{"id":"F2020L00139","name":"Social Security (Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment—Victorian Bushfires) Determination 2020 (No. 15)","slug":"f2020l00139","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":329417,"registerId":"commonwealth-F2020L00139-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-08","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Name","content":"#### 1 Name\n\n  (1) This instrument is the Social Security (Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment—Victorian Bushfires) Determination 2020 (No. 15).\n  (2) This instrument may also be cited as LIN 20/096.","sortOrder":0},{"sectionNumber":"2","sectionType":"section","heading":"Commencement","content":"#### 2 Commencement\n\n  This instrument commences on the day it is signed.\n\n> Note: Any retrospective application of this instrument is permitted by operation of subsection 12(2) of the Legislation Act 2003.","sortOrder":1},{"sectionNumber":"3","sectionType":"section","heading":"Definitions","content":"#### 3 Definitions\n\n  (1) In this instrument:\n\n> Act means the Social Security Act 1991.\n\n> destroyed means damaged to the extent that:\n\n> (a) for a residence—it must be demolished; or\n\n> (b) for a major asset or assets—it is unusable.\n\n> immediate family member, of a person, means:\n\n> (a) the person’s partner; or\n\n> (b) the person’s natural child, adoptive child or step-child; or\n\n> (c) the person’s natural parent, adoptive parent or step-parent; or\n\n> (d) the person’s legal guardian; or\n\n> (e) the person’s brother, sister, step-brother or step-sister.\n\n> Note This term is used in a different sense to that used in the Act.\n\n> major asset or assets means:\n\n> (a) an asset, with a market value of at least $20,000, located at the person’s principal place of residence; or\n\n> (b) two or more assets, with a combined market value of at least $20,000, located at the person’s principal place of residence..\n\n> Examples Building, large fixed structure, motor vehicle, caravan, water tank, large scale machinery, heavy equipment.\n\n> major damage means:\n\n> (a) for a residence:\n\n> (i) damage to the interior of the residence; or\n\n> (ii) that the residence is structurally unsound; or\n\n> (iii) damage to the residence that exposes the interior of the residence to the elements; or\n\n> (iv) sewage contamination of the interior of the residence or of the water supply to the residence;\n\n> (b) for a major asset or assets other than a water tank—that it is burnt, or damaged by heat, ash or smoke, to the extent that it needs to be replaced; or\n\n> (c) for a water tank—damage to the extent that it needs to be repaired or cleaned, or the water replaced.\n\n> seriously injured, for a person, means:\n\n> (a) the person has sustained an injury; and\n\n> (b) because of the injury:\n\n> (i) the person was admitted to hospital; or\n\n> (ii) under normal circumstances, the person would have been admitted to hospital.\n\n  (2) A place of residence is a person’s principal place of residence if:\n\n> (a) the person regularly lives at the place with a degree of settled purpose; and\n\n> (b) the person has a lawful right to reside at the place; and\n\n> (c) the place is not:\n\n> (i) a prison or a place of detention; or\n\n> (ii) a secondary residence used for holidays.\n\n> Note It is possible for a person to have more than 1 principal place of residence.","sortOrder":2},{"sectionNumber":"4","sectionType":"section","heading":"Person adversely affected by a major disaster","content":"#### 4 Person adversely affected by a major disaster\n\n  (1) This section applies to the major disaster being bushfires occurring in November and December 2019, and January and February 2020 in Victoria affecting the local government areas of Alpine, East Gippsland, Towong and Wodonga.\n  (2) For subsection 1061L(2) of the Act, a person is taken to be adversely affected by the major disaster if any of the following circumstances apply:\n    (a) the person is seriously injured as a direct result of the disaster;\n    (b) the person is an immediate family member of an Australian who is killed as a direct result of the disaster;\n    (c) the person’s principal place of residence has been destroyed or has major damage as a direct result of the disaster;\n    (d) a major asset or assets of the person has or have been destroyed or suffered major damage as a direct result of the disaster;\n    (e) the person is a principal carer of a child to whom paragraphs (a), (b), (c) or (d) apply.","sortOrder":3},{"sectionNumber":"5","sectionType":"section","heading":"Repeal","content":"#### 5 Repeal\n\n  According to subsection 33(3) of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901, the