Approval of ABSTUDY Away from Base assistance 010-02070050

Is the student claiming non-income tested Living Allowance?

• Yes, see Table 6
• No, for:
• bulk funding and residential expense package cost assessments, go to Step 2
• Travel Allowance assessments, see Table 4

See the Resources page for a link to the Travel Allowance calculator to assist in calculating the correct Travel Allowance entitlement based on the student’s circumstances.

In the Travel Allowance calculator enter the number of students being assessed in Number of students field.

Calculate the period of eligibility for travel allowance for the activity.

The period of eligibility for travel allowance extends from the first day till the last day of the activity. This includes reasonable travelling between the permanent home and the commencement/end point of the activity.

This is calculated from the first overnight stay up to and including the last overnight stay and includes any weekend days within the period of the activity.

Overnight stays in transit to, or from the activity, due to unavoidable travel delays are considered as part of the reasonable travelling time.

In the Travel Allowance calculator enter the following:

• Departure and Return dates: enter the Start and End dates of the activity.
• Start time: 06:00am
• End time: 08:00pm

Travel allowance is a set daily amount payable for meals and accommodation. The daily rate is determined by the actual location of the activity.

Calculate the relevant daily rate of travel allowance based on:

• travel allowance rates for each day of the activity
• the location(s) at which the activity is being undertaken

See the Resources page for a link to the relevant ATO travel allowance rates.

If the approved activity is occurring in the next financial year and corresponding travel allowance rates are not published, calculate the travel allowance using the current year rates.

In the Travel Allowance calculator enter the following under Expenses;

• Breakfast: enter the relevant breakfast ATO travel allowance rates for the activity location
• Lunch: enter the relevant lunch ATO travel allowance rates for the activity location
• Dinner: enter the relevant dinner ATO travel allowance rates for the activity location
• Accommodation: enter the relevant accommodation ATO travel allowance rates for the activity location

Note: travel allowance is payable for up to 21 days at the rate set for the specific location. Activities that exceed 21 days can only access 50% of the rate of applicable travel allowance. The Travel Allowance calculator will calculate the 50% rate after day 21. It does not need to be calculated manually.

Has the institution included a residential expenses package to fund all meals and accommodation costs for the activity?

• Yes, see Table 3
• No, see Table 2

Education providers must arrange a residential expenses package that meet the actual cost of meals and accommodation at a reasonable price for each student per day of the activity. Separate funding for meals and accommodation is only approved in exceptional circumstances.

It is considered unreasonable or impractical for the education provider to arrange a residential expenses package if:

• an individual student is undertaking an activity alone
• multiple students are undertaking an activity in individual locations

A participant may undertake an activity alone in the following circumstances:

• a placement activity
• a single Indigenous student is undertaking a mainstream field trip or residential school
• an individual student has arranged their own testing activity with an institution for a mainstream course
• an education provider representative is delivering an activity in a community

Does the type of activity make it unreasonable or impractical for the institution to arrange a residential expenses package?

• Yes, go to Step 5
• No, go to Step 2

The education provider is not required to arrange a residential expenses package if the activity is being undertaken in a location where no service providers can, or will, provide a residential expenses package. For example, an activity held in a remote location with limited, or no providers able, or willing to deliver a package for meals and accommodation.

Does the location of the activity make it unreasonable or impractical for the institution to arrange a residential expenses package?

• Yes, go to Step 5
• No, go to Step 3

The education provider is not required to arrange a residential expenses package if the activity is being undertaken in multiple locations, and:

• no one service provider is responsible for all meals and accommodation throughout the activity. For example, a field trip that spends 3 days in one location and 3 days in another location
• it is unreasonable or impractical to arrange multiple service providers for meals and accommodation
• some locations cannot provide a residential expenses package. For example, a field trip is moving from island to island in the Torres Strait where some locations have meals and accommodation services, and others do not

Do multiple locations and the lack of a single responsible service provider make it unreasonable or impractical for the institution to arrange a residential expenses package?

• Yes, go to Step 5
• No, go to Step 4

The education provider is not required to arrange a residential expenses package if it is less cost effective than payment of travel allowance.

Compare the total travel allowance cost with quotes provided for the provision of a residential expenses package.

Is the residential expenses package less cost effective than payment of travel allowance?

