HOMES SAVINGS GRANT ACT 1964
- Reprinted as at 30 April 1992 (HISTACT CHAP 1694 #DATE 30:04:1992)
*1* The Homes Savings Grant Act 1964 as shown in this reprint comprises Act
No. 51, 1964 amended as indicated in the Tables below.
Table of Acts
Act Date Date of Application
Number and of Assent Commencement saving or
year transitional
provisions
Homes Savings Grant Act 1964
51, 1964 28 May 1964 28 May 1964
Homes Savings Grant Act 1965
6, 1965 21 Apr 1965 28 May 1964 -
Statute Law Revision (Decimal Currency) Act 1966
93, 1966 29 Oct 1966 1 Dec 1966 -
Homes Savings Grant Act 1967
50, 1967 26 May 1967 26 May 1967 S. 2 (2)
Homes Savings Grant Act 1970
14, 1970 2 June 1970 2 June 1970 S. 4 (2)
Homes Savings Grant Act 1971
112, 1971 6 Dec 1971 6 Dec 1971 -
Homes Savings Grant Act 1972
78, 1972 27 Sept 1972 27 Sept 1972 -
Statute Law Revision Act 1973 216, 1973 19 Dec 1973 31 Dec 1973
Ss. 9 (1)
and 10
Homes Savings Grant Act 1975
49, 1975 4 June 1975 4 June 1975 -
Administrative Changes (Consequential Provisions) Act 1976
91, 1976 20 Sept 1976 S. 3: (a) S. 4
Homes Savings Grant Amendment Act 1976
114, 1976 8 Nov 1976 8 Nov 1976 -
Statute Law Revision Act 1981
61, 1981 12 June 1981 S. 115: Royal
Assent (b) -
Companies (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act 1981
92, 1981 18 June 1981 Part I (ss. 1
and 2): Royal
Assent Div. 1 of
Part XI (s. 36):
1 July 1981 (see
s. 2 (2) and Gazette
1981, No. S118)
Remainder: 1 July 1982
(see s. 2 (3) and
Gazette 1982, No. S124) -
Homes Savings Grant Acts Amendment Act 1982
41, 1982 2 June 1982 2 June 1982 -
Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act (No. 2) 1982
80, 1982 22 Sept 1982 Part XL (ss. 130-135):
20 Oct 1982 (c) -
as
amended
by
Statute Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act (No. 1) 1983
39, 1983 20 June 1983 S. 3: 20 Oct 1982 (d) S. 7(1)
Statute Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act (No. 2) 1984
165, 1984 25 Oct 1984 Ss. 3 and 4: 13 Dec 1984
(see Gazette 1984, No.
S519) (e)
Ss. 2 (32), 6 (1) and 9
National Welfare Fund Repeal Act 1985
24, 1985 22 May 1985 Ss. 1, 2 and 5: Royal S. 5
Assent
Remainder: 1 July 1985
(see Gazette 1985, No. S232)
Statute Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act (No. 1) 1985
65, 1985 5 June 1985 S. 3: 3 July 1985 (f) -
(a) The Homes Savings Grant Act 1964 was amended by section 3 only of the
Administrative Changes (Consequential Provisions) Act 1976, subsection 2 (7)
of which provides as follows:
"(7) The amendments of each other Act specified in the Schedule made by this
Act shall be deemed to have come into operation on 22 December 1975."
(b) The Homes Savings Grant Act 1964 was amended by section 115 only of the
Statute Law Revision Act 1981, subsection 2 (1) of which provides as follows:
"(1) Subject to this section, this Act shall come into operation on the day
on which it receives the Royal Assent."
(c) The Homes Savings Grant Act 1964 was amended by Part XL (sections
130-135) only of the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act (No. 2) 1982,
subsection 2 (16) of which provides as follows:
"(16) The remaining provisions of this Act shall come into operation on the
twenty-eighth day after the day on which this Act receives the Royal Assent."
(d) The Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act (No. 2) 1982 was amended
by section 3 only of the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act (No. 1)
1983, subsection 2 (21) of which provides as follows:
"(21) The amendments of the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act (No.
2) 1982 made by this Act shall be deemed to have come into operation on 20
October 1982."
(e) The Homes Savings Grant Act 1964 was amended by sections 3 and 4 only of
the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act (No. 2) 1984, subsection 2 (29)
of which provides that section 9 and the amendments made to the Homes Savings
Grant Act 1964 shall come into operation on the day fixed by Proclamation for
the purposes of subsection 2 (20) of that Act.
(f) The Homes Savings Grant Act 1964 was amended by section 3 only of the
Statute Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act (No. 1) 1985, subsection 2 (1) of
which provides as follows:
"(1) Subject to this section, this Act shall come into operation on the
twenty-eighth day after the day on which it receives the Royal Assent."
Table of Amendments
ad=added or inserted am=amended rep=repealed rs=repealed and substituted
Provision affected How affected
Title am. No. 50, 1967; No. 14, 1970
S. 3 rep. No. 216, 1973
S. 4 am. No. 6, 1965; No. 50, 1967; No. 14,
1970; No. 216, 1973; No. 49, 1975; Nos. 91
and 114, 1976; No. 61, 1981; No. 80, 1982
(as am. by No. 39, 1983); No. 165, 1984
S. 4A ad. No. 6, 1965 am. No. 49, 1975; No. 80,
1982; No. 165, 1984
S. 4B ad. No. 14, 1970 am. No. 78, 1972; No.
216, 1973; No. 49, 1975; No. 114,
1976; No. 92, 1981; No. 80, 1982; No. 165,1984
S. 4C ad. No. 114, 1976
am. No. 80, 1982; No. 165, 1984
S. 5 am. No. 50, 1967; No. 14, 1970
S. 6 am. No. 80, 1982; No. 165, 1984
S. 7 am. No. 6, 1965; No. 216, 1973; No. 49,
1975; No. 91, 1976; No. 61, 1981; No. 80,
1982; No. 165, 1984
S. 8 am. No. 49, 1975; No. 91, 1976; No. 61,
1981; No. 80, 1982; No. 165, 1984
S. 8A ad. No. 49, 1975
rep. No. 61, 1981
Ss. 9-11 am. No. 80, 1982; No. 165, 1984
S. 12 am. No. 93, 1966; No. 80, 1982; No. 165, 1984
S. 13 am. No. 93, 1966; No. 49, 1975; No. 80,
1982; No. 165, 1984
S. 14 am. No. 6, 1965; No. 50, 1967; No. 216,
1973; No. 49, 1975; No. 80, 1982; No. 165, 1984
S. 14A ad. No. 50, 1967
am. No. 216, 1973; No. 49, 1975; No. 80,
1982; No. 165, 1984
S. 14B ad. No. 50, 1967
am. No. 14, 1970; No. 49, 1975; No. 80,
1982; No. 165, 1984
S. 14C ad. No. 14, 1970
am. No. 216, 1973; No. 49, 1975; No. 80,
1982; No. 165, 1984
S. 14D ad. No. 14, 1970
am. No. 49, 1975; No. 80, 1982; No. 165, 1984
S. 14E ad. No. 49, 1975
S. 15 am. No. 49, 1975
S. 16 am. No. 6, 1965; No. 50, 1967; No. 14,
1970; No. 49, 1975
S. 16A ad. No. 14, 1970
rs. No. 114, 1976
S. 17 rs. No. 6, 1965
am. No. 49, 1975; No. 80, 1982; No. 165, 1984
Ss. 17A- ad. No. 6, 1965; No. 80, 1982; No. 165, 1984
S. 17D ad. No. 50, 1967
am. No. 80, 1982; No. 165, 1984
S. 18 rs. No. 14, 1970
am. No. 49, 1975
S. 19 am. No. 6, 1965; No. 50, 1967; No. 216,
1973; No. 49, 1975; No. 80, 1982; No. 165, 1984
S. 20 am. No. 6, 1965; No. 93, 1966; No. 50,
1967; No. 14, 1970; No. 112, 1971; No. 78,
1972; No. 216, 1973; No. 49, 1975; No.
114, 1976; No. 80, 1982; No. 165, 1984
S. 20A ad. No. 50, 1967
am. No. 49, 1975; No. 80, 1982; No. 165, 1984
S. 21 am. No. 6, 1965; No. 50, 1967; No. 216,
1973; No. 49, 1975; No. 114, 1976; Nos. 41
and 80, 1982; No. 165, 1984
S. 22 am. No, 93, 1966; No. 50, 1967; No. 78,
1972; No. 49, 1975; No. 80, 1982; No. 165, 1984
S. 23 am. No. 80, 1982; No. 165, 1984
S. 24 am. No. 6, 1965; No. 93, 1966; No. 80,
1982; No. 165, 1984
S. 25 rs. No. 24, 1985
S. 26 am. No. 93, 1966; No. 14, 1970
S. 26A ad. No. 14, 1970
S. 27 am. No. 80, 1982; No. 165, 1984
S. 28 am. No. 50, 1967
S. 29 am. No. 93, 1966; No. 80, 1982; No. 165, 1984
S. 30 No. 216, 1973; No. 80, 1982; No. 165, 1984
S. 31 am. No. 49, 1975; No. 91, 1976; No. 80, 1982
rs. No. 65, 1985
S. 31A ad. No. 80, 1982
rs. No. 165, 1984
S. 32 am. No. 216, 1973; No. 49, 1975
rep. No. 80, 1982
S. 33 am. No. 93, 1966
HOMES SAVINGS GRANT ACT 1964 - TABLE OF PROVISIONS
TABLE
TABLE OF PROVISIONS
Section
PART I-PRELIMINARY
1. Short title
2. Commencement
4. Interpretation
4A. Trusts etc.
