Commonwealth Numbered Acts

SOCIAL SECURITY AND REPATRIATION (BUDGET MEASURES AND ASSETS TEST) ACT 1984 No. 93, 1984 - SECT 34

34. Section 6 of the Principal Act is amended-
(a) by inserting after the definition of "claim" in sub-section (1) the
following definition:



" 'de facto spouse' means a person who is living with another person of the
opposite sex as the spouse of that other person on a bona fide domestic basis
although not legally married to that other person;";

   (b)  by inserting after the definition of "Government rent" in sub-section
        (1) the following definitions:



" 'husband' includes a male de facto spouse;
'income', in relation to a person, means personal earnings, moneys, valuable
consideration or profits earned, derived or received by that person for the
person's own use or benefit by any means from any source whatsoever, within or
outside Australia, and includes a periodical payment or benefit by way of gift
or allowance, but does not include-

   (a)  a payment under this Act, the value of any treatment, training or
        goods provided under this Act or a payment under section 9 of the
        Tuberculosis Act 1948;

   (b)  the value of emergency relief or like assistance;

   (c)  the value of any assistance provided by an eligible organization
        within the meaning of the Homeless Persons Assistance Act 1974, being
        assistance by way of the provision of accommodation or meals or of a
        ticket, voucher or token that may be exchanged for accommodation or
        meals;

   (d)  a payment under the Handicapped Persons Assistance Act 1974;

   (e)  a payment of domiciliary nursing care benefit under Part VB of the
National Health Act 1953;

   (f)  a payment under a law of the Commonwealth, being a law having an
        object of assisting persons to purchase or build their own homes;

   (g)  a payment made to the person for or in respect of a child of whom the
        person has the custody, care and control;

   (h)  insurance or compensation payments made by reason of the loss of, or
        damage to, buildings, plant or personal effects;

   (j)  moneys from the investment of payments of the kind referred to in
        paragraph (h), being an investment for a period not exceeding 12
        months or such longer period as the Director-General, for any special
        reason in any particular case, allows after the receipt of those
        payments;

   (k)  in the case of a person who pays or who is liable to pay rent, a
        payment by way of rent subsidy made by the Commonwealth, by a State or
        Territory or by an authority of the Commonwealth or of a State or
        Territory to or on behalf of the person who pays or who is liable to
        pay rent;

   (m)  a payment received by a trainee in full-time training under a program
        included in the programs known as the Labour Force Programs, being-

        (i)    a payment known as the training component; or

        (ii)   a payment of a living away from home allowance;

   (n)  a benefit under a law of the Commonwealth relating to the provision of
        pharmaceutical, sickness or hospital benefits, or of medical or dental
        services;

   (o)  a payment made by an organization registered under a law referred to
        in paragraph (n) for or in respect of expenses incurred by a person
        for hospital, medical or dental treatment;

   (p)  in the case of a member of the Reserve Forces, the pay and allowances
        paid to the person as such a member (other than pay and allowances in
        respect of continuous full-time service) and, in the case of a member
        of a Force referred to in paragraph (b), (e) or (f) of the definition
        of 'Reserve Forces', any gratuity paid to the person by reason of a
        calling out for continuous service of, or of part of, that Force;

   (q)  a service pension under the Repatriation Act 1920;

   (r)  an amount payable by the Repatriation Commission-

        (i)    as an allowance for an attendant; or

        (ii)   as an allowance for expenditure incurred or to be incurred by a
               member of the Forces for transport for the purposes of
               recreation or as an allowance towards the cost of maintenance
               and running expenses of a motor vehicle provided by the
               Repatriation Commission for a member of the Forces because of
               serious incapacity;

   (s)  an amount payable to a member of the Forces as an allowance by reason
        of the fact that the member has been awarded a decoration;

   (t)  an amount payable by the Repatriation Commission as a clothing
        allowance;

   (u)  a periodical payment or benefit by way of gift or allowance from the
        father, mother, son, daughter, brother or sister of the person; or

        (v)    that part of the value of board or lodging, or board and
               lodging, received by the person that exceeds $65 per annum;
'married person' includes a de facto spouse but does not include-

   (a)  a legally married person (not being a de facto spouse) who is living
        separately and apart from the spouse of the person on a permanent
        basis; or

   (b)  a person who, for any special reason in any particular case, the
        Director-General determines in writing should not be treated as a
        married person;";

   (c)  by inserting after the definition of "officer" in sub-section (1) the
        following definition:



" 'property' includes property situated outside Australia;";

   (d)  by adding at the end of sub-section (1) the following definitions:



" 'spouse' includes a de facto spouse;
'unmarried person' means a person who is not a married person;
'wife' includes a female de facto spouse."; and

   (e)  by adding at the end thereof the following sub-sections:



"(3) For the purposes of this Act, unless the contrary intention appears-

   (a)  the value of the property of, or of the property of a particular kind
        of, a married person shall be taken to be 50% of the sum of the value
        of the property of, or of property of that kind of, the person and the
        person's spouse; and

   (b)  the annual rate of the income of a married person shall be taken to be
        50% of the sum of the annual rates of income of the person and of the
        person's spouse.



"(4) A reference in this Act to the value of particular property of a person
or to the value of a charge or encumbrance on property of a person shall, if
the property is owned by the person jointly or in common with another person
or persons, be read as a reference to the value of the person's interest in
the property or the value of that charge or encumbrance in so far as it
relates to the person's interest in that property, as the case may be.".