Completing Tertiary Access Payment (TAP) online reviews 010-21032517

If a:

• customer contacts about TAP/CAN, go to Step 2
• customer contacts about a TAP review, go to Step 3
• TAP review - customer completed, is allocated via Workload Management, see Step 1 in Table 2
• TAP review – TAP Study Update MFU is allocated, go to Step 1 in Table 3

If a customer contacts about their TAP cancellation:

• Non TAP trained staff, see customer enquiry, Table 1 in Tertiary Access Payment (TAP)
• TAP trained staff, see Step 15 in Table 2

Customers are required to submit their TAP review online.

Customers can access the TAP review via:

• Online services > Tasks > Academic reassessment task for TAP online review
• Express Plus App > view outstanding Task

If the customer is experiencing issues with completing the review online:

• check Network News Update (NNU) for any TAP or self-service messages. See the Resources page for a link
• check Troubleshooting Centrelink self service
• consider if the online transaction is appropriate or not to be self-managed by the customer in that instance

If the customer:

• is able to complete the review, go to Step 4
• is unable to complete the review online, go to Step 5

Where a customer contacts after completing a TAP online review. Check the review:

• Open Process Direct
• CRN field: key in the customer's CRN
• Check the status of the TAP – Online review
• Where the status is draft, tell the student the review is incomplete. They need to complete the review online. Do not select the review
• Where the review status is In Process, On Hold or For Manual Action, select the review and check the Tasks icon. If there is:
• outstanding tasks, tell the customer the tasks they need to complete the review
• no outstanding tasks, tell the customer the review is being processed. They will be told of the outcome when it is completed
• Tell the customer they may be contacted if more details are needed

If unable to resolve a customer's TAP review enquiry, see Customer requires call back table in Tertiary Access Payment (TAP).

Procedure ends here.

If the customer is unable to submit the review online Service Officers can complete the review verbally:

• In Process Direct:
• Select Customer Summary
• CRN: field, key in the customer's CRN
• Select Go
• Select the relevant customer from the search results
• Select the Transactions icon and All Transactions
• Select the transaction ID hyperlink for the TAP – Online review
• Go to the Status icon and change the status of the review to For Manual Action

Service Officers must not apply this status update to any other type of activity.

Once the TAP review is started, ask the customer if:

• they are undertaking the same course that was originally claimed for
• they are studying full-time
• they are not undertaking full-time studies due to:
• a medical condition
• an approved concessional study load, or
• a temporary medical incapacity
• they have relocated from the family home (if they are subject to Parental Income Test)
• their term or home address has changed since they claimed the TAP

Record the answers to the above questions in Notes.

If the customer indicates:

• a temporary incapacity, they will need to provide a Centrelink Medical Certificate (SU415 or SU683)
• a decrease in study load due to the education provider requirements, they will need to provide a letter from the education provider to support approval of concessional study load

In all TAP reviews the customer must give proof of enrolment (POE), Acceptable POE documents must identify:

• customer's name
• education provider
• units the customer is enrolled in or confirmation of full time enrolment
• the Study Period, and
• the document is dated on or after the relevant assessment date

For:

• non TAP trained staff
• Send a Fast Note to a TAP skilled staff member
  Category 1: Students, ABSTUDY & Apprentices > Category 2: Enquiry > Template: TAP Review Enquiry
• procedure ends here
• TAP trained staff, go to Step 4 in Table 2

Note: only ABSTUDY skilled Service Officers complete TAP reviews for ABSTUDY customers.

Is the customer ABSTUDY current, recently cancelled or is there an ABSTUDY claim pending outcome?

• Yes, and Service Officer is:
• YA/TAP skilled, go to Step 2
• ABY/TAP skilled, go to Step 3
• No, go to Step 3

Where a TAP review for an ABSTUDY customer is allocated to a Service Officer who is not ABSTUDY skilled:

• select Keyword
• select Add
• in search: field, enter ABYEEED - ABSTUDY potential backdating
• select the ABYEEED keyword from the search results list
• select Status
• select Edit
• select Status: On Hold
• in On Hold Reason: select Refer to CALO
• in On Hold Expiry Date: enter today's date +1
• select Save

Workload Manager will allocate the review with the keyword ABYEED to dual ABSTUDY and TAP skilled Service Officer for assessment.

Procedure ends here.

