2.1 Who can be the Applicant

A Claim for the AIC Scheme may be accepted from a person or organisation applying on behalf of a Student.  However, to be eligible for assistance the applicant must:

• be an Approved applicant (detailed below); and
• meet the eligibility criteria set out in 2.2; and
• not be in receipt of certain other Australian Government assistance (see 2.3).

Note: the eligibility conditions outlined in Parts 3, 4 and 5 must also be met.

The Approved applicant must be the person having prime (or joint) responsibility for the Student’s care and support, and be a:

• person having legal guardianship of the Student; or
• natural, adoptive, de facto or step Parent of the Student; or
• person with whom the Student normally lives (when not living away to attend school).

The Approved applicant cannot be:

• the Student; or
• the Student’s Partner (married or defacto), or
• a person who is in a prison, correctional centre (including detention, remand and training centres) or psychiatric institution.

If a Student normally lives with both parents who are not separated or divorced, either Parent may be an Approved applicant and either may apply for assistance.

Where the Student’s parents are separated or divorced and the Student normally lives with one of them, the Approved applicant is the Parent with whom the Student normally lives.

Where the Student does not live with each Parent separately (at different times) the student is automatically taken to be in the care of the Parent with whom they normally live. In addition, the student is taken to be in the care of that parent’s Partner where the student normally lives with the Parent and the Partner (regardless of the duration of the relationship). In such circumstances either the Parent or Partner can be the Approved applicant.

Where the Student’s parents are separated or divorced and the student lives at different times with each Parent, the following factors should be taken into account in determining who the Approved applicant is:

• where one Parent is officially recognised as having primary care of the student that Parent is the Approved applicant (for example through the grant of Custody to that Parent or through removal of Custody from, or grant of a maintenance order against, the other parent); or
• where there is no such recognition of who has primary care of the student, other evidence outlined in 2.1.6 should be considered in determining who is the Approved applicant.

See 6.2.11 regarding the treatment of payments made in respect of the student by the Parent who is not the Approved applicant (i.e. maintenance).

Where there is no legal recognition of who has care of the student, the following factors (not in order of priority) should be considered in determining the Approved applicant:

• whether the student normally lives with the Parent and has lived with the Parent for the last twelve months;
• whether the student lives with the Parent during vacations;
• who has principal financial responsibility for the care of the student (e.g. food, shelter, etc);
• who contributes regularly and significantly to the student's living and education costs (this should not be limited to boarding costs); and/or
• who receives a Family Tax Benefit, holds a Medicare card, or receives other allowances in respect of the student.

In the case of parents sharing care of the student where the student spends an equal amount of time living with each Parent and the turnaround of care of the student is frequent, i.e. on a weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis, the Approved applicant can be either Parent or a parent’s Partner where the student lives with the Parent and the partner.

While there may be more than one Approved applicant for a student, only one Claim may be accepted in respect of a student for a particular period.

If the Approved applicant changes, a new Claim is required. 

If a Claim is lodged by a person other than a Parent or parent’s partner, the case will be considered on its merits, and will need to be supported by evidence that:

• the person has prime (or joint) responsibility for the student’s care; and
• the person supports the student wholly or substantially; and
• the arrangement is bona fide.

A student is not wholly or substantially dependent on another person if the Parent (or parent’s partner) is:

• supporting the student in the other person’s home; or
• providing financial assistance, directly or indirectly, to that person in respect of the student.

If a student has been placed in the care of a foster Parent by welfare authorities, then that person is an Approved applicant for the purposes of the AIC Scheme. In such cases the student’s Principal family home is that of the foster parent. To be eligible for assistance the foster parent’s Principal family home must therefore meet one of the isolation conditions set out in Part 4.

Where a student has a disability or other health-related condition for which he or she needs to board continuously in a Special Institution (see 4.4.1), the principles outlined above still apply with regard to the person with whom the student would normally live, but for the need to board.

In order to be an Approved applicant the organisation/institution must be a non-government organisation/institution, not in receipt of a foster care allowance (or other similar allowance intended for the upkeep or personal use of the student) with full responsibility for the upkeep of the student (see 2.1.11). The organisation/institution can be eligible for assistance only where:

• the student boards with the organisation/institution during school term and the student meets a geographic isolation rule with regard to access to an appropriate school from the home address of their parent;
• the student normally lives (but for the need to board away to access schooling) with the organisation/institution, including during school vacations, and the student meets a geographic isolation rule with regard to access to an appropriate school from the street address of the organisation/institution; or
• the organisation/institution is a Special Institution (or operates a Special Institution) at which the student is a full-time resident because of the nature and extent of a disability or other health-related condition (see 4.4.1).

In such cases the Claim must be signed by the chief officer (or other officer with the power to act on behalf of the organisation/institution - for example the principal, manager, executive officer or director). By signing the Claim the officer accepts, on behalf of the organisation/institution, obligations as set out in 1.4.1 (including responsibility for any overpayment that may arise in respect of the Claim).

Where an organisation/institution is accepted as an Approved applicant the income-test for Additional Boarding Allowance may be waived (see 6.1.1).

Note: Where a student lives with an organisation or in an institution with their parent(s), the Parent is the Approved applicant and the organisation/institution’s premises are considered the student’s home.

An organisation or institution can be approved as an applicant only where it is clear that the organisation or institution provides care for the student without any contribution from a parent.

If the student has been formally placed in the care of the organisation or institution by a State/Territory authority or the court, the organisation may be accepted as the Approved applicant. However, if the Approved applicant is receiving a foster care allowance (or similar allowance intended for the upkeep of the student) for a student in full-time residential care, even the Basic Boarding Allowance is not payable as it would duplicate the State/Territory allowance (see 5.2.3).

For other cases it must be clearly demonstrated by the organisation/institution that the parent(s) are not involved in making decisions regarding care of the student, do not provide financial support for the student, and either:

• unsuccessful attempts have been made to locate the parent(s); or
• the parent(s) have been asked to complete a Claim for the student but have been unwilling to do so (that is, have refused to accept responsibility for supporting the student).

See 2.1.12 regarding situations where Claims are received from a Parent and from an organisation/institution.

Note: It is recognised that some parents require considerable help to fill in the Claim. However, where a Parent makes decisions regarding the students care (for example, choosing to enrol them in a particular organisation/institution) and/or contributes to the student’s upkeep (even if this is only to the extent of AIC Scheme entitlement) they should be the person to apply for assistance (i.e. the applicant).

In the event that a Claim is received both from a Parent and from an organisation/institution that claims to have full responsibility for the upkeep of the same student:

• if AIC Scheme payments are waived to the organisation/institution where the student normally lives, then the Parent should be accepted as the Approved applicant. That is, if the Parent waives the AIC Scheme allowance to the organisation/institution, this is an indication that the Parent is contributing to the student’s financial upkeep (see 2.1.11); or
• if AIC Scheme payments are not waived to the organisation/institution, the Parent should be asked to comment on the claim that they do not provide support (particularly financial) for the student. If the Parent cannot demonstrate that they provide financial support for the student consideration may be given to accepting the organisation/institution as the Approved applicant (see 2.1.10 and 2.1.11).