4B. Approved credit unions
4C. Dwelling-house on rural property
5. Object
PART II-ADMINISTRATION
6. Administration
7. Regional Directors
8. Delegation
9. Determination of applications for grants
10. Review of determinations
11. Appeal to Secretary
12. Powers as to taking of evidence and production of
documents
13. Officers to observe secrecy
PART III-GRANTS TO ELIGIBLE PERSONS
14. Eligible married persons
14A Eligible widowed persons
14B. Modifications of Act in relation to eligible widowed
persons
14C. Eligible divorced persons
14D. Modifications of Act in relation to eligible divorced
persons
14E. Limitation on eligibility for grants
15. Acceptable savings where prescribed date is not later
than 31 December 1964
16. Acceptable savings where prescribed date is later than
31 December 1964
16A. Acceptable savings to include moneys deposited with
credit unions
17. Acceptable savings to include certain moneys expended
in purchase of certain residential land
17A. Acceptable savings to include certain moneys expended
in connexion with purchase or construction of
dwelling-house
17B. Acceptable savings of members of the Defence Force
serving outside Australia and their spouses and
children
17C. Power of Secretary to treat moneys as paid or expended
17D. Power of Secretary to treat person as having continued
to hold acceptable savings in certain circumstances
18. Moneys held or paid jointly by certain eligible
persons
19. Purchase or ownership of land or dwelling-houses
20. Grants
20A. Grant to person whose spouse has died after the
prescribed date
21. Applications for grants
22. Amount of grant
23. Payment of grants
24. Repayment of grants
PART IV-MISCELLANEOUS
25. Appropriation
26. Offences
26A. Credit union to notify members and intending members
of withdrawal of approval
27. Prosecutions for offences
28. Recovery of overpayments
29. Information as to applicants
30. Indemnity to certain persons
31. Evidence
31A. References to Secretary to include references to
Director-General
33. Regulations
HOMES SAVINGS GRANT ACT 1964 - LONG TITLE
SECT
An Act to assist Young Married Persons, and Young
Widowed and Divorced Persons with Dependent Children,
to purchase or build their own Homes
HOMES SAVINGS GRANT ACT 1964 - PART I
PART I-PRELIMINARY
HOMES SAVINGS GRANT ACT 1964 - SECT 1
Short title
SECT
1. This Act may be cited as the Homes Savings Grant Act 1964.*1*
SEE NOTES TO FIRST ARTICLE OF THIS CHAPTER .
HOMES SAVINGS GRANT ACT 1964 - SECT 2
Commencement
SECT
2. This Act shall come into operation on the day on which it receives the
Royal Assent.*1*
SEE NOTES TO FIRST ARTICLE OF THIS CHAPTER .
HOMES SAVINGS GRANT ACT 1964 - SECT 4
Interpretation
SECT
4. (1) In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears:
"approved interest", in relation to a person in relation to land or to a
dwelling-house of a kind commonly known as a flat or home unit, means:
(a) an estate in fee simple;
(b) an interest as purchaser of an estate in fee simple from the Crown in
right of a State where payment of the purchase price is to be made by
instalments over a period of years;
(c) an estate for life approved by the Secretary for the purposes of this
Act;
(d) a lease for a term of years from the owner of an estate in fee simple if
the Secretary is satisfied that the lease gives reasonable security of tenure
to the lessee for a substantial period;
(e) a lease, licence or right of occupancy from the Crown in right of the
Commonwealth or a State if the Secretary is satisfied that the lease, licence
or right of occupancy gives reasonable security of tenure to the lessee,
licensee or holder of the right;
(ea) an interest of the kind referred to in subsection (1) of section 4C;
or
(f) any other interest declared by the regulations to be an approved
interest for the purposes of this Act;
"building society" means a society registered or incorporated as a building
society or a co-operative housing society under the law in force in a State or
an internal Territory relating to building societies or co-operative housing
societies, and includes a society registered under Part I of the Building and
Co-operative Societies Act, 1901, of the State of New South Wales;
"Commonwealth-State Housing Agreement moneys" means moneys provided by the
Commonwealth in pursuance of an Act relating to the grant of financial
assistance to the States for the purpose of housing other than moneys that are
required by the Act in pursuance of which they are provided to be used for the
provision of finance for persons erecting or purchasing dwelling-houses for
their own use;
"credit union" means a society or other body of persons:
(a) that is registered or incorporated as a credit union or credit society
under the law in force in a State or an internal Territory relating to credit
unions or credit societies; or
(b) the principal business of which consists of borrowing moneys from its
members and lending those moneys to its members and that is registered or
incorporated under the law in force in a State or an internal Territory
relating to such societies or bodies of persons;
"dependent child", in relation to a person, means a child who is in the
custody, care and control of the person, being a child:
(a) who is under the age of sixteen years; or
(b) who:
(i) has attained the age of sixteen years but is under the age
of twenty-one years;
(ii) is receiving full-time education at a school, college or
university; and
(iii) is wholly or substantially dependent on the person;
but does not include:
(c) if the person is a widower or widow-a child who was not born of the
person and his or her deceased spouse and whose custody, care and control were
assumed by the person after the death of his or her spouse; and
(d) if the person is a divorced person-a child who was not born of the
person and his or her former spouse unless the child had been in the custody,
care and control of those persons before the dissolution of their marriage;
"friendly society" means a society registered or incorporated under the law
in force in a State or an internal Territory relating to friendly societies;
"officer" means a person exercising powers, or performing duties or
functions, under or in relation to this Act;
"savings bank" means:
(a) a savings bank within the meaning of the Banking Act 1959;
(b) the State Savings Bank of Victoria;
(c) The Savings Bank of South Australia;
(d) The Rural and Industries Bank of Western Australia;
(e) The Cairns Co-operative Weekly Penny Savings Bank Limited; and
(f) any other bank determined by the Secretary, by notice published in the
Gazette, to be a savings bank for the purposes of this Act;
"Secretary" means the Secretary of the Department;
"share", in relation to the capital of a building society, does not include
a share in the capital of that society that is quoted for sale or purchase on
a Stock Exchange;
"State authority" means a body corporate (not being a bank or an
incorporated company, society or association) incorporated for a public
purpose by or under a law of a State;
"the prescribed date", in relation to an eligible person, means:
(a) 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 purchase of a dwelling-house
situated in Australia:
(i) if the contract was in writing-the date of making of the
contract; or
(ii) in any other case-such date as the Secretary determines;
(b) 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 by a
building-contractor of a dwelling-house on land situated in Australia that is,
or that the Secretary is satisfied will be, owned by the person or his or her
spouse or by both the person and his or her spouse:
(i) if the contract was in writing-the date of making of the
contract or the date on which the construction of the dwelling-house
commenced, whichever was the earlier; or
(ii) in any other case-such date as the Secretary
determines; or
(c) in the case of a person who or whose spouse, or who together with his or
her spouse, has constructed or is constructing, otherwise than through a
building-contractor, a dwelling-house on land situated in Australia that is,
or that the Secretary is satisfied will be, owned by the person or his or her
spouse or by both the person and his or her spouse-the date on which the
construction of the dwelling-house commenced;
"trading bank" means:
(a) a trading bank within the meaning of the Banking Act 1959;
(b) the Rural Bank of New South Wales;
(c) the State Bank of South Australia;
(d) The Rural and Industries Bank of Western Australia; and
(e) any other bank determined by the Secretary, by notice published in the
Gazette, to be a trading bank for the purposes of this Act.
(1A) For the purposes of the definition of "dependent child" in the last
preceding subsection, a child shall be deemed to be in the custody, care and
control of a person if the Secretary is satisfied that the child will be in
the custody, care and control of the person after the completion of the
purchase or construction of the dwelling-house in respect of which the person
has applied for a grant under this Act.
(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.
(2) In this Act:
(a) a reference, in relation to any time (in this paragraph referred to as
"the relevant time"), to the spouse of an eligible person:
(i) is a reference to the person who was the spouse of the
eligible person at the prescribed date or became the spouse of the eligible
person at a later date, whether or not he or she was the spouse of the
eligible person at the relevant time; and
(ii) in the case of an eligible person in relation to whom the
prescribed date is a date later than 26 October 1969-includes, for the purpose
of ascertaining the acceptable savings of the eligible person as at the
relevant time, a reference to the person who was the spouse of the eligible
person at the relevant time or became the spouse of the eligible person at a
later time, notwithstanding that he or she subsequently ceased to be the
spouse of the eligible person; and
(b) a reference, in relation to any time (in this paragraph referred to as
"the relevant time"), to a deceased spouse of an eligible person shall be read
as a reference to any person who, at the time of his or her death, was the
spouse of the eligible person, whether or not he or she was the spouse of the
eligible person at the relevant time.
(2A) For the purposes of this Act:
(a) moneys saved at any time by a deceased spouse of a person shall be
deemed to have been saved at that time by the person;
(b) moneys held (whether in the form of an investment or otherwise), or paid
or expended, at any time by a person jointly with a deceased spouse of the
person shall be deemed to have been held, or paid or expended, as the case may
be, at that time by the person alone;
(c) moneys held (whether in the form of an investment or otherwise) at any
time by a deceased spouse of a person shall be deemed to have been held at
that time by the person;
(d) where moneys that were held (whether in the form of an investment or
otherwise) by a deceased spouse of a person at the time of his or her death
are, by reason of the last preceding paragraph, to be deemed to have been held
at that time by the person, the Secretary may treat those moneys as having
continued, in whole or in part, to be held by that person for such period
after that time as the Secretary thinks reasonable and as having continued to
be so held in the same form as the form in which the moneys were held by the
deceased spouse of the person at that time; and
(e) moneys paid or expended at any time by a deceased spouse of a person
shall be deemed to have been paid or expended, as the case may be, at that
time by the person.
(3) A reference in this Act to moneys saved by a person does not include a
reference to moneys borrowed by the person.
(4) For the purposes of this Act, a person shall be deemed not to have
ceased to reside in Australia during any temporary absence from Australia.
(5) For the purposes of this Act:
(a) a person who has, whether before or after the commencement of this Act,
saved moneys by depositing those moneys, and maintaining them on deposit, with
a branch of a savings bank or of a trading bank in an external Territory,
shall be deemed to have saved those moneys in Australia; and
(b) a reference in this Act to a branch in Australia of a savings bank or of
a trading bank shall, in relation to such a person, be read as including a
reference to a branch of a savings bank or of a trading bank, as the case may
be, in such a Territory.