If the customer:

• has completed the review and
• provided all the requested documents, go to Step 6
• not provided the requested documents, go to Step 4
• documents were not requested as part of the review, go to Step 7
• has failed to respond to a Request For Information (RFI), go to Step 4

If the customer has not provided requested documents, and the review was submitted:

• less than 28 days after the relevant assessment date on the TAP Circumstance Details (TPCD) screen, place the activity on Hold via the Status icon:
• On Hold Reason: field, Customer to Provide Information
• On Hold Expiry Date: field, 29 days from the relevant Assessment date
• 28 days or more past the relevant Assessment date on the TPCD screen, code the relevant Course verification field on the TPCD screen as 'N'o and go to Step 17

If the customer has not provided current and complete proof of enrolment (POE) documents that show:

• customer's name
• education provider
• units the customer is enrolled in or confirmation of full time enrolment
• the Study Period, and
• the document is not dated on or after the relevant assessment date, go to Step 5

Note: current parental income at the time of the first TAP assessment date is used to determine whether the student is eligible. If the Taxation Notice of Assessment (NOA) for the base tax year cannot be provided, other forms of evidence can be used as verification of parental income.

If the customer has provided incomplete/insufficient documents, attempt to make one genuine contact to the customer to verbally request the required documents.

Was contact successful?

• Yes, hold the activity for 7 days under customer to provide information
• No, code the relevant Course verification field on TPCD screen as 'No'. Go to Step 17

Complete the pre-assessment checks. Use the icons on the Circumstance Data screen including:

• the TAP Review Overview, to view a summary of information provided by the customer
• Documents for any scanned documents provided by the customer
• Tasks to view Required Tasks and supporting documents
• Document List (DL) screen
• Notes to view comments made by a previous Service Officer
• Activity List (AL) to view outstanding activities
• For the first assessment date, check the Address (ADH) screen using Super Key to determine if the customer has relocated to be closer to their place of study

To determine if the customer has relocated to be closer to their place of study, check the:

• Address (ADH) screen for a change in:
• term address
• temporary address, or
• home address that differs from the family home address
• documents icon for a new address
• transactions icon for a Change of Circumstances (CoC) address activity
• notes icon for a document change of address

Update the customer address if it has changed.

Does the customer have a current term, temporary or a new home address that differs from the family home address recorded on the RLD screen?

• Yes:
• go to the TPCD screen
• check the Relocation Indicator and Excess Travelling Time fields are coded as 'Y'es
• go to Step 8
• No, and the customer's term address has not been identified:
• make one genuine attempt to contact the customer to verbally request the term address
• if the contact number recorded on the record is a mobile number, send a pre-call notification (SMS only) using Desktop Electronic Messaging Capability (DEMC)
• after sending the SMS, wait 5 minutes before making the outbound call attempt

Are more documents needed to make an assessment?

• Yes, and the documents were:
• not asked for as part of the review go to Step 7
• asked for as part of the review, code the Course verification field on the TAP Circumstance Details (TPCD) screen as 'N'o. Go to Step 17
• No, go to Step 8

Make one genuine attempt to contact the customer. If unsuccessful, send a request for information.

To ask for more documents select the More Choices menu then select > Request Documents, and complete the following:

• Benefit: field, Tertiary Access Payment
• Benefit Status: field, Continuous
• Authority To Request: field, Tertiary Access Payment Guidelines for VET and NUHELP Applicants
• Information to be supplied within: field, 14 days
• select the relevant form or document needed for assessment
• where proof of enrolment or confirmation of a new address is needed, select Other and add text to the customer task:
• POE: 'Confirmation of your enrolment identifying your Education Provider dated on or after (insert either first or second assessment date, for example 11 April 2022) including your current study load and name'
• Address relocation: 'Confirmation of your new address to confirm that you have moved away from your family home for study'
• select Finish

When issuing RFIs for TAP, the Authority To Request field will default to 'Social Security (Admin) Act 1999', change this to 'Tertiary Access Payment Guidelines for VET and NUHEP Applicants'. Note: the letter will show the correct policy reference 'Tertiary Access Payment Guidelines'

Procedure ends here until the:

• task becomes due, or
• customer supplies the documents

Assess and code the TAP review:

• Select the following from the Task Selector in the Errors (SWE) screen to go through the screens that need updating:
• Regional Location Details (RLD)
• Customer Study Details (EDC)
• TAP circumstance data (TPCD)

If provisional data has uploaded from the online review, the relevant Task Selectors will automatically show a flag.

