner Education Supplement. The Incidentals Allowance rate paid depends on whether the period of enrolment or training is:

• Less than 12 weeks
• 12-16 weeks
• 17-23 weeks
• 24 weeks to 1 year

If the course duration is:

• in the same calendar year, the system will calculate the rate of Incidentals Allowance by counting the number of weeks between the Institution Course Start Date and the Institution Course End date
• over 2 calendar years, the system will calculate the rate of Incidentals Allowance by counting the number of weeks between the Institution Course Start Date until 31 December in the first calendar year. It will start again on 28 January until the Institution Course End Date in the second calendar year

Note: if the Institution Course Start Date is between 1 July and 27 July inclusive, in the year in which the Incidentals Allowance is being made, then the rate of Incidentals Allowance is calculated by the system by commencing to count weeks from 28 July.

Is the customer lodging a new claim for ABSTUDY Incidentals Allowance and is not in receipt of ABSTUDY?

• Yes, see Processing an ABSTUDY claim
• No, see Step 1 in Table 2

Changes to payment

If the customer is receiving:

• Living Allowance and now wants to receive Incidentals Allowance only for the same course of study or Australian Apprenticeship, see Step 1 in Table 4
• Incidentals Allowance only and has had a change in circumstances that will result in entitlement to a Living Allowance payment, see ABSTUDY Living Allowance

Changes to study or apprenticeship

Is the customer advising:

• They have changed their study load or they are no longer a full-time apprentice or trainee, see Step 6 in Table 3
• They have changed their course or Australian Apprenticeship details, see Step 7 in Table 3
• They are undertaking an additional course and will be studying or training 2 courses simultaneously, see Step 1 in Table 3
• They did not commence studies or apprenticeship, see Step 2 in Table 3
• They have discontinued their studies or Australian Apprenticeship prior to the course or Australian Apprenticeship end date, see Step 5 in Table 3

Is the customer receiving Living Allowance and now wants to receive Incidentals Allowance only for the same course of study or Australian Apprenticeship?

• Yes, see Step 1 in Table 4
• No, go to Step 3

Is the customer contacting to advise a change in study in their current course or Australian Apprenticeship circumstances?

• Yes, and changed their study load or is no longer a full-time apprentice or trainee, see Step 6 in Table 3
• Yes, and changed their course or Australian Apprenticeship details, see Step 7 in Table 3
• No, go to Step 4

Will they be studying or training 2 courses simultaneously?

• Yes, see Step 1 in Table 3
• No, go to Step 5

Has the customer failed to commence their studies or Australian Apprenticeship?

• Yes, see Step 2 in Table 3
• No, go to Step 6

Has the customer discontinued studies or Australian Apprenticeship prior to the course or Australian Apprenticeship end date?

• Yes, see Step 5 in Table 3
• No, no updates required. Procedure ends here

ABSTUDY students or Australian Apprentices studying 2 courses simultaneously may receive multiple Incidentals Allowance payments if eligible for concurrent Awards in addition to the main course of study or Australian Apprenticeship. The Incidentals Allowance entitlement will be automatically generated by the system when the second course details are recorded on the Education Course Details (EDC) screen in Customer First.

For students (both ABSTUDY and ABSTUDY Pensioner Education Supplement (PES)), on the EDC screen:

• Participation Status: the first course of study is recorded as 'FTS' (full-time student), or the appropriate study load concession code
• For ABSTUDY students (service reason 'ABY'), the Participation Status: field for the second course should be recorded as either 'PT' (part-time student) or 'FTI' (full-time student non-living allowance payments)
• For ABSTUDY PES students (service reason EPA), the Participation Status: field for the second course should be recorded as 'ICP' (2nd course - pay Incidentals only)
• Course Start Date/Institution Course Start Date: and Course End Date/Institution Course End Date: fields should reflect the actual course start and end dates at the institution

For Australian Apprentices, the Australian Apprenticeship dates are coded on the Apprentice Details (NAPD) screen in Process Direct or the Apprenticeship Details (NAPD) screen in Customer First.

The system will automatically generate the Incidentals Allowance entitlement.

Record details on a Note/DOC.

Procedure ends here.

Where a customer does not commence study in an approved course or Australian Apprenticeship, they are not entitled to Incidentals Allowance paid in respect of that course or apprenticeship.

This means that an overpayment of Incidentals Allowance, and possibly Living Allowance/Pensioner Education Supplement (PES), may need to be raised.

If the customer is:

• a continuing/intending student or Australian Apprentice, go to Step 3
• a new student or a new Australian Apprentice, go to Step 4

If a continuing/intending student does not commence study in an approved course, the student is entitled to ABSTUDY Living Allowance/PES up to the date they became aware that they would not be resuming studies, provided that this date is prior to the third Friday of the term/semester.