(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.
(6) For the purposes of this Act, a person shall be deemed not to have
received a grant under this Act if the person or his or her spouse has paid to
the Commonwealth, or the Commonwealth has recovered from the person or his or
her spouse, an amount equal to the amount of the grant in pursuance of
subsection (2) of section 24 or section 28, or of an order under subsection
(2) of section 26.
(6A) Where a person has entered into a contract for the purchase of a
structure for removal to land situated in Australia, being a structure
intended for use as a dwelling-house on that land, then, for the purposes of
this Act:
(a) that contract and any other contract relating to the removal of that
structure to, or its siting on, that land shall be deemed to be a contract for
the construction by a building-contractor of a dwelling-house on that land;
and
(b) construction under that last-mentioned contract shall be deemed to have
commenced on the date on which the contract for the purchase of the structure
was entered into.
(7) For the purposes of this Act:
(a) the construction of a dwelling-house shall be deemed to have commenced
on:
(i) the day on which work commenced on the laying of the
foundations of the dwelling-house; or
(ii) if the Secretary determines that, having regard to all the
circumstances, the construction of the dwelling-house should be treated as
having commenced on a later day-that later day; and
(b) the completion of the construction of a partly constructed
dwelling-house shall be deemed to have commenced on such date as the Secretary
determines, having regard to all the circumstances, should be treated as the
date on which that construction commenced to be completed.
(8) Unless the contrary intention appears, a reference in this Act to the
construction of a dwelling-house by a person (whether through a
building-contractor or not) shall, if the construction of the dwelling-house
was commenced by another person (whether through a building-contractor or
not), be read as a reference to the completion of the construction of the
dwelling-house by the first-mentioned person.
HOMES SAVINGS GRANT ACT 1964 - SECT 4A
Trusts etc.
SECT
4A. (1) Where:
(a) the owner of land holds the land in trust for another person; or
(b) a person has entered into a contract for the purchase of land or a
dwelling-house to be held in trust for another person;
and the Secretary is satisfied that the other person will become the owner of
the land or dwelling-house, the other person shall, for the purposes of this
Act other than section 17, be deemed to be the owner of the land or
dwelling-house or to have entered into the contract for the purchase of the
land or dwelling-house, as the case may be.
(2) Where:
(a) an owner of land who holds the land in trust for another person has
entered into a contract for the construction by a building-contractor of a
dwelling-house on the land; or
(b) a person has, at the request of another person, entered into a contract,
otherwise than as an agent of the other person, for the construction by a
building-contractor of a dwelling-house on land owned by the other person;
the other person shall, for the purposes of this Act, be deemed to have
entered into the contract.
(3) Section 19 has effect in relation to paragraphs (a) and (b) of
subsection (1) of this section and paragraph (a) of the last preceding
subsection as if there were omitted from subsections (1) and (2) of section 19
the words ", otherwise than as a trustee," (wherever occurring).
(4) For the purposes of this Act, where:
(a) a person holds any moneys, whether in the form of an investment or
otherwise, in trust for another person; and
(b) the moneys are not held jointly with other moneys, other than moneys
held in trust for the spouse of the other person;
the moneys shall be deemed to have been saved by the other person and to be
held by the other person in the same form as that in which they are held by
the trustee, and any such moneys that have been paid or expended for any
purpose by the trustee shall be deemed to have been paid or expended for that
purpose by the other person.
HOMES SAVINGS GRANT ACT 1964 - SECT 4B
Approved credit unions
SECT
4B. (1) In this section:
"financial year", in relation to a credit union, means:
(a) a period of twelve months ending on 30 June; or
(b) if the credit union has adopted a period of twelve months ending on any
other day as its accounting period-a period of twelve months ending on that
other day;
"housing loan" means a loan made for or in connexion with any one or more of
the following purposes:
(a) the purchase of land that could, at the time when the loan was made,
lawfully be used for residential purposes;
(b) the purchase of a dwelling-house;
(c) the construction of a dwelling-house; and
(d) the payment of expenses incurred, or to be incurred, in connexion with a
purpose referred to in a preceding paragraph of this definition;
"registered company auditor" means a person registered as a company auditor
under a law in force in a State or Territory.
(2) The Secretary may, on application by a credit union, by instrument under
his hand, approve that credit union for the purposes of this Act.
(3) An approval under the last preceding subsection shall be deemed to have
taken effect on and from the first day of the last financial year of the
credit union that ended before the date of application by the credit union for
approval.
(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 subsection (3), be deemed to have taken effect on and from a date later
than 31 December 1976.
(4) The Secretary shall not approve a credit union unless:
(a) he is satisfied that not less than twenty per centum of the total amount
that was lent by the credit union to its members during the last financial
year of the credit union that ended before the date of the application for
approval was lent by way of housing loans; and
(b) the credit union has given him an undertaking in writing that not less
than twenty per centum of the total amount that will be lent by the credit
union to its members during each subsequent financial year will be lent by way
of housing loans.
(5) An application by a credit union for approval shall:
(a) be in writing in accordance with a form made available by the
Secretary;
(b) contain an undertaking of a kind referred to in paragraph (b) of the
last preceding subsection;
(c) specify the address of its place of business, or principal place of
business, and an address for service of notices;
(d) be signed by an officer of the credit union;
(e) be lodged with the Secretary; and
(f) be accompanied by a statement, together with a certificate by a
registered company auditor as to the correctness of the statement, setting out
such information as is necessary to enable the Secretary to satisfy himself as
to the matter referred to in paragraph (a) of the last preceding subsection.
(6) An approved credit union shall, within three months after the expiration
of each financial year of the credit union ending on or after the date on
which the credit union became an approved credit union, furnish to the
Secretary a statement, together with a certificate by a registered company
auditor as to the correctness of the statement, setting out:
(a) the total amount that was lent by the credit union to its members during
that financial year; and
(b) the total amount that was lent by the credit union to its members during
that financial year by way of housing loans.
(6A) Subsection (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.
(7) If a financial year of a credit union ends on or after the date on which
the credit union applied for approval and before the date on which the credit
union became an approved credit union, the credit union shall, within three
months after that last-mentioned date, furnish to the Secretary a statement
and certificate in accordance with subsection (6) in relation to that
financial year.
(8) The Secretary may at any time, by notice under his hand sent by post to
the address for service of a credit union that is an approved credit union or
has applied for approval, require that credit union to furnish to him, within
such time as is specified in the notice, such information as he requires in
relation to loans made by the credit union during a financial year referred to
in paragraph (a) of subsection (4), subsection (6) or subsection (7).
(9) If an approved credit union:
(a) has failed to comply with the undertaking given by the credit union in
connexion with its application for approval;
(b) has failed to comply with the requirements of subsection (6) or
subsection (7); or
(c) has failed to comply with a requirement of the Secretary under the last
preceding subsection;
the Secretary may, by instrument under his hand, withdraw the approval given
in relation to the credit union, but the withdrawal does not take effect until
the expiration of six months after the date of the withdrawal.
(10) As soon as practicable after the Secretary grants approval to, or
withdraws the approval of, a credit union, he shall:
(a) cause to be sent by post to the credit union, at its address for
service, a notice of the approval or withdrawal and the date as from which the
approval is, by virtue of subsection (3), to be deemed to have taken effect or
the withdrawal is, by virtue of the last preceding subsection, to take effect,
as the case may be; and
(b) cause to be published in the Gazette a notice specifying the name, and
the address of the place of business, of the credit union and the date as from
which the approval is, by virtue of subsection (3), to be deemed to have taken
effect or the withdrawal is, by virtue of the last preceding subsection, to
take effect, as the case may be.
HOMES SAVINGS GRANT ACT 1964 - SECT 4C
Dwelling-house on rural property
SECT
4C. (1) Where a person:
(a) has, on or after 1 April 1976 and, in the case of a widower or widow or
a divorced person, while the person was a widower or widow or a divorced
person:
(i) entered into a contract for the construction by a
building-contractor, on land situated in Australia, of a dwelling-house the
construction of which commenced on or after that date; or
(ii) commenced to construct, otherwise than through a
building-contractor, on land situated in Australia, a dwelling-house; and
(b) satisfies the Secretary that the land forms part of a rural property
owned by another person (whether that other person holds the land as a trustee
or not) who has given permission to the first-mentioned person to occupy the
dwelling-house when completed;
then, for the purposes of this Act, that permission shall be deemed to create
an interest in the land in favour of that first-mentioned person and that
first-mentioned person shall be deemed to be the owner of that interest.
(2) A person shall be deemed to comply with paragraph (a) of subsection (1)
if the action required to be taken by that person to comply with that
paragraph was taken by:
(a) in the case of a person who is married-the spouse of the person or the
person and his or her spouse acting jointly;
(b) in the case of a person who is a widower or widow-the person and a child
or children of the person or of a deceased spouse of the person acting
jointly; or
(c) in the case of a person who is a divorced person-the person and a child
or children of the person or of a former spouse of the person acting jointly.
(3) In this section, "rural property" means:
(a) land used wholly or substantially for primary production; or
(b) land that the Secretary is satisfied should, having regard to its
extent, location, use or zoning, be treated as a rural property for the
purposes of this Act.
HOMES SAVINGS GRANT ACT 1964 - SECT 5
Object
SECT
5. The object of this Act is to encourage and assist young married persons,
and young widowed and divorced persons with dependent children, to purchase or
build their own homes and, in the administration of this Act, regard shall be
had to that object.
HOMES SAVINGS GRANT ACT 1964 - PART II
PART II-ADMINISTRATION
HOMES SAVINGS GRANT ACT 1964 - SECT 6
Administration
SECT
6. The Secretary has, subject to any directions of the Minister, the general
administration of this Act.
HOMES SAVINGS GRANT ACT 1964 - SECT 7
Regional Directors
SECT
7. (1) For the purposes of this Act, the Secretary shall:
(a) in respect of each State-appoint an officer of the Department to be the
Regional Director for that State; and
(b) in respect of the Australian Capital Territory-appoint an officer of the
Department to be the Regional Director for that Territory.
