13.5.1 Guidance, Counselling and Country Visits

See Part 4 of the Instruments

The Commission may arrange for a student to be given, or directed to, guidance and counselling for matters affecting that student’s continuing progress in a course of study.

Guidance may include the provision of advice to students regarding their educational progress, planning of their studies, career directions, and other education related matters. 

Counselling is only provided by a qualified professional, and may be related to either educational or personal matters affecting the student.

Guidance and counselling of beneficiaries of the Schemes and their families shall be:

(a) in the case of a student under 18 years of age — at the request of:

• the student; or
• the student’s parent, guardian or trustee; or
• the principal of the school, college or institution at which the student is enrolled;

(b) in any other case, at the request of the student; or

(c) in all cases at the discretion of the Commission.

Students and parents/guardians in country areas should have access, as far as is practical, to the same guidance and counselling opportunities as non-country students. Country visits may be arranged by Commissions. Costs for country visits will be met by the Department.

13.5.2 Fares Allowance

See paragraph 5.1 of the Instruments

Where the Commission has approved payment to a student of a ‘living away from home’ rate of education allowance under paragraph 3.5.1 of the Instruments, it may accept financial liability for a fare (or part thereof) paid, or to be paid, by the student for a journey between the student’s home and place of study in Australia. Fares allowance is not payable when a student studies overseas.

In making a decision under paragraph 5.1.1 in respect of whether to accept liability for a fare, the Commission is to take into account Part 2.26 of the Social Security Act 1991. Part 2.26 sets out the circumstances under which fares allowance is payable and the level of fares allowance payable in certain circumstances. This Part also provides direction on fares allowance for students studying an external or correspondence course.

Students are entitled to the reimbursement of up to 2 single and 1 return trip per academic year (or equivalent). The intention is to reimburse the cost of travel from the student’s permanent or family home to the study institution in Australia at the beginning of the year, return travel at the completion of study for the year and one return trip during the academic year. Fares allowance is only payable for travel within Australia and the student’s permanent home must also be in Australia.

Reimbursement is at the cheapest rate of public transport that is reasonable and using a reasonable route and it is payable upon receipt of expenditure (copy of receipt, bus/ train ticket, etc). Where it is not practicable for the person to use public transport, private transport may be used and reimbursement is based on size of car/ number of kilometres travelled, calculated by formula under Part 2.26 (Fares Allowance) of the Social Security Act 1991.

DVA policy provides that air travel may be paid where the travel time (including waiting time between connections) exceeds 36 hours by train or 18 hours by coach. A higher rate may also be paid if the student is unable by illness or incapacity to travel by the cheaper means.

13.5.3 Additional Tuition

See paragraph 5.2 of the Instruments

Paragraph 5.2 of the VCES and MRCAETS Instruments provides the Commission with the power to grant additional tuition funding to students where there is a discrepancy between the student’s intellectual potential and their actual academic achievements.

Requests for additional tuition 

The discrepancy must be established by the relevant education authority. The relevant education authority is the school, university or other education institution where the student is currently undertaking study. A request for additional tuition must be accompanied by an appropriate assessment from the education authority establishing the value of the proposed tuition. In most instances, the student’s lecturer, teacher, special education coordinator, or school deputy principal will provide the information requested in the form.

Additional tuition is intended to provide short-term assistance to students who are struggling in their studies where their usual performance has been hindered by circumstances beyond their control. For example, additional tuition may be provided to students who have been absent from school for long period due to illness, who have transferred schools and are struggling to maintain their previous academic achievements, or who have experienced a loss of a parent or family member and this loss has impacted their studies. In such cases additional tuition can assist the student to make sure that these circumstances do not permanently disadvantage their education.

Additional tuition is not intended to aid students who have achieved lesser results due to a lack of effort or to enable students to produce a higher level of result than would normally be expected. Additional tuition is also not intended to assist students who have never shown a particular aptitude in a subject to improve their results in that subject.

What is "tuition"?

"Tuition" is not defined in the Instruments, however ordinarily tuition refers to instruction or teaching, and in this context implies providing extra instructional support to address a specific educational discrepancy. A lesson plan, for example, may be part of an instructional process but the term tuition implies direct guidance, teaching, and interaction between a tutor/educator and the student. A comprehensive response to additional tuition should involve personalised and targeted instruction to bridge the gap between a student's intellectual potential and their actual academic achievement.

Approving requests

Before approving funding, the education authority must confirm that appropriate remedial teaching facilities have been utilised by the student (through the institution or another source), or that such facilities have not achieved the desired result. Additional tuition funding is intended to be utilised in addition to assistance available through the institution, not instead of that assistance.