• Yes, go to Step 5
• No, the education provider is required to arrange a residential expenses package as it is more cost effective than payment of travel allowance. See Table 3

It is unreasonable, impractical or less cost effective for a residential expenses package to be provided for an activity.

Meals and accommodation costs will be funded by payment of the daily travel allowance.

See Table 4.

A residential expenses package is required to be cost effective and therefore must cover the reasonable cost of meals and accommodation.

In some circumstances, the most cost effective and practical residential package cannot provide all main meals on all days of the activity. For example, a lone hotel in a remote location may be able to provide accommodation, breakfast and dinner, but cannot provide lunch. It remains cost effective to approve the residential package and pay meal allowance for the lunch meal.

Are all main meals included in the residential expenses package?

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

Compare whether the payment of meal allowance for any meals not included in the residential expenses package continues to make the meals and accommodation package cost effective. This would require the comparison of the residential expenses package plus any necessary meal allowance, with the rate of travel allowance calculated previously.

Is the alternative arrangement for combined meal allowance and residential expenses package cost effective?

• Yes, go to Step 3
• No, advise the institution that meals and accommodation costs will be funded by payment of the daily travel allowance. If the education provider has:
• provided a list of students attending, for payment options, see Table 4
• not provided a list of students attending, advise the education provider that a list of students attending is required to pay travel allowance. Procedure ends here

The residential expenses package must be of reasonable cost.

Compare the residential expenses package with the rate calculated in the Travel Allowance calculator.

Is the cost of the residential expenses package reasonable?

• Yes, go to Step 4
• No, go to Step 7

The Residential expenses package must be limited only to the actual days of the activity, and does not include days when the participant is travelling to or from the activity.

For example, a student travels on a Sunday to undertake a 10 day academic residential school commencing on the Monday. Any meals on the Sunday prior to the student arriving should not be included in a residential expenses package.

Does the residential expenses package meet these conditions?

• Yes, go to Step 5
• No, advise the institution that the residential expenses package will only be approved for main meals and accommodation that are a part of the activity. Go to Step 5

Has the education provider requested advance payment?

• Yes, go to Step 6
• No, the residential expenses package is approved for provision of meals and accommodation for the activity. See Table 5, Step 3

If the residential expenses package will cost:

• $10 000 or less, the customer must provide a single written quote with the submission. However Services Australia can request additional quotes if it is considered that a more cost-effective package could be arranged.
• greater than $10 000 but not exceed $100 000, 3 written quotes are required.
• $100 000 or greater, a formal tender process must be used.

Has the education provider provided the necessary verification of costing for the residential expenses package?

• Yes, the residential expenses package is approved for provision of meals and accommodation for the activity. See Table 5, Step 1
• No, the residential expenses package is not approved for provision of meals and accommodation for the activity until necessary verification of costing has been provided. Contact the education provider via email using the Additional quotes required Quickstep. See the Resources page in Coding pre-booked Fares Allowance (FAA) entitlements for ABSTUDY and ABSTUDY Pensioner Education Supplement (PES). Procedure ends here

The Away from Base activity cannot be approved for funding of meals and accommodation costs unless a verified cost-effective residential expenses package is included in the Submission for Away From Base Activity Funding form (SY034).

To reject the submission, see Coding Fares Allowance (FAA) reimbursements and Away from Base entitlements for ABSTUDY and ABSTUDY Pensioner Education Supplement (PES).

Travel allowance is a set daily amount payable for meals and accommodation, regardless of the actual cost incurred by the student(s). The daily rate is determined by the actual location of the activity.

Note: Meal allowance can be paid for those main meals not provided by a hotel/motel. That is, if breakfast is included in the room cost, the breakfast component of meal allowance is not payable.

Ensure the calculation includes the correct meal allowance component depending on the time of arrival and departure of the activity.

See the Resources page for a link to the Travel Allowance calculator to assist in calculating the correct Travel Allowance entitlement based on the student’s circumstances.

In the Travel Allowance calculator enter the number of students as 1 in Number of students field.