(1A) An appointment under this section may be an appointment of:
(a) a specified officer of the Department only; or
(b) every officer of the Department from time to time holding, or performing
the duties of, a specified office in the Department.
(2) For the purposes of this section, the Northern Territory shall be deemed
to be part of the State of South Australia.
HOMES SAVINGS GRANT ACT 1964 - SECT 8
Delegation
SECT
8. (1) The Secretary may, by writing under his hand, delegate to an officer
of the Department, either generally or otherwise as provided in the instrument
of delegation, all or any of his powers and functions under this Act, except
this power of delegation.
(2) A power or function so delegated may be exercised or performed by the
delegate in accordance with the instrument of delegation.
(3) A delegation under this section is revocable at will and does not
prevent the exercise of a power or the performance of a function by the
Secretary.
HOMES SAVINGS GRANT ACT 1964 - SECT 9
Determination of applications for grants
SECT
9. The Secretary shall, subject to this Act, determine applications for
grants.
HOMES SAVINGS GRANT ACT 1964 - SECT 10
Review of determinations
SECT
10. Where it appears to the Secretary that sufficient reason exists for
reviewing a determination, direction, decision or approval of an officer under
this Act (including a determination, direction, decision or approval of the
Secretary), the Secretary may review the determination, direction, decision or
approval and may affirm, revoke or vary it.
HOMES SAVINGS GRANT ACT 1964 - SECT 11
Appeal to Secretary
SECT
11. A person affected by a determination, direction, decision or approval of
an officer under this Act (other than a determination, direction, decision or
approval of the Secretary) may, within such time (if any) as is prescribed,
appeal to the Secretary, and the Secretary may affirm, revoke or vary the
determination, direction, decision or approval.
HOMES SAVINGS GRANT ACT 1964 - SECT 12
Powers as to taking of evidence and production of documents
SECT
12. (1) The Secretary or a Regional Director may, for the purposes of this
Act:
(a) summon witnesses;
(b) receive evidence on oath or affirmation; and
(c) require the production of documents.
(2) A person who has been summoned to appear before the Secretary or a
Regional Director shall not, without lawful excuse, after tender of reasonable
expenses, fail to appear in obedience to the summons.
(3) A person, whether summoned or not, who appears before the Secretary or a
Regional Director shall not:
(a) refuse to be sworn as a witness or to make an affirmation;
(b) fail to answer any question that he is lawfully required to answer; or
(c) fail to produce any document that he is lawfully required to produce.
Penalty: Forty dollars.
HOMES SAVINGS GRANT ACT 1964 - SECT 13
Officers to observe secrecy
SECT
13. (1) A person shall, if the Minister or the Secretary so directs, before
entering upon his duties, or exercising any powers or performing any
functions, under this Act, make before a Justice of the Peace or a
Commissioner for Declarations a declaration in accordance with the prescribed
form.
(2) A person shall not, directly or indirectly, except in the exercise of
his powers, or the performance of his duties or functions, under this Act, and
while he is, or after he ceases to be, an officer, make a record of, or
divulge or communicate to any person, any information with respect to the
affairs of another person acquired by him in the exercise of his powers, or
the performance of his duties or functions, under this Act.
(3) A person who is, or has been, an officer shall not, except for the
purposes of this Act, be required:
(a) to produce in court any document that has come into his possession or
under his control in the exercise of his powers, or the performance of his
duties or functions, under this Act; or
(b) divulge or communicate to a court any matter or thing that has come
under his notice in the performance of any such duties or functions.
(4) Notwithstanding anything contained in the preceding provisions of this
section, an officer may:
(a) if the Minister or the Secretary certifies that it is necessary in the
public interest that any information acquired by the officer in the exercise
of his powers, or the performance of his duties or functions, under this Act
should be divulged, divulge that information to such person as the Minister or
the Secretary directs;
(b) divulge any such information to any prescribed authority or person; or
(c) divulge any such information to a person who, in the opinion of the
Secretary, is expressly or impliedly authorized by the person to whom the
information relates to obtain it.
(5) An authority or person to whom information is divulged under the last
preceding subsection, and any person or employee under the control of that
authority or person, is, in respect of that information, entitled to rights
and privileges, and subject to obligations and liabilities, under subsections
(2) and (3) as if he were a person performing duties under this Act and had
acquired the information in the performance of those duties.
Penalty: Five hundred dollars.
HOMES SAVINGS GRANT ACT 1964 - PART III
PART III-GRANTS TO ELIGIBLE PERSONS
HOMES SAVINGS GRANT ACT 1964 - SECT 14
Eligible married persons
SECT
14. (1) Subject to section 14E, a person is an eligible person for the
purposes of this Act if:
(a) the person is married;
(b) the person had not, before the prescribed date and the date of his or
her marriage, attained the age of thirty-six years;
(c) the person:
(i) was an Australian citizen throughout the period of three
years immediately preceding the prescribed date; or
(ii) resided in Australia throughout that period;
(d) the Secretary is satisfied that, throughout the period of three years
immediately preceding the prescribed date:
(i) where the prescribed date is a date not later than 30 April
1967-acceptable savings were held by the person; or
(ii) in any other case-acceptable savings were held by the
person or his or her spouse, or by the person jointly with his or her spouse;
(e) a grant under this Act has not been made to the person, or to the spouse
or a former spouse of the person during his or her marriage to the person;
(f) the person or his or her spouse has, or the person and his or her spouse
have, on or after 2 December 1963:
(i) entered into a contract for the purchase of a
dwelling-house situated in Australia, or for the construction by a
building-contractor, on land situated in Australia that is, or that the
Secretary is satisfied will be, owned by either or both of those persons, of a
dwelling-house the construction of which commenced on or after that date; or
(ii) commenced to construct, otherwise than through a
building-contractor, on land situated in Australia that is, or that the
Secretary is satisfied will be, owned by either or both of those persons, a
dwelling-house that has since that date been completed or on which substantial
building progress has been made;
(g) the person is not an undischarged bankrupt; and
(h) the person is not serving a term of imprisonment for an offence against
the law of the Commonwealth or of a State or Territory.
(2) For the purposes of subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (d) of the last
preceding subsection, any savings held by the spouse of a person (other than
savings held jointly with the person) shall be disregarded if, apart from that
paragraph, the spouse would not himself or herself be an eligible person.
HOMES SAVINGS GRANT ACT 1964 - SECT 14A
Eligible widowed persons
SECT
14A. Subject to section 14E, a person is an eligible person for the purposes
of this Act if:
(a) the person is a widower or widow who has a dependent child or dependent
children or had such a child or children at the prescribed date;
(b) the person had not, before the prescribed date, attained the age of
thirty-six years;
(c) the person:
(i) was an Australian citizen throughout the period of three
years immediately preceding the prescribed date; or
(ii) resided in Australia throughout that period;
(d) the Secretary is satisfied that the person held acceptable savings
throughout the period of three years immediately preceding the prescribed
date;
(e) a grant under this Act has not been made to the person, or to a deceased
spouse or former spouse of the person during his or her marriage to the
person;
(f) the person has, or the person and a child or children of the person or
of a deceased spouse of the person have, on or after 28 November 1966, and
while the person was a widower or widow:
(i) entered into a contract for the purchase of a
dwelling-house situated in Australia, or for the construction by a
building-contractor, on land situated in Australia that is, or that the
Secretary is satisfied will be, owned by the person or by the person and the
child or children, of a dwelling-house the construction of which commenced on
or after that date; or
(ii) commenced to construct, otherwise than through a
building-contractor, on land situated in Australia that is, or that the
Secretary is satisfied will be, owned by the person or by the person and the
child or children, a dwelling-house that has since that date been completed or
on which substantial building progress has been made;
(g) the person is not an undischarged bankrupt; and
(h) the person is not serving a term of imprisonment for an offence against
a law of the Commonwealth or of a State or Territory.
HOMES SAVINGS GRANT ACT 1964 - SECT 14B
Modifications of Act in relation to eligible widowed persons
SECT
14B. (1) This section applies to a person who is an eligible person by
virtue of the last preceding section.
(2) The Secretary may treat any land or dwelling-house that has been
purchased, or is owned, by a person to whom this section applies jointly with
a child or children of the person or of a deceased spouse of the person as
having been purchased, or as being owned, as the case may be, by the person
alone.
(3) Section 15 applies in relation to a person to whom this section applies
as if the reference in that section to the year 1964 were a reference to the
year 1967.
(4) Subsections (1) and (2) of section 16 apply in relation to a person to
whom this section applies as if each reference in those subsections to the
year 1964 were a reference to the year 1967.
(5) Subsection (3) of section 16 does not apply in relation to a person to
whom this section applies but, for the purposes of this Act, the acceptable
savings of such a person (being a person in relation to whom the prescribed
date is a date later than 31 December 1967) as at a time (in this subsection
referred to as "the relevant time") after 31 December 1967, are, subject to
this Act, the moneys that were saved in Australia before the relevant time by
the person and:
(a) were maintained at the relevant time by the person on deposit (other
than a deposit in an account that may be drawn on by cheque) with a branch in
Australia of a savings bank or fixed deposit with a branch in Australia of a
trading bank, being a deposit that was described in the books or records of
the savings bank or the trading bank, as the case may be, as a Home Savings
Account or was described in those books or records in any other way that
indicated that the moneys were for use in connexion with the purchase or
construction of a dwelling-house;
(b) were maintained at the relevant time by the person on deposit with a
building society; or
(c) were paid before the relevant time by the person to a building society
as subscriptions in respect of shares in the capital of the society and were
not repaid before that time.
(6) In respect of a person to whom this section applies and in relation to
whom the prescribed date is a date later than 26 October 1969, paragraph (a)
of the last preceding subsection has effect as if the words ", being a deposit
that was described in the books or records of the savings bank or the trading
bank, as the case may be, as a Home Savings Account or was described in those
books or records in any other way that indicated that the moneys were for use
in connexion with the purchase or construction of a dwelling-house" were
omitted.
