Assessing excessive travelling time for Youth Allowance (YA) at the away from home rate 010-06040050

If the YA customer is:

• dependent, go to Step 2
• independent, the customer does not require an approved reason to live away from home. Procedure ends here

An approved activity is:

• one that enhances a customer's chances of gaining employment, through either education, training, or assisting them with job seeking
• an approved course of study, or
• full-time Australian Apprenticeship

The References page contains further information.

Is the customer undertaking an approved activity for YA?

• Yes, go to Step 3
• No, the customer is not eligible for the away from home rate under this criterion. Record the reason for the decision in a Fast Note. See The away from home rate for Youth Allowance (YA) customers for other criterion that may apply. Procedure ends here

A daily journey is considered excessive if it exceeds 90 minutes one-way by public transport (including walking and waiting times between different modes of transport).

The customer may be required to provide proof of the duration of the journey if unable to determine excessive travel via Public Transport sites, Rome2Rio etc. See Item 2 in Table 1 on the Resources page.

Note: a customer only requires one journey to exceed 90 minutes by public transport to be eligible under this category. As class timetables and public transport timetables change, a customer who does not exceed the 90 minute rule regularly will need to have their away from home rate reviewed periodically.

Is travelling time from the parental home to the approved activity considered excessive?

• Yes, go to Step 4
• No, the customer is not eligible for the away from home rate under this criterion. Record the reason for the decision in a Fast Note. See The away from home rate for Youth Allowance (YA) customers for other criterion that may apply. Procedure ends here

Is the customer undertaking full-time study at a secondary school?

• Yes, go to Step 5
• No, go to Step 7

Secondary students who choose to bypass their local government school to attend a different school are not eligible for the away from home rate of YA, unless exceptional reasons apply. For more information (and the exceptions to this rule), see References.

Note: some states have circumstances where a secondary student may qualify for YA at the away from home rate. See Secondary Schools on the National Course Approvals sub-site for more information.

Has the customer chosen to bypass a local secondary school?

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

Does the customer have a valid exception reason to bypass their local government school?

• Yes, go to Step 7
• No, the customer is not eligible for the away from home rate. Record the reason for the decision in a Fast Note. Procedure ends here

Dependent YA customers who are still living in the parental home are not eligible for the away from home rate of YA. However, customers may lodge an early claim for the away from home rate under the excessive travel criterion where they will be moving away from home for the purpose of undertaking approved study.

Note: customers living away from the parental home for an approved reason, but who return to the parental home on a regular basis (e.g. each weekend), may still be considered to be living away from the parental home where they are maintaining separate accommodation and the return to the parental home is not permanent.

Is the YA customer living at home?

• Yes, and the customer is:
• intending to move away from home for the purpose of undertaking an approved activity, go to Step 8
• undertaking any other activity, the customer is not entitled to the away from home rate of YA until they actually move away from the parental home
• No, go to Step 8

Has the customer provided their term or new address?

• Yes, for Youth Allowance Students (YAL-STU) customers:
• Code the Independent/Homeless/Away From Home Details (NIH) screen with the grant reason of 'AET' (excessive travel). See Commencement, cessation and coding of the away from home rate for Youth Allowance (YA), and
• run the Change in Contact Details workflow to add or update the 'Term' Address (AD) and Accommodation Details (AC) screens. See Updating address details and Completing the Accommodation Details (AC) screen and assessing Rent Assistance (RA)
• Record the away from home decision in a DOC, including the former parental home and new home address details
• Yes, for Youth Allowance Jobseekers (YAL-JSK) customers
• Code the Independent/Homeless/Away from Home Details (NIH) screen with the grant reason of 'AET' (excessive travel). See Commencement, cessation and coding of the away from home rate for Youth Allowance (YA), and
• run the Change in Contact Details workflow to update the 'Home' Address (AD) and Accommodation Details (AC) screens. See Updating address details and Completing the Accommodation Details (AC) screen and assessing Rent Assistance (RA)
• Record the away from home decision in a DOC, including the former parental home and new home address details
• No, go to Step 9

If the customer has lodged an early claim for the away from home rate due to excessive travel, this can be coded in advance if the customer has, or can provide their future term or new address and accommodation details. If the customer has not provided specific address details, attempt to contact the customer via phone.

If the future term or new address is known or contact is successful, record the future term or new address and accommodation details.

If contact is unsuccessful issue a request for the customer to provide their term or new address and accommodation details, see Requesting information (CLK):

• select Request Documents in Process Direct
• complete the Request Summary section
• Search Available Documents and select Term/new address and accommodation details, select Next
• select the + Add and add the Course & Institution Name, and Save, select Next
• select the Printer Option (Local, Central), and enter Staff Notes if required
• select Finalise

If the term or new address is not available and the customer is:

• payable at the at home rate, finalise the claim/reassessment at this rate
• not payable at the at home rate, do not reject. Place the claim/reassessment on hold for 14 days to allow the customer time to respond to the request and provide their address and accommodation details. Set up a Review, see Table 2

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

• Service Reason: YAL
• Review Reason: NEV (Possible Notifiable Event)
• Due Date: 2 business days prior to the student start date
• Source: INT
• Date of Receipt: today's date
• Notes: 'Term address and accommodation details required. Check eligibility to away from home rate. Return to OB 010-06040050 to action.'
• Keywords: AFHREV
• Workgroup: STU
• Position: UPDATE
• Transfer to Region: SNN

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