In the Travel Allowance calculator update the following:

• Departure and Return dates: enter the dates of the travel to and from the activity.
• Start time: enter the travel start time from the home address to the transport hub on the day of the departing journey by adding:
• 1 hour before scheduled departure if home address (or equivalent) is outside a capital city
• 90 minutes prior to departure if home address (or equivalent) is in a capital city
• End time: enter the travel end time from the transport hub to the home address on the day of the returning journey by adding:
• 30 minutes after arrival at transport hub if living outside a capital city
• 60 minutes after arrival at transport hub if living in a capital city

If the start and end times are unknown, customer contact must be attempted to confirm this information.

Are start and end time available?

• Yes, code the calculator as advised above. Go to Step 3
• No, code the start and end time as 12:00PM. Go to Step 3

The total travel allowance entitlement has been calculated.

Note: travel allowance is payable for up to 21 days at the rate set for the specific location. Activities that exceed 21 days can only access 50% of the rate of applicable travel allowance. The Travel Allowance calculator will calculate the 50% rate after day 21. It does not need to be calculated manually.

If Away from Base funding is to be:

• paid in advance, see Table 5, Step 1
• reimbursed after the activity has been completed, see Table 5, Step 3

An advance payment requires a minimum of

• 21 days for individuals, or
• 42 days for institutions

Note: the student is deemed to have met the above timeframe if:

• unforeseen or exceptional circumstances have occurred which disadvantaged the customer lodging the request in time, or
• by not paying the assistance in advance it would cause the student to disengage from the study

If a claim is accepted within the above timeframes of the activity commencing, it is not possible to make payment prior to the activity commencing.

Have the above timeframes been met?

• Yes, go to Step 2
• No, advance funding is not payable. The customer will need to fund the activity separately and seek reimbursement after the activity is completed. For:
• Individuals - advise the student via a Q999 letter that the advance payment request cannot be completed. For the Q999 template, see Creating a Q999 or Q888 letter. Procedure ends here
• Institutions - notify the institution via email of the decision and options. See quicksteps guide in Coding pre-booked Fares Allowance (FAA) entitlements for ABSTUDY and ABSTUDY Pensioner Education Supplement (PES). Procedure ends here

Payments in advance normally only include the allowance for meals and accommodation. Fares can be arranged separately and authorised in advance through the Travel Management Company. However, if a charter transport service is required as part of the activity (e.g. a field trip), this can be included as part of the lump sum payment.

In Customer First, create a manual review on the Review Registration (RVR) screen and complete the fields as follows:

• Service Reason: ABY
• Review Reason: REV (Manual Review)
• Due Date: one calendar month after end of the activity
• Source: INT
• Date of Receipt: today's date
• Notes: 'AFB acquittal follow up for Activity period: xx/xx/20xx to xx/xx/20xx.'
• Keywords: AFB
• Workgroup: leave blank
• Position: leave blank
• Transfer to Region: ABS

The review will mature on the Due Date coded in the RVR activity. Workload Management will allocate the review for manual action.

If travel allowance is payable for an approved activity in the next financial year where the relevant rates have not been published, funding is to be issued based on the current year rates. An additional review is required. In Customer First, create a manual review on the Review Registration (RVR) screen and complete the fields as follows:

• Service Reason: ABY
• Review Reason: REV (Manual Review)
• Due Date: 1 August of the next financial year
• Source: INT
• Date of Receipt: today's date
• Notes: 'AFB acquittal follow up for Activity in next financial year period: xx/xx/20xx to xx/xx/20xx. Reassess entitlement using correct rates.'
• Keywords: AFB
• Workgroup: leave blank
• Position: leave blank
• Transfer to Region: ABS

The review will mature on the Due Date coded in the RVR activity. Workload Management will allocate the review for manual action.

Go to Step 4.

Reimbursement of Away from Base funding to education providers can only be paid where proof of payment is provided. Paid tax invoices, original receipts and accounts verifying expenses must be lodged. Quotes and purchase orders are not considered proof of payment.

Reimbursement of travel allowance requires the education providers to confirm:

• that participants undertook the activity
• lists the actual period and location(s) of the activity

Education providers or individual students remain eligible for reimbursement where the information is provided to state the student has fully participated. This also applies when students who travel to the activity but were absent for one or more days, due to ill health or another similar reason.

Finalise the assessment and issue funding where applicable, see Coding Fares Allowance (FAA) reimbursements and Away from Base entitlements for ABSTUDY and ABSTUDY Pensioner Education Supplement (PES).

