House of Representatives

Supplementary Explanatory Memorandum

(Circulated by authority of the Minister for Vocational and Technical Education the Honourable Gary Hardgrave MP)

Notes on amendments

Amendment 1 - Schedule 1, item 6, page 4 (lines 10 to 16)

Item 6 of Schedule 1 to the Social Security Amendment (Extension of Youth Allowance and Austudy Eligibility to New Apprentices) Bill 2005 (the Bill) proposes to insert new paragraphs 543B(1)(d), (e) and (f) in the Social Security Act 1991 to have the effect (in conjunction with item 7 of Schedule 1 to the Bill) of extending the maximum age for Youth Allowance provisions to New Apprentices.

Amendment 1 amends item 6 of Schedule 1 to the Bill by omitting paragraph 543B(1)(e) and renaming paragraph 543(1)(f) as paragraph 543(1)(e) as a consequence. This has the effect of amending the maximum age provisions for Youth Allowance to allow eligible full-time New Apprentices to transfer from Newstart Allowance to Youth Allowance.

Amendment 2 - Schedule 1, page 4 (after line 28), after item 8

Inserts a new item 8A in Schedule 1 to the Bill which proposes to amend paragraph 1061ZK(5)(a) of the Social Security Act 1991 so that the paragraph will read: "the person is receiving a youth allowance on that day (otherwise than because of section 540AA) and, at the time when a determination was made to grant the person the youth allowance, the person was not undertaking full-time study; or". Section 1061ZK of the Social Security Act 1991 sets out the general rules for a person to qualify for a health care card, while item 2 of Schedule 1 to the Bill proposes to insert a new section 540AA setting out the qualification for Youth Allowance for New Apprentices.

Amendment 2 has the effect of removing eligibility for an automatic issue Health Care Card from full-time New Apprentices in receipt of Youth Allowance. Full-time New Apprentices in receipt of Youth Allowance will be able to claim a low-income Health Care Card.