For:

• first assessment date review, go to Step 9
• second assessment date review, go to Step 10

If the customer's family home address has changed since granting the TAP claim to pending (PND) status but before their course start date, add the new address on the RLD screen:

• Event Date field: record the date the family home address changed
• Address Reason field: TAP
• Address Date field: for a:
• Dependent customer course start date
• Parental income exempt customer 6 months prior to the start of their relevant course of study
• Address field: for a:
• Dependent customer, parents home address
• Parental income exempt customer the customer' address 6 months before they started their current approved course
• Address Country Code field: AU
• Where the TAP family home is overseas, the full address is not needed. Enter Overseas into the Country field
• Trigger the Address Latitude and Address Longitude fields by selecting on the latitude box. This generates a response in the Regional Classification field
• Update the campus if the customer has changed education providers or campus

A customer may be eligible for TAP if they meet all the eligibility criteria and they:

• change their TAP approved course at any time throughout the year, or
• stop studies after their first assessment date

Has the customer said they have a change in course or study load?

• Yes, go to Step 11
• No, go to Step 13

Where a TAP CUR customer changes their course, the TPCD screen will continue to show the name of the course for the first TAP instalment.

If the student changes from one TAP approved course to another TAP approved course:

• for TAP/CUR (second assessment date), go to Step 12
• for TAP/PND (first assessment date):
• Leave original course coded
• Assess TAP online review under the original course
• Document the reason for the decision
• Record the new course after review is finalised. Go to Step 13

Student stops or defer studies

When the course end date is after first assessment date, assess the TAP online review. Keep the current course dates coded. Document the reason for the decision. Go to Step 13

When the course end date is in the past, if EDC is:

• not updated:
• keep the current course dates coded
• go to Step 13
• updated:
• re-code the student end date as the original date within the TAP online review
• go to Step 13

If a customer does not complete the first and or second semester of studies, they may still be eligible if they:

• withdraw after their first assessment date
• enrol in a new course in the second semester, and
• meet all the eligibility criteria

The customer must be undertaking an approved course and full-time study load to remain eligible for TAP.

Students not undertaking a full time study load may still be eligible for the TAP if they are:

• undertaking an approved concessional study load of at least 66%, in line with the YA concessional rules. See:
• Assessing concessional study loads for Youth Allowance (YA), or
• Assessing the two-thirds study load concession for ABSTUDY
• unable to study due to a medical condition and meet the incapacity rules in line with YA

For TAP CUR customers, only update the Course approval and Course Verification 2 fields.

For TAP PND customers, update the Course Verification field on the TPCD screen:

• 'Y'es, where the student:
• has provided Proof of Enrolment (POE) dated on or after their course verification dates
• is studying in an approved course on their first or second assessment date, and
• studying full time, or an approved concessional study load or approved temporary incapacity
• 'N'o, where the student has:
• changed to an unapproved course
• reduced their study load to below 75% (without an acceptable reason), or
• deferred or ceased studies before their first or second assessment date

Record the first assessment date review outcome in the Course Verification 1 field. Record the second assessment date review outcome in the Course Verification 2 field.

For updates to the TPCD screen

Check the correct course name appears in the Course Name field.

If there are changes to the customer's circumstances update the Course approval field: as appropriate.

If assessing the first assessment date review, make sure the second assessment date remains pre-populated with P – Pending.

Go to Step 14.

If the customer:

• is eligible and the payment is cancelled, go to Step 15
• is eligible and payment is Pending (PND) or Current (CUR), go to Step 16
• is ineligible, go to Step 17

Where the TAP has been cancelled – POE as a result of the second review, a new review is not required in order to restore the payment.

If the customer has been cancelled for a restorable reason, restore the customer's record in PD customer summary:

• Go to the TPCD screen:
• Change Course Verification 2 from a No to a Yes
• Save the changes
• Go to the Benefit Action (BA) screen:
• Benefit Type Code field: TAP - Tertiary Access Payment
• Benefit Action field: RES - Restore
• Event date field: the date the payment was cancelled

Once updates have been made to the BA screen, check the 'Service Reason' is showing TAP. If not, change to TAP in the 'Service Reason' box.

Go to Step 16.