Only students who have been assessed as eligible to attend an approved Away from Base activity can claim non-income tested Living Allowance.

Non-income tested Living Allowance does not affect the education providers submission for approval of an activity, or part of the claim for meals and accommodation costs.

Individual qualifying students must make a verbal or written request for non-income tested Living Allowance to be assessed.

Has a request for non-income tested Living Allowance been made?

• Yes, go to Step 2
• No, the student is not eligible for payment of non-income tested Living Allowance. Procedure ends here

A student can qualify if they will lose their normal source of income while undertaking the approved activity.

The normal source of income must be derived from either:

• a form of Australian Government assistance (for example, Department of Social Services), or
• employment (that has no study leave provision and the student is required to access leave without pay to participate)

Will the student lose their normal source of income from 1 of the above sources while undertaking the activity?

• Yes, go to Step 3
• No, go to Step 5

The student will be required to confirm the loss of income for the period of the activity. This can occur by either:

• providing a letter from their employer(s), or
• confirmation from the government agency responsible for the student's income support payment

Has the student's cessation of income been confirmed?

• Yes, go to Step 4
• No, go to Step 5

A student whose income source is employment, must provide written confirmation from their employer that paid study leave is not available, and that they have been required to access leave without pay to attend the activity. This must also list the days of unpaid study leave granted.

Has the confirmation regarding leave been provided by the employer?

• Yes, go to Step 6
• No, go to Step 5

The student is not eligible for payment of non-income tested Living Allowance available exclusively for students undertaking ABSTUDY Away from Base activities.

• advise the student via an Online advice Q999 letter that non-income tested Living Allowance is not approved. See Resources page for Q999 letter template Non-income test Living Allowance - Rejected
• advise the student of their review and appeal rights. See Review of ABSTUDY and Assistance for Isolated Children (AIC) Scheme decisions
• record the outcome of the assessment on the student's record. Create a Fast Note, select Auto Text. Use Students, ABSTUDY & Apprentices > ABSTUDY Travel > AFB Living Allowance

Procedure ends here.

The student is eligible for non-income tested Living Allowance for the Away from Base activities.

Determine the student's maximum rate of ABSTUDY Living Allowance based on their age and status.

Note: the maximum rate of Living Allowance is not affected by any means testing.

Calculate the daily rate of the applicable regular Living Allowance for the student by dividing the fortnightly rate by 14.

Multiply the daily rate by the number of days of the activity for which the student has lost their source of income.

Note: for travelling days include any additional time outside of the actual period of the activity that requires a student to travel from their permanent home to the location of the activity. A student will be required to utilise the appropriate mode of transport for the journey. They must undertake travel at a time that will allow arrival at the destination as close as reasonable to the commencement period of the activity.

The result is the maximum amount of non-income tested Living Allowance payable for the activity.

The Living Allowance payment cannot be paid via the Centrelink system. The calculated amount of Living Allowance is paid via the ESSentials Payment System. See the Resources page for CEPS – Third party payment form. Complete all sections, including the spending delegate (Team Leader) details

Record the outcome of the assessment on the student's record. Create a Fast Note, select Auto Text. Use Students, ABSTUDY & Apprentices > ABSTUDY Travel > AFB Living Allowance.

Send an email to the email the Financial Shared Services mailbox and cc the ABSTUDY Away from Base Delegate mailbox:

• Subject line: ABSTUDY non-income tested Living Allowance for [Student Name] while undertaking Away from Base activity [Month and Year of Activity]
• Text: Please find a CEPS -Third Party Payments form for [student name] for $[amount], being for payment of ABSTUDY non-income tested Living Allowance while undertaking Away from Base activity, to be made into the bank account below:
• Account Name: [insert details]
• BSB: [insert details]
• Account Number: [insert details]
• key the bank details above using the preferred bank account listed by the student
• attach Centrelink Education Payment System (CEPS) - Third Party Payments form,
• attach relevant documentation justifying that the payment needs to be made and that it is correct
• once sent, save/upload the email to the student's record

Advise the student of the rate and period of payment of non-income tested Living Allowance via an Online advice Q999 letter. See Resources page for Q999 letter template Non-income test Living Allowance - Approved

Complete a mySupport Request (using the generic payment specific form) so that the customer's payment summary for the relevant financial year is adjusted to record the manual payment of Living Allowance.