Assessing ABSTUDY travel time and access for the away from home rate 010-02060070

Students and Australian Apprentices 22 years of age or over are independent.

To determine if a student or Australian Apprentice is independent, in Customer First go to the Independent/Homeless/Away from Home Details (NIH) screen.

Is the student or Australian Apprentice independent for ABSTUDY purposes?

• Yes, approval to live away from home is not required. Procedure ends here
• No, go to Step 2

If the customer is:

• a secondary school student, go to Step 3
• a secondary non-school, tertiary or Masters and Doctorate student, go to Step 4
• an Australian Apprentice, go to Step 5

Check if the secondary school student's permanent home is within reasonable travelling time or distance of any government school providing tuition for the year they are enrolled.

See the Resources page for examples of applying the reasonable travelling time and distance rules.

Is the secondary school student's home within reasonable travelling time or distance of an appropriate education provider?

• Yes, go to Step 9
• No, and the claim for the Away from Home rate is due to:
• reasonable travelling time, see Step 1 in Table 2
• reasonable travelling distance, go to Step 6

An appropriate education provider for:

• secondary non-school students - any government TAFE college or senior college offering the course they wish to undertake
• tertiary and Masters and Doctorate students - any approved education provider they choose to attend

See the Resources page for examples of applying the reasonable travelling time rule.

Is the student's permanent home within reasonable travelling time of an appropriate education provider?

• Yes, go to Step 9
• No, see Step 1 in Table 2

Check if the Australian Apprentice's permanent home is within reasonable travelling time of their place of work or training.

See the Resources page for examples of applying the reasonable travelling time rule.

Is their home within reasonable travelling time of their place of work or training?

• Yes, go to Step 9
• No, see Step 1 in Table 2

Is a transport service available between the permanent home and the nearest appropriate government school?

• Yes, go to Step 7
• No, go to Step 8

Where a transport service exists to the nearest appropriate government school, the assessment is based on the combined distance:

• from home to the nearest transport pick-up point, and
• the pick-up point to the nearest appropriate government school

See the Resources page for examples of applying the reasonable travelling distance rule.

Does the combined distance from the permanent family home to the transport pick-up point and the transport pick-up point to the school meet the requirements of rule 1 or rule 2?

• Yes, see Step 5 in Table 2
• No, go to Step 9

Assess the distance from home to the nearest appropriate government school by the most direct route in a private vehicle

See the Resources page for examples of applying the reasonable travelling distance rule.

Does this meet the provisions of rule 1 or rule 2?

• Yes, see Step 5 in Table 2
• No, go to Step 9

The student or Australian Apprentice is not eligible for the ABSTUDY Away from Home rate due to travel time and access.

• Consider if they are eligible for the ABSTUDY Away from Home rate on other grounds
• If appropriate, refer them for other assistance, e.g. Centrelink social worker or Indigenous Service Officer

If the student or Australian Apprentice has contacted through:

• a service centre, go to Step 11
• Smart Centre Call, record detail of the discussion in a DOC. Procedure ends here
• the ABSTUDY Smart Centre Processing Services team, see Step 1 in Table 3

Ensure the claim/form and all supporting documents are scanned to the student or Australian Apprentice's record to allow for processing by the ABSTUDY Smart Centre Processing Services team.

For more information, see Scanning Centrelink documents using an MFD.

Procedure ends here.

If the student or Australian Apprentice is claiming the Away from Home rate due to:

• travel time exceeding one and a half hours, go to Step 2
• access periodically affected for at least 20 days of the academic year, go to Step 4

Documentation is not required where the distance from the permanent home to the study or work location clearly exceeds reasonable travelling time. For example, a tertiary student studying at a university in Adelaide whose permanent home is in Western Australia.

Documentation is required where travelling time is unclear.

Is the student or Australian Apprentice required to provide documentation to support the away from home claim?

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

A statement is required detailing the time taken in walking, waiting and changing transport. In addition one of the following is required:

• a travel schedule showing travel routes and timetables between the permanent home and appropriate education provider or work location
• a statement from the contractor responsible for transport services, advising of travel routes and timetables between the permanent home and the appropriate education provider or work location, or
• a statement from school authorities providing details of transport between the permanent home and the nearest government school

See Step 1 in Table 3.

A student or Australian Apprentice must provide a statement detailing the circumstances if access to their appropriate education provider or work is disrupted.

