{"id":"C2021A00070","name":"COVID-19 Disaster Payment (Funding Arrangements) Act 2021","slug":"covid-19-disaster-payment-funding-arrangements-act-2021","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"70 of 2021","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":436350,"registerId":"C2021A00070-fast-fetch-1775953576780","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-12","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"COVID-19 Disaster Payment (Funding Arrangements) Act 2021","content":"---\nmeta-content-style-type: text/css\nmeta-content-type: application/xhtml+xml; charset=utf-8\n---\n\n?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"utf-8\" standalone=\"no\"?>\n\n![Commonwealth Coat of Arms of Australia](image.001.png)\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nCOVID‑19 Disaster Payment (Funding Arrangements) Act 2021\n\n \n\nNo. 70, 2021\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nAn Act to make provision in relation to COVID‑19 disaster payments, and for related purposes\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nContents\n\nPart 1—Preliminary\n\n1 Short title\n\n2 Commencement\n\n3 Definitions\n\nPart 2—Appropriation\n\n4 Appropriation\n\nPart 3—Annual report\n\n5 Inclusion of information in National Recovery and Resilience Agency’s annual report\n\n \n\n![Commonwealth Coat of Arms of Australia](image.002.png)\n\n \n\n \n\nCOVID-19 Disaster Payment (Funding Arrangements) Act 2021\n\nNo. 70, 2021\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nAn Act to make provision in relation to COVID‑19 disaster payments, and for related purposes\n\n[Assented to 30 June 2021]\n\nThe Parliament of Australia enacts:\n\nPart 1—Preliminary\n\n \n\n1  Short title\n\n  This Act is the COVID‑19 Disaster Payment (Funding Arrangements) Act 2021.\n\n2  Commencement\n\n (1) Each provision of this Act specified in column 1 of the table commences, or is taken to have commenced, in accordance with column 2 of the table. Any other statement in column 2 has effect according to its terms.\n\n \n\n- Commencement information\n- Column 1 Column 2 Column 3\n- Provisions Commencement Date/Details\n- 1. The whole of this Act The later of:(a) 1 July 2021; and(b) the day after this Act receives the Royal Assent. 1 July 2021\n\n\nNote: This table relates only to the provisions of this Act as originally enacted. It will not be amended to deal with any later amendments of this Act.\n\n (2) Any information in column 3 of the table is not part of this Act. Information may be inserted in this column, or information in it may be edited, in any published version of this Act.\n\n3  Definitions\n\n  In this Act:\n\nCOVID‑19 disaster payment means a payment or grant of financial assistance covered by item 492 of the table in Part 4 of Schedule 1AB to the Financial Framework (Supplementary Powers) Regulations 1997.\n\nPart 2—Appropriation\n\n \n\n4  Appropriation\n\n (1) The Consolidated Revenue Fund is appropriated for the purposes of making COVID‑19 disaster payments.\n\n (2) This section applies to COVID‑19 disaster payments made on or after the commencement of this section and before the end of 30 June 2022.\n\nPart 3—Annual report\n\n \n\n5  Inclusion of information in National Recovery and Resilience Agency’s annual report\n\n  The Coordinator‑General of the National Recovery and Resilience Agency, when preparing that Agency’s annual report under section 46 of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 for the reporting period commencing on 1 July 2021, must include information in that report that relates to COVID‑19 disaster payments made in that period.\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n[Minister’s second reading speech made in—\n\nHouse of Representatives on 16 June 2021\n\nSenate on 23 June 2021]\n\n \n\n(68/21)\n\n \n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Act, as enacted, confines Commonwealth appropriation to COVID‑19 disaster payments defined by the referenced regulation and limits application to payments made up to 30 June 2022, and mandates reporting for the NRRA annual report period commencing 1 July 2021. No subsequent amendments or scope changes appear in the provided source text."},"complexity_factors":["Single, narrowly framed appropriation (s4) — limited legislative substance","Cross-reference to external instrument (item 492 in FF(SP) Regulations) increases lookup effort (s3)","Temporal limitation to payments on/after commencement and before 30 June 2022 adds fixed duration (s4(2))","Reporting obligation for the National Recovery and Resilience Agency adds an administrative requirement (s5)","Commencement rule uses a 'later of' formula (s2) which slightly complicates effective date calculation","Minimal operational detail and low statutory discretion — few internal mechanisms to interpret"],"plain_english_summary":"This Act authorises Commonwealth funding for COVID‑19 disaster payments by appropriating the Consolidated Revenue Fund for payments defined as those covered by item 492 in Part 4 of Schedule 1AB to the Financial Framework (Supplementary Powers) Regulations 1997, for payments made from commencement until 30 June 2022. It also requires the Coordinator‑General of the National Recovery and Resilience Agency to include information about those payments in the Agency’s annual report for the reporting period commencing 1 July 2021."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains tightly focused on its original purpose: providing the financial authority for COVID-19 disaster payments and associated reporting. It has not expanded beyond this narrow funding and transparency function."},"complexity_factors":["Extremely short: only 5 sections across 3 Parts","Single defined term ('COVID-19 disaster payment') which references external regulations rather than defining criteria in the Act itself","No conditional logic, exceptions, or nested provisions","Simple temporal limitation (before end of 30 June 2022) with no complex triggering mechanisms","Only one cross-reference (to the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 for reporting requirements)","Straightforward appropriation mechanism with no special conditions or caps specified in the Act itself"],"plain_english_summary":"This law sets up the money side of the COVID-19 Disaster Payment — a one-off federal payment for people who lost work due to COVID-19 lockdowns.\n\n**What it does:**\n- **Opens the government chequebook**: It legally authorises (\"appropriates\") money from the Consolidated Revenue Fund (Australia's main government bank account) to pay for COVID-19 disaster payments.\n- **Sets a time limit**: The money can only be used for payments made between when this law started (1 July 2021) and 30 June 2022.\n- **Requires transparency**: The head of the National Recovery and Resilience Agency must include details about these payments in their annual report for 2021-22.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n- **Taxpayers**: It commits public money to the program.\n- **Recipients**: People claiming the COVID-19 Disaster Payment (though the actual rules for who qualifies are in separate regulations, not this Act).\n- **The National Recovery and Resilience Agency**: They must report on how the money was spent.\n\n**Why it matters:**\nWithout this law, the government couldn't legally spend money on these disaster payments. It's the financial backbone that makes the actual support payments possible — essentially saying \"yes, we can use public funds for this\" and \"yes, we have to tell people how we spent it.\""}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/covid-19-disaster-payment-funding-arrangements-act-2021","history":"/api/acts/covid-19-disaster-payment-funding-arrangements-act-2021/history","analysis":"/api/acts/covid-19-disaster-payment-funding-arrangements-act-2021/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/covid-19-disaster-payment-funding-arrangements-act-2021/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/covid-19-disaster-payment-funding-arrangements-act-2021/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/covid-19-disaster-payment-funding-arrangements-act-2021/documents"}}