Payment of Away from Base allowances in respect of a student and other approved beneficiaries can only occur where the following has occurred:
- the student is assessed as qualified for Away from Base assistance, following lodgement of an ABSTUDY claim from the student.
An Away from Base submission from an education provider must provide details of the student participants, evidence that the proposed activity meets the conditions for approval of an Away from Base activity, and details of the costs of travel, meals and accommodation for the activity.
A submission from an individual student for an individual testing and assessment activity or a placement must provide confirmation of the Away from Base activity from the education provider.
Unless exceptional circumstances exist, the following closing dates apply to submissions for Away from Base assistance:
- payment in advance; or
- approval in principle i.e. in order to seek reimbursement;
- a request by an individual student must be lodged at least three weeks in advance of the activity for payment in advance of travel allowance;
- a request by an education provider for bulk funding in advance must be lodged at least six weeks before the commencement of the first residential school for the year.
Where an education provider has lodged an Away from Base submission, the education provider will be responsible for informing Centrelink of variations to any activity on the original submission.
Where an individual student has lodged a request for Away from Base assistance, the student will be responsible for informing Centrelink of variations to the activity on the original request.
Where payment in advance of an individual activity is requested, advance payment is made either for:
Funds can only be advanced in respect of students who are qualified for Away from Base assistance.
Where residential expenses are an approved cost under the provisions of Chapter 95, residential expenses are payable in advance on submission by the education provider of the estimated costs.
This is subject to acquittal as set out in 96.3.1.4.
The expenditure approval requirements for claims for advance payment of residential expenses are:
- where it is proposed to procure services estimated to cost $10,000 or less, a written quote must be provided with the submission. Additional quotes may be requested, where it is determined that better value for money may be achieved;
- where the estimated value of services is greater than $10,000 but does not exceed $100,000, a minimum of three written quotes must be provided with the submission;
- where the estimated value of services is greater than $100,000, or where the estimated value is $100,000 or less, but the nature of the claim is complex, a formal open tender process must be used.
A proposed activity cannot be divided into a number of separate components so as to bring each order within the minimum threshold requirement.
An exception may be made to the normal expenditure approval requirements set out in 96.3.1.1 if there is a justifiable basis to confine the purchaser to one supplier, or it is impractical or inexpedient to either obtain the required number of quotations or meet the formal tender process.
Insufficient time resulting from poor procurement planning is not a justifiable reason for an exception to be made.
Advance payment of residential expenses is to be made to the education provider or organisation incurring the expense.
Acquittal of residential expenses should be made in sufficient detail to reflect the original submission. Original receipts or audited financial statements should be attached to substantiate the acquittal.
Acquittal of an advance payment must be sent to Centrelink within one calendar month of the completion of the approved course activity.
Where travel allowance is an approved cost under the provisions of Chapter 95, travel allowance is payable in advance upon lodgement of either:
- a submission from an education provider; or
- an individual submission by the student.
This is subject to acquittal as set out in 96.3.2.2.
Unless the provisions of 95.4.4 apply, both the meals and accommodation components of travel allowance are to be paid to the student. Where the travel allowance is approved under the provisions of Chapter 93 Away from Base beneficiaries for the cost of accommodation and meals for an education provider representative or a driver/pilot of a charter company, travel allowance is paid to the education provider.
Travel allowance is acquitted by confirmation from the education provider that that the approved student/s, and other approved beneficiaries for whom travel allowance was paid, participated in the approved activity for the full period covered by the funding.
Where reimbursement of the costs of an individual activity is requested, payment is made in respect of approved beneficiaries for the approvable costs upon lodgement of a claim from either:
- the education provider; or
- the individual student.
An education provider may lodge a claim for reimbursement where an initial submission for approval in principle of the activity was received by the closing dates specified in 96.2.3.
Original receipts must accompany the claim for reimbursement.
Reimbursement can only be made in respect of students who are qualified for Away from Base assistance.
Where an individual student lodges a claim for reimbursement, original receipts and confirmation by the education provider that the student participated in the approved activity for the full period covered by the funding must accompany this.
A request by an education provider or a student for reimbursement of the costs of undertaking an activity must be lodged by 1 April of the year following the activity, unless there are exceptional circumstances preventing this.
Where reimbursement is being made for costs payable under Away from Base assistance, payment is made to either the education provider, the service provider or the student, depending upon who incurred the expense.
Bulk funding may only be approved for education providers that have the administrative and organisational infrastructure capable of undertaking the necessary administrative arrangements.
The person who is authorised to make a claim on behalf of the education provider must lodge a single submission with Centrelink at least six weeks before commencement of the first residential school for the year, outlining all proposed residential schools for the academic year.
Normally an education provider would be expected to apply for bulk funding for the whole year, but an application for bulk funding for a semester or term may be accepted in exceptional circumstances.
The education provider may claim up to $3,529 a year for administration and audit costs. This amount is indexed annually.
Once a bulk funding submission has been approved, payment can be processed and paid in advance. The first payment in advance will cover the costs of planned activities that will take place during the first semester. The second payment for second semester activities will be made when the first semester report and expenditure statement have been provided.
Funds can only be advanced in respect of students who are qualified for Away from Base assistance.
The education provider will be responsible for informing Centrelink of variations to any activity on the original submission.
Where bulk funding of Away from Base assistance has been made to an education provider, the provider is required to lodge an end of year acquittal report, which must be endorsed as correct by the Principal or Head of Department of the education provider. An audited financial statement, including a detailed statement of all outstanding commitments to be met from remaining funds, or a statement that no payments to providers are outstanding, must also accompany the acquittal report. The end of year audited financial statement must be undertaken by an independent auditor and include a declaration certifying that the funds have been expended in accordance with the agreement.
This information should be provided by 31 January in the following year so that the level of funding for the next year's submission can be assessed.
Future submissions will not be funded until Centrelink receives the audited financial statement and expenditure has been assessed as duly correct according to the activities outlined in the submission.
Unexpended funds remaining at the end of the year may be rolled over into the next year and deducted from the new allocation.
Where an acquittal is not received within the required time, no further payments should be made to the education provider until acquittal is made. If a satisfactory acquittal is unable to be made, the non-acquitted amounts are to be considered an overpayment.
Funds that cannot be acquitted i.e., the education provider is unable to substantiate expenditure, are to be considered an overpayment. These unacquitted funds must be repaid before further ABSTUDY funding can be paid.