Senate

Explanatory Memorandum

(Circulated by authority of the Minister for Family and Community Services, Senator the Hon Amanda Vanstone)

Outline and financial impact statement

This Bill contains a range of minor and technical amendments to Family and Community Services portfolio legislation, and certain other legislation which relates to this portfolio, which are intended to assist in more effective and efficient administration of this legislation.

The items contained in this Bill include amendments to simplify and clarify existing legislative provisions, achieve consistency between similar provisions and payment types, and address some unintended consequences of earlier amendments. Technical amendments include the repeal of redundant provisions, references and notes, the renumbering of misdescribed provisions and the correction of various cross-references and minor drafting errors. The Bill also makes some minor policy changes.

The amendments to the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986 restore the previous legislative position that existed in relation to the recovery of certain debts, before the introduction of the family assistance law on 1 July 2000.

The Bill also repeals the First Home Owners Act 1983 which is now redundant.

The Acts to be amended by the Bill are:

Schedule 1 - Amendments of the social security law

Social Security Act 1991;

Social Security (Administration) Act 1999; and

Social Security (International Agreements) Act 1999.

Schedule 2 - Amendments of the family assistance law and certain related Acts

A New Tax System (Family Assistance) Act 1999;

A New Tax System (Family Assistance)(Administration) Act 1999;

A New Tax System (Family Assistance and Related Measures) Act 2000;

A New Tax System (Family Assistance)(Consequential and Related Measures) Act (No 1) 1999

A New Tax System (Family Assistance)(Consequential and Related Measures) Act (No 2) 1999; and

A New Tax System (Taxation Administration) Act 1999.

Schedule 3 - Amendment of other Acts

Commonwealth Services Delivery Agency Act 1997;

Family and Community Services Legislation Amendment (1999 Budget and Other Measures) Act 1999;

Social Security (Administration and International Agreements) (Consequential Amendments) Act 1999;

Social Security Legislation Amendment (Concession Cards) Act 2001;

Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986; and

Youth Allowance Consolidation Act 2000.

Schedule 4 - Formal amendments of the social security law

Social Security Act 1991; and

Social Security (Administration) Act 1999.

Schedule 5 - Repeal

First Home Owners Act 1983.

Schedule 1 - Amendments of the social security law

Schedule 1 makes minor amendments to various provisions of the Social Security Act 1991, Social Security (Administration) Act 1999 and Social Security (International Agreements) Act 1999, including amendments which correct various cross-references, simplify and clarify existing provisions, achieve consistency between similar provisions and payment types and address some unintended consequences of earlier amendments, such as those that occurred unintentionally on the introduction of the Social Security (Administration) Act 1999. Schedule 1 also makes some minor policy changes.

Date of Effect: Items 1 to 112 of Schedule 1 commence on Royal Assent.

Item 113 is taken to have commenced on 6 July 2000, immediately after the commencement of the provisions of the Youth Allowance Consolidation Act 2000 that commenced in accordance with subsection 2(1) of that Act.

Items 114 to 116 and item 124 are taken to have commenced on 1 July 2000.

Items 117 to 123 are taken to have commenced on 20 March 2000, immediately after the commencement of those provisions of the Social Security (Administration) Act 1999 that commenced in accordance with subsection 2(1) of that Act.

Financial Impact: There are no financial implications from these changes.

Schedule 2 - Amendments of the family assistance law and certain related Acts

The amendments made by Schedule 2 to the family assistance law and certain other New Tax System legislation is primarily minor and technical in nature. These items include amendments which simplify and clarify existing provisions, achieve consistency between similar provisions and payment types, correct various cross-references and minor drafting errors and address some unintended consequences of earlier amendments.

Date of Effect: Items 1 to 51 of Schedule 2 commence on Royal Assent.

Items 52 to 72 are taken to have commenced on 1 July 2000, immediately after the commencement of the provisions of the A New Tax System (Family Assistance and Related Measures) Act 2000 referred to in subsection 2(2) of that Act.

Items 73 to 83 are taken to have commenced on 1 July 2000.

Items 84 to 86 are taken to have commenced on 1 July 2000, immediately after the commencement of Schedule 2 to the A New Tax System (Family Assistance and Related Measures) Act 2000.

