Negotiating an Activity Agreement for Youth Allowance (YA) students returning to study after discontinuing a previous course 010-06090030

Has the student completed an online claim, and an Activity Agreement is available to view in the claim summary in Process Direct?

• Yes, go to Step 1 in Table 3
• No, go to Step 2

Is the student commencing a new tertiary course:

• at the same level as a course they have previously studied but not completed, or
• that is the same type of course (for example, Bachelor of Arts) at a different education provider?

Note: if a student is changing course (for example, transferring from a Bachelor of Arts, which they have not completed, to a Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Science double degree), they would be considered to be commencing a new tertiary course at the same level. This applies whether or not the education provider has applied a recognition of prior learning (RPL) assessment or provided credit for previous study to the new course.

An allowable time assessment is not needed once the negotiation of an Activity Agreement has started and/or is in place.

• Yes, go to Step 3
• No, this procedure does not apply. If a student returns to the same course at the same institution, this procedure does not apply. See Determining allowable time/reasonable time for a course of study

Is the course duration 12 months or less?

• Yes, students can complete any number of courses at the same level if they are 12 months or less in duration. An Activity Agreement is not needed. Procedure ends here
• No:
• If the student withdrew from their earlier course, go to Step 4
• If the student failed their previous course, go to Step 5

Note: failure in a course can be where a student is precluded by the education provider from completing the course, for any reason.

Did the student withdraw from their previous course at the same level for reasons beyond their control?

• Yes, see Disregarding previous study for Youth Allowance (YA). Procedure ends here
• No, see Step 1 in Table 2

Students who fail their first course and enrol in a second course do not have to enter into an Activity Agreement. These students are considered to be making satisfactory progress if they complete the second course in the minimum time.

Where a student fails to successfully complete the second course, they will only be considered to be making satisfactory progress if the reason for failing the second course was for reasons 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 students would be required to test their eligibility as a job seeker and determine if their study can form part of their mutual obligation requirements.

If a customer indicates in the online claim, or ACC, that they have previously attempted, but not completed one course at the same tertiary level as their current course, additional questions will be asked to capture:

• if the customer withdrew from or failed the course, and
• whether the withdrawal or failure was due to exceptional circumstances

These questions are to determine whether a customer must enter into a YA Activity Agreement. If so, the online claim or ACC will display a personalised agreement with a declaration and allow the customer to agree or disagree.

If the customer indicates they have withdrawn from 2 or more courses at the same level, the claim is unable to identify if the student is returning to a course they have previously studied. For this reason, processing staff will need to manually determine if an Activity Agreement is required.

Where an Activity Agreement is needed:

• make a genuine attempt to contact the customer
• send a pre-call SMS desktop message to subscribed customer prior to attempt

Was the student able to be contacted or have they attended the Service Centre?

• Yes, go to Step 2
• No, go to Step 3

Advise the student the reason they must negotiate an Activity Agreement is because:

• they have previously discontinued study without sufficient reason (this includes personal choice or preference), and
• they are at risk of not completing their current study and not satisfying the full-time study requirements for Youth Allowance (YA) students

Explain the requirements to enter into an Activity Agreement and their rights and obligations:

• The student can:
• request a variation or renegotiation of an Activity Agreement at any time
• apply for a formal review of any decision in relation to the Activity Agreement. See Initial contact about a decision and the review of decision process
• The student must:
• let Services Australia know of changes in their circumstance, and
• follow the terms of the Activity Agreement

Negotiate the terms of the Activity Agreement, considering the person's capacity to follow the agreement and their needs. See References.

Go to Step 3.

Open an SY103 form available from the Resources page. Update the form with the student's name, study details and dates as follows:

• Start date: the date the student commenced study in their current course
• End date: the estimated current course end date if completed within the minimum time

Print the form.

Do not hold claims awaiting the return of a YA Activity Agreement.