The disruption must be at least 20 days in an academic year due to adverse travel conditions. In addition one of the following is required:

• a statement from the local Council, describing:
• access conditions between the permanent home and the appropriate education provider or place of work
• the number of occasions where access was unavailable, and
• why access was unavailable during the previous academic year, or
• a statement from relevant authorities:
• confirming the circumstances, and
• giving details of transport between the permanent home and appropriate education provider or place of work

See Step 1 in Table 3.

These details are needed to work out if documentation is required:

• the name and address of the government school nearest to the permanent home offering an appropriate level of study
• the distance from the permanent home to the nearest government school by the shortest practicable route
• whether there is a transport service to the nearest government school
• the distance from the permanent home to the nearest transport pick-up point (for example bus stop) going to the nearest government school
• the distance from the transport pick-up point to the nearest government school by the transport service route

Based on the above details, documentation is not required if:

• the distance from the permanent family home to the nearest appropriate government school clearly exceeds the reasonable travelling distance requirements, and
• the Service Officer is satisfied the information provided is accurate

Is documentation required to support the away from home claim?

• Yes, go to Step 6
• No, see Step 1 in Table 3

The following evidence must be provided:

• a statement from the contractor responsible for providing transport services between the permanent home and the nearest appropriate government school, advising of:
• travel routes, and
• timetables
• a statement from school authorities advising details of transport between the permanent home location and the nearest appropriate government school

See Step 1 in Table 3.

Check the evidence, if required, to determine if the student or Australian Apprentice meets eligibility for Away from Home rate due to travel time and access.

Is there enough evidence to support granting the ABSTUDY Away from Home rate?

• Yes, if processed in:
• Customer First, go to Step 6
• Process Direct, go to Step 2
• No, if processed in:
• Customer First, go to Step 7
• Process Direct, go to Step 5

The away from home data will prefill the Action: field on the Independent/Homeless/Away from Home Details (NIH) screen from information provided in the online claim.

To access the NIH screen, key 'NIH' in the Super Key field or select the My Circs icon.

• If a previous entry is recorded:
• go to the NIHS screen
• end-date this entry (must be end-dated before a new line can be entered)
• select the icon to add a new entry

The following fields must be completed on the NIH screen:

• code 'AFH' in the Action: field, if required
• code the appropriate code below in the Start/Reject Reason: field
• AAE (Daily travel impossible/unreasonable
• AET (Excessive travelling time), or
• AIS (Parental home is isolated)
• code the later of these dates in the Start Date: field:
• ABSTUDY start date, or
• date the student or Australian Apprentice became eligible for the Away from Home rate

Is the customer an Australian Apprentice?

• Yes, go to Step 8
• No, go to Step 4

For qualifying students, the Regional Location Details (RLD) screen will prepopulate information provided in the online claim. Check the information and dates on the RLD screen are correct.

For information on coding the RLD screen, see Relocation Scholarship (RS) payment and coding.

Go to Step 8.

If the student or Australian Apprentice does not meet the eligibility for away from home due to travel time and access, the prepopulated information must be deleted from the Independent/Homeless/Away from Home Details (NIH) screen.

To delete an entry:

• key 'NIH' in the Super Key field or select the My Circs icon
• select the Delete icon to the left of the Action: field
• select Yes to confirm deletion

Go to Step 8.

Student or Australian Apprentice meets eligibility for Away from Home rate due to travel time and access.

Check if a previous entry is recorded on the Independent/Homeless/Away From Home Summary (NIHS) screen:

• end-date previous entries (must be end-dated before a new line can be entered)
• press [Enter] for a new Independent/Homeless/Away from Home Details (NIH) screen

Complete the following fields on the NIH screen:

• code AFH in the Action: field
• code the appropriate code listed below in the Start/Reject Reason: field
• AAE (Daily travel impossible/unreasonable
• AET (Excessive travelling time), or
• AIS (Parental home is isolated)
• code the later in the Start Date: field of the:
• ABSTUDY start date, or
• date the student or Australian Apprentice became eligible for the Away from Home rate

If the student is undertaking an approved scholarship course, in the To update regional classification details, go to RLD: field, code Y.

For more information on coding the RLD screen, see Relocation Scholarship (RS) payment and coding.

Record details of the decision in a DOC. The information must indicate the grounds the claim for Away from Home rate has been granted or rejected. If rejected, the reasons for the rejection.

Procedure ends here.

Record details of the decision in Notes or Document annotations.

The information must indicate the grounds for granting or rejecting the claim for Away from Home rate.