ABSTUDY School Fees Allowance (SFA) (Group 2) 010-02050110

The student must:

• be a primary or secondary school student and
• meet the eligibility criteria for Schooling A or Schooling B Award

Does the student meet the above?

• Yes, if:
• Schooling A, go to Step 3
• Schooling B, go to Step 2
• No:
• Tell the student they are not eligible for SFA (Group 2)
• Record details on a DOC
• Procedure ends here

Is the student approved for Away from Home entitlements?

• Yes, go to Step 7
• No, go to Step 3

In rural or remote areas, some students do not have access to a government school offering the appropriate year of study. If they have access to a non-government school, they can remain in the home and attend.

A student may satisfy one of the following Away from Home criteria:

• travel time and access
• limited local school facilities
• choose to stay at home and attend a local non-government school

The student can qualify to have SFA (Group 2) paid in advance to the non-government school each term.

Does the student satisfy the 'travel time and access' or 'limited local school facilities' criteria for Away from Home rate, but remains in the home and attends a non-government school?

• Yes, go to Step 7
• No, if the student is a:
• Schooling A student, they are not eligible for SFA (Group 2). Record details on a DOC. Procedure ends here
• Schooling B student, go to Step 4

The student may qualify as independent if they are:

• an orphan
• a student whose parents cannot exercise parental responsibility
• a student for whom it is unreasonable to live at home

Does the student meet one of the above?

• Yes, go to Step 7
• No, go to Step 5

The student must qualify for one of the Away from Home criteria to be eligible for SFA (Group 2) if they are approved for independent status for any reason other than:

• an orphan
• a student whose parents cannot exercise parental responsibility
• a student for whom it is unreasonable to live at home

The student does not have to actually be in receipt of the Away from Home rate of payment, but must satisfy the conditions of at least one of the Away from Home criteria. For example, a student who is independent as Special Adult Status from a remote community, can qualify for SFA (Group 2) if the student is isolated from the nearest government school offering the appropriate year of study.

Is the student independent and the student's home and/or study circumstances satisfy one of the provisions for the Away from Home rate?

• Yes, go to Step 7
• No, go to Step 6

The student meets the State care criteria if they:

• are in state care
• are entitled to receive the Away from Home rate of Living Allowance because their Carer does not receive a regular Foster Care Allowance, and
• live away from the Carer's home due to one of the reasons contained in the Away From Home entitlements criteria

Does the student meet the state care criteria?

• Yes, go to Step 7
• No:
• Tell the student they are not eligible for SFA (Group 2)
• Record details on a DOC
• Procedure ends here

The SFA (Group 2) payment rate includes two components - one is Parental Means tested and the other is not. See Rates and Thresholds.

See Applying the Parental Income Test (PIT) for ABSTUDY and Youth Allowance (YA) to determine the effect of parental income on SFA (Group 2).

SFA (Group 2) may be paid to either the:

• school, on advice from the school of the School fees charge, and confirmation that the student has commenced at the school, see Step 1 in Table 2, or
• person incurring the school fee expenses, on submission of a request for reimbursement with a school receipt attached from the parent or other person confirming payment, see Step 4 in Table 2

Is determined by whether the student is:

• boarding at a school, in an approved ABSTUDY Homestay arrangement, or at a hostel that is a signatory to an ABSTUDY Hostel Agreement. Go to Step 2
• boarding in a private arrangement, go to Step 3
• boarding at a hostel that is not a signatory to an ABSTUDY Hostel Agreement, the student is not eligible for SFA (group)
• Advise the student they are not eligible for SFA (Group 2)
• Record details in a DOC
• Procedure ends here
• eligible for the Away from Home rate due to limited local school facilities or travel time and access criteria but elects to remain at home and attend a local non-government school. Go to Step 6
• eligible for the payment of SFA (Group 2) while living Away from Home and CUR on ABSTUDY PES. Due to system limitations, payment via CEPS is required. See Payments to third parties and institutions for ABSTUDY. Procedure ends here
• eligible for the higher (Group 2) rate of SFA (but not Living Allowance) under continuity of study for ABSTUDY Away from Home rate. This occurs when the student's permanent home changes to within reasonable travel time or distance of the school the student is studying at, and the student continues studying at the same school as a day student. Go to Step 6

SFA (Group 2) is calculated as a daily rate and paid on an ABSTUDY boarding instalment basis for each term entitlement period, for the lower of:

• the student's maximum entitlement of SFA (Group 2)
• the annual school fee amount charged by the school

Payment is made on a pro rata basis for the number of days eligible in the relevant ABSTUDY boarding instalment period.

Payment is made directly to the school via the School Fees and Boarding Details (EYSB) screen.

Go to Step 5.

SFA (Group 2) is paid to the school as a single instalment for the lower of:

• the student's maximum entitlement of SFA (Group 2)
• the annual school fee amount charged by the school

Payments made to the school will display on the Supplementary Education Payments (EPSP) screen.

Go to Step 8.

School fees charge is payable for the lower of:

• the student's maximum entitlement of SFA (Group 2)
• the amount of school fees paid

A receipt must be provided to substantiate the payment.