(7) Section 20 has effect in relation to a person to whom this section
applies as if paragraph (c) of subsection (2) and subsection (6) were omitted.
(8) A grant under this Act shall not be made to a person to whom this
section applies in respect of a dwelling-house if the person or his or her
deceased spouse, or the person and his or her deceased spouse, had during
their marriage, or the person has since he or she became a widower or widow:
(a) owned another dwelling-house; or
(b) been a party or parties to a contract, other than a contract that was
discharged (otherwise than by performance of the contract) before the
expiration of three months after it was entered into, for the purchase of
another dwelling-house, being a contract that provided for the payment of the
purchase price or part of the purchase price by instalments;
unless the Secretary is satisfied that it would be unreasonable to regard the
other dwelling-house as, or as suitable for the purpose of constituting, the
family home of the person and his or her dependent child or dependent
children.
HOMES SAVINGS GRANT ACT 1964 - SECT 14C
Eligible divorced persons
SECT
14C. Subject to section 14E, a person is an eligible person for the purposes
of this Act if:
(a) the person is a divorced person who has a dependent child or dependent
children or had such a child or children at the prescribed date;
(b) the person had not, before the prescribed date, attained the age of
thirty-six years;
(c) the person:
(i) was an Australian citizen throughout the period of three
years immediately preceding the prescribed date; or
(ii) resided in Australia throughout that period;
(d) the Secretary is satisfied that, throughout the period of three years
immediately preceding the prescribed date, acceptable savings were held by the
person or by the person jointly with his or her former spouse;
(e) a grant under this Act has not been made to the person or to a former
spouse of the person during his or her marriage to the person;
(f) the person has, or the person and a child or children of the person or
of a former spouse of the person have, on or after 27 October 1969, and while
the person was a divorced person:
(i) entered into a contract for the purchase of a
dwelling-house situated in Australia, or for the construction by a
building-contractor, on land situated in Australia that is, or that the
Secretary is satisfied will be, owned by the person or by the person and the
child or children, of a dwelling-house the construction of which commenced on
or after that date; or
(ii) commenced to construct, otherwise than through a
building-contractor, on land situated in Australia that is, or that the
Secretary is satisfied will be, owned by the person or by the person and the
child or children, a dwelling-house that has since that date been completed or
on which substantial building progress has been made;
(g) the person is not an undischarged bankrupt; and
(h) the person is not serving a term of imprisonment for an offence against
a law of the Commonwealth or of a State or Territory.
HOMES SAVINGS GRANT ACT 1964 - SECT 14D
Modifications of Act in relation to eligible divorced persons
SECT
14D. (1) This section applies to a person who is an eligible person by
virtue of the last preceding section.
(2) The Secretary may treat any land or dwelling-house that has been
purchased, or is owned, by a person to whom this section applies jointly with
a child or children of the person or of a former spouse of the person as
having been purchased, or as being owned, as the case may be, by the person
alone.
(3) Section 15 applies in relation to a person to whom this section applies
as if the reference in that section to the year 1964 were a reference to the
year 1970.
(4) Subsections (1) and (2) of section 16 apply in relation to a person to
whom this section applies as if each reference in those subsections to the
year 1964 were a reference to the year 1970.
(5) Subsection (3) of section 16 does not apply in relation to a person to
whom this section applies but, for the purposes of this Act, the acceptable
savings of such a person (being a person in relation to whom the prescribed
date is a date later than 31 December 1970) as at a time (in this subsection
referred to as "the relevant time") after 31 December 1970, are, subject to
this Act, the moneys that were saved in Australia before the relevant time by
the person and:
(a) were maintained at the relevant time by the person on deposit (other
than a deposit in an account that may be drawn on by cheque) with a branch in
Australia of a savings bank or on fixed deposit with a branch in Australia of
a trading bank;
(b) were maintained at the relevant time by the person on deposit with a
building society; or
(c) were paid before the relevant time by the person to a building society
as subscriptions in respect of shares in the capital of the society and were
not repaid before that time.
(6) Section 20 has effect in relation to a person to whom this section
applies as if paragraph (c) of subsection (2) and subsection (6) were omitted.
(7) A grant under this Act shall not be made to a person to whom this
section applies in respect of a dwelling-house if the person, or the person
and his or her former spouse, had during their marriage, or the person has
since the dissolution of his or her marriage:
(a) owned another dwelling-house; or
(b) been a party or parties to a contract, other than a contract that was
discharged (otherwise than by performance of the contract) before the
expiration of three months after it was entered into, for the purchase of
another dwelling-house, being a contract that provided for the payment of the
purchase price or part of the purchase price by instalments;
unless the Secretary is satisfied that it would be unreasonable to regard the
other dwelling-house as, or as suitable for the purpose of constituting, the
family home of the person and his or her dependent child or dependent
children.
HOMES SAVINGS GRANT ACT 1964 - SECT 14E
Limitation on eligibility for grants
SECT
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 (1) (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.
HOMES SAVINGS GRANT ACT 1964 - SECT 15
Acceptable savings where prescribed date is not later than 31
December 1964
SECT
15. (1) This section applies to an eligible person in relation to whom the
prescribed date is a date not later than 31 December 1964.
(2) For the purposes of this Act, the acceptable savings of a person to whom
this section applies as at a time before the prescribed date are, subject to
this Act, the moneys that were saved in Australia before that time by the
person and were held at that time in Australia by the person, or by the person
jointly with his or her spouse, whether in the form of an investment or
otherwise.
(3) For the purposes of this Act, the acceptable savings of a person to whom
this section applies as at the prescribed date are, subject to this Act, the
moneys that were saved in Australia before that date by the person and:
(a) were maintained at that date by the person, or by the person jointly
with his or her spouse, on deposit with a branch in Australia of a savings
bank or of a trading bank;
(b) were maintained at that date by the person, or by the person jointly
with his or her spouse, on deposit with a building society, friendly society
or credit union; or
(c) were paid before that date by the person or his or her spouse, or by
both of those persons, to a building society as subscriptions in respect of
shares in the capital of the society and were not repaid before that date.
HOMES SAVINGS GRANT ACT 1964 - SECT 16
Acceptable savings where prescribed date is later than 31 December 1964
SECT
16. (1) This section applies to an eligible person in relation to whom the
prescribed date is a date later than 31 December 1964.
(2) For the purposes of this Act, the acceptable savings of a person to whom
this section applies as at a time on or before 31 December 1964, are, subject
to this Act, the moneys that were saved in Australia before that time by the
person and were held at that time in Australia by the person, or by the person
jointly with his or her spouse, whether in the form of an investment or
otherwise.
(3) For the purposes of this Act, the acceptable savings of a person to whom
this section applies as at a time after 31 December 1964, are, subject to this
Act, the moneys that were saved in Australia before that time by the person
and:
(a) if that time was a time on or before 31 December 1967:
(i) were maintained at that time and at 31 December 1964, by
the person, or by the person jointly with his or her spouse, on deposit with a
branch in Australia of a savings bank or of a trading bank, not being a
deposit of a kind to which subparagraph (i) of the next succeeding paragraph
applies; or
(ii) were maintained at that time and at 31 December 1964, by
the person, or by the person jointly with his or her spouse, on deposit with a
friendly society or credit union; or
(b) if that time was a time on or before, or was a time after, 31 December
1967:
(i) were maintained at that time by the person, or by the
person jointly with his or her spouse, on deposit (other than a deposit in an
account that may be drawn on by cheque) with a branch in Australia of a
savings bank or on fixed deposit with a branch in Australia of a trading bank,
being a deposit that was described in the books or records of the savings bank
or the trading bank, as the case may be, as a Home Savings Account or was
described in those books or records in any other way that indicated that the
moneys were for use in connexion with the purchase or construction of a
dwelling-house;
(ii) were maintained at that time by the person, or by the
person jointly with his or her spouse, on deposit with a building society; or
(iii) were paid before that time by the person or his or her
spouse, or by both of those persons, to a building society as subscriptions in
respect of shares in the capital of the society and were not repaid before
that time.
(4) In respect of a person in relation to whom the prescribed date is a date
later than 26 October 1969, subparagraph (i) of paragraph (b) of the last
preceding subsection has effect as if the words ", being a deposit that was
described in the books or records of the savings bank or the trading bank, as
the case may be, as a Home Savings Account or was described in those books or
records in any other way that indicated that the moneys were for use in
connexion with the purchase or construction of a dwelling-house" were omitted.
HOMES SAVINGS GRANT ACT 1964 - SECT 16A
Acceptable savings to include moneys deposited with credit unions
SECT
16A. The acceptable savings of a person as at any time include moneys saved
in Australia by the person and maintained at that time by the person, or by
the person jointly with his or her spouse, on deposit with:
(a) in the case of a person in relation to whom the prescribed date is a
date earlier than 1 April 1976-a credit union that was an approved credit
union for the purposes of this Act at that time or on the date that is the
prescribed date in relation to the person; or
(b) in any other case-any credit union.
HOMES SAVINGS GRANT ACT 1964 - SECT 17
Acceptable savings to include certain moneys expended in
purchase of certain residential land
SECT
17. (1) For the purpose of determining the acceptable savings of an eligible
person as at any time (in this subsection referred to as "the relevant time"),
where moneys saved in Australia by the eligible person were expended before
the relevant time in payment of the whole or a part of the purchase price in
respect of the purchase by the eligible person or his or her spouse, or by
both of those persons, of land that could, at the time when the moneys were
expended, lawfully be used for residential purposes and is not land on which
there has been, is being or is to be constructed a dwelling-house in respect
of which an application for a grant under this Act has been made by the
eligible person and:
(a) the eligible person or his or her spouse has, or both of those persons
have, before 1 July 1965, or the expiration of six months after the prescribed
date, whichever is the later, become entitled to receive a refund of the whole
or a part of the moneys expended but had not, before the relevant time,
received the whole of that refund; or
(b) the eligible person or his or her spouse has, or both of those persons
have, before 1 July 1965, or the expiration of six months after the prescribed
date, whichever is the later, entered into a contract for the sale of the land
but had not, before the relevant time, received the whole of the moneys that
were payable to either or both of them in respect of the sale;
the Secretary may, having regard to the area and the number of separate
parcels of the land and the amount (if any) received by the eligible person
before the relevant time as a refund of the moneys expended or in respect of
the sale of the land, treat the acceptable savings of the eligible person as
at that time as having included the whole, or such part as the Secretary
thinks reasonable, of the moneys expended.
