Assessing satisfactory progress for Youth Allowance (YA) tertiary students 010-06070070

Satisfactory progress is measured against the student’s current course of study. This can be impacted by previous study at the same study level.

In some cases, the student may be required to enter into a Youth Allowance Activity Agreement.

Has the student undertaken previous study in their current course or in another course of study at the same level?

• Yes, go to Step 2
• No, satisfactory progress assessment is not required. Record details on a DOC. Procedure ends here

Has the customer successfully completed a course at the same level as their current course?

• Yes, disregard a completed course at the same level. Only assess study in the current course. Go to Step 3
• No, go to Step 3

Incomplete study in a previous course at the same level may be disregarded in some circumstances.

Disregard previous study in the course if the customer has previously failed or withdrawn from a stand-alone Startup Year Course. The customer is only eligible for payment for a Startup Year Course if they are entitled to a STARTUP-HELP loan. Go to Step 4.

If the student withdrew due to special circumstances beyond their control, the study in the previous course can be disregarded. Evidence of the special circumstances is required. If there were no special circumstances, the customer must enter into a Youth Allowance Activity Agreement (YAAA) with an obligation to complete the second course within the allowable time for that course. If the customer enters into a YAAA, study in the first course is disregarded. Go to Step 4.

If the student failed due to special circumstances beyond their control, the study in the previous course can be disregarded. Evidence of the special circumstances is required.

If there were no special circumstances, a student can enter into a Youth Allowance Activity Agreement (YAAA), if:

• they have failed their first course
• want to be paid YA while undertaking a second course at the same level, and
• the second course is not the same course enrolled in and failed. The course can be the same degree at a different institution. This is because courses at specific institutions must be treated separately and not as the same course of study

If the customer enters into a YAAA, study in the first course is disregarded. Go to Step 4.

The customer must enter into an Activity Agreement with an obligation to complete the course within the allowable time if they:

• have withdrawn from a previous course, and
• want to undertake a third or subsequent course at the same level.

If the customer enters into a YAAA, study in both previous courses is disregarded. Go to Step 4.

A customer can be granted payment to undertake a third course at the same level if:

• They have failed the second course, and
• The failure was because of special circumstances beyond their control.

If the student is undertaking a third or subsequent course and has not been affected by reasons beyond their control, they are not deemed to be making satisfactory progress. These customers are required to test their eligibility as a job seeker and determine if their study can form part of their mutual obligation requirements. Procedure ends here.

Contact a Local Peer Support staff member for assistance with complex allowable time and satisfactory progress assessments.

Do not use the TCSIACT screen to determine current or prior payment qualification, including when assessing allowable time, satisfactory progress or appeals. Only use the TCSIACT screen to support customer enquiries relating to Student Payment Reviews.

Consider all of the following before assessing previous study undertaken at the same level, then go to Step 5.

Students are asked to provide previous study details in the online claim. These details can be used to determine the remaining time allowed to complete the course. View the study details in the Claim Overview.

Where the customer has not reached their allowable time, but indicates they will continue to study beyond their allowable time end date:

• grant the payment. Code an Allowable Time End Date in Process Direct on the Customer Study Details (EDC) screen
• where appropriate, request a transcript after finalising the claim

If considering requesting a transcript, attempt to call the customer to gather enough information verbally to make a reasonable assessment of allowable time.

Consider requesting academic transcripts where:

• customer cannot explain their previous study
• previous study assessment is complex, or
• customer studied part-time in their current course and an assessment is required of the remaining allowable time for their current course. This is only required if the customer will not complete the course in the normal allowable time

For assessing the amount of time spent studying at the same tertiary level as the current course:

• Students are considered to have undertaken 100% of the study load for a semester or year if they studied at least 75% (or 66% if concession was granted) of the normal amount of full-time study
• Part-time study is calculated on the basis of the percentage of a year's full-time study
• Where study load aggregation has been applied to satisfy full-time study requirements, all study periods included in the aggregation assessment are counted as full-time
• Include any non-compulsory study periods
• Completed courses are counted as the lesser of:
• the normal length of the course (minimum time), or
• the time it took to complete the course
• Do not include Startup Year Courses in allowable time assessments where the course is a stand-alone course. For more information, see Startup Year Courses

To calculate previous study at the same level:

• Divide the previous study into its academic periods. For example, semesters, years
• Determine whether any of this study can be disregarded
• Assess each period to determine what percentage of a full year's study it represents
• Add together each individual period of study to get the total amount of study undertaken by using the study periods' percentages

See the Resources page for the Scenarios - Tertiary student YA satisfactory progress Table.

Determine the allowable time to complete the current course.

Compare the amount of previous study (see Step 4) with the allowable time to complete the current course.

Is the customer’s total previous study at the same level greater than or equal to the allowable time?

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

The student is not considered to be making satisfactory progress. They cannot be paid YA as a full-time student for any further study at this level.

New claims

Reject new claims Allowable Time Reached (ATR) if the customer reaches the allowable time before any of the following dates:

• date of claim
• student start date, or
• course start date

See Table 2.

