Bills Digest No. 3 2002-03
Family and Community Services Legislation Amendment
(Disability Reform) Bill (No. 2) 2002
WARNING:
This Digest was prepared for debate. It reflects the legislation as
introduced and does not canvass subsequent amendments. This Digest
does not have any official legal status. Other sources should be
consulted to determine the subsequent official status of the
Bill.
CONTENTS
Passage History
Purpose
Background
Main Provisions
Concluding Comments
Endnotes
Contact Officer & Copyright Details
Passage History
Family and Community Services
Legislation Amendment (Disability Reform) Bill (No. 2)
2002
Date Introduced:
27 June 2002
House: Representatives
Portfolio: Family and Community
Services
Commencement: There
are three Schedules in the Bill. However, within each Schedule,
different items have various commencement dates. These commencement
dates are set out in detail in the Table set out in clause
2 of the Bill.
Purpose
This Bill follows
the original proposed amending Bill for the Disability Support
Pension (DSP) program, which was introduced to the House of
Representatives on 16 May 2002. The original Bill was called the
Family and Community Services Legislation Amendment (Disability
Reform) Bill 2002. The second reading debate on that first
Bill was adjourned in the House of Representatives on 30 May 2002,
without the Bill being read a third time.(1)
This second Bill proposes virtually the same
amendments to the DSP provisions within the Social Security Act
1991 (SSA) as presented in the first Bill, except for the
introduction of transitional provisions for DSP recipients. It is
still proposed to reduce the qualification hours under the
continuing inability to work test from 30 hours a week to 15 hours
a week, but the new limit is only to apply to those claiming DSP on
or after 1 July 2003. All DSP claims made up to and including 30
June 2003 are to have the existing DSP qualification requirements
applied. In short, existing DSP recipients will be 'saved'.
Schedule 1 - Amendments relating to disability support
pension
The proposed amendments to the DSP provisions in
the SSA presented in this Bill were originally presented in a like
Bill in May 2002. That Bill was the Family and Community
Services Legislation Amendment (Disability Reform) Bill 2002.
The Bills Digest is No. 157 - 2001-02.(2)
The comments and analysis provided in Bills
Digest No 157(3) in regards to the proposed changes to
the DSP, newstart allowance and youth allowance programs also refer
to the exact same amendments presented in this Bill.
The only differences in the provisions contained
within this Bill are in Item 15 of Schedule 1,
which contains savings provisions for those claiming DSP prior to 1
July 2003. DSP claims made up to and including 30 June 2003 are to
be subject to the existing DSP 30-hour a week test, not the 15-hour
a week test to be applied to DSP claims made on or after 1 July
2003.
For comment on the provisions in this Bill, see Bills Digest No.
157 - 2001-02.(4)
The only new item in this Bill compared to the
Family and Community Services Legislation Amendment (Disability
Reform) Bill 2002 is Item 15 of
Schedule 1. Item 15 proposes to
insert a savings provision for DSP claims lodged up to and
including 30 June 2003. Even where a claim has been lodged on 30
June 2003, and qualification is determined after 1 July 2003, the
pre-July 2003 30-hour rule applies.
Under the Item 15 savings
provisions, where there is a break in qualification, and the person
subsequently re-claims DSP, then the post-July 2003 15-hour a week
rule applies. This may act as a significant disincentive for DSP
recipients to give up their DSP for fear of not being able to get
back on the payment under the pre-July 2003 conditions (ie. the
30-hour a week test). The main situations these concerns might
arise are for those attempting to increase their working hours
beyond 30-hours a week - see below.
Currently, where a DSP recipient commences to
work more than 30 hours a week, there is provision within the
Social Security (Administration) Act 1999 (SSAA) to
suspend payments for up to two years. Sections 96 and 97 of the
SSAA refer.(5) The origins of these provisions are to
encourage DSP recipients to make attempts to increase their work
capacity and activity, without undue fear of losing easy re-access
to their DSP. These same provisions are included in the savings
provisions in Item 15 in the Bill.
This Bill simply proposes to 'save' existing DSP
recipients to the 30-hour a week rule instead of also exposing them
to the new 15-hours a week rule proposed to be introduced from 1
July 2003. This means there will be far less 'losers', under this
modified proposal.
It also means the total savings anticipated for
the application of the 15-hour a week rule to the DSP qualification
rules will not be realised and what savings are achieved will be
further into the future.
-
- House of Representatives, Hansard, 30 May 2002, p.
2754
- Family
and Community Services Legislation Amendment (Disability Reform)
Bill 2002. Bills Digest No. 157 2001-02.
- ibid.
- ibid.
- Disability support pension-suspension instead of
cancellation in some cases:
96.(1) If:
'(a) a person ceases to be qualified for
disability support pension because the person obtains paid work
that is for at least 30 hours per week; and
(b) the person has, within the notification
period referred to in section 93,
informed the Secretary that the person has obtained that work;
the Secretary may determine:
(c) that section 93
does not apply to the person's disability support pension; and
(d) that the person's disability support pension
is to be suspended.'
Disability support pension-suspension
taken to have been under section 96
97.(1) If:
'(a) a person ceases to be qualified for
disability support pension because the person obtains paid work
that is for at least 30 hours per week; and
(b) disability support pension ceases to be
payable to the person under section 93;
and
(c) within the period of 2 years after the
pension ceases to be payable, the person ceases to do work of the
kind referred to in paragraph (a);
the Secretary may determine that the person is
to be treated as if:
(d) section 93 had
not applied to the person's disability support pension; and
(e) the disability support pension had been
suspended under section 96.'
Peter Yeend
8 August 2002
Bills Digest Service
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ISSN 1328-8091
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