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For a course of study to be approved, both the course itself and the provider offering the course must normally be approved.

For a list of approved courses and institutions refer to the National Course Approvals sub-site.

State/Territory Government high schools and special schools, Institutes of Technical and Further Education (TAFEs) and government universities are approved providers for all payment types.

State/Territory primary schools are approved providers for ABSTUDY Schooling A (School Term Allowance and School Fees Allowance) and ABSTUDY Schooling B Award.

Note: if an approved VET course (diploma level and above) or higher education course becomes unapproved (with the exception of complete by and enrol by date issues), customers will continue to receive ABSTUDY or ABSTUDY PES until they finish their course, as long as:

• they were studying an approved course which has subsequently become unapproved under the determination part-way through their course
• they meet other eligibility requirements, and
• there is no break in their payment entitlement

Is the education provider approved?

• Yes, go to Step 4
• No, for:
• ABSTUDY Lawful Custody claims, go to Step 2
• all other claims, see Table 3

Correctional services authorities and providers provide 'in-house' courses or study programs to Aboriginal and Torres Islander people in lawful custody.

Under ABSTUDY, students in lawful custody may be entitled to assistance under the Lawful Custody Award for courses or programs of study that are approved courses at an educational provider or approved by a correctional services authority. This second type of course/study program, that needs to be an Indigenous special course, is not accredited or approved in the normal way. Nor is the correctional services authority or the correctional provider (that provides the course) necessarily a registered training organisation or otherwise an approved educational provider in accordance with the Ministerial Determination.

This type of course can only be approved for ABSTUDY purposes. For the purposes of ABSTUDY, the correctional services authority is an approved education provider.

Is the course approved?

• Yes, the course is one of these types of approved Indigenous special course, see Table 4 > Step 5
• No, see Table 3

Is the course an excluded course for ABSTUDY purposes?

• Yes, go to Step 4
• No, the course is considered a mainstream course and can be approved, see Table 2

Indigenous special courses are courses developed with a course content for Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.

Is the course an Indigenous special course?

• Yes, the course can be approved, see Table 2
• No, go to Step 5

Is the proposed study a course of home tuition or home-based schooling?

• Yes, see Home schooling arrangements for Youth Allowance (YA) and Pensioner Education Supplement (PES) or Home schooling arrangements for ABSTUDY for more information. Go to Step 6
• No, go to Step 6

Is the course a full-time primary or secondary level (or equivalent ungraded level) course which has been approved formally by the relevant State/Territory education authority as being an accredited course or is a satisfactory alternative to a State provided education?

Note: if ABSTUDY or ABSTUDY PES is being claimed, the authority must confirm that the study is full-time and conforms with, and will be credited towards, the primary or secondary qualification accredited by that authority.

• Yes, see Table 4 > Step 1
• No, see Table 4 > Step 3

Is the course offered by a government approved or funded educational provider (that is, a university, other higher education provider, TAFE or school) or an approved private provider?

If the provider is a:

• University, go to Step 2
• TAFE, go to Step 3
• non-government school, go to Step 4
• private provider, go to Step 5
• State/Territory schools, these providers are approved providers and so the courses they offer, including the International Baccalaureate are also approved. See Table 4 > Step 5

Single Bachelor degrees

All single Bachelor degree courses at government supported universities and other recognised higher education providers (that are not excluded course for ABSTUDY purposes) are approved courses.

Combined Bachelor degrees

Combined Bachelor degrees are approved if they appear in the university's handbook. Handbooks can be found online at the university internet sites. See the Resources page for a link to these sites.

Some universities are delivering combined Bachelor degrees, Graduate Certificate or Graduate Diploma courses with Masters degrees. All Masters components of courses combining bachelors and masters degrees (that are not excluded courses for ABSTUDY purposes) are also approved courses for ABSTUDY and ABSTUDY PES.

Masters by course work

For ABSTUDY and ABSTUDY PES, all accredited Masters and Doctoral courses (that are not excluded course for ABSTUDY purposes) are approved courses.

Master or Doctorate Level course

All other masters courses at government supported universities are also normally approved courses for ABSTUDY and ABSTUDY PES.

Masters degree and Doctoral level courses are normally approved for ABSTUDY and ABSTUDY PES if they appear in the university's handbook. Only where the Masters or Doctoral course is an excluded course would it not be approved for ABSTUDY.

Some courses may appear to be doctoral level courses from the title but are approved as masters courses (for example, Juris Doctor).

Handbooks can be found online at the university internet sites. See the Resources page for a link to these sites.

Startup Year Courses

Startup Year Courses that offer STARTUP-HELP loans are approved courses. To be eligible for a student payment the customer must also be:

• enrolled in their Startup Year Course, and
• selected by their education provider for a STARTUP-HELP loan

See Startup Year Courses for further information about these courses.

Combined courses with Startup Year Course in final year

Combined courses with Startup Year Course in final year can be approved for the duration of the bachelor degree component if the bachelor degree is an approved course. A student's entitlement to a STARTUP-HELP loan must be verified for the Startup Year Course to be approved.

