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
Information and Research Services
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ISSN 1328-8091
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