The date the customer advised of this change would be taken as the date they became aware. However, they are not entitled to Incidentals Allowance for the non-commenced course. See Customer will not commence full-time study for ABSTUDY, ABSTUDY Pensioner Education Supplement (PES), Assistance for Isolated Children (AIC) and AIC PES

If the customer is an Australian Apprentice, see Customer no longer an Australian Apprentice.

Procedure ends here.

If a customer does not commence their course of study or Australian Apprenticeship, they have no entitlement to either Living Allowance/PES or Incidentals Allowance paid in respect of that course. The claim must be rejected and the appropriate Incidentals Allowance overpayment generated.

If they receive or claim:

• ABSTUDY, see Rejecting an ABSTUDY claim
• ABSTUDY Pensioner Education Supplement, see Assessing claim for Pensioner Education Supplement (PES)

Procedure ends here.

Where the customer commences study in an approved course or Australian Apprenticeship, but discontinues prior to the course or apprenticeship end date, their entitlement to Incidentals Allowance is not affected. That is, there will be no Incidentals Allowance overpayment as a result of early discontinuation of course or apprenticeship.

If the customer is:

• a student, see Payment of ABSTUDY when a student is deferring or discontinuing study before the end of the course
• an Australian Apprentice, see Recipient no longer an Australian Apprentice

Procedure ends here.

If a student changes from a full-time to part-time study load in the same course, or vice versa, their entitlement to Incidentals Allowance is not affected.

If an Australian Apprentice ceases to be a full-time apprentice or trainee, there is no entitlement to ABSTUDY payment. This includes both Living Allowance and Incidentals Allowance.

• For students, see Payment of ABSTUDY when a student is deferring or discontinuing study before the end of the course
• For Australian Apprentices, update the details on the Apprentice Details (NAPD) screen in Process Direct or the Apprenticeship Details (NAPD) screen in Customer First to reflect the date the customer ceased to be a full-time Australian Apprentice. See Recipient no longer an Australian Apprentice
• Record details on a Note/DOC

Procedure ends here.

If a customer is enquiring about Incidentals Allowance because they have changed courses or their Australian Apprenticeship details have changed, check if they have already been paid the maximum semester or annual rates of Incidentals Allowance. For rate information, see Rates and thresholds.

Customers cannot be paid any more than the maximum semester or annual rates or incidentals payable, but if they were paid for a short course and have changed to a longer course, they may be eligible for the difference in Incidentals Allowance rates.

If entitled to the difference in Incidentals Allowance, the system will automatically calculate and pay this amount when the new course or Australian Apprenticeship details are updated on the following screens:

• Education Course Details (EDC)
• Apprenticeship details (NAPD)

Do not amend the Institution End Date: field for the original course, as this will incorrectly generate an overpayment of Incidentals Allowance.

The Resources page contains details of Incidentals Allowance entitlements where the customer has changed courses.

If the customer is a:

• full-time secondary student, go to Step 2
• full-time tertiary student or Australian Apprentice, go to Step 3

Students undertaking secondary level studies must be 18 years of age or older at 1 January in the year of study to be eligible for Incidentals Allowance.

Does the student meet the Incidentals Allowance eligibility criteria for studies at a secondary level?

• Yes, go to Step 3
• No:
• The student does not qualify for Incidentals Allowance
• For details on cancelling or rejecting the student's ABSTUDY payment, see Cancellation of ABSTUDY payments
• Procedure ends here

Customers currently in receipt of ABSTUDY may choose to cancel their Living Allowance component and receive Incidentals Allowance only. If the customer has an available Student Income Bank balance, ensure the Student Income Bank process is fully explained.

ABSTUDY customers on 2 weekly reporting must be taken off reporting before updating the EDC screen. Update on the Reporting Regime (RPRD) screen.

See Reporting requirements for students and Australian Apprentices.

To cease the Living Allowance component and pay Incidentals Allowance only, update the EDC screen as follows:

• Select the FTS/APT course from the EDCH screen
• Update the Participation Status Event Date: field to the date the customer wants to cease their Living Allowance
• Change the Participation Status: field to 'FTI/API' (full-time student or Australian Apprentice non-living allowance payments)
• Key 'I' in the Action: field to insert the new information
• The EDCH screen will now display 2 entries for the same course
• Select the 'FTI/API' (full-time student or Australian apprentice non-living allowance payments) entry that was just created
• 'C'orrect the Student Start Date to the same date that was used for the Participation Status Event Date (the date the student or apprentice wants to cease their Living Allowance)
• Select the original FTS/APT (full-time student or full-time apprentice living allowance payments) entry from the EDCH screen
• 'C'orrect the Student End Date to the day before the PSED date of the FTI/API entry
• Finalise the activity and record details of action in a DOC

Tell the student or apprentice they must notify of any changes to their circumstances, including study or apprenticeship, within 14 days.

The student or Australian Apprentice's Living Allowance will cease from the applicable date.

Tell the student or Australian Apprentice that if their income decreases to below the cut-off amount, they should re-contact for a reassessment on their Living Allowance.