Assess and Finalise the review or restoration activity:

• Correct any errors identified in the Message Log on the SWE screen
• Select Assess to go to the Entitlements (ELD) screen
• Make sure the outcome is correct on the ELD screen, including the payment amount:
• first instalment of $3,000
• second instalment of $2,000 (outer regional, remote and very remote customers only)
• ELD screen will present as:
• TAP CUR (Current), and
• TAP OOP (One off payment)
• Select Finish
• Record relevant details in the Review Finalisation DOC. If the student changes, ceases or defers studies after the first or second assessment date:
• document the student has changed, ceased or deferred studies after first or second assessment date reason in the Finalise text box
• if restoring TAP, record a DOC stating TAP was restored under the Tertiary Access Payment Guidelines. It will not AUTO display in the Finalise text box
• Select Finalise to complete the review
• Select OK. If the student changes, ceases or defers studies after the first or second assessment date:
• update the Customer Study Details (EDC) screen with the new study details (for example the course end date)
• ensure any relevant documents are marked as Completed

Procedure ends here.

The customer is not eligible for TAP.

The payment should automatically reject or cancel when all necessary updates are coded on the relevant screens.

If the system does not automatically cancel or reject, manually update the Benefit Action (BA) screen:

• Select Add to create a new entry
• Update:
• Benefit Type Code field: TAP
• Benefit Action field: if the customer is not eligible to TAP from the first assessment date review select REJ-rejection. If customer is ineligible for TAP from the second assessment date review, select CAN - cancel
• Reason field: select the appropriate reason. See the Rejection and Cancellation reason codes for TAP table in Assessing and finalising claims for the Tertiary Access Payment (TAP)
• Event Date field: will auto-default to the TAP assessment review date
• select Save
• Correct any errors identified in the Message Log on the SWE screen
• Select Assess to go to the Entitlement (ELD) screen
• Check the outcome is correct on the ELD screen
• Select Finish
• Record details in the Review Finalisation DOC
• Select Finalise to complete the review

Manually reject or cancel the review using the most appropriate reason, if:

• there are multiple rejection or cancellation reasons, and
• the auto rejection or cancellation is not the reason that is most appropriate for the review

The system will create the MFU TAP reviews -TAP Study update, if a change to the Customer Study Details (EDC) screen is made on a student's record with a status of TAP/CUR, or TAP/PND:

• Access and code updates in Process Direct
• From the Task Selector in the Errors (SWE) screen, select the:
• EDC screen, and
• TPCD screen

Check the latest update on the EDC screen. It should be the latest course details provided by the student.

Is the latest course entry on the TPCD screen the same as the latest entry on EDC?

• Yes, and the latest course is:
• a TAP approved course, go to Step 4
• not a TAP approved course, code the Course Verification field by selecting 'No'. Go to Step 5
• No, go to Step 3

Update the TPCD screen:

• Course Name: this field will show as blank. Update by selecting the most recent course on the EDC screen in the Course Name field
• Assessment Date: will update based on the course selected

Where a TAP CUR customer changes their course, TPCD will continue to show the name of the course for the first TAP instalment.

Where the customer has changed their course of study, or study dates and the verification date is in the past, the system will not automatically issue a TAP review.

If the changed Course Verification dates are:

• in the future, leave the Course Verification fields as Pending. Go to Step 5
• in the past, and:
• verification documents are provided, update the Course Verification field(s) as relevant. Go to Step 5
• verification documents were requested and not provided, update the Course verification field to 'No'. Go to Step 5
• verification documents have not been requested, do not complete the MFU. Issue a request for the customer to provide verification documents. See Step 7 in Table 2

• Go to the SWE screen
• The Message Log shows any errors with existing coding
• Correct errors before assessing the MFU
• Select Assess to go to the Entitlement (ELD) screen
• On the ELD screen, select Next
• Check the outcome is correct
• Select Finish
• Record details in the Finalisation DOC

If there were no circumstances changed in the activity, change the status of the MFU to cancelled.

If the customer is on another student payment and corrective action is needed, see:

• Payment of Youth Allowance (YA) and Austudy when a student is deferring or discontinuing study before the end of the course
• Customer will not commence full-time study for Youth Allowance (YA), Austudy and Pensioner Education Supplement (PES)
• Changing study load from full-time to part-time or concessional study load for Youth Allowance (YA), Austudy or PES
• Payment of ABSTUDY when a student is deferring or discontinuing study before the end of the course
• Changing or correcting course of study and/or educational institution for ABSTUDY students