House of Representatives

Second Reading Speech

Mr Brough (Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Indigenous Affairs)

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

This bill will make numerous minor amendments to social security, family assistance and related legislation to improve the operational effectiveness of that legislation. It is a minor housekeeping bill that will remove anomalies, clarify the legislation in line with established policy and make technical corrections and refinements.

The bill introduces no significant new policy and has no or negligible financial impact.

Among the measures in the bill is one to make sure that child-care benefit customers who use registered care for their children cannot be paid child-care benefit that exceeds the actual fee they paid for that care. This new rule is equivalent to an existing limit in the legislation on child-care benefit for care provided by an approved child-care service.

In a further child-care related measure, a new rule is being set up for care provided by approved child-care services, to mimic an existing rule for registered carers. It is being made clear that neither registered care nor approved child-care service care will attract child-care benefit if the care is provided as part of a compulsory education program. Child-care benefit should not be available while children are in the care of their teachers as part of their normal schooling.

The bill includes a measure to confirm that two members of a couple who are living apart on a temporary basis may generally be regarded as a 'temporarily separated couple', whether they are legally married or a de facto couple (noting that couples separated through illness or respite care are covered by different provisions). The temporarily separated categorisation allows the couple to attract a higher rate of certain payments such as rent assistance and remote area allowance. At present, only legally married couples fall within the definition, whereas the general social security and family assistance law treatment of de facto couples suggests this is an anomaly that should be corrected.

Minor anomalies in the income test for the low-income health care card are addressed by this bill. Notably, a portion of the income test that applied before some 2001 concession card amendments and that was unintentionally omitted from the new provisions is being reinstated. The correction will ensure that a social security pension or benefit is included in income, as comparable Commonwealth and other payments of an income support nature are already included. Similarly, two veterans' entitlements payments of a similar nature, the Defence Force income support allowance and the income support supplement, are clearly identified as income for the purposes of the card.

The bill corrects an inequity in the social security law, by aligning the definition of homelessness that currently applies for special benefit with the similar definition that applies for the larger customer groups of youth allowance and young disability support pension recipients. However, the existing additional requirements for special benefit homelessness, that the customer be unpartnered and not have a dependent child, will continue to apply.

Seven acts relating to housing that are no longer operational are being repealed by this bill. This helps in maintaining the statute books when acts become redundant.

Most of the remaining measures in the bill are technical corrections and refinements. Many of these are consequential on the commencement of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003 and reflect the new concepts and arrangements established by that act.

I present the explanatory memorandum and commend the bill to the House.

Debate (on motion by Mr Gavan O'Connor) adjourned.