Determining unapproved absence participation failures for Youth Allowance (YA) secondary students 010-07020030

There are generally 4 terms in one year. There are different term dates for each state. See the National Course Approvals sub-site for specific terms dates.

Enrolment and attendance checks are conducted at least twice a year. If a student has more than 5 days of unapproved absences in a term, they must sign a Student Activity Agreement. If a student has a further 5 days of unapproved absences during the period covered by the terms of the agreement, a participation failure may be generated for investigation by the Participation Solutions Team (PST).

Negotiating an Activity Agreement for students is a manual process. Job seekers negotiate Job Plans and Job Plans must not be used for students. See Activity Agreements for Youth Allowance (YA) students for information about these agreements.

An appointment or referral will be made for the student to attend the service centre to discuss the issues of their absences. If there are no special circumstances, the terms of the agreement and whether or not to generate a potential participation failure for investigation and action by the PST will be negotiated at this interview.

When making an unfavourable decision, speak to the customer:

• explain the decision
• give them a chance to provide more information, and
• advise their review and appeal rights

Make 2 genuine attempts to contact the customer before finalising the decision.