Assessing a tertiary student studying overseas for Youth Allowance (YA) at the away from home rate 010-06040130

External students (also known as correspondence students) do not need to attend classes on a regular basis. As such, they do not have to live in a particular location. This would mean they could live overseas if they choose, while continuing to study at an Australian institution.

If they do make that choice, they would generally not be eligible for payments while overseas. The away from home rate would not be payable either.

A customer must have enrolled in, and be undertaking an approved course to receive YA as a student. Courses at overseas institutions are not approved courses for student payments administered by Services Australia.

If they remain enrolled at an Australian institution and the overseas study counts towards an approved course at the Australian institution, the study may be acceptable.

Example 1: Jack is studying a Bachelor of International Business at Edith Cowan University. This is a 3 year course approved for YA. After the first year of the course, Jack accepts an offer to undertake a year of study at the University of Saitama in Japan. Jack will remain enrolled as a full-time student at the Australian university. Edith Cowan University will count that year as being the second year of study in the bachelor course.

Jack continues to be eligible for YA for staying enrolled in an approved course and effectively undertaking it. As the study is overseas, Jack would also receive payment of the away from home rate.

Example 2: Shay-Lee has just completed a Bachelor of Laws degree at the Australian National University (ANU). To complement work at ANU, the University of Oxford in England invites Shay-Lee to do a Post Graduate Diploma in International Law.

This course is not part of the studies at ANU. Oxford University is not an approved institution for student payments administered by Services Australia. As such, there is no approval of the study there for YA.

A customer who is studying overseas must still satisfy the undertaking full time study requirement for students. They must be enrolled in, and undertaking an approved course (see above), as well as:

• making satisfactory progress for payment of YA, and
• undertaking a full-time study load (unless eligible for a study load concession)

Take special care when assessing workload. The study load requirements are the same but only subjects which the Australian institution is willing to count towards the student's qualification can be counted towards the study load requirement.

Example: Charles is studying information technology (IT) at the University of Queensland (UQ). Charles is granted permission to finish the course at the Sorbonne in Paris. While there, Charles undertakes the equivalent of a full-time study load. Charles studies French history, music and fine arts subjects as well as the IT requirements. UQ will only give credit for the IT subjects, as the others do not relate to the course.

Regardless of the amount of study, Charles is not undertaking a full-time study load in the approved IT course and is not a full-time student. YA is not payable.

To receive a payment of RA when studying overseas, students must be:

• approved to live away from home
• actually living away from home, and
• paying rent in Australia

Note: RA is not payable for accommodation outside of Australia, or to a student approved to live away from home just for studying overseas.

However, some YA customers, meet more than one reason for being paid the away from home rate. Payment of RA to maintain a place of residence upon return to Australia may occur if the student:

• was previously eligible for the away from home rate under another criteria
• still meets the requirements of that criteria, and
• is maintaining accommodation in Australia (other than the parental home)

Example: Stephen’s family lives in Alice Springs. Stephen studies at the University of Adelaide and rents a small flat at Glenelg on a long term lease. Based on travelling time, Stephen has had the away from home rate of YA granted. As part of the course, Stephen will be undertaking a year of study in China. While away, Stephen will keep paying rent for the flat (to move back into when returning from China). Stephen will also have to pay for the accommodation in China. Stephen can still receive payment of RA for the flat in Glenelg but not for the residence in China.

Payment of RA will stop if:

• Stephen stopped renting the flat (as no longer maintaining accommodation), or
• Stephen's parents moved to Adelaide (Stephen would cease to have an additional reason for the away from home rate)

Payment of the away from home rate of YA continues as long as the student meets the following conditions. They:

• need to live away from home for study purposes, and
• are actually living away from home

A student studying overseas only needs to live overseas for the period of the overseas course duration.

The away from home rate of YA would:

• commence from the start date of the approved portability period, and
• finish with the end of the approved portability period (assuming the student is overseas for the whole period)

A student choosing to stay overseas longer would not be payable and YA would suspend.

Example: Kasie will be studying in New Zealand (NZ) for a year as part of a course. The academic year starts on 20 February and ends on 1 December. Kasie travelled to NZ on 17 February and returned home for 2 weeks for the mid-year holidays. At the end of the year, Kasie stayed for sightseeing before returning home on 13 December.

• The away from home rate would commence on 17 February, the day Kasie went overseas and the start date of the approved portability period
• Payment would revert to the at home rate for the 2 weeks mid-year when Kasie returned to Australia
• The away from home rate would last be payable on 1 December, the final day of the academic year and the last day Kasie needed to live away from home

A lot of students will not know the exact date the overseas study will end. In these cases enter an approximate end date to ensure the away from home rate does not continue past the period of eligibility. Use a slightly earlier date than any possible end date.

Note: most courses would finish at the end of a week, however an allowance may apply for cultural issues about when the week ends. After taking into account any cultural issues, use the estimated end date showing the course finishing at the end of a week.

Students will often have a vague idea of the end date of their study. The date used (pending notifying of the correct date) would depend on how exact their information is. Allow for a margin of error to avoid overpayments. For example:

• "The course finishes in July, I think" - choose the last Friday in June
• "Probably mid-November" - choose the first Friday in November
• "The end of September, I believe" - choose a Friday in the middle of September

The student must confirm the dates later and the correct date can then be entered.

Most overseas institutions will have official academic calendars or handbooks published on their websites for Service Officers to refer to.