Social Security (Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment—Victorian Bushfires) Determination 2020 (No. 11).","sortOrder":4},{"sectionNumber":"6","sectionType":"section","heading":"Savings and transitional","content":"#### 6 Savings and transitional\n\n  Anything done under the Social Security (Australian Government disaster recovery payment—Victorian Bushfires) Determination 2020 (No. 11) continues to be in effect as if it had been done under this instrument.","sortOrder":5}],"analysis":{"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This instrument restates and limits eligibility criteria for the Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment to specified Victorian bushfire events and LGAs (s 4). It expressly repeals the prior Determination but preserves actions taken under it (ss 5–6), so it does not broaden or narrow practical scope compared with the instrument it replaces."},"complexity_factors":["Cross-reference to the Social Security Act 1991 (relies on subsection 1061L(2)) creating legal dependency on the Act","Multiple defined terms with bright-line and outcome-based tests (e.g. 'destroyed', 'major damage', 'major asset' with $20,000 market-value threshold) that require factual assessment","Subjective factual inquiries (e.g. whether a place is a principal place of residence: ‘regularly lives…with a degree of settled purpose’ and ‘lawful right to reside’) increasing evidentiary burden","Medical threshold for 'seriously injured' includes counterfactual assessment (‘would have been admitted to hospital’), requiring medical judgment","Geographic and temporal specificity (particular LGAs and months) narrows application but requires administrative mapping and verification","Repeal and savings/transitional clauses replace a prior Determination while preserving past actions (ss 5–6), requiring administrators to reconcile files under both instruments","Practical compliance costs: verifying family relationships, asset valuations, extent of damage, and hospital admission histories"],"plain_english_summary":"This instrument sets who qualifies for the Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment for bushfires in Victoria (Nov–Dec 2019; Jan–Feb 2020) affecting Alpine, East Gippsland, Towong and Wodonga. It defines \"adversely affected\" people (seriously injured, immediate family of someone killed, destroyed or major-damaged principal residence or major assets, or principal carer of an affected child) and the tests to apply. It takes effect on signing and preserves actions already taken under the previous Determination (ss 2–4, 5–6)."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This instrument maintains its original narrow purpose: establishing eligibility criteria for a specific disaster payment for specific bushfires in specific Victorian local government areas during a specific time period. It does not expand beyond this discrete administrative function."},"complexity_factors":["Short instrument with only 6 sections and straightforward structure","8 defined terms in section 3, but most are concrete and descriptive rather than abstract legal concepts","Single cross-reference to the Social Security Act 1991 (section 1061L(2))","Clear conditional logic in section 4 with 5 distinct eligibility criteria listed in parallel (paragraphs a-e)","No nested exceptions or complex temporal provisions beyond the commencement date","Contains one savings provision (section 6) and one repeal (section 5) which are standard administrative provisions"],"plain_english_summary":"This instrument determines who is eligible for the one‑off Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment for the 2019–20 Victorian bushfires in Alpine, East Gippsland, Towong and Wodonga. It identifies people deemed \"adversely affected\" (seriously injured, immediate family of those killed, owners of destroyed/majorly damaged main homes or major assets, and principal carers of qualifying children), defines key terms like “destroyed” and “major damage,” and activates the Social Security Act payment while preserving coverage for prior applicants under the earlier determination."},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"Unauthenticated. Configure AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY or use a provider module. Learn more: https://ai-sdk.dev/unauthenticated-ai-gateway","source":"analysis-cron"}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/f2020l00139","history":"/api/acts/f2020l00139/history","analysis":"/api/acts/f2020l00139/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/f2020l00139/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/f2020l00139/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/f2020l00139/documents"}}