In cases where students have identified learning difficulties which may be of longer term duration, additional tuition can be provided where it is shown that academic improvements can be made. In such cases, a professional assessment may be required to establish the student’s intellectual potential and determine what assistance can be provided or adapted to best target their learning difficulties. It is recommended that students with long-term learning difficulties be monitored by the Schemes staff to establish if any other education based assistance can be offered to the student.

Reviewing progress reports

Tutors are required to provide a brief report on the work covered by the student and an assessment of the student's progress during the tuition period. The reports should outline the student's progress, actions taken to address any identified issues and the effectiveness of the tuition. Where a provider is unable to demonstrate how their support was of value to the student, such support would not be covered by additional tuition. 

Arranging payment

Commission does not arrange the additional tuition, but can allocate funding for that tuition. Tutors are located and engaged by the student, their parent, guardian, or the school. Parents are required to ensure that any tutor who invoices DVA for tutoring provided to a student receiving the Schemes’ benefits, MUST have a valid working with children check.

Tutors may invoice directly for payment. However they are also required to submit the VCES/MRCAETS Claim for payment which includes the parent’s/guardian’s signature confirming that the service has been received. 

Continued assistance 

Additional tuition is granted for a prescribed period as determined by the Education Scheme Secretary. If the student is applying for additional tuition for subsequent periods, the appropriate assessment form must outline the continuing need for such assistance. Requests for continuing additional tuition must be accompanied by a report from the tutor outlining the work covered, progress made by the student, and the value in continuing tuition.

Maximum amount payable

Note: Annual rates of Additional Tuition (and Special Assistance) payable under the Schemes are provided in Commission Decision (CM7346) ratified at the meeting held on 3 November 2017.

Effective from 1 January 2018, the maximum annual amount payable in relation to Additional Tuition is $3,500.

The responsible Executive Level 1 may approve a further $2,000 per annum of Additional Tuition per student where required.

Any application for Additional Tuition funding that exceeds the above limits must be approved by the Commissions.

Shared care situations

The maximum amount of Additional Tuition funding is payable per child. Where parents or carers have shared care of that child, Additional Tuition claims can be made by either parent or carer, and claims can be actioned up to that combined limit from either parent, regardless of their percentage of care.

Additional Tuition claims from any person eligible to make such a claim on behalf of a child are actioned on a first come first, first serve basis. Importantly, the claimants must show that the criteria for the Additional Tuition payment is met on every occasion. 

See paragraph 5.3 of the Instruments

Part 5.3 Special Assistance

5.3.1 Where a Board or the Commission considers that exceptional circumstances, beyond the control of the student, have hindered or will hinder a student’s progress:

…   (b)  the Commission may approve payment of Special Assistance in respect of that student.

Where the Commission considers that exceptional circumstances, beyond the control of the student, have hindered or will hinder a student’s educational progress, the Commission may approve payment of Special Assistance.

For "exceptional circumstances" to exist there must be external factors that impact on a student’s educational progress.

Importantly, this requires that both:

a)         “exceptional circumstances” exist, and

b)         that a hindrance to the student’s educational progress exists, or will exist, as a result of these exceptional circumstances.

Exceptional circumstances exist

For the purposes of the Schemes, what is an “exceptional circumstance” must be understood in the context of each individual case.

Generally, “exceptional circumstances” means hardship. Some examples of hardships encountered by families would include, but not be limited to, disability, learning difficulties, effects of natural disasters, disruptions or breakdowns to the family unit, or unexpected interstate moves. Hardships can be temporary or longer-term, but must, at the time of application, be impacting the student.

The onus is on the family to demonstrate exceptional circumstances exist. However, delegates should look at a family’s situation holistically and with empathy to help determine whether a hardship is affecting the family. Many families receiving support through the Schemes are single income families, and even minor changes to their situation may be a hardship in their context.

One of the most common “exceptional circumstances” claimed is financial hardship. This can be an exceptional circumstance if the family can provide evidence that to pay for the claimed expense was, or would be, a hardship to them. This requires supporting evidence beyond a statement from the parent that the family is in financial hardship.

As a result of these circumstances, the student’s educational progress has been, or will be, hindered

Once a delegate has established that exceptional circumstances are affecting the family, the next question becomes whether these circumstances have hindered or will hinder the student’s educational progress.

The onus is on the family to demonstrate that this hindrance either has occurred or is more likely than not to occur without the removal of the hardship discussed above. This could be through school reports, but could also been shown through evidence from teachers or other educational professionals.

The test delegates should then apply is whether it is reasonable to say that what is claimed by the family would remove, or help to remove, a hindrance to the educational progress of the child.

