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Proof of enrolment (POE) in a course of study 010-07010170

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This document outlines how to assess if a student needs to provide POE and acceptable documentation.

On this page:

When to request POE

Receipt of POE and coding

Payment suspended due to no POE

When to request POE

Table 1: portions of this process are performed by ABSTUDY Smart Centre Processing staff.

Expand table

Step

Action

1

Determining when POE is required

ABSTUDY, ABSTUDY Pensioner Education Supplement (PES), and PES customers require proof of enrolment where they are enrolled in a:

  • tertiary course at a TAFE or a private education provider
  • secondary course at an education provider other than a secondary school. This includes university, TAFE or private education provider
  • Startup Year Course

Assistance for Isolated Children (AIC), Austudy and Youth Allowance (YA) (student) customers are not generally required to provide POE. However, POE can be requested if needed to confirm eligibility for payment. This could be if there is doubt about their enrolment status, as part of a student payment review or when the student is enrolled in a Startup Year Course.

Before completing updates in the customer's record ensure the correct system is selected.

For ABSTUDY, AIC and PES customers, code ISS in the Sys field, and in the Next field either:

  • SVABY (ABSTUDY)
  • SVAIC (AIC)
  • SVPES (PES)

Then press [Enter].

For YA and Austudy, code NSS in the Sys field and press [Enter].

If the:

  • customer has now provided requested POE, see Table 2 > Step 1
  • customer's payment has been suspended for not providing POE, see Table 3 >Step 1
  • customer is:
    • a secondary school student or an AIC student, go to Step 2
    • any other student, (including secondary non-school students), go to Step 3

2

Student is in secondary school or an AIC student

POE is not required for secondary school students at an approved secondary provider or AIC students.

Note: some ABSTUDY secondary school students attending boarding schools/hostels are subject to a process called Payment on Advice. This is not the same as POE. It is a separate process used only to confirm a boarding student's commencement date. For further information, see First day of attendance for ABSTUDY secondary boarders.

3

Studying a tertiary course

Is the student studying a tertiary course at university or a higher education provider?

  • Yes, and the student is:
    • studying at Open Universities Australia (OUA), go to Step 5
    • studying a Startup Year Course, see Startup Year Courses. Procedure ends here
    • receiving YA or Austudy, studying a full-time course at any university (other than OUA), POE is not required unless there is doubt about the student's enrolment. If POE is to be requested, go to Step 8, otherwise procedure ends here
    • receiving YA or Austudy, studying a part-time course at a full-time study load, go to Step 7
    • receiving ABSTUDY, ABSTUDY PES or PES, studying at any university other than OUA, POE is not required. Code the Enrolment Verification field on the EDC screen with VER (Enrolment Verified) see Coding ABSTUDY education details. Record details on a Note/DOC. Procedure ends here.
    • studying at TAFE or a private education provider, go to Step 4
  • No, for:
    • ABSTUDY, ABSTUDY PES or PES students studying secondary non schooling level course, including preparatory courses offered by a higher education provider, go to Step 6
    • all other payments and courses, go to Step 4

4

Student in a course at TAFE or a private education provider

Is the student, in receipt of, or claiming:

  • ABSTUDY, ABSTUDY PES or PES, go to Step 6
  • another payment, POE is not required unless there is doubt about the student's enrolment. If POE is to be requested, go to Step 8, otherwise procedure ends here

5

Student is undertaking a course through OUA

Where a student is undertaking study at OUA, they must nominate a single course of study. The course details are required to determine:

  • if the student is making satisfactory progress in the course
  • if the student's full-time study requirements are being met
  • allowable time

For information and coding for students studying at OUA, see Eligibility for student payments when enrolled in Open Universities Australia.

Procedure ends here.

6

ABSTUDY, ABSTUDY PES or PES students

If the student is in receipt of, or claiming ABSTUDY, ABSTUDY PES or PES, POE is required.

  • Tell the student that payment can be approved however, they must provide POE within 14 days of the course start date. Where a new claim is not finalised until after the course start date, the customer has 14 days from the date the new claim is finalised
  • Code the Enrolment Verification field on the EDC screen with VRR (Verification Required). This will cause the record to automatically suspend if POE has not been coded after 28 days from either:
    • the study start date, or
    • the date the new claim was finalised
  • Once the EDC screen has been coded correctly, no manual intervention is required. The system will automatically suspend the payment
  • Record details on a Note/DOC

Procedure ends here.