(2) A reference in the last preceding subsection to the purchase or sale by
a person of land shall be read as a reference to the purchase or sale, as the
case may be, of any estate or interest in the land by the person, otherwise
than as a trustee, or by another person as trustee for the first-mentioned
person.
HOMES SAVINGS GRANT ACT 1964 - SECT 17A
Acceptable savings to include certain moneys expended in
connexion with purchase or construction of dwelling-house
SECT
17A. For the purpose of determining the acceptable savings of an eligible
person as at any time, where any moneys that were saved in Australia by the
person were expended before that time in connexion with the purchase or
construction of a dwelling-house in respect of which an application for a
grant under this Act has been made by the person, the Secretary:
(a) shall treat the acceptable savings of the person as at that time as
including so much of those moneys as were expended:
(i) in the payment of the whole or a part of the purchase price
of the land on which the dwelling-house has been constructed or commenced to
be constructed;
(ii) in the payment of a deposit in respect of the purchase or
construction of the dwelling-house; or
(iii) in the purchase of materials to be used in the
construction of the dwelling-house; and
(b) may treat the acceptable savings of the person as at that time as
including the whole or any part of the remainder of those moneys.
HOMES SAVINGS GRANT ACT 1964 - SECT 17B
Acceptable savings of members of the Defence Force serving
outside Australia and their spouses and children
SECT
17B. For the purposes of this Act, the acceptable savings of a person as at
a time when the person was serving outside Australia as a member of the
Defence Force or was the spouse or a child under the age of twenty-one years
of a person who was so serving include any moneys that were saved by the
person before that time and were held at that time outside Australia by the
person, or by the person jointly with his or her spouse, in a form approved by
the Secretary.
HOMES SAVINGS GRANT ACT 1964 - SECT 17C
Power of Secretary to treat moneys as paid or expended
SECT
17C. Where the Secretary is satisfied that:
(a) a person has done an act or thing for the purpose of effecting the
payment or expenditure of moneys by the person; and
(b) after the doing of that act or thing, the moneys have been so paid or
expended;
the Secretary may, for the purposes of this Act, treat the moneys as having
been paid or expended at the time of the doing of that act or thing.
HOMES SAVINGS GRANT ACT 1964 - SECT 17D
Power of Secretary to treat person as having continued to
hold acceptable savings in certain circumstances
SECT
17D. Where, during a period of not more than thirty days, a person ceased to
hold acceptable savings, or the acceptable savings of a person were less than
they would otherwise have been, by reason of the transfer of all or any of the
savings of the person from one place to another place or from one form of
savings into another form or for any other reason, the Secretary may, in his
discretion, treat the person as having held throughout that period acceptable
savings equal to whichever is the lesser of the following amounts, that is to
say, the acceptable savings that the person held immediately before the
commencement of that period or the acceptable savings that the person held
immediately after the expiration of that period.
HOMES SAVINGS GRANT ACT 1964 - SECT 18
Moneys held or paid jointly by certain eligible persons
SECT
18. (1) This section applies to an eligible person who is an eligible person
by virtue of section 14 or section 14C.
(2) Where moneys were held, maintained on deposit or paid at any time
(whether before or after the commencement of the Homes Savings Grant Act 1970)
jointly by a person, being a person to whom this section applies, and his or
her spouse, then, for the purposes of this Act, one-half of the moneys shall
be deemed to have been held, maintained or paid, as the case may be, at that
time by the eligible person and one-half by his or her spouse.
HOMES SAVINGS GRANT ACT 1964 - SECT 19
Purchase or ownership of land or dwelling-houses
SECT
19. (1) A reference in this Act other than section 17 to the purchase or
ownership by a person of land or of an undivided share in land shall be read
as a reference to the purchase or ownership, as the case may be, by the
person, otherwise than as a trustee, of an approved interest in the land or in
an undivided share in the land.
(2) A reference in this Act to the purchase or ownership of a dwelling-house
by a person shall:
(a) in the case of a dwelling-house not being a dwelling-house of a kind
commonly known as a flat or home unit, be read as a reference to the purchase
or ownership, as the case may be, by the person, otherwise than as a trustee,
of the land on which the dwelling-house is erected; and
(b) in the case of a dwelling-house being a dwelling-house of a kind
commonly known as a flat or home unit, be read as a reference to the purchase
or ownership, as the case may be, by the person, otherwise than as a trustee,
of:
(i) an approved interest in the flat or home unit in pursuance
of a law of a State or internal Territory that enables the holding or
enjoyment by different persons of proprietary rights in respect of different
flats or home units contained in the one building;
(ii) shares in the capital of a company that is the owner of
the land on which the building containing the flat or home unit is erected,
being shares that entitle the holder to a right of occupancy (whether under a
lease or otherwise) in respect of the flat or home unit; or
(iii) if the person is the owner of an undivided share in the
land on which the building containing the flat or home unit is erected and, by
virtue of an agreement between the person and all the other owners of
undivided shares in that land, the person is entitled to a right of occupancy
in respect of the flat or home unit-the undivided share in that land of the
person.
(3) For the purposes of this section:
(a) the purchase of an interest in land, in an undivided share in land or in
a flat or home unit, being an interest that, together with an interest already
owned by the purchaser or his or her spouse, or by both of those persons,
constitutes an approved interest in the land, in an undivided share in the
land or in the flat or home unit, as the case may be, shall be deemed to be
the purchase of such an approved interest; and
(b) the purchase of an interest in shares in the capital of a company, being
shares that entitle the holder to a right of occupancy in respect of a flat or
home unit, shall, if all other interests in those shares are already owned by
the purchaser or his or her spouse, or by both of those persons, be deemed to
be the purchase of those shares.
(4) For the purposes of this section:
(a) the purchase or ownership of an approved interest in land by a person
(in this subsection referred to as " the relevant person") jointly with
another person; or
(b) the purchase or ownership of an undivided share in an approved interest
in land by a person (in this subsection also referred to as "the relevant
person");
being land in respect of which the relevant person is entitled to a right of
occupancy, shall, if the Secretary in his discretion so determines, be treated
as if it were the purchase or ownership, as the case may be, of that approved
interest in the land by the relevant person.
HOMES SAVINGS GRANT ACT 1964 - SECT 20
Grants
SECT
20. (1) Subject to this section, the Secretary may, in his discretion, on
behalf of the Commonwealth, make a grant of moneys in accordance with this Act
to an eligible person.
(1A) A grant under this Act shall not be made to an eligible person unless
he became an eligible person before the expiration of twelve months after the
prescribed date or before such later time as the Secretary, in special
circumstances, allows.
(2) A grant under this Act shall not be made to an eligible person in
respect of a dwelling-house:
(a) unless the Secretary is satisfied, before the expiration of twelve
months after the prescribed date or before such later time as the Secretary,
in special circumstances, allows, that the eligible person or his or her
spouse has or will have, or both the eligible person and his or her spouse
have or will have, as the case may be, adequate financial resources (including
resources obtained or to be obtained by borrowing) to perform the contract
entered into by either or both of them for the purchase or construction of the
dwelling-house or to complete the construction of the dwelling-house, as the
case may be;
(b) unless the amount that the Secretary is satisfied is the value of the
dwelling-house, or will be the value of the dwelling-house when it is erected,
does not exceed:
(i) if the prescribed date in relation to the eligible person
is a date that is not later than 27 November 1966-Fourteen thousand dollars;
(ii) if the prescribed date in relation to the eligible person
is a date that is later than 27 November 1966, but is not later than 26
October 1969-Fifteen thousand dollars;
(iii) if the prescribed date in relation to the eligible person
is a date that is later than 26 October 1969, but is not later than 15 August
1972-Seventeen thousand five hundred dollars; or
(iv) in any other case-Twenty-two thousand five hundred
dollars;
(c) if the eligible person or his or her spouse has, or the eligible person
and his or her spouse have, during their marriage:
(i) owned another dwelling-house; or
(ii) been a party or parties to a contract, other than a
contract that was discharged (otherwise than by performance of the contract)
before the expiration of three months after it was entered into, for the
purchase of another dwelling-house, being a contract that provided for the
payment of the purchase price or part of the purchase price by instalments;
or
(e) in the case of a grant in respect of the purchase of a dwelling-house,
if the Secretary is satisfied that:
(i) any moneys will, upon completion of the purchase, be owing
by the purchaser to a State or a State authority in respect of a loan in
connexion with the purchase made in whole or in part out of Commonwealth-State
Housing Agreement moneys;
(iA) a loan has been made to the purchaser by a State or a
State authority in connexion with the purchase and the payments in respect of
that loan are, by reason of a grant of financial assistance to the State to
which subsection (2) of section 8 of the States Grants (Housing) Act 1971
applies, less than they would otherwise have been;
(ii) where the dwelling-house is being purchased from a State
or a State authority-the dwelling-house was constructed by or for the State or
the same or another State authority and the cost of construction was paid for
in whole or in part out of Commonwealth-State Housing Agreement moneys;
(iiA) the dwelling-house is being purchased from a State or a
State authority under a contract that provides for the payment of the purchase
price or part of the purchase price by instalments and the payments under the
contract are, by reason of the grant of financial assistance to the State
under section 5 of the States Grants (Housing) Act 1971, less than they would
otherwise have been;
(iii) where the dwelling-house is situated in the Australian
Capital Territory-the dwelling-house is being purchased from the Commonwealth
or any moneys will, upon completion of the purchase, be owing by the purchaser
to the Commonwealth in connexion with the purchase; or
(iv) where the dwelling-house is situated in the Northern
Territory-the dwelling-house is being purchased from the Commonwealth or the
Housing Commission of that Territory or any moneys will, upon completion of
the purchase, be owing by the purchaser to the Commonwealth or that Housing
Commission in connexion with the purchase.
