Commonwealth Numbered Acts

DEFENCE FORCE RETIREMENT AND DEATH BENEFITS ACT 1973 No. 81 of 1973 - SECT 3

3. (1) In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears-

''additional contribution'' means an additional contribution payable under
section 21, 64, 87, 89 or 93;

''Air Force'' means the Air Force of the Commonwealth;

''annual rate of pay'', in relation to a member of the Defence Force on a
particular day, means the amount, that, under the regulations, is the annual
pay applicable to the member on that day;

''Authority'' means the Defence Force Retirement and Death Benefits Authority
established by section 8;

''benefit'' means pension benefit, and includes a refund of contributions and
a lump sum payment under sub-section 32 (2), a lump sum payment under section
48 and a refund of contributions under section 56;

''child'', in relation to a deceased member of the scheme, includes-

   (a)  a person who is, immediately before the death of the member, a
        stepchild of the member, an adopted child of the member, a foster
        child of the member or a ward of the member; and

   (b)  a person who-

        (i)    is the ex-nuptial child of the member, or a child or ex-nuptial
               child of the widow of the member; and

        (ii)   was wholly or substantially dependent upon the member at the
               time of his death or (in the case of an ex-nuptial child of the
               member born after the member's death) would, in the opinion of
               the Authority, have been so dependent if he had been born
               before the member's death;

''child's pension'' means pension payable under Division 2 of Part VI;

''contributing member'' means a member of the Defence Force who is making, or
is required to make, or, but for section 18, would be required to make,
contributions under section 17;

''contributions'' means contributions payable under section 17, and includes
any additional contributions or previous contributions;

''date of commencement of the scheme'' means 1st October, 1972;

''Defence (Parliamentary Candidates) Act'' means the Defence (Parliamentary 
Candidates) Act 1969 or the Defence (Parliamentary Candidates) Act 1969-1973;

''dependent female'', in relation to a deceased male member of the scheme,
means a woman who-

   (a)  for a period immediately preceding his death (being a period that did
        not commence after the member had attained the age of sixty years) had
        lived with him as his wife on a permanent and bona fide domestic
        basis, although not legally married to him; and

   (b)  was, at the time of his death, wholly or partly dependent on him;

''eligible child'' means a person who-

   (a)  is the child of a deceased member of the scheme who died while he was
        a contributing member or of a deceased recipient member; and

   (b)  is a person who has not attained the age of sixteen years or-

        (i)    has attained the age of sixteen years but has not attained the
               age of twenty-five years;

        (ii)   is receiving full-time education at a school, college or
               university; and

        (iii)  is not ordinarily in employment or engaged in work on his own
               account;

''eligible member of the Defence Force'' means-

   (a)  a member of the Defence Force who-

        (i)    is serving on continuous full-time service under an appointment
               or engagement, or under a reappointment or re-engagement, for a
               period of not less than one year; or

        (ii)   is serving on continuous full-time service, being service that
               is continuous with previous continuous full-time service that
               was, or included, service under an appointment or engagement,
               or under a re-appointment or re-engagement, for a period of not
               less than one year; or

   (b)  a member of the Defence Force-

        (i)    to whom paragraph (a) does not apply;

        (ii)   who (otherwise than as a member of that part of the
               Naval Forces known as the Naval Emergency Reserve Forces, that
               part of the Naval Forces known as the Citizen Naval Forces,
               that part of the Military Forces known as the Citizen
               Military Forces, that part of the Air Force known as the
               Air Force Emergency Force or that part of the Air Force known
               as the Citizen Air Force undergoing annual training) is serving
               on continuous full-time service; and

        (iii)  who, immediately before commencing to serve, was a recipient
               member, was a member of the scheme to whom deferred benefits
               were applicable under section 78, was a person who was in
               receipt of, or but for a suspension of his pension under
               section 53A or 53B of the previous Act, would have been in
               receipt of, a pension under the previous benefits scheme (being
               a pension to which he became entitled on retirement from the
               Defence Force) or was a person to whom deferred benefits were
               applicable under section 82ZB of the previous Act,

but does not include a person to whom section 90 applies and who does not make
an election under that section;

''eligible orphan'' means an eligible child who is an orphan, and includes an
eligible child who is not an orphan but who is in the custody, care and
control of, and is wholly or substantially dependent on, a person other than a
person to whom widow's pension is, or was at any time, payable;

''existing contributor'' means a person who-

   (a)  immediately before 1st October, 1972, was making, or was required to
        make, or, but for sub-section 4AA (2), paragraph 23 (5) (b) or (c), or
        sub-section 36 (1), of the previous Act, would have been required to
        make, contributions to the Defence Forces Retirement Benefits Fund
        under the previous legislation; and

