Repatriation Commission

Veterans' Entitlements (Pension Bonus Scheme

 – Non-accruing Members) Declaration 2018

Instrument 2018 No. R4

1 Name

This declaration  is the Veterans' Entitlements (Pension Bonus Scheme –

Non-accruing Members) Declaration 2018.

2 Commencement

This declaration commences on the day after it is registered.

3 Authority

This declaration is made under subsection 45TO(1) of the Veterans’ Entitlements Act 1986.

4 Revocation

The Veterans’ Entitlements (Pension Bonus Scheme – Non-accruing Members) Declaration 2007 is revoked.

5 Savings

A person who, immediately before the commencement of this declaration, was declared to be a non-accruing member under the revoked declaration is taken to be a non-accruing member under this declaration as if this declaration declared the person as a non-accruing member.

6 Definitions

(1)     In this instrument:

Act means the Veterans’ Entitlements Act 1986.

major disaster has the same meaning as in section 23 of the Social Security Act.

pass the work test:

 (a) for a member of the pension bonus scheme — has the meanings given by sections 45TS and 45TT of the Act; and

 (b) for the partner of a member of the pension bonus scheme who is a member of the corresponding scheme under Part 2.2A of the Social Security Act — has the meanings given by sections 92U and 92V of the Social Security Act.

revoked declaration means the Veterans’ Entitlements (Pension Bonus Scheme – Non-accruing Members) Declaration 2007.

Note:   The following expressions used in this instrument are defined in the Act (see subsections 5E (1), 5NB (1), 5Q (1) and section 45TA):

• compensation
• compensation affected pension
• designated pension
• member of a couple
• partner
• pension age
• pension bonus
• Social Security Act.

 (2) For this declaration, the period during which a major disaster affects a person’s ability to pass the work test may include a period during which preparations are made to cope with an impending disaster, for example, by evacuation of an area shortly before a cyclone is predicted to reach the area.

7 Kinds of non‑accruing members

A member of the pension bonus scheme who is a member of any of the following kinds is a non‑accruing member:

(a)        a member who is a Community Development Employment Project (CDEP) Scheme participant within the meaning of section 23 of the Social Security Act;

(b)        a member who is in gaol, within the meaning of subsection 55(4) of the Act;

(c)        a member who is undergoing psychiatric confinement, within the meaning of subsections 55(5) and (6) of the Act, because the member has been charged with committing an offence;

 (d) a member who was not a participant in the workforce, but whose partner:

 (i) was a participant in the workforce; and

 (ii) was not a registered member of the pension bonus scheme or the corresponding scheme under Part 2.2A of the Social Security Act; and

 (iii) intended to become a registered member of the pension bonus scheme or the corresponding scheme under Part 2.2A of the Social Security Act;

 (e) a member who is on paid or unpaid leave of any kind, or combination of kinds, from gainful work and who would not pass the work test for a bonus period during which any part of the leave is taken;

 (f) a member whose partner is on paid or unpaid leave of any kind, or combination of kinds, from gainful work and who would not pass the work test for a bonus period during which any part of the leave is taken;

 (g) a member who is:

 (i) the surviving member of a couple; and

 (ii) undergoing a period of bereavement; and

 (iii) unable to pass the work test for a bonus period during which the period of bereavement occurs;

 (h) a member who is unable to pass the work test for a bonus period because the amount of gainful work available to him or her in the bonus period is reduced by a major disaster;

 (i) a member whose partner:

 (i) is a member of the pension bonus scheme or the corresponding scheme under Part 2.2A of the Social Security Act; and

 (ii) is unable to pass the work test for a bonus period because the amount of gainful work available to him or her in the bonus period is reduced by a major disaster;

 (j) a member who:

 (i) has received compensation and to whom a designated pension would not have been payable during a period (the compensation period) if the member had not reached pension age and the pension was a compensation affected pension; and

 (ii) is unable to pass the work test for a bonus period during which the compensation period occurs.

Note: For paragraphs (h) and (i), for the application of this instrument in relation to Cyclone Larry, a major disaster that occurred in 2006, see section 9.

8 Period for which a member is a non‑accruing member

 (1) A member of the pension bonus scheme to whom a paragraph of section 7 applies is a non‑accruing member throughout the period during which the member is a member of the kind mentioned in the paragraph.

 (2) However, for a member to whom a paragraph of section 7 mentioned in the following table applies, subsection (1) is subject to the time limit shown.

(3)     A member mentioned in paragraph 7 (j) is a non‑accruing member during the whole or part of the compensation period during which the member is unable to pass the work test.

9 Special provisions in relation to Cyclone Larry

 (1) This section applies to a member of the pension bonus scheme:

 (a) who was unable to pass the work test for a bonus period because the amount of gainful work available to him or her in the bonus period had been reduced by the effects of Cyclone Larry; or

 (b) whose partner:

 (i) was a member of the pension bonus scheme or the corresponding scheme under Part 2.2A of the Social Security Act; and

 (ii) was unable to pass the work test for a bonus period because the amount of gainful work available to him or her in the bonus period had been reduced by the effects of Cyclone Larry.

 (2) The member is a non‑accruing member throughout the period during which the member was a member of the kind mentioned in subsection (1):

 (a) from the date, not before 1 March 2006, that:

 (i) for a member mentioned in paragraph (1) (a) — the member was unable to pass the work test due to the effects of Cyclone Larry; or

 (ii) for a member mentioned in paragraph (1) (b) — the member’s partner was unable to pass the work test due to the effects of Cyclone Larry; and

 (b) up to a maximum of 13 weeks.

Note:   1 March 2006 is the date from which people are taken to be affected by preparation for Cyclone Larry.