Assessing eligibility for Fares Allowance (FAA) for Youth Allowance (YA), Austudy and Pensioner Education Supplement (PES) 010-04060020

Is the customer enquiring about FAA or have they already lodged a claim?

• Yes, go to Step 2
• No. If a claim for FAA has been lodged, check file for DOCs regarding process of claim and advise customer accordingly. Procedure ends here

Is the customer undertaking qualifying study for the purposes of FAA?

• Yes, go to Step 3
• No, advise customer they are not eligible for FAA and record details on a DOC. Procedure ends here

Single independent customers without dependent children will not generally be considered to be living away from their permanent home except for compulsory residential components.

Students are regarded as living away from their permanent home for the payment of FAA if they are:

• dependent and receiving the Away from Home rate of YA
• partnered independent students who are required to live away from their partner for study purposes
• sole parents who are required to live away from their dependent children for study purposes, or
• students in a full-time external course who are required to travel to their institution for a compulsory residential component of the course

FAA is not payable if the customer is away from their institution for a practical part of the course, for example, field excursions, practical teaching sessions or hospital residency.

Is the customer living away from their permanent home to study?

• Yes, go to Step 4
• No, advise customer they are not eligible for FAA and record details on a DOC. Procedure ends here

Check how many FAA payments the customer has claimed for this year by checking the:

• Document List (DL)
• Historical Document List (HDL), and
• One Off Payment (OOP) screens

If the student is living away from home to study, before making a trip to their permanent home they must be receiving a qualifying payment for a period of:

• less than 3 months (or less than 6 months if before 1 January 2021), to be entitled to one trip to the institution from their permanent home to commence studies, AND one trip back to their permanent home after ceasing or discontinuing studies
• 3 months or more in a study year (or 6 months or more if before 1 January 2021), to be entitled to a return trip from their permanent home to the institution to cover the start and end of studies for the academic year. They are also entitled to one additional return trip during the year if, before undertaking the return journey, they have been receiving a qualifying payment as a tertiary student, for a total of 3 months (or 6 months if before 1 January 2021) - whether continuous or not - commencing from 1 January in the study year

FAA can be approved and travel undertaken by a student before the start of their course, as long as the YA, Austudy or Pensioner Education Supplement (PES) is approved for the course in which the travel is required. The customer does not need to wait until their student payment is granted to undertake the travel.

External students are entitled to one return journey during the study year between the educational provider and home to attend the institution for a compulsory on site component of the course. (Evidence from the institution is required).

Is the customer entitled to another fare?

• Yes, go to Step 5
• No, advise customer they are not eligible for FAA and record details on a DOC.
  Procedure ends here

Ask the customer to complete and return the form to Services Australia via:

• the customer's online account
• the Express Plus mobile app
• in person at the nearest service centre, or
• post

They are not required to attend an interview to lodge the form.

• for reimbursement, ask the customer to complete the following sections:
• Student's personal details
• Claim for reimbursement
• Checklist
• Student's statement
  Note: the customer will need to provide proof of the travel taken with the form
• for requests for pre-booked FAA, ask them to complete the following sections:
• Student's personal details
• Pre-booked Fares Allowance
• Checklist
• Student's statement
  For further information, see Fares Allowance paid in advance of travel
• on receipt of the form, scan documentation to the customer's record for the Fares processing staff. Procedure ends here for non Fares processing staff

The student must meet the following criteria:

• be undertaking qualifying study for the purposes of FAA
• be living away from their permanent home to study
• have their permanent home in Australia, and
• receiving a qualifying payment within the study year. Note: YA assessed customers are eligible for FAA however need to have a status of YA current and a payment issued before reimbursement. See Resources for examples

Students are regarded as living away from their permanent home for the payment of Fares Allowance if they are:

• dependent and receiving the away rate of Youth Allowance (YA)
• partnered independent students who are living away from their partner for study purposes
• sole parents who are living away from their dependent children for study purposes, or
• students in a full-time external course who are required to travel to their institution for a compulsory residential component of the course

Note: single independent students without dependent children are generally not eligible for FAA (except for the compulsory residential component of an external course).

Does the customer meet the basic eligibility requirements for FAA?

• Yes, go to Step 2
• No, customer is not eligible for FAA. Go to Step 8

Has the claim for FAA been lodged within the time limit?

• Yes, go to Step 3
• No, the fares cannot be reimbursed. Go to Step 8

Has the customer received a Youth Allowance payment within the study year?

• Yes, go to Step 4
• No, the fares allowance cannot be reimbursed until the customer receives Youth Allowance payment. Go to Step 8

Is the customer entitled to another FAA reimbursement for the study year?

Note: 'study year' means the period in which one complete year of an approved tertiary course starts and finishes.

Check the DL screen and the OOP screens to see whether the customer has already received FAA for the journey or has received the allowable reimbursements for the study year.

If the customer has:

• already received their FAA entitlement for that year or for that journey, the customer is not eligible for reimbursement. Go to Step 8
• not received their FAA entitlement, go to Step 5 or book travel as requested, see Fares Allowance paid in advance of travel

Ask the customer to provide verification for journeys taken. For example, tickets, dockets/ticket stubs/receipts or other evidence showing full details of the journey(s) taken. If the customer travelled by private vehicle, ask for details of the journey in a written statement. The statement should also include why it was necessary to use private transport if cheaper public transport was available.

Note: reimbursement of fares is not usually payable when verification has not been provided, but there may be exceptional cases (for example where the tickets have been stolen) where the Service Officer is certain that the student made the journey.

Has the customer provided suitable evidence that they made the journey?

• Yes, go to Step 7
• No, go to Step 6

If the customer has not provided enough evidence to determine their eligibility for FAA, determine if a request for further information is required.

Attempt to contact the customer via phone to request further evidence if the customer:

• has lodged their claim before undertaking their journey, or
• is an external student required to travel to the institution for a compulsory residential component of their course and has not provided evidence to support this

If contact is unsuccessful, create an Online Letter Advice, see Resources for the approved text.

Procedure ends here.

If the journey was made:

• via public transport, see Reimbursing fares for the cheapest mode of public transport
• in a private vehicle, see Reimbursing fares for the use of a private vehicle or taxi

Procedure ends here.

For YA assessed customers seeking Fares Allowance reimbursement, the claim needs to be placed on hold until the expected grant date of their first payment.

Advise customer, in writing, of the decision on their FAA claim by sending a Fares Allowance - grant/reject/pay letter (Q021). See Creating a Q021 letter for customers claiming Fares Allowance (FAA).

Note: the customer has the right to appeal the decision and this is to be stated in the Q021 letter.

Record details of the claim and decision. Use Fast Note - select Auto text, use Students > ABSTUDY & Apprentices > Claims - Students, then select the template:

• Fares Allowance REJECT
• Fares Allowance REJECT – 6 month rule, or
• Fares Allowance REJECT – lodged after 31

If the claim has been rejected due to a failure to supply mandatory documentation, then the decision Fast Note must list all of the documents not provided at the time of the rejection.