Determining who can be the applicant for the Assistance for Isolated Children (AIC) Scheme 010-03020020

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

When a person contacts to advise the death of an applicant, the death must be confirmed.

Note: Service Officers must check the record of the applicant to ensure the death action has been completed.

If the death action has been completed on the applicant record, the death action will create a Manual Follow-up (MFU) on the AIC student(s) record.

Has the death action been completed on the applicant's record?

• Yes, go to Step 3
• No, cancel the AIC payment in the student record:
• select the DEA MFU with keyword PTRAPPDE from the Activity List (AL) screen
• go to the Assessment Results (AR) screen
• the AIC payment should be displayed as cancelled ADE- Death of applicant
• Record details in a DOC

Where the death action results in a potential overpayment and the applicant died after:

• receiving a term instalment in advance, that instalment stands as the correct payment for the term
• receiving a fortnightly in arrears payment, the payment made immediately (that is, up to 14 days) after the applicant's death stands as the correct payment

Where the death action results in a potential overpayment and the applicant died before:

• receiving a term instalment in advance, that instalment is not correct, and should be raised as an overpayment

Any entitlement due to a subsequent applicant, who then assumes responsibility for the student, will only commence at the beginning of the following payment period.

The surviving parent/guardian may be eligible to receive the remaining entitlements for the year, however they will need to lodge a claim for AIC, and meet the eligibility criteria to be payable.

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

• Yes, go to Step 8
• No,
• contact surviving partner via phone
• make genuine attempts to contact the surviving partner, if contact successful
• offer the services of a social worker at any time during contact
• invite the surviving partner to claim for AIC as an applicant for the student. See Eligibility for Assistance for Isolated Children (AIC) Scheme
• if surviving partner wishes to claim, send an intent to claim letter to the surviving partner with a claim form
• record an intent to claim. See Intent to claim and vulnerable customers
• record relevant details of conversation on record

Procedure ends here.

Is the applicant an organisation?

• Yes, go to Step 6
• No, go to Step 9

Does the student live with their parents/guardians in the organisation or the institution and the parent has at least some responsibility for the student?

• Yes, the parent is the approved applicant. Check the other eligibility criteria for AIC. Procedure ends here
• No go to Step 7

An organisation or institution may be the approved applicant if:

• it is a non-government body and the following conditions are met:
• the student boards with organisation during school term and their permanent home address satisfies one of the geographical isolation rules
• the student normally lives with the organisation/institution (including school vacations) but needs to board away to access an appropriate school due to the geographic isolation of the organisation/institution
• the organisation is a special institution where the student resides because of the nature of a disability or other health related condition

An organisation who does not have primary responsibility for a student living continuously at the institution (due to a disability or other health-related condition), is not the applicant. The applicant would be the parent with whom the student would normally live, but for the need to board. To determine the applicant in this case, go to Step 10.

Does the organisation have full responsibility for the student?

• Yes, the organisation has primary care of the student and is a:
• non-government organisation, it is an approved applicant. Check the other eligibility criteria for AIC. Procedure ends here
• government organisation, it is not an approved applicant. However, to determine if there is another approved applicant, go to Step 9
• No, see Step 3 in Table 2

• Yes, and the deceased applicant died after:
• receiving a term instalment in advance, that instalment stands as the correct payment for the term, or
• receiving a fortnightly in arrears payment, the payment made immediately (that is, up to 14 days) after the applicant's death stands as the correct payment. See Finalised 'no debt' (FND) or 'zeroing' debts that are not legally recoverable
• Any entitlement due to a subsequent applicant, who then assumes responsibility for the student, will only commence at the beginning of the following payment period. i.e. next term, or following fortnight
• Yes, and the deceased applicant died before:
• receiving a term instalment in advance, that instalment is not correct, and should be raised as an overpayment see Actioning an undetermined debt on the Debt Management and Information System (DMIS)
• No, go to Step 9

• Yes, the applicant is not an approved applicant. However, to determine if another person may be an approved applicant, go to Step 10
• No, go to Step 10

• Yes, the foster parent is an approved applicant. Check the other eligibility criteria for AIC. Procedure ends here
• No, go to Step 11

• Yes, the student should apply for Youth Allowance (YA) or ABSTUDY if an Indigenous student. Advise the student how to claim YA online or claim ABSTUDY by phone. Issue relevant paper form to the student if appropriate. See:
• Initial contact with students or Australian Apprentices claiming Youth Allowance (YA), or
• Claiming ABSTUDY
• Procedure ends here
• No, go to Step 12

• Yes, go to Step 13
• No, either parent/guardian may be an approved applicant. Check the other eligibility criteria for AIC. Procedure ends here.

• Yes, the parent/guardian the student normally lives with is the approved applicant. If the student normally lives with one of the parents and his/her partner, either that parent or their partner may be the approved applicant. Check the other eligibility criteria for AIC. Procedure ends here
• No, go to Step 14

• Yes, consider the following factors:
• the approved applicant is the parent who has legal custody of the student, or
• if there is no legal recognition of who has care of the student, the approved applicant is the parent:
• with whom the student normally lives and has lived for the last 12 months or lives with during holidays
• who is responsible for the care (provides food and shelter) of the student
• who contributes regularly to the student's living and education costs
• who receives Family Tax Benefit, holds a Medicare card or receives other allowances for the student, or
• if neither parent has sole responsibility for the care of the student, the parent who has principal financial responsibility for the student is the approved applicant
• No, in cases where the parents are equally sharing the care of the student and the student spends an equal amount of time living with each parent, the approved applicant can be either parent or either parent's partner. See Step 1 in Table 2

• Yes, check the other eligibility criteria for AIC. Procedure ends here
• No, go to Step 2

• Yes, go to Step 3
• No, go to Step 4

Where the claim form is lodged by a person other than a parent or parent's partner, consider the following:

• Does the person have primary (or joint) responsibility for the student's care?
• Does the person support the student wholly or substantially?
• Is the arrangement bona fide?

If the parent (or parent's partner) is supporting the student in the other person's home or directly or indirectly providing financial assistance to the student, the person is not an approved applicant.

Can the approved applicant be determined?

• Yes, check the other eligibility criteria for AIC. Procedure ends here
• No, go to Step 4

If the approved applicant cannot be determined from the information provided, make one genuine attempt to contact the applicant. Verbally request documents that confirm the applicant:

• is either the primary carer, or
• has joint responsibility for the student's care

If a claim form:

• has not been lodged, advise the applicant a claim form needs to be provided
• has been lodged, go to Step 5

Claim has been lodged:

• if a determination cannot be made that the applicant has primary care of the student, reject the application at the end of the assessment
• DOC the claim:
• use Fast Note - select Auto text, use Students, ABSTUDY & Apprentices > AIC > AIC Reject/_DOV
• include the relevant policy references