HOMES SAVINGS GRANT ACT 1975

No. 49 of 1975

An Act to amend the Homes Savings Grant Act 1964-1973

BE IT ENACTED by the Queen, the Senate and the House of Representatives of Australia, as follows:—

Short title and citation.

1. (1) This Act may be cited as the Homes Savings Grant Act 1975.

(2) The Homes Savings Grant Act 1964-1973 is in this Act referred to as the Principal Act.

(3) The Principal Act, as amended by this Act, may be cited as the Homes Savings Grant Act 1964-1975.

Commencement.

2. This Act shall come into operation on the day on which it receives the Royal Assent.

Interpretation.

3. Section 4 of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) by inserting in sub-section (1), after the definition of “savings bank”, the following definition:—

“‘Secretary’ means the Secretary to the Department of Housing and Construction;

(b) by omitting from sub-section (1) the definition of “the Secretary”;

(c) by inserting after sub-section (1a) the following sub-section:—

“(1b) A determination by the Secretary, by notice published in the Gazette, that a bank is a savings bank or a trading bank for the purposes of this Act may be expressed to have taken effect from a date before the date on which the determination is made (including a date before the commencement of this subsection) and, where a determination is so expressed to have taken effect from a date before the date on which the determination is made, the bank to which the determination relates shall be deemed for the purposes of this Act to have been a savings bank or a trading bank, as the case may be, on and from the date from which the determination is so expressed to have taken effect.”; and

(d) by inserting after sub-section (5) the following sub-section:—

“(5a) After the establishment of an independent sovereign state in the territories that constitute the Territory of Papua and the Territory of New Guinea, this Act applies in relation to the territories in which that independent sovereign state was established in like manner as it applied in relation to those territories before the establishment of that independent sovereign state.”.

Approved credit unions.

4. Section 4b of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) by inserting after sub-section (3) the following sub-section:—

“(3a) The Secretary is not required to approve a credit union for the purposes of this Act where, if the approval were granted, it would, by virtue of sub-section (3), be deemed to have taken effect on and from a date later than 31 December 1976.”; and

(b) by inserting after sub-section (6) the following sub-section:—

“(6a) Sub-section (6) does not require a credit union to furnish to the Secretary a statement in respect of a financial year ending after 31 December 1976.”.

Regional Directors.

5. Section 7 of the Principal Act is amended by inserting after the word “Housing” (wherever occurring) the words “and Construction”.

Delegation.

6. Section 8 of the Principal Act is amended by inserting in sub-section (1), after the word “Housing”, the words “and Construction”.

7. After section 8 of the Principal Act the following section is inserted:—

Performance of functions by Australian Housing Corporation.

“8a. (1) The Secretary may, by writing under his hand—

(a) authorize the Australian Housing Corporation, either generally or otherwise as provided by the instrument of authorization, to exercise or perform all or any of his powers and functions under this Act; and

(b) authorize the Australian Housing Corporation to appoint, in respect of each State, an officer of the Corporation to be the Regional Director for that State for the purposes of this Act.

“(2) An authority by the Secretary under paragraph (1)(a) to the Australian Housing Corporation to exercise or perform a power or function authorizes the Corporation to exercise or perform, or, by writing under its common seal, to appoint an officer of the Corporation to exercise or perform, the power or function concerned.

“(3) An appointment under sub-section (2) may be an appointment of—

(a) a specified officer of the Australian Housing Corporation only; or

(b) every officer of the Australian Housing Corporation from time to time holding, or performing the duties of, a specified office in the service of the Corporation.

“(4) Where, in pursuance of an authority granted under paragraph (1)(b), the Australian Housing Corporation appoints a Regional Director for a State—

(a) any appointment under section 7 of a Regional Director for that State ceases to have effect; and

(b) the Secretary is not required by that section to appoint a Regional Director for that State.

“(5) An authority by the Secretary under this section is revocable at will and, except as provided by sub-section (4), does not prevent the exercise of a power or the performance of a function by the Secretary.

“(6) An appointment by the Australian Housing Corporation under this section is revocable at will and does not prevent the exercise of a power or the performance of a function by the Corporation.”.

Eligible married persons.

