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CONTENTS
Farm Household Support Amendment Bill 1996
Date Introduced: 4 December 1996
House: House of Representatives
Portfolio: Primary Industries and Energy
Commencement: 28 days after Royal Assent
To terminate the Farm Household Support Scheme.
Farm Household Support Scheme
The Bill gives effect to a 1996-97 Budget announcement to
terminate the Farm Household Support Scheme (FHS). The FHS came
into operation in March 1993. It was targeted at farmers unable to
access commercial finance to meet day-to-day living expenses and
provided income support while farmers worked to make their farm
viable or arranged its sale.
In terminating FHS, the Government has noted that demand has
been falling since October 1993 with fewer than one hundred farm
families assisted since August 1995 and less than fifty in recent
months. In 1995-96 a total of $959 000 was spent on FHS. Farming
families affected by the termination of FHS will be eligible to
apply for other social welfare related schemes.
Longer term welfare issues affecting farm families have recently
been examined by a Special Rural Task Force established by the
Minister for Social Security.(1)
Item 1 of Schedule 1 of the Bill inserts a new section 6A in the
Farm Household Support Act 1992(the Principal Act) which
provides that farm household support is not payable unless it is
payable in respect of the cut-off date (ie. 28 days after Royal
Assent) and each day between the cut-off day and the day in
question. It may be noted that the term 'day in question' is not
defined in either the Bill or the Principal. It may be inferred
from example 2, which is set out under proposed section 6A, that
the 'day in question' is period between the cut-off date and the
final date of entitlement to farm household support. In other
words, as soon as an entitlement to farm household support ceases
after the cut-off date farm household support will no longer be
payable.
- The Special Rural Task Force, Impact Of The Social Security
Assets Tests On Rural Customers, January 1997.
Ian Ireland
21 February 1997
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ISSN 1323-9031
Commonwealth of Australia 1996
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Published by the Department of the Parliamentary Library,
1997.
This page was prepared by the Parliamentary Library,
Commonwealth of Australia
Last updated: 24 March 1997
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