   (b)  on that date, without having ceased to be on continuous full-time
        service, became an eligible member of the Defence Force for the
        purposes of this Act;

''fortnightly rate of pay'', in relation to a member of the Defence Force on a
particular day, means an amount ascertained by dividing the annual rate of pay
applicable to him on that day by three hundred and sixty-five and multiplying
the result by fourteen;

''invalidity benefit'' means invalidity benefit under section 26;

''invalidity pay'' means invalidity benefit consisting of invalidity pay;

''member of the Defence Force'' does not include a person who is a
''member'' as defined by sub-section 3 (1) of the Defence Force (Papua New 
Guinea) Retirement Benefits Act 1973 ;

''member of the scheme'' means a person who is, or at any time on or after the
date of commencement of the scheme, has been, an eligible member of the
Defence Force;

''Military Forces'' means the Military Forces of the Commonwealth;

''Naval Forces'' means the Naval Forces of the Commonwealth;

''officer'' means a member of the Defence Force who is an officer for the
purposes of the Defence Act 1903-1970;

''pension benefit'' means retirement pay, invalidity pay, widow's pension or
child's pension;

''period of effective service'', in relation to a member of the scheme, means-

   (a)  any period commencing on or after the date of commencement of the
        scheme during which he is an eligible member of the Defence Force,
        less any period included in such a period that-

        (i)    is a period of non-effective service in relation to him; or

        (ii)   is a period that, under section 57 or 58, is to be disregarded
               as a period of effective service in relation to him; and

   (b)  any period that is deemed to be a period of effective service in
        relation to him under section 21, sub-section 62 (3) or section 64 or
        91;

''period of non-effective service'', in relation to a member of the scheme,
means a period that, under section 6, is deemed to be a period of
non-effective service in relation to him;

''Permanent Forces'' means that part of the Naval Forces known as the
Permanent Naval Forces, that part of the Permanent Military Forces known as
the Australian Regular Army and that part of the Air Force known as the
Permanent Air Force;

''previous Act'' means the Defence Forces Retirement Benefits Act 1948 or that
Act as amended and in force from time to time before 1st October, 1972;

''previous benefits scheme'' means the retirement benefits scheme provided for
in the previous legislation;

''previous contributions'', in relation to a person, means contributions made
by him under the previous legislation, less any such contributions refunded to
him under the previous legislation or (except for the purposes of Part X)
under section 86 of this Act;

''previous legislation'' means the previous Act, and includes any other Act
relating to retirement benefits for members of the Defence Force that came
into operation before 1st October, 1972, and modifies or affects the
provisions of the previous Act;

''rank'' in relation to a member of the Defence Force, means-

   (a)  his substantive rank or, if he is appointed provisionally or on
        probation, the rank to which he is so appointed; or

   (b)  if he is provisionally promoted to another rank-that other rank;

''recipient member'' means a member of the scheme who is entitled to
retirement pay or invalidity pay, and includes a member of the scheme who, but
for the suspension of his invalidity pay under sub-section 35 (3), would be
entitled to invalidity pay;

''Reserve'' means-

   (a)  in relation to a member of the Naval Forces-the reserve of officers
        known as the Emergency List of Officers;

   (b)  in relation to a member of the Military Forces-the Regular Army
        Reserve; and

   (c)  in relation to a member of the Air Force-the Air Force Reserve;

''retirement'' means retirement as a member of the Defence Force, and
includes discharge from the Defence Force, and ''retire'' has a corresponding
meaning;

''retirement pay'' means retirement pay payable under section 23;

''service'' means service as a member of the Defence Force;

'' Superannuation Act'' means the Superannuation Act 1922 as amended and in
force from time to time;

''Superannuation Board'' means the Superannuation Board constituted by the
Superannuation Act;

''Superannuation Fund'' means the Superannuation Fund established under the
Superannuation Act;

''total period of effective service'', in relation to a member of the scheme,
means, subject to sub-sections 62 (4) and (5)-

   (a)  in the case of a member in relation to whom there is only one period
        of effective service-that period; or

   (b)  in the case of a member in relation to whom there are two or more
        periods of effective service-a period equal to the total of those
        periods;

''widow'', in relation to a deceased member of the scheme includes a
dependent female of the member, but does not include-

   (a)  a person who, immediately before the death of the member, was his wife
        but was not living with him as his wife and was not wholly or partly
        dependent on him; or

   (b)  in the case of a deceased recipient member-a person who became his
        wife after his retirement and after he attained the age of sixty
        years;

''widow's pension'' means pension payable under Division 1 of Part VI.

(2) A reference in any provision of this Act to benefit under subsection 32
(2) shall be read as including a reference to a refund of contributions under
that sub-section.