Commonwealth Numbered Acts

SOCIAL SECURITY AND VETERANS' AFFAIRS LEGISLATION AMENDMENT ACT 1988 No. 135, 1988 - SECT 25

25. Section 35 of the Principal Act is amended:
(a) by omitting from subsection (1) the definition of "rent" and substituting
the following definition:

" 'rent', in relation to a person eligible to receive a service pension, a
spouse's service pension or a carer's service pension, means amounts payable
every 3 months, or more frequently, by the person as a condition of occupancy
of premises, or a part of premises, occupied by the person as the person's
principal home, and includes:

   (a)  amounts payable by the person for services provided in a retirement
        village that is the person's principal home;

   (b)  where the person is residing in a nursing home that is the person's
        principal home-amounts payable by the person for accommodation in the
        nursing home;

   (c)  amounts payable by the person for lodging in premises that are the
        person's principal home;

   (d)  amounts payable by the person for the use of a site for:

        (i)    a caravan or other vehicle; or

        (ii)   a structure; occupied by the person as the person's principal
               home; or

   (e)  amounts payable by the person for the right to moor a vessel that is
        occupied by the person as the person's principal home;";

   (b)  by inserting in subsection (1) the following definitions:

" 'board', when used in the expression 'board and lodging', means the
provision of meals on a regular basis in connection with the provision of
lodging;
'ineligible property owner' means a service pensioner who has a right or
interest to which subparagraph 50 (1) (a) (i) or (ii) applies, other than a
pensioner:

   (a)  in relation to whom subsection 50 (1A) applies;

   (b)  who is residing in a nursing home, other than a pensioner who is
        residing in a retirement village;

   (c)  who pays amounts for the use of a site for a caravan or other vehicle,
        or a structure, that is the pensioner's principal home; or

   (d)  who pays amounts for the right to moor a vessel that is the
        pensioner's principal home;
'retirement village' means residential premises the accommodation in which is
primarily intended for persons who are at least 55 years old, being premises
consisting of:

   (a)  one or more of the following kinds of accommodation:

        (i)    self-care units;

        (ii)   serviced units;

        (iii)  hostel units; and

   (b)  communal facilities for use by the occupants of the units referred to
        in paragraph (a);
and includes residential premises that, in the Commission's opinion, have
similar functions to those first-mentioned residential premises;";

   (c)  by adding at the end the following subsections:

"(16) Where:

   (a)  a person pays or is liable to pay amounts for board and lodging; and

   (b)  the part of each such amount that is paid or payable in respect of
        lodging is not ascertainable;
the amount of rent paid or payable by the person shall, for the purposes of
this Part, be taken to be two-thirds of the amounts paid or payable as
mentioned in paragraph (a).

"(17) Where:

   (a)  a person who is residing in a nursing home pays or is liable to pay
        amounts for accommodation and other services in the nursing home; and

   (b)  the part of each such amount that is paid or payable in respect of
        accommodation is not ascertainable;
the amount of rent paid or payable by the person shall, for the purposes of
this Part, be taken to be two-thirds of the amounts paid or payable as
mentioned in paragraph (a).

"(18) A reference in this Part to a person residing in a nursing home is a
reference to a person who is:

   (a)  residing in a benevolent home or in premises at which accommodation is
        provided exclusively or principally for persons who have a mental
        disability;

   (b)  residing in premises that are:

        (i)    an approved nursing home for the purposes of the
               National Health Act 1953 or the Nursing Homes Assistance Act
               1974;

        (ii)   an approved home for the purposes of the Aged or Disabled
               Persons Homes Act 1954; or

        (iii)  an approved hostel for the purposes of the Aged or Disabled
               Persons Hostels Act 1972;

   (c)  a nursing-home type patient, within the meaning of the Health
        Insurance Act 1973, of a hospital; or

   (d)  residing in premises made available for the accommodation of the
        person by an approved organisation providing hostel care services or
        personal care services to the person for the purposes of Part III of
        the Aged or Disabled Persons Homes Act 1954.". Commencement: 12 June
        1989