If contact with the student was successful:

• sign the SY103 and issue to the student
• make a request for information, see Requesting information (CLK)
• select Activity Agreement to be supplied within 21 days (14 days + 7 days for standard postal delivery)
• DOC the record and include the details of the Activity Agreement

If contact with the student was unsuccessful, issue the Student Activity Agreement (SY013) with a written request for information. See Requesting information (CLK). When completing the letter, select the relevant options:

• change the Print Status to Print Locally
• select SY103 - Youth Allowance tertiary student Activity Agreement from the document list
• a DOC will be created on the customer's record, include the details of the Activity Agreement

SY103 - Youth Allowance tertiary student Activity Agreement may not appear as an option if the request is being made within some transaction types. If this occurs, use the Request for Information (RFI) outside of the transaction.

YA tertiary students will be subject to a YA Activity Agreement (within the online claim) if they advise in their online claim:

• they have only attempted one previous incomplete tertiary course, and
• they have not withdrawn or failed due to exceptional circumstances

The YA Activity Agreement will display a personalised agreement with a declaration and allow the customer to agree/disagree. All information is available within the Claim Overview in Process Direct.

Is there a YA Activity Agreement within the online claim?

• Yes, go to Step 2
• No, go to Step 3

Has the student accepted the digital Activity Agreement within the online claim?

• Yes, procedure ends here
• No, go to Step 5

Has the student signed and returned the Activity Agreement within 22 days?

• Yes, see Step 1 in Table 4
• No, go to Step 4

If the student indicates concerns or expresses the need to consider the terms of the Activity Agreement further, discuss the issues with the student. If they still maintain they wish to consider it further (for example, consult a third party before signing), offer the student 'think time'.

Does the student want think time?

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

Contact the student to discuss the reason for the Activity Agreement and the requirement for them to be making satisfactory progress in their course.

Will the student now accept the terms of the agreement?

• Yes:
• send a completed SY013 (available from the Resources page), and
• place the claim on hold for 14 days, and
• advise the student to upload the document if they have access to online services
• Procedure ends here
• No, go to Step 7

If the student has not agreed to the Activity Agreement within 22 days and has requested ‘think time’, a review is needed.

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

• Service Reason: YAL
• Review Reason: FOR (Return of Form/Correspondence)
• Due Date: 22 working days from today's date
• Source: INT
• Date of Receipt: today's date
• Notes: 'Customer asked 'Think Time' to consider content of Activity Agreement. Return to OB 010-06090030 to action.'
• Keywords: ACTYAL
• Workgroup: leave blank
• Position: leave blank
• Transfer to Region: leave blank

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

Note: payments will continue until the review date.

If the student is returning the Activity Agreement after ‘think time’, or has contacted again to advise they will not accept the terms, go to Step 7.

Is the student now willing to sign the Activity Agreement?

• Yes, see Step 1 in Table 4
• No:
• advise the student:
  - although they are not willing to sign the activity agreement, they must still be making satisfactory progress in their course
  - to do this they must complete their course in the minimum time
• record the discussion on a DOC
• procedure ends here

Access the screen via Customer First menu under Study > Student Activity Agreement.

• If recording a new Activity Agreement, go to Step 2
• If updating an existing Activity Agreement already on the student's record, go to Step 3

To record details for a new Agreement:

• complete the blank fields under heading Activity Agreement Details
• select the Agreement Reason of Other
• complete fields for Signed Date, Start Date and End Date as needed
  Note: the period of the new agreement cannot overlap the existing agreement. Due to system limitations within the Student Activity Agreement workflow, the following dates should be coded as a workaround (where applicable):
• the start date no earlier than the date the agreement is signed
• the end date no later than 2 years from the start date
• complete the Notes field with reasons for Student Activity Agreement. (Information in this field will be transferred to DOC)
• complete the Source and Receipt Date fields
• select the Add button
• finalise the activity via the Assessment Results (AR) screen

Procedure ends here.

To update the record for the existing agreement:

• on Manage Activity Agreements for Students screen (accessed via Student Activity Agreement workflow), select the required agreement from list under Existing Activity Agreement Summary
• information for selected agreement will auto-populate and display under heading Activity Agreement Details
• edit the required fields and update the notes by adding free text to the Annotations field. (Information will be transferred to existing DOC)
• enter the Source and Receipt Date
• select the Update button
• to delete the existing agreement, select the Delete button
• finalise the activity via the Assessment Results (AR) screen

Note: use the Clear button when adding details for a new record or updating an existing student Activity Agreement. When this button is selected, it will clear all fields displayed under Activity Agreement Details.