(3) Paragraph (a) of the last preceding subsection does not apply in
relation to an eligible person where the person or his or her spouse, or the
person together with his or her spouse, has entered into a contract for the
purchase of the dwelling-house, being a contract that provides for the payment
of the purchase price or part of the purchase price by instalments, and the
Secretary is satisfied that it would be unreasonable for that paragraph to
apply having regard to all the circumstances.
(4) For the purposes of paragraph (b) of subsection (2), the value of a
dwelling-house is the value:
(a) in the case of a dwelling-house not being a dwelling-house of a kind
commonly known as a flat or home unit-of the approved interest owned or to be
owned by the eligible person or his or her spouse, or by both of those
persons, in the land on which the dwelling-house is, or is being, erected
having regard to the dwelling-house and any other improvements that are, or
are being, made to that land; and
(b) in the case of a dwelling-house being a dwelling-house of a kind
commonly known as a flat or home unit:
(i) of the approved interest owned or to be owned by the
eligible person or his or her spouse, or by both of those persons, in the flat
or home unit;
(ii) of the shares owned or to be owned by the eligible person
and his or her spouse, or by both of those persons, in the capital of a
company that is the beneficial owner of an approved interest in the land on
which the building containing the flat or home unit is, or is being, erected,
being shares that entitle the holder to a right of occupancy (whether under a
lease or otherwise) in respect of the flat or home unit; or
(iii) of the undivided share owned or to be owned by the
eligible person or his or her spouse, or by both of those persons, in an
approved interest in the land on which the building containing the flat or
home unit is, or is being, erected having regard to the building and any other
improvements that are, or are being, made to that land;
as the case may be.
(4A) In satisfying himself for the purposes of paragraph (b) of subsection
(2) as to the value of a dwelling-house, the Secretary may have regard to such
matters as he thinks fit, including:
(a) in the case of a dwelling-house not being a dwelling-house of a kind
commonly known as a flat or home unit-the cost to the eligible person and his
or her spouse of:
(i) the approved interest in the land on which the
dwelling-house is, or is being, erected; and
(ii) the dwelling-house and other improvements that are, or are
being, made to that land; and
(b) in the case of a dwelling-house being a dwelling-house of a kind
commonly known as a flat or home unit-the cost to the eligible person and his
or her spouse of:
(i) the approved interest in the flat or home unit;
(ii) the shares in the capital of a company that entitle the
holder to a right of occupancy in respect of the flat or home unit; or
(iii) the undivided share in an approved interest in the land
on which the building containing the flat or home unit is, or is being,
erected;
as the case may be.
(5) A reference in either of the last two preceding subsections to land on
which a dwelling-house is, or is being, erected includes a reference to the
land comprising the curtilage of the dwelling-house but does not include a
reference to any part of the land or dwelling-house that the Secretary is
satisfied is not, or will not be, used by the eligible person and his or her
spouse as a dwelling-house or for purposes connected with the use by those
persons of the dwelling-house as a dwelling-house.
(6) Paragraph (c) of subsection (2) does not apply in relation to a
dwelling-house if the Secretary is satisfied that it would be unreasonable to
regard the dwelling-house as, or as suitable for the purpose of constituting,
the matrimonial home of the eligible person and his or her spouse.
(7) Paragraph (e) of subsection (2) does not apply in relation to an
eligible person in relation to whom the prescribed date is a date not earlier
than 1 April 1976.
HOMES SAVINGS GRANT ACT 1964 - SECT 20A
Grant to person whose spouse has died after the prescribed date
SECT
20A. (1) Subject to the next succeeding subsection, where the spouse of a
person has died on or after the prescribed date, the Secretary may make a
grant under this Act to the person of an amount not exceeding the total of the
amounts of the grants that he could have made to the person and the spouse of
the person if the spouse had not died.
(2) The last preceding subsection does not apply unless the Secretary is
satisfied that the dwelling-house in respect of which the grant is made is or
will be owned by the person to whom the grant is made or by that person
jointly with a child or children of the person or of his or her deceased
spouse.
(3) Where a grant is made in accordance with this section to a person who is
not an eligible person, sections 23 and 24 have effect as if the person were
an eligible person.
HOMES SAVINGS GRANT ACT 1964 - SECT 21
Applications for grants
SECT
21. (1) An application for a grant under this Act in respect of a
dwelling-house:
(a) shall be in writing in accordance with a form made available by the
Secretary; and
(b) shall be furnished to the Regional Director for the State or internal
Territory in which the dwelling-house is, or is to be, situated before the
expiration of twelve months after the prescribed date or before such later
time as the Secretary in special circumstances allows.
(1A) Where, in pursuance of subsection (1A) of section 20, the time before
which a person is required to become an eligible person (in this subsection
referred to as "the extended time") is a time later than one year after the
prescribed date, an application by that person for a grant under this Act may
be furnished to the appropriate Regional Director at any time before the
extended time.
(1B) An applicant for a grant under this Act shall furnish to the Regional
Director to whom the application for the grant is furnished such declarations
and other documents as the Secretary requires.
(1C) An application for a grant under this Act may be made by a person to
whom section 20A applies notwithstanding that the person is not an eligible
person.
(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 the day on which the Home Deposit Assistance Act 1982 receives
the Royal Assent.
(2) For the purposes of this section:
(a) the Northern Territory shall be deemed to be part of the State of South
Australia; and
(b) the City of Queanbeyan in the State of New South Wales shall be deemed
to be part of the Australian Capital Territory.
HOMES SAVINGS GRANT ACT 1964 - SECT 22
Amount of grant
SECT
22. (1) Subject to subsection (2), the amount of a grant under this Act to
an eligible person in relation to whom the prescribed date is a date not later
than 31 December 1964, shall not exceed an amount equal to one-third of the
amount remaining after deducting from the total of:
(a) any acceptable savings of the person as at a date three years before the
prescribed date; and
(b) the sum of any increases in acceptable savings of the person in savings
years of that person;
the sum of any decreases in acceptable savings of the person in those savings
years.
(1A) Subject to subsection (2), the amount of a grant under this Act to an
eligible person in relation to whom the prescribed date is a date later than
31 December 1964, but not later than 30 April 1967, shall not exceed an amount
equal to one-third of the amount remaining after deducting from the total of:
(a) any acceptable savings of the person as at a date three years before the
prescribed date; and
(b) the sum of any adjusted increases in acceptable savings of the person in
savings years of that person;
the sum of any adjusted decreases in acceptable savings of the person in those
savings years.
(1B) Subject to the next two succeeding subsections, the amounts of the
grants under this Act to an eligible person and his or her spouse, being
persons in relation to whom the prescribed date is a date later than 30 April
1967, shall not exceed, in the aggregate, an amount equal to one-third of the
amount remaining after deducting from the total of:
(a) any acceptable savings of those persons as at a date three years before
the prescribed date; and
(b) the sum of any adjusted increases in acceptable savings of those persons
in savings years of those persons;
the sum of any adjusted decreases in acceptable savings of those persons in
those savings years.
(2) The amounts of any grants under this Act to an eligible person and his
or her spouse shall not exceed, in the aggregate:
(a) if the prescribed date in relation to the eligible person is a date that
is not later than 15 August 1972-Five hundred dollars; or
(b) in any other case-Seven hundred and fifty dollars.
(2A) Where, apart from this subsection, the amounts of any grants under this
Act to an eligible person and his or her spouse, being persons in relation to
whom subsection (1B) applies, would, in the aggregate, be less than Ten
dollars, a grant shall not be made under this Act to either of those persons.
(3) For the purposes of this section, a savings year, in relation to an
eligible person or in relation to an eligible person and his or her spouse, is
any of the three years immediately preceding the prescribed date.
(4) For the purposes of this section:
(a) an increase in acceptable savings of an eligible person occurs in a
savings year if the acceptable savings of the person as at the end of that
year are greater than the acceptable savings of the person as at the
commencement of that year; and
(b) the amount of the increase is the amount by which the acceptable savings
as at the end of that year are greater than the acceptable savings as at the
commencement of that year.
(5) For the purposes of this section:
(a) a decrease in acceptable savings of an eligible person occurs in a
savings year if the acceptable savings of the person as at the end of that
year are less than the acceptable savings of the person as at the commencement
of that year; and
(b) the amount of the decrease is the amount by which the acceptable savings
as at the end of that year are less than the acceptable savings as at the
commencement of that year.
(6) A reference in this section to an adjusted increase in acceptable
savings of an eligible person, in relation to a savings year, shall be read as
a reference to an increase in acceptable savings of the person in that year
reduced, if any excess savings of the person occurred in that year, by the
amount of those excess savings.
(7) A reference in this section to an adjusted decrease in acceptable
savings of an eligible person, in relation to a savings year, shall be read as
a reference to a decrease in acceptable savings of the person in that year
reduced, if there were any excess savings of the person in preceding savings
years that are not required by this subsection to be taken into account in
ascertaining adjusted decreases in acceptable savings of the person in
relation to any of those preceding savings years, by so much of those excess
savings as does not exceed the decrease in acceptable savings of the person in
the first-mentioned savings year.
(8) For the purposes of the application of this section in relation to a
savings year that commenced or commences on or after 1 May 1966, subsections
(4), (5), (6) and (7) have effect as if the references in those subsections to
an eligible person were references to the eligible person and his or her
spouse.
(9) For the purposes of this section:
(a) excess savings of an eligible person shall not be taken to have occurred
in a savings year that commenced before 1 January 1965;
(b) in the case of a savings year that commenced on or after 1 January 1965,
but before 1 May 1966-excess savings of an eligible person shall be taken to
have occurred in that savings year if there was an increase in acceptable
savings of the person in that savings year exceeding Five hundred dollars, and
the amount of the excess savings is the amount by which that increase exceeded
Five hundred dollars; and
(c) in the case of a savings year that commenced or commences on or after 1
May 1966:
(i) excess savings of an eligible person (being an eligible
person in relation to whom the prescribed date is a date not later than 15
August 1972) and his or her spouse shall be taken to have occurred if there
was an increase in acceptable savings of the person and his or her spouse in
that savings year exceeding Six hundred dollars, and the amount of the excess
savings is the amount by which that increase exceeded Six hundred dollars;
and
(ii) excess savings of any other eligible person and his or her
spouse shall be taken to have occurred if there was an increase in acceptable
savings of the person and his or her spouse in that savings year exceeding
Nine hundred dollars, and the amount of the excess savings is the amount by
which that increase exceeded Nine hundred dollars.
