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

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Assessment of YA for the away from home rate due to excessive travel time

Travelling time is taken to be excessive if the journey from the parental home to the approved activity or place of work by public transport exceeds 90 minutes. This includes walking time and waiting times between different modes of transport.

In certain cases, this will be obvious (for example, a customer leaves Alice Springs to attend university in Darwin).

In many cases it will not, especially for travel within a metropolitan area. If unable to determine, it may be necessary for the customer to provide a detailed schedule of their journey.

For a list of national transport links, see the Resources page of Reimbursing fares for the cheapest mode of public transport for Youth Allowance (YA), Austudy and Pensioner Education Supplement (PES).

Example of travel schedules and exemptions to the 90 minute rule

Table 1

Item

Description

1

Example of a travel schedule + Read more ...

7:00 Leave home to walk to bus stop

7:10 Arrive at bus stop and catch bus

7:30 Arrive at railway station and wait for train

7:40 Catch train to city

8:25 Arrive in the city and await connecting service

8:35 Catch connection to university

8:45 Arrive at university

9:00 Lecture commences

The time from home to the university is 105 minutes (7:00 to 8:45). The journey is over 90 minutes. The customer would be required to provide copies of bus and train timetables to show that it is not possible to leave home later and still arrive on time. A map may also be needed to show the locations of bus stops, railway stations, home, destination, etc., to confirm walking times.

2

Exceptions to the 90 minute rule which may need to be considered + Read more ...

Medical conditions - when determining if travelling time is excessive, allowance has to be made for the specific circumstances of the customer:

  • disabled customers may not be able to use certain forms of public transport
  • travel at peak hour often involves prolonged periods of standing that may not be appropriate for a disabled or pregnant customer

Travelling time may be excessive on only one occasion a week due to variations in availability of transport (for example late at night or on a weekend). Excessive travelling time is only required to arise once for approval to live away from home to be granted. This approval would depend on foreseeable or regular circumstances (not concerns about unpredictable situations such as strikes or mechanical transport issues).

Safety issues may arise if a customer must travel alone late at night. This can be a genuine concern but for the away from home rate to be granted for this reason, the customer should show that this situation would be alleviated if they were to live away from home.