Item 87 is taken to have commenced on 3 May 2000, immediately after the commencement of section 2 of the A New Tax System (Family Assistance and Related Measures) Act 2000.

Item 88 is taken to have commenced on 1 July 2000, immediately after the commencement of Schedule 7 to the A New Tax System (Family Assistance) (Consequential and Related Measures) Act (No. 1) 1999.

Item 89 is taken to have commenced on 6 July 2000, immediately after the commencement of section 2 of the Youth Allowance Consolidation Act 2000.

Item 90 is taken to have commenced on 1 July 2000, immediately after the commencement of the provisions of Schedule 5 to the A New Tax System (Tax Administration) Act 1999 that commenced in accordance with subsection 2(9) of that Act.

Financial Impact: The costs associated with items 10 and 11 of Schedule 2, to prevent certain family assistance and Department of Veterans' Affairs customers from being disadvantaged by the change to the family assistance law, are:

2002-03 $0.527m;

2003-04 $0.541m;

2004-05 $0.553m;

2005-06 $0.553m;

Total $2.174m.

There are no financial implications from any other measures in Schedule 2.

Schedule 3 - Amendment of other Acts

Schedule 3 makes minor and technical amendments to various Family and Community Services portfolio legislation, including repealing redundant provisions and references, renumbering misdescribed provisions and correcting various cross-references.

Minor amendments to the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986 are also made in Schedule 3 to restore the equivalent legislative position that previously existed before the introduction of the family assistance law.

Date of Effect: Items 1, 5, 7 and 9 to 14 commence on Royal Assent.

Item 2 is taken to have commenced on 6 July 2000, immediately after the commencement of section 2 of the Youth Allowance Consolidation Act 2000.

Items 3, 4 and 6 are taken to have commenced on 20 March 2000, immediately after the commencement of Schedule 1 to the Social Security (Administration and International Agreements) (Consequential Amendments) Act 1999.

Item 8 is taken to have commenced on 1 July 2001, immediately after the commencement of the Social Security Legislation Amendment (Concession Cards) Act 2001.

Item 15 is taken to have commenced on 1 July 1999, immediately after the commencement of Part 2 of Schedule 2 to the Youth Allowance Consolidation Act 2000.

Item 16 is taken to have commenced on 6 July 2000, immediately after the commencement of item 2 of Schedule 4 to the Youth Allowance Consolidation Act 2000.

Financial Impact: There are no financial implications from these changes.

Schedule 4 - Formal amendments of the social security law

Schedule 4 makes technical amendments to various provisions of the Social Security Act and the Social Security (Administration) Act, including repealing redundant provisions, references and notes, renumbering misdescribed provisions and correcting various cross-references and minor drafting errors.

Date of Effect: Schedule 4, other than items 23 and 100, commence on Royal Assent.

Item 23 is taken to have commenced on 1 July 2000.

Item 100 is taken to have commenced on 20 March 1998, immediately after the commencement of Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the Social Security Legislation Amendment (Parenting and Other Measures) Act 1997.

Financial Impact: There are no financial implications from these changes.

Schedule 5 - Repeal

Schedule 5 repeals the redundant First Home Owners Act 1983.

Date of Effect: Royal Assent

Financial Impact: There are no financial implications from the repeal of this Act.

Abbreviations

In this explanatory memorandum, the following abbreviations are used:

Social Security Act 1991 is referred to as the Social Security Act;

Social Security (Administration) Act 1999 is referred to as the Social Security (Administration) Act;

Social Security (International Agreements) Act 1999 is referred to as the Social Security (International Agreements) Act;

A New Tax System (Family Assistance) Act 1999 is referred to as the Family Assistance Act;

A New Tax System (Family Assistance) (Administration) Act 1999 is referred to as the Family Assistance (Administration) Act;

A New Tax System (Family Assistance and Related Measures) Act 2000 is referred to as the Family Assistance and Related Measures Act;

family tax benefit is referred to as FTB;

child care benefit is referred to as CCB;

maternity allowance is referred to as MA; and

maternity immunisation allowance is referred to as MIA.