(10) A reference in this section to the spouse of an eligible person does
not include a reference to a spouse who is not himself or herself an eligible
person.
(11) Where an application for a grant under this Act has been made, or any
documents furnished by an applicant for such a grant have been prepared, on
the basis that the prescribed date of an eligible person is a date (in this
subsection referred to as "the assumed date") that is earlier or later, but
not more than fourteen days earlier or later, than the date that is the
prescribed date of that person, the Secretary may, in his discretion, direct
that this section shall apply in relation to the eligible person as if the
references in paragraph (a) of subsection (1), paragraph (a) of subsection
(1A), paragraph (a) of subsection (1B) and subsection (3) to the prescribed
date were references to the assumed date.
(12) Subsection (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 subsection is later than 31 December 1976.
HOMES SAVINGS GRANT ACT 1964 - SECT 23
Payment of grants
SECT
23. (1) A grant under this Act to an eligible cperson shall be paid at such
time as the Secretary determines.
(2) A grant to an eligible person shall be paid to the eligible person or,
if the eligible person so requests in writing and the Secretary approves, to
another person nominated by the eligible person.
(3) A grant paid in accordance with a request under the last preceding
subsection to a person other than the eligible person shall, for the purposes
of this Act, be deemed to have been paid to the eligible person.
HOMES SAVINGS GRANT ACT 1964 - SECT 24
Repayment of grants
SECT
24. (1) This section applies where a grant under this Act has been paid to
an eligible person in respect of a dwelling-house the purchase of which had
not been completed, or the construction of which had not been completed, at
the time when the application for the grant was made.
(1A) Where:
(a) in the case of a dwelling-house the purchase of which had not been
completed at the time when the application for the grant was made:
(i) the purchase of the dwelling-house is not completed within
three months after the date specified in the application for the grant as the
date on which it was expected that the purchase would be completed or, if no
date was so specified, within three months after the date of payment of the
grant; or
(ii) the contract for the purchase of the dwelling-house is
discharged otherwise than by performance of the contract; or
(b) in the case of a dwelling-house the construction of which had not been
completed at the time when the application for the grant was made:
(i) the construction of the dwelling-house is not completed
within six months after the date specified in the application for the grant as
the date on which it was expected that the construction would be completed or,
if no date was so specified, within six months after the date of payment of
the grant;
(ii) if the dwelling-house was being, or was to be, constructed
by a building-contractor-the contract for the construction of the
dwelling-house is discharged otherwise than by performance of the contract;
or
(iii) the eligible person or his or her spouse does not become
the owner, or the eligible person and his or her spouse do not become the
owners, of the land on which the dwelling-house was being, or was to be,
constructed before the expiration of twelve months after the prescribed date;
the eligible person and his or her spouse shall forthwith notify the Secretary
in writing of that fact.
Penalty: One hundred dollars.
(2) Upon the occurrence of any of the circumstances referred to in paragraph
(a) or (b) of the last preceding subsection, the Secretary may require the
eligible person or his or her spouse or both of those persons, by notice in
writing served by post on the person or persons at the last known address or
addresses of the person or persons, to pay to the Commonwealth an amount equal
to the amount of the grant and, in that case, the amount so payable is
recoverable by the Commonwealth in a court of competent jurisdiction from the
person, or jointly or severally from the persons, as a debt due to the
Commonwealth.
HOMES SAVINGS GRANT ACT 1964 - PART IV
PART IV-MISCELLANEOUS
HOMES SAVINGS GRANT ACT 1964 - SECT 25
Appropriation
SECT
25. Grants under this Act are payable out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund,
which is appropriated accordingly.
HOMES SAVINGS GRANT ACT 1964 - SECT 26
Offences
SECT
26. (1) A person shall not:
(a) make, whether orally or in writing, a false or misleading statement:
(i) in connexion with, or in support of, an application for a
grant under this Act; or
(ii) with intent to deceive an officer exercising powers or
performing duties or functions, in relation to this Act;
(b) obtain payment of a grant under this Act that is not payable;
(c) obtain payment of a grant under this Act by means of a false or
misleading statement or by means of impersonation or a fraudulent device; or
(d) make or present to an officer a statement or document that is false or
misleading in a material particular.
Penalty: One hundred dollars or imprisonment for six months.
(2) Where a person is convicted of an offence against the last preceding
subsection, the court may, in addition to imposing a penalty in respect of the
offence, order him to pay to the Commonwealth an amount equal to the amount of
any grant under this Act paid in consequence of the act, failure or omission
in respect of which he was convicted.
(3) Where a court has made an order under the last preceding subsection, a
certificate under the hand of the appropriate officer of the court specifying
the amount ordered to be paid and the person by whom the amount is payable may
be filed in a court having civil jurisdiction to the extent of that amount and
is thereupon enforceable in all respects as a final judgment of that court.
HOMES SAVINGS GRANT ACT 1964 - SECT 26A
Credit union to notify members and intending members of
withdrawal of approval
SECT
26A. (1) Where a notice of the withdrawal of the approval of a credit union
for the purposes of this Act has been served on the credit union, the credit
union shall:
(a) within fourteen days after the date of service of the notice of
withdrawal, give a prescribed notice to every person who was a member of the
credit union at that date or, not being a member, had applied for membership
on or before that date; and
(b) give a prescribed notice to every person who applies for membership
after that date and before the withdrawal takes effect.
(2) A credit union that is not an approved credit union for the purposes of
this Act, or an officer or member of such a credit union, shall not directly
or indirectly represent or advertise that the credit union is an approved
credit union for those purposes.
(3) If the approval of a credit union for the purposes of this Act is
withdrawn, the credit union, or an officer or member of the credit union,
shall not, during the period of six months after the date of the withdrawal,
directly or indirectly represent or advertise that the credit union is an
approved credit union for the purposes of this Act.
(4) For the purposes of this section, a prescribed notice is a notice
stating that the approval of the credit union for the purposes of this Act has
been withdrawn and specifying the date on which the withdrawal is to take
effect.
Penalty: Five hundred dollars.
HOMES SAVINGS GRANT ACT 1964 - SECT 27
Prosecutions for offences
SECT
27. (1) Proceedings for an offence against this Act or the regulations may
be commenced at any time within three years after the commission of the
offence.
(2) Offences against this Act or the regulations shall not be prosecuted
without the written consent of the Minister, the Secretary or a person
authorized in writing by the Secretary to consent to prosecutions for such
offences.
HOMES SAVINGS GRANT ACT 1964 - SECT 28
Recovery of overpayments
SECT
28. Where an amount of a grant under this Act has been paid to a person in
consequence of a false or misleading statement or representation made by the
person or his or her spouse or a failure or omission by either or both of
those persons to comply with a provision of this Act, an amount equal to the
amount so paid is recoverable by the Commonwealth in a court of competent
jurisdiction from those persons jointly or severally as a debt due to the
Commonwealth.
HOMES SAVINGS GRANT ACT 1964 - SECT 29
Information as to applicants
SECT
29. (1) Where the Secretary or a Regional Director has reason to believe
that a person is in possession of any information in relation to any matter
that might affect the payment of a grant under this Act to any other person,
he may, by notice in writing served by post on the person at the last known
address of the person, require the person to furnish to him a confidential
report relating to that matter.
(2) A person on whom a notice is so served shall furnish a report in
accordance with the notice within fourteen days after the notice is served and
shall not furnish a report that is false or misleading in a material
particular.
Penalty: Forty dollars.
HOMES SAVINGS GRANT ACT 1964 - SECT 30
Indemnity to certain persons
SECT
30. Nothing contained in any law of a State or internal Territory operates
so as to prevent a person from furnishing any information, or making any
books, documents or papers available, to the Secretary or to an officer for
the purposes of this Act.
HOMES SAVINGS GRANT ACT 1964 - SECT 31
Evidence
SECT
31. (1) The Secretary may by instrument in writing:
(a) create offices for the purposes of this section; and
(b) appoint persons to those offices.
(2) All courts shall take judicial notice of the signature of
any person:
(a) who holds or has held the office of Secretary; or
(b) who holds or has held an office under subsection (1);
and of the fact that that person holds or has held that office, if the
signature purports to be attached or appended to an official document, and any
such document purporting to be so signed is prima facie evidence in all courts
of the facts and statements contained in the document.
(3) A certificate in writing signed by a person who holds or has held an
office referred to in subsection (2) certifying:
(a) that assistance of a specified amount was paid to a specified person or
to specified persons on a specified date; or
(b) that a specified amount is the amount of assistance paid to a specified
person or to specified persons in consequence of a specified act, failure or
omission;
is prima facie evidence in all courts of the matters certified.
HOMES SAVINGS GRANT ACT 1964 - SECT 31A
References to Secretary to include references to Director-General
SECT
31A. A reference in this Act to the Secretary shall, in relation to the
doing of any act or thing under this Act:
(a) during the period commencing on 7 May 1982 and ending on 30 June 1982-be
read as a reference to the Director-General of Social Services or to a
delegate of the Director-General of Social Services; and
(b) during the period commencing on 1 July 1982 and ending on 10 March
1983-be read as a reference to the Director-General of Social Security or to a
delegate of the Director-General of Social Security.
HOMES SAVINGS GRANT ACT 1964 - SECT 33
Regulations
SECT
33. The Governor-General may make regulations, not inconsistent with this
Act, prescribing all matters required or permitted by this Act to be
prescribed, or necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or
giving effect to this Act and, in particular, prescribing penalties not
exceeding a fine of One hundred dollars for offences against the regulations.