No show for ABSTUDY travel 010-02100100

Services Australia pre-books travel for ABSTUDY students and approved travellers where they meet the eligibility requirements for FAA.

A no show for ABSTUDY FAA refers to the situation where an approved ABSTUDY traveller:

• fails to begin or complete a journey authorised and booked in advance by the agency (a penalty may apply), or
• cancels authorised or booked travel less than 24 hours prior to their departure

Approved travellers who have not begun their journey due to circumstances:

• beyond their control (for example, weather, and transport delays), can have their travel re-booked. To re-book travel, see ABSTUDY students experiencing disrupted travel
• within their control (for example, slept in) will have a no show applied and may require their travel to be re-booked

Approved travellers who have begun their journey but:

• miss a leg of travel mid journey due to circumstances beyond their control (for example, weather, transport delays), can have their travel re-booked. To re-book travel, see ABSTUDY students experiencing disrupted travel
• choose to miss a leg of travel mid journey, will have a no show applied and may require their travel to be re-booked

Services Australia requires a minimum of 24 hours' notice to cancel or amend (in unforeseen or exceptional circumstances) travel arrangements on behalf of the traveller without penalty under the agencies travel contract.

Where an approved traveller does not travel, cancels or requests amendment of travel arrangements 24 hours prior to departure, a no show may result and penalties applied unless unforeseen or exceptional circumstances occur on the travel date. See Fares Allowance (FAA) authorised in advance of travel for ABSTUDY.

A re-booking penalty is where Services Australia will not pay, re-book or authorise travel in advance. Re-booking penalties are not applied to secondary school students or their associated non-student travellers.

Tertiary students, secondary non-school students, and their associated non-student travellers who miss travel without a valid reason, will have a re-booking penalty applied and therefore will not have travel for the same journey re-booked or paid for in advance. A financial penalty may also be applied.

Approved travellers who provide a valid circumstance for missed travel will not have a re-booking penalty applied, and where required, may have travel for that journey re-booked.

Where a re-booking penalty has been applied and the approved traveller is still required to undertake the journey, they must purchase their own ticket and lodge a Fares Allowance Claim (SY032). Their travel ticket/receipts are to be provided as proof of purchase. If eligible, the cost of travel will be reimbursed at the rate for the appropriate mode of transport.

Note: on 3 April 2020, Services Australia paused debt raising and recovery activity to help ease pressure on people's budgets during Coronavirus (COVID-19). The debt pause includes overpayments relating to ABSTUDY travel that has been missed and financial penalties due to be applied.

Where travel is missed, a travel provider may charge Services Australia the cost of the ticket or charge an amount as a missed travel penalty. A financial penalty will result in an overpayment being raised against the approved traveller.

Approved travellers who provide a valid circumstance for missed travel will not have a financial penalty applied.

Where the travel provider charges the agency an amount associated with missed travel and a financial penalty is to be applied, the amount to be raised as an overpayment varies dependent on traveller type:

• For tertiary, secondary non-school students and their associated non-student travellers, the overpayment is the amount charged to the agency
• For secondary school students, the overpayment is the amount charged to the agency, capped at a maximum of $100
• Associated non-student travellers for secondary school students, such as supervisors, will not be charged a penalty if they miss travel