Costs are payable under Away from Base assistance in the following circumstances:
Any other costs not covered by the above points are the responsibility of the education provider or the student who is undertaking the activity.
Where approval is given for only part of an activity’s costs, the balance of the cost is to be met by the education provider or by the student.
The following costs cannot be met with Away from Base assistance:
- fees associated with Away from Base activities e.g. entry fee to a show, festival or exhibition, including conference registration fees or similar costs;
- the costs of attending conferences, seminars, forums, performances or similar activities, where these do not form an essential part of an approved Away from Base activity.
The above costs are the responsibility of the education provider or the student who is undertaking the activity.
When assessing the costs of an approved Away from Base activity, the period for which costs may be approved is:
- the length of the approved Away from Base activity; and
- any period(s) of unavoidable overnight stopover(s) at an in-transit location or an Away from Base location due to transport timetables.
Where payments in excess of entitlement have occurred, refer to Chapter 3 Overpayment and Recovery of Allowances to determine what is a recoverable debt and from whom this amount should be recovered.
The following types of Away from Base allowances may be approved under the provisions of Away from Base assistance:
Away from Base assistance is intended to cover the reasonable costs of accommodation and meals while a student is required to be away from his/her normal place of residence.
Costs associated with meals and accommodation can be approved either as:
While residential expenses and travel allowance are fundamentally for the same purpose, they are alternative benefits.
Where costs associated with meals and accommodation are approved under the provisions of residential expenses, the education provider is responsible for arranging the residential programme, including meals and accommodation, for the Away from Base activity.
Residential expenses, rather than travel allowance, will apply unless there are circumstances that make it unreasonable, impractical or not cost-effective for an provider to arrange a package of accommodation and meals.
Residential expenses will meet the actual cost of meals and accommodation incurred where the education provider has organised a package of accommodation and meals for a designated price per student, per day. Costs may only be approved where they are reasonable.
The cost of a room should not exceed the level of the accommodation component of travel allowance for that location unless all other accommodation is fully booked. It should be a modest but comfortable room arranged strictly on a twin share basis or other group discount, unless a participant has a verifiable medical, cultural or other reason requiring a single room.
The room cost should not include the cost of room service, phone calls, mini bar or other non-accommodation based services.
The cost of meals should not exceed the total meal allowance component of travel allowance but should allow for the meals to be healthy and of reasonable quality. The cost of morning/afternoon tea or additional snacks is not included.
The needs of participants with specific dietary requirements (e.g. vegetarians) should be accommodated.
Students who choose not to avail themselves of the residential expenses package arrangements provided by the education provider or education provide representatives who choose not to avail themselves of the residential expenses package arrangements provided at the community will not be entitled to travel allowance instead.
However, if certain meals are not provided in the residential package, then the provisions of 95.4.4 will apply in respect of those meals only.
Where a residential expenses package cannot be arranged by the education provider to include all meals during an activity, meal allowance is payable on behalf of each student for any meals not included in the package. This is to be disbursed by the education provider.
Where costs associated with meals and accommodation are approved under the provisions of travel allowance, a set allowance is provided to the student to cover the cost of accommodation and meals, irrespective of the actual cost.
Travel allowance may be approved for an Away from Base activity in circumstances where it is unreasonable, impractical or not cost effective for a residential expenses package to be arranged by the education or service provider.
For the purposes of Away from Base assistance the rate of travel allowance is set by DEEWR and adjusted yearly.
Travel allowance will be paid at full rate for a period of up to of 21 consecutive days, after which 50% of the rate is payable. Travel allowance is not payable (at either half or full rate) for more than three months cumulatively in a calendar year. These provisions apply irrespective of the length of a course.
There are two components of travel allowance:
The rate of accommodation allowance is determined by the location of the accommodation.
Where travel allowance has been approved for a high-cost location not listed below, payment may be made for a higher rate of travel allowance where the standard travel allowance rate is acquitted and excess expenses are proven by receipts, provided that the expense is representative of reasonable costs for the location.
The rate of meal allowance is determined by the location.
Meal allowance cannot be paid for those meals provided by a hotel/motel i.e. if breakfast is included in the room cost, the breakfast component of meal allowance is not payable.
The purpose of non-means-tested Living Allowance is to assist students who would otherwise lose their regular source of income while undertaking a course activity necessary to complete the course.
For a student to qualify for non-means tested Living Allowance, the following criteria must be met:
- the student qualifies for Away from Base assistance; and
- the student is participating in an approved Away from Base activity; and
- the student will lose his/her regular source of income as a result of attending the course activity, provided that the regular income is derived from either:
- a form of Australian Government assistance, e.g. social security benefits; or
- employment that has no study leave provision and the student is required to access leave without pay to participate in the Away from Base activity.
Where the costs of student participation in a course are funded under DEEWR's Indigenous Education Programmes (IEPs), a student may claim the non-means-tested Living Allowance, even though ABSTUDY Away from Base assistance to undertake a residential school, field trip or placement as part of the course is unavailable.
Where a student qualifies for non-means-tested Living Allowance under the provisions set out in 95.5.2, the rate of Living Allowance will be the maximum rate based on a student’s circumstances as set out in Chapter 72.
The payee for non-means-tested Living Allowance is the student.
For details of the tax status of Living Allowance, see Chapter 5 Taxation.
The non-means-tested Living Allowance will not be subject to means testing.
The non-means-tested Living Allowance is paid for the duration of the Away from Base activity.