Currently receiving YA

For current customers who are not making satisfactory progress:

• determine the Allowable Time End Date
• code the Allowable Time End Date on Education Details History (EDC). The system will:
• suspend the payment SUS/ATR from the Allowable Time End Date + 1
• automatically cancel YA after 13 weeks if the payment has not been restored
• identify if the customer is eligible for any other income support payment

If the customer wants to test their eligibility for JobSeeker Payment (JSP) and Youth Allowance (YA) is still suspended for Allowable Time Reached SUS/ATR status, code the NES screen:

• Event Date: date the payment was suspended (ATR + 1)
• Student Status: Not a student (NST)
• Educ Level Attained: update with the highest qualification attained
• Year12/Equiv Verified: code Not verified (NVE), or leave the current verification status if previously coded

In Process Direct or Customer First on the Education Details History (EDC/EDCH) screen, update:

• Student End Date: to match the Allowable Time End Date
• within the same activity, cancel the payment via the Benefit Action (BA) screen
• Date of event: matches the date used to suspend YAL
• Reason code: ATR. See Cancellation of Austudy or Youth Allowance (YA) students and Australian Apprentices

Where JSP is granted and the customer is still undertaking study, the study may be included as a mutual obligation requirement. This is at the discretion of the Employment Services Provider, tell the customer to contact them to discuss further.

Go to Step 8.

The customer is making satisfactory progress as the total previous study is less than the allowable time.

Code the Allowable Time End Date in Process Direct on the Customer Study Details (EDC) screen or in Customer First on the Education Course Details (EDC).

If payment has been suspended Allowable Time Reached (ATR) and the satisfactory progress assessment shows that the customer remains entitled, restore the payment.

When updates to the customer’s record are complete, advise the customer of when the allowable time to complete their current course ends/ended.

Note: if the activity has been selected for QMA, do not issue the Q888. Quality Management Officers (QMO) completing the update as part of a QMA check must issue the Q888 once the activity is finalised.

Send a Youth Allowance Student Satisfactory Progress Advice Q888 letter to the customer and, if applicable, to their correspondence nominee.

Use Fast Note - select Auto Text, use Students, ABSTUDY & Apprentices > Update > Allowable Time Assessment.

Select the Display on Access (DOA) DOC button, if not preselected. This automatically populates the DOA reason field with the correct reason of SCC, which does not require an expiration date to be coded. See Creating, reviewing and deleting documents (including Fast Notes and DOA DOCs).

Include in the DOC:

• the name, academic level and allowable time of the current course
• a summary of previous study, semester by semester (including all other levels of study if this is available - while not be counted in this assessment it may be useful if the customer applies for another course under another payment)
• details of any study that has been disregarded and the reasons for disregarding the study
• the total amount of previous study, and
• the period of payability that still remains

Procedure ends here.

YA cannot be paid for any further study at the same level when the student has reached the end of the allowable time to complete the course.

Reject the claim Allowable Time Reached (ATR).

Code the Allowable Time End Date on the Education Details History (EDC) screen for a student that is:

• starting a new course as the day before the Course Start Date
• continuing study as the last day of the study period in which the customer met allowable time

Does the error 'allowable time cannot be before the Institution course start date' display?

• Yes, go to Step 2
• No, go to Step 4

Check if the customer:

• has met allowable time at the date of claim, and
• is a continuing student, and
• is commencing a new course, and
• has lodged their claim prior to the course start date

Do all of the above apply to the customer?

• Yes, go to Step 3
• No, on the EDC screen key:
• Course Start Date: one day before actual course start date
• Student Start Date: course start date
• Allowable Time End Date: one day before actual course start date
• Go to Step 4

On the EDC screen key:

• Course Start Date: one day before the Participation Status End Date (PSED)
• Student Start Date: the actual course start date
• Allowable Time End Date: one day before the PSED
• Select Next

Once all details have been updated the system will automatically reject the claim. Return to SWE, the Message Log displays any errors. All errors must be fixed before assessing the claim. For help, see Using Digital Assistant Roxy in Process Direct.

• Select: Assess, check the outcome is correct on the ELD screen
• Select: Finish
• Record details in the finalisation DOC
• Select: Finalise

If the claim has not created a DOC where the claim is both granted and cancelled in the same activity, create a DOC. See Online Document Recording (ODR).

Record the decision on a Display On Access (DOA) DOC. See Table 4 in Creating, reviewing and deleting documents (including Fast Notes and DOA DOCs).

Use Fast Note - select Auto Text, use Students, ABSTUDY & Apprentices > Update > Allowable Time Assessment.

Select the Display on Access (DOA) DOC button, if not preselected. This automatically populates the DOA reason field with the correct reason of SCC, which does not require an expiration date to be coded. See Creating, reviewing and deleting documents (including Fast Notes and DOA DOCs).

Include in the DOC:

• the name, academic level and allowable time of the student's current course
• a summary of the student's previous study, semester by semester. Include all other levels of study if available. This information can be used if the customer applies for another course under another payment and is not counted in the assessment
• details and reasons of any study that has been disregarded
• the total amount of previous study

Procedure ends here.