8. Section 14 of the Principal Act is amended by omitting from subsection (1) the words “A person is an eligible person” and substituting the words “Subject to section 14e, a person is an eligible person”.

Eligible widowed persons.

9. Section 14a of the Principal Act is amended by omitting the words “A person is an eligible person” and substituting the words “Subject to section 14e, a person is an eligible person”.

Eligible divorced persons.

10. Section 14c of the Principal Act is amended by omitting the words “A person is an eligible person” and substituting the words “Subject to section 14e, a person is an eligible person”.

11. After section 14d of the Principal Act the following section is inserted:—

Limitation on eligibility for grants.

“14e. (1) Notwithstanding sections 14, 14a and 14c—

(a) a person is not an eligible person for the purposes of this Act if the date that would be the prescribed date in relation to the person if he were an eligible person is a date later than 31 December 1976; and

(b) in the case of a person in relation to whom the prescribed date would be later than 21 August 1976—the person is not an eligible person unless acceptable savings were held by the person or his or her spouse, or by the person jointly with his or her spouse, throughout the period that commenced on 21 August 1973 and ended immediately before the prescribed date.

“(2) For the purposes of the application of paragraph (l)(b) in determining whether a married person is an eligible person for the purposes of this Act, any savings held by the spouse of the person (other than savings held jointly with the person) shall be disregarded unless the requirements of paragraphs 14(1)(b), (c), (e), (g) and (h) would be satisfied in relation to the spouse if the references in those paragraphs to the person were references to the spouse.”.

Grants.

12. Section 20 of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) by inserting in sub-section (1a) and in paragraph (a) of sub-section (2), after the words “such later time”, the words “(being a time before 1 July 1978)”; and

(b) by inserting after paragraph (a) of sub-section (2) the following paragraph:—

“(aa) in the case of a person who or whose spouse, or who together with his or her spouse, has entered into a contract for the construction of a dwelling-house by a building-contractor unless—

(i) the construction of the dwelling-house commenced not later than 31 December 1977; and

(ii) the construction of the dwelling-house was completed before 1 July 1978 or the Secretary is satisfied that reasonable progress on the construction of the dwelling-house had been made by that date;

Applications for grants.

13. Section 21 of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) by inserting after sub-section (1c) the following sub-section:—

“(1d) Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section, a grant shall not be made to a person under this Act if the application for the grant is furnished after 31 December 1971.”; and

(b) by omitting from paragraph (b) of sub-section (2) the word “Municipality” and substituting the word “City”.

Amount of grant.

14. Section 22 of the Principal Act is amended by adding at the end thereof the following sub-section: —

“(12) Sub-section (11) does not apply in relation to an application for a grant under this Act where the date that is the assumed date for the purposes of that sub-section is later than 31 December 1976.”.

Evidence.

15. Section 31 of the Principal Act is amended by inserting in sub-section (1), after the word “Housing”, the words “, Secretary to the Department of Housing and Construction”.

Reports.

16. Section 32 of the Principal Act is amended by adding at the end thereof the following sub-section: —

“(3) The Secretary is not required by sub-section (1) to furnish a report as to the administration and operation of this Act during any year after the year ending on 30 June 1978.”.

Formal amendments.

17. The Principal Act is amended as set out in the Schedule.

SCHEDULE Section 17

FORMAL AMENDMENTS

1. The following provisions of the Principal Act are amended by omitting any number expressed in words that is used, whether with or without the addition of a letter or letters, to identify a section of that Act, and substituting that number expressed in figures:—

Sections 4(6), 4a(1) and (3), 14b(3), (4), (5) and (7), 14d(3), (4), (5) and (6), 18(1), 19(1), 20a(3), 21(1a) and (1c).

2. The following provisions of the Principal Act are amended by omitting the words “of this Act” and “of this section ” (wherever occurring):—

Sections 4b(8), (9)(b), (10)(a) and (10)(b), 13(5), 14b(3), (4) and (7), 14d(3), (4) and (6), 18(1), 20(4), (4a) and (6), 20a(3), 21(1a) and (1c), 22(1), (1a), (2a) and (11).

3. The Principal Act is further amended as set out in the following table:—

SCHEDULE—continued