Residence requirements for Assistance for Isolated Children (AIC) 010-03030030

Note: if a claim or activity residency outcome is incorrect, see Table 2.

Was the applicant or student born overseas?

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

Check the Legal Residence Details (RSLEG) screen to determine if residence and/or citizenship details have been obtained previously. A refresh of the Immigration Datalink on the Immigration Enquiry (RSIMME) screen may be required.

If either the applicant or student are a New Zealand citizen or an Australian permanent resident, and this information has not yet been confirmed through documentation provided or Immigration Datalink, they will need to provide evidence of their New Zealand citizenship or Australian permanent residence.

Evidence could include one of the following:

• Australian citizenship papers
• passport or visa showing permanent resident status and all subsequent passports
• a New Zealand passport showing all Australian arrival and departure stamps over the past year

If evidence is not available, Services Australia should arrange to verify the information for the customer. See Commencement of Identity.

Do not ask the customer to obtain evidence from the Department of Home Affairs as the cost of obtaining documents can be significant.

Check the Country of Residence (CRES) screen. See Assessing if a customer is an Australian resident.

If the applicant and/or student is:

• a New Zealand citizen, go to Step 3
• an Australian permanent resident, go to Step 5
• none of the above, the applicant and/or student do not satisfy the residence requirements for AIC. Procedure ends here

Are the student and applicant permanently settled in Australia?

• Yes, go to Step 4
• No, the applicant and/or student do not satisfy the residence requirements for AIC. Procedure ends here

In addition to the definition of permanently settled, New Zealand applicants and students must satisfy one of the below residence rules.

Both the applicant and student must have lived in Australia:

• continuously for 6 months or more, or
• within a 6 month period, has had only one absence that:
• is less than a two week period, and
• the student remained enrolled in schooling with an Australian education provider, and
• can demonstrate continuity of residence in Australia in that period, or
• for 12 months with no more than two months absence in that period, or
• for 12 months with more than two months absence but can demonstrate continuity of residence in Australia in that period

Note: for travel information, check the Time Inside/Outside Australia (TIO) and Immigration Movements (RSIM) screens.

Has the applicant and student met any of the above criteria?

• Yes, go to Step 5
• No, the applicant and/or student do not satisfy the residence requirements for AIC. Procedure ends here

Are the applicant and student living in Australia during the year of study?

• Yes, the applicant and student satisfy the residence requirements for AIC. Continue to process the claim. Procedure ends here
• No, and the person not residing in Australia is the:
• student, go to Step 6
• applicant, go to Step 7

Students may continue to be eligible for AIC where they are:

• participating in an international student exchange and the student:
• remains enrolled at an Australian education provider, and
• the overseas study is credited to their Australian studies, and
• is not required to repeat all or part of that study in Australia, and
• is continuing to incur the costs in Australia for which the allowance is being paid (for example, if the Australian boarding school is still charging full boarding fees while the student is on exchange)
• receiving AIC Distance Education Allowance (DED) and remains eligible whilst temporarily overseas as per Eligibility for Assistance for Isolated Children (AIC) Distance Education Allowance

Does the student meet one of the above exceptions?

• Yes, go to Step 8
• No, the student does not meet the residence requirements for AIC. Procedure ends here

Is the applicant's absence temporary? (less than two years)

• Yes, go to Step 8
• No, the applicant does not satisfy the residence requirements for AIC. Procedure ends here

Does the family home continue to meet one of the geographical isolation rules (where applicable)?

• Yes, the applicant and student satisfy the residence requirements for AIC. If the residency outcome is:
• correct, procedure ends here
• incorrect, see Table 2
• No, the applicant and/or student do not satisfy the residence requirements for AIC. Procedure ends here

To make sure immigration data is up to date, request the Immigration Datalink.

