Coding away from home rate for ABSTUDY Tertiary Students 010-02060030

Check the Independent/Homeless/Away From Home Summary (NIHS) screen in Customer First for the customer's current status.

Enter 'S' in any line to go to the Independent/Homeless/Away From Home Details (NIH) screen for details of each assessment.

A '?' in the reason box gives a list of codes to check.

If the ABSTUDY customer is:

• dependent, the NIH will be blank or have an AFH reason reject code or grant code showing in the Start/Reject reason: field. See Step 1 in Table 2
• independent, a current grant code for reasons IND or HOM shows in the Start/Reject reason field. Go to Step 2.

Independent customers who live away from the parental home will automatically receive the higher rate of ABSTUDY, regardless of the reason they live away from home.

Update the Address Details (AD) and Accommodation Details (AC) screens if the independent customer has had a change of address. See Updating address details

Go to Step 3.

Independent ABSTUDY customers may be eligible for some away from home allowances depending on their circumstances.

If the customer:

• wants to claim for Residential Costs (RCO), see Payment of Residential Costs Option (RCO) for ABSTUDY and ABSTUDY Pensioner Education Supplement (PES)
• wants to claim for Relocation Scholarship (RS), see Relocation Scholarship (RS) eligibility. For information on coding the Regional Location Details (RLD) screen, see the Process tab of Relocation Scholarship (RS) payment and coding
• does not want to claim for RCO or RS, procedure ends here

Identify why the student or Australian Apprentice is living away from home. If it is due to:

• travel time and access between the permanent home and the education provider or employer location for an Australian Apprentice, make daily travel impossible or unreasonable, see Assessing ABSTUDY travel time and access for the away from home rate
• home conditions impacting on educational or training progress, see Assessing ABSTUDY home conditions for the away from home rate
• being in State care and a foster parent is not receiving a foster care or similar allowance, see ABSTUDY customer in state care
• the student having to live away from home because it is a compulsory requirement of the course to reside at the education provider while studying, see Assessing course of study requires compulsory residence for ABSTUDY away from home rate

Where full details for an away from home assessment are not available, do not reject the claim. Pay the customer at the ‘At home’ rate until further evidence is provided.

Is the dependent ABSTUDY customer eligible for the Away from Home rate?

• Yes, and the Independent/Homeless/Away From Home Details (NIH) screen has:
• current away from home details coded, go to Step 2
• no away from home details coded, go to Step 3
• No, and the NIH screen has:
• current away from home details coded, go to Step 2
• no away from home details coded, record details of the decision on a DOC. Where the customer has requested to be assessed for the Away from Home rate in their online claim and they are not eligible, delete the provisional entry on the NIH table. Procedure ends here

ABSTUDY dependent students who were eligible for the Away from Home rate and permanently return to the parental home, will cease to be eligible for the Away from Home rate. See Cessation of the ABSTUDY Away from Home rate.

If the customer has moved back into the parental home, update the address and accommodation details to reflect they now live with their parents. See Returning to the parental home when in receipt of the Away from Home rate of ABSTUDY.

Is the customer entitled to the Away from Home rate for another approved reason or is an extension required?

• Yes, go to Step 3
• No, record details of the decision on a Fast Note. Procedure ends here

Determine the start date for the Away from Home rate. See Calculating the commencement date of away from home rate for ABSTUDY.

Once the start date has been confirmed, code the new NIH screen as follows:

• Action: field, enter AFH (Away from Home)
• Start/Rejection Reason: field, enter the appropriate reason code based on the reason the customer has been approved to live away from home
• Start Date: field, enter the date the Away from Home rate will start

If the away from home coding is being extended for the same reason, code the NIH screen as follows:

• End Date: field, enter the new end date
• Source and DOR: fields, enter the relevant dates
• Action: field, enter 'C'

Is the customer studying an approved scholarship course and wants to claim for the relocation scholarship?

• Yes, go to Step 4
• No and wants to claim RCO, see Payment of Residential Costs Option (RCO) for ABSTUDY and ABSTUDY Pensioner Education Supplement (PES)
• No, go to Step 5

If the customer is studying an approved scholarship course, an assessment of their eligibility for the Relocation Scholarship (RS) is required. See Relocation Scholarship (RS) eligibility.

For information on coding the Regional Location Details (RLD) screen, see the Process tab of Relocation Scholarship (RS) payment and coding.

Go to Step 5.

Ensure the Address Details (AD) and Accommodation (AC) screens are current. The customer's address details must include the student's actual home (HOM) address and tertiary (TER) address at the study location.

Tertiary students are subject to normal Remote Area Allowance (RAA) entitlement provisions.

For the steps to code the AC screen, see Completing the Accommodation Details (AC) screen and assessing Rent Assistance (RA).

Go to Step 6.

If using:

• Customer First (CF), the result will display on the Assessment Results (AR) screen
• Process Direct (PD), the result will display on the Entitlement (ELD) screen

Once all coding for the Away from Home rate is completed, the AR/ELD screen will display the outcome of the assessment. Check the details on the AR/ELD screen to ensure the assessment has produced the correct outcome.

The AR/ELD screen will display the student's entitlements, including:

• allowance type
• period of entitlement for each allowance
• total amount of each allowance for the entitlement period (including any arrears owing)
• end date of eligibility

Before finalising the assessment, do a quick calculation to ensure the customer will receive their correct entitlement.

• Add up the total annual entitlement of Living Allowance (LA), Rent Assistance (RA), and Remote Area Allowance (RAA) (where eligible), based on age and living circumstances
• Determine if the payee and payment frequency are correct

Once satisfied the correct result is displaying:

• complete the activity, and
• record all details of the assessment in a DOC

Procedure ends here.