If the combined course delivers the Startup Year components as a subject:

• the course is considered to be an approved course, and
• the student does not need to be selected for a STARTUP-HELP loan to qualify for a student payment

See Startup Year Courses for further information about these courses.

If there is any doubt about a course, create a referral to a Course Assessment and Liaison Officer. See Referrals to Course Assessment and Liaison Officers (CALOs). This would also apply where there is doubt about a course that does not operate as a Commonwealth Supported Course (previously HECS). University courses for which full fees are paid should always be checked. Care also needs to be taken with university courses at levels other than at the bachelors degree level.

Is the course approved?

• Yes:
• and a single course, see Table 4 > Step 5
• and combined courses, see Table 4 > Step 4
• No, for either single or combined courses, see Table 3

To be an approved course of study for ABSTUDY and ABSTUDY PES, Vocational Educational Training (VET) courses that are at diploma level or higher must be:

• a course approved for the VET Student Loan (VSL), and
• undertaken with a provider approved to provide VSL courses

For a higher education course to be approved for ABSTUDY and ABSTUDY PES it must be approved to offer the Higher Education Loan Program (HELP).

Note: Indigenous special courses and ABSTUDY Lawful Custody award are excluded from the VSL and HELP requirement.

There are no TAFEs in the Northern Territory. TAFE/VET type courses are instead offered by Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education, Charles Darwin University and private providers. To determine whether these courses are approved, go to Step 5.

All TAFE/VET courses that lead to an award are approved courses in New South Wales, Queensland and Tasmania.

For all other States and Territories, use local procedures to determine course approval - see Course approval procedures table on the Resources page.

Is the course an approved course?

• Yes, see Table 4 > Step 5
• No, see Table 3

Non-government schools can offer a variety of courses. If the course is an accredited secondary course (that is, it has an accredited curriculum as approved by the authority in that State/Territory), or is the International Baccalaureate, the course is approved.

If unsure, use local procedures to determine course approval - see Course approval procedures table on the Resources page.

Is the course an approved course?

• Yes, see Table 4 > Step 5
• No, see Table 3

Private providers offer a wide variety of courses. Many providers will run some courses that are approved for Services Australia purposes and some courses that are not. This means that each course must be checked individually using local procedures - see the Course approval procedures table on the Resources page.

Is the course an approved course?

• Yes, see Table 4
• No, see Table 3

There is often a delay between a course/provider being approved and it appearing on online listings. If there is any doubt staff should create a referral to a Course Assessment and Liaison Officer to confirm the status of the course. See Referrals to Course Assessment and Liaison Officers (CALOs).

Is the course approved or about to be approved?

• Yes, see Table 4 > Step 5
• No, go to Step 2

Has the education provider ever applied for approval for the course?

• Yes, the course is not approved. See Table 4 > Step 3
• No, go to Step 3

As the provider has never applied for approval, no official decision has been made about the course. The customer should be advised to contact the education provider to discuss the situation.

Create a referral to a Course Assessment and Liaison Officer. See Referrals to Course Assessment and Liaison Officers (CALOs).

Can the course be approved?

• Yes, see Table 4 > Step 1
• No, see Table 4 > Step 3

What level of study will the student be undertaking?

• For primary level study, go to Step 2
• For all other study levels, go to Step 5

The customer has met one of the criteria to be paid ABSTUDY Schooling A (School Term Allowance and School Fees Allowance). Assistance under the Schooling B Award may also be available for primary students in certain circumstances.

If the student does not meet the remaining eligibility criteria for ABSTUDY, they may be eligible for Assistance for Isolated Children (AIC) for primary level studies. See Assistance for Isolated Children (AIC) eligibility.

Record details on a DOC of the outcome.

Procedure ends here.

The customer is not undertaking approved study and cannot be paid by Services Australia as a student.

Identify if the customer is eligible for other Services Australia administered payments, such as JobSeeker Payment (JSP).

Reject or cancel the customer's benefit using the Benefit Action (BA) screen with the code 'NAC' - not an approved course. For:

• ABSTUDY, see Rejecting an ABSTUDY claim
• ABSTUDY PES, see ABSTUDY Pensioner Education Supplement (PES) claims

If the customer is already receiving ABSTUDY for another course, send a Q999 letter advising the customer the course is not approved.

Record details on a DOC of the outcome.

Procedure ends here.

ABSTUDY customers can receive different rates of Living Allowance for the Bachelor degree (undergraduate component) and the Masters component. It is, therefore, necessary for coding on the Education Course Details (EDC) screen to display the 2 separate components. This will ensure the higher Masters rate of Living Allowance is paid from the start of the Masters component.

For coding of the EDC screen, see:

• Coding new study details, and
• Coding ABSTUDY education details

The customer has met one of the criteria to be paid a Services Australia student assistance payment. The course approval may apply to:

• Mainstream courses and accredited Indigenous special courses for ABSTUDY as well as all other student assistance payments
• Youth Allowance (YA), Austudy and/or Pensioner Education Supplement (PES) only (where the course is an excluded course for ABSTUDY purposes)
• ABSTUDY only (where the course is an approved Indigenous special course on the basis that it is a program of study provided by a correctional services authority for an Indigenous person in lawful custody)

Record details on a DOC.