7

YA or Austudy student studying part-time in an accelerated course

Students enrolled in tertiary courses delivered as part-time, with:

  • flexible study options (accelerated or otherwise) - as noted on the website or handbook, and who are deemed full-time, meet the student determination. No further evidence is required
  • no flexible study options available on website or handbook, must provide evidence from the provider to confirm the provider considers the student to be meeting the requirements to be deemed full-time

If the provider confirms the student is:

  • full-time, the course meets the determination
  • not full-time, regardless of study load/hours etc., the course does not meet the determination and the student is not eligible

If POE is:

8

Request POE

Where it has been determined that POE is required, see Requesting information (CLK).

Procedure ends here until:

  • POE is received, or
  • Request for Information (RFI) falls due

Receipt of POE and coding

Table 2

Expand table

Step

Action

1

Lodgement of POE

POE can be:

Either the original or a copy of the POE, including online versions, are acceptable.

Depending on why a POE was requested a screenshot may be accepted. It must clearly show the customer's enrolment details, including the:

  • institution name
  • student's full name
  • course details

A date may also be required to confirm enrolment at a point in time. For example, TAP reviews.

Where the customer has provided original documents, ensure these are scanned and the originals returned to the customer by Registered Post (if received by mail).

When POE is received for:

2

POE received for PES, ABSTUDY or ABSTUDY PES

In some cases, the POE will indicate that study details have changed, or the student is no longer undertaking qualifying study. For example, studying part-time or in an unapproved course. To determine if the customer remains entitled to payment and coding requirements, see:

Update the record. If the POE was requested for a claim or Change of Circumstance (CoC), make the updates within that activity:

  • Correct the existing entry on the Customer Study Details (EDC) screen in Process Direct or the Education Course Details (EDC) screen in Customer First - change the code Enrolment Verification field from VRR (Verification Required) to VER (Verification Provided)
  • Correct any other education details as required, see:
  • Procedure ends here

3

POE received for Austudy or YA

In some cases, the POE will indicate that study details have changed, or the student is no longer undertaking qualifying study, for example, studying part-time or in an unapproved course. To determine if the customer remains entitled to payment and coding requirements, see:

Update the record. If the POE was requested for a claim or Change of Circumstance (CoC), make the updates within that activity Note: the Enrolment Verification field on the EDC screen does not need to be updated for Austudy or YA.

Record details on a Note/DOC.

Procedure ends here.


Payment suspended due to no POE

Table 3

Expand table

Step

Action

1

Customer's payment suspended

If the customer:

2

Check customer's study status

If the customer:

3

Payment suspended, customer still studying and POE has been supplied

Customers may contact due to payment suspension because POE was not provided within the required time frame. In some cases, the POE may have been lodged and be viewable via Documents in Process Direct, or Document Tools in Customer First, and has not yet been actioned.

Note: for ABSTUDY see Restoration of ABSTUDY payments

In these cases, check the Document List (DL) screen for a record of a reason payment has not yet been restored following receipt of the POE. For example, POE is unreadable or does not contain all required information. If there is:

Procedure ends here.

4

Payment is suspended and POE not supplied

If the customer:

Procedure ends here.

5

Payment is suspended, customer still studying but POE has not been supplied

Customers may contact due to payment suspension because POE was not provided within the required time frame. If POE is not on Documents in Process Direct or Document Tools in Customer First:

  • Check the Document List (DL) screen for information about POE being provided. If there is none, advise the customer they must provide POE in order for payment to be restored
  • Check the Education Providers ORG CRN to see if the POE has been lodged on the provider record
  • Remind the customer they must do this within 13 weeks for their payment to be restored, see Restoration of payments (CLK)

Record details on a Note/DOC.

Procedure ends here.

6

Customer has supplied acceptable POE to confirm commencement and enrolment in the course, prior to the date they ceased

If the suspension date is before the date the customer last studied, restore payment and update study details in the same activity.

For restoration coding, see Restoration of payments (CLK). In the restoration activity, update study details, following:

Procedure ends here.