If the answer is yes, then Special Assistance should be paid. This does not mean that what is claimed by the family must remove the hindrance completely. It is enough that the claimed intervention is working to offset, at least in part, the hindrance to the student’s educational progress.

In all cases, the need for the claimed intervention must be supported by evidence from a suitably qualified professional. Applications for this benefit should include full details of the circumstances necessitating a grant of Special Assistance. 

Some common examples of where Special Assistance could be provided include (but are not limited to):

• speech therapy classes,
• cognitive assessments, such as for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder,
• educational psychological assessments, and
• assistive technology devices or software.

Other useful examples

Assistance towards the cost of extra-curricular activities is generally precluded, unless the parent or student can show a direct link with supporting evidence between the student’s ability to undertake the extra-curricular activity and the student’s educational progress. For example, where a student’s extra-curricular activity is medically recognised as removing or substantially lessening a barrier (e.g. anxiety) to educational success.

Extra-curricular activities that allow a student to make progress in a field that is not related to their studies in school or a tertiary institution (for example, a student who wants to undertake an extra-curricular singing class because they have aspirations to be a singer), would not be covered as they do not relate to the student’s academic potential.

Expected, regular costs such as the cost of school fees, uniforms or general school supplies is generally precluded as this is provided for in the payment of education allowance. However, it would be appropriate to pay for these expenses where they are incurred unexpectedly.  For example, where the child has had to relocate with a parent following a breakdown in the parent’s marriage.

That the parents wish to have their child attend a private school but cannot afford private school fees is not an exceptional circumstance.

School camps may be compensable under Special Assistance if the camp is tied to a learning outcome. For example, a trip to Canberra with links to the curriculum would be potentially compensable.

Laptop computers have become an educational necessity for most students above a certain age. Where there is a school requirement that a student have a laptop, and a laptop is not provided by the school, then laptops can be funded under Special Assistance, should other tests be met. 

Declining applications

If an application is declined, the applicant must be notified, in writing, of the reasons for the decision and informed of their right of review.

Maximum amount payable

Note: Annual rates of Special Assistance (and Additional Tuition) payable under the Schemes are provided in Commission Decision (CM7346) ratified at the meeting held on 3 November 2017.

Effective from 1 January 2018, the maximum annual amount payable in relation to Special Assistance is $3,000.

The responsible Executive Level 1 or above may approve a further $2,000 per annum of Special Assistance per student where required.

If an application for Special Assistance is received that exceeds the above limits, a submission can be made to the Commissions requesting their decision.

Shared care situations

The maximum amount of Special Assistance funding is payable per child. Where parents have shared care of that child, Special Assistance claims can be made by either parent, and claims can be actioned up to that combined limit from either parent, regardless of their percentage of care.

Special Assistance claims from any person eligible to make such a claim on behalf of a child are actioned on a first come, first serve basis and claimants should wherever possible seek preapproval prior to making the purchase. Importantly, the claimants must show that the criteria for the Special Assistance payment is met on every occasion. 

13.5.5 Rent Assistance

See paragraph 5.5 of the Instruments

Subject to paragraph 5.5.2, a student who has been granted education allowance at a ‘living away from home’, ‘double orphan’ or ‘homeless’ rate may be entitled to the payment of rent assistance. Rent Assistance for students under the education schemes is not subject to a means test.

The rate of rent assistance provided under the DVA’s Education Schemes aligns with the "living away from home" rate of Youth Allowance.

Rent Assistance payable under the Scheme, whether to a student in or outside Australia, is only payable in the same circumstances that rent assistance would have been payable to the student under the Social Security Act 1991 if the student had not been a student receiving benefits under the Scheme but had been a person receiving youth allowance under that Act.

Note:Rent Assistance must, among other things, be only for premises in Australia and the maximum period that Rent Assistance is payable while a student is outside Australia (but still a resident of Australia), is 26 weeks .

Rent Assistance cannot be paid:

(a) in advance (except for secondary students in boarding schools where the ‘living away from home’ rate is paid a term in advance; or

(b) while a student is resident overseas; or

(c) when a student who receives Rent Assistance returns to their parental or family home at the end of the educational year (A student who has a requirement to maintain accommodation until the following educational year may continue to receive Rent Assistance); or

(d) to a student who is a home owner; or

(e) to a student who is a tenant of a state or territory housing authority.

The formula to be used for the provision of Rent Assistance is:

(fortnightly rent – current rent threshold) x 75%.

The amount of Rent Assistance payable is the lower of the calculated amount or the maximum Rent Assistance amount. The rent threshold and the maximum rate of Rent Assistance are indexed twice annually with any increase taking effect from the first payday on or after the 20^th March and the 20^th September indexation dates each year.