If the outcome is:

• incorrectly granting when not residentially qualified, go to Step 2
• remaining current when not residentially qualified, go to Step 3
• rejecting or cancelling
• NZ student not residentially qualified (NZQ), go to Step 4
• Applicant Overseas Permanently (AOP) or Applicant Overseas Temporarily > 2 years (AT2), go to Step 5

In the relevant student(s) record(s):

• finalise the claim coding and go to the Assessment Results (AR) screen
• if the claim is not rejecting correctly, manually reject the claim:
• go to the Benefit Action (BA) screen, update the following fields:
  - Service Reason: select EIC - Assistance for Isolated Children
  - Action: select REJ – Reject
  - Reason: key OTH
  - Notes: record any relevant comments about the manual rejection
  - Effect Date: key the date the claim was submitted
• select Submit Change
• on the Assessment Results (AR) screen, update the following field:
• ASC: key Y to suppress the BLA letter
• on the Assessment Consequences (ASC) screen, update the following field:
• Letters Action: key INH
• generate a manual Q888 letter, see the Resources page for a link to the template
• record details on a DOC, including the relevant policy references
• use Fast Note - select Auto text, use Students, ABSTUDY & Apprentices > AIC > AIC Claim Rejected

Procedure ends here.

In the relevant student(s) record(s):

• go to the Benefit Action (BA) screen, update the following fields:
• Service Reason: select EIC - Assistance for Isolated Children
• Action: select CAN
• Reason: select OTH
• Effect Date: key the date the change in residence occurred (that is, the permanent visa end date +1, or the date they were no longer considered to be permanently settled)
• Source: as appropriate
• Receipt Date: key the date the applicant notified
• select Submit Change
• on the Assessment Results (AR) screen, update the following field:
• ASC: key Y to suppress the BLA letter
• on the Assessment Consequences (ASC) screen, update the following field:
• Letters Action: key INH
• finalise the activity via the Assessment Results (AR) screen
• record details on a DOC, including the relevant policy references
• use Fast Note - select Auto text, use Students, ABSTUDY & Apprentices > AIC > AIC Cancelled
• generate a manual Q888 letter, see the Resources page for a link to the template

Procedure ends here.

Due to a known system problem, the claim may incorrectly reject - NZ student not residentially qualified (REJ NZQ), where the student or applicant have been outside Australia during the period they otherwise qualify for AIC.

On both the applicant and student record:

• view the Immigration Advised Movements (RSIM) screen and note all the departure and return dates and countries
• update the Customer Advised Travel Details (RSCD) screen with the departure and return details with a reason of HOL or OTH

Where the system only pays from the last arrival date in Australia, the following action is required:

• search for the 'Support when assisting students issues' webform in mySupport
• complete the form and quote PM34065. This escalates the record to the Centrelink Payments Support Team (CPST) for support to finalise the claim

See the Resources page for a link to mySupport.

Procedure ends here.

Applicant Overseas Permanently (AOP) or Applicant Overseas Temporarily > 2 years (AT2).

This may occur because the student has later become partnered, and the partner was overseas at the time the AIC was current. The system incorrectly reads the partner's residency data instead of the applicants.

If the activity has not been finalised, ICT are able to move the AIC limiting date on the record prior. This prevents the debt shell from being raised.

• search for the 'Support when assisting students issues' webform in mySupport
• complete the form and quote PM30546. This escalates the record to the Centrelink Payments Support Team (CPST) for support to finalise the claim
• place the activity on hold, pending the response

If a debt shell has already been created as a result of the student becoming partnered, check if all other eligibility conditions for AIC continue to be met.

Was the AIC entitlement correct?

• Yes, the student was entitled:
• for an undetermined debt shell on the applicant record, finalise as FND using the reason COD (incorrect coding). See Finalised 'no debt' (FND) or 'zeroing' debts that are not legally recoverable
• No, the student was not entitled, and the Service Officer is:
• trained in actioning AIC debts, action the debt
• not trained in actioning AIC debts, send a Fast Note to the AIC Smart Centre on the student's record
  - select Auto text, use Debts > Debt Action Referral > AIC Debt Action, include all the relevant details

See the Resources page for a link to mySupport.

Procedure ends here.