The full school fees charge does not have to be paid in order for a person to be reimbursed for the actual amount paid. A person who pays the full school fees charge in a number of instalments can also be reimbursed for each instalment amount.

Payment is made directly to the person who incurred the costs.

Go to Step 8.

SFA (Group 2) cannot be paid until the boarding and tuition charge is provided from the boarding institution. Once both costs have been obtained, complete the following fields on the School Fees and Boarding Details (EYSB) screen:

• Event Date: field - enter the eligibility date that the payment is to start from.
  Note: if the date coded is a day after 1 January the School Fees rate will be pro rata
• Fees/Tuition Amount: field - enter the tuition costs. Ensure the actual net amount charged to the student by the school is coded. For example, a student may receive a scholarship that covers all or most of the tuition fees, therefore, code only the amount charged after the scholarship has been deducted
• Boarding School/Hostel: field - type either:
• 'ASC' - Accepted to board at a boarding school
• 'AHO' - Accepted to board at a hostel
• Annual Boarding School/Hostel Amount: field - enter the annual boarding costs
• Actual Term Start Date: field - enter the appropriate date, see Coding away from home rate for ABSTUDY
• Scholarship Contribution Amount: field, key the value of a scholarship received by a student. See Assessing scholarship income for correct coding of board and tuition amounts for students in receipt of a scholarship
• Source and Date of Receipt: fields - complete as appropriate

Press [Enter] to exit the EYSB screen.

Go to Step 9.

Is the student receiving Schooling A or Schooling B?

• Schooling A, go to Step 7
• Schooling B, go to Step 8

Check the NIH screen is coded with an Away from Home reason of AAE, AET, AIS, ALF or APA.

For coding assistance, see:

• Assessing ABSTUDY travel time and access for the away from home rate, and
• Assessing limited local school facilities for ABSTUDY away from home rate

Is the student eligible for Away from Home rate under one of the above reasons?

• Yes, go to Step 8
• No:
• Advise the student they are not eligible for SFA (Group 2)
• Record details on a DOC
• Procedure ends here

SFA (Group 2) should be paid in advance to the school. Get the annual school fees charge from the school and complete the following fields on the EPSP screen:

• Event Date: field - enter the date to be paid
• Payment Type: field - key 'SFA'
• Amount Claimed: field - enter amount claimed
• Where a student is not entitled for the full year and payments are to be paid to the Educational provider, calculate the annual rate. The system will then pay the pro rata entitlement. Equation example: invoiced amount divided by days enrolled x 365 days = amount claimed field
• Ensure the actual net amount charged to the student by the school is coded. For example, a student may receive a scholarship that covers all or part of the tuition fees, therefore code only the amount payable after the scholarship has been deducted
• If the student previously had SFA (Group 2) paid in the current calendar year, this needs deducting from the student's total annual SFA (Group 2) entitlement to calculate the remaining entitlement. The amounts already paid also need deducting from the annual school fees charged by the school to calculate the remaining school fees owed. The amount to be coded will be the lesser of these 2 figures. See the Resources page for information on calculating annual SFA (Group 2) entitlement
• Amount Paid: field - enter the amount to be paid.
  Note: this field is only completed when reimbursing a customer. It is not coded when the payee is a third party
• Payee: field - enter either:
• 'CUS' (customer) if they provide a receipt, or
• 'TPT' (third party) if claimed by school
• Frequency: field - 'ONE'
  Press [Enter]

Due to system limitations, such as when a student is not current or there are errors preventing payment of SFA (Group 2), some students or third parties cannot be paid by coding the EPSP screen. Payments of SFA (Group 2) must be done manually via the ESSentials Payment System. See Payments to third parties and institutions for ABSTUDY.

Note: a student cannot qualify for both SFA (Group 1) and (Group 2) for the same period. Where SFA (Group 1) was paid for a Schooling A student and later identified that they are entitled to SFA (Group 2) while attending the same school, the SFA (Group 1) coding should remain, and the amount deducted when paying the SFA (Group 2) payment. If the school fees charge is over the SFA (Group 2) maximum entitlement, the Amount claimed: field would be the maximum entitlement minus SFA (Group 1).

The screen will then flow automatically to the Payment Instructions (PIPI) screen to allow the details of the third party (that is, the school, or person to be reimbursed) to be linked to the SFA (Group 2) payment.

• Select the SFA (Group 2) payment by entering an 'O'. The screen will flow to the Payment Instruction Summary (PIPS) screen which allows a new payee details to be added, or an existing payee will be listed
• Link the payee to the SFA (Group 2) payment amount and complete the activity at the Activity Results (AR) screen

Record details on a DOC.

For students 16 years and over, tell the parent/guardian to test their eligibility for Family Tax Benefit if the student receives SFA (Group 2), unless they are:

• 16 years or older
• only in receipt of non-means tested SFA (Group 2), and
• do not live away from home to study

If the parent/guardian wants to test their eligibility for FTB, create a Fast Note for a Families and Child Care Service Officer to reassess eligibility.

• Use Fast Note - select Auto Text, use Families > Updates > ABSTUDY boarding child - FTB reclaim