{"id":"F2017L00231","name":"Social Security (Attribution of Assets) Principles 2017","slug":"social-security-attribution-of-assets-principles-2017","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":439136,"registerId":"F2017L00231-fast-fetch-1775955260869","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-12","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Social Security (Attribution of Assets) Principles 2017","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![](image.001.png)\n\nSocial Security (Attribution of Assets) Principles 2017\n\nI, FINN PRATT, Secretary of the Department of Social Services, formulate these Principles under section 1209E of the Social Security Act 1991.\n\nDated    8 March 2017\n\nFinn Pratt\n\nSecretary of the Department of Social Services\n\nContents\n\nPage\n\nPart 1 Preliminary\n\n 1 Name of Principles\n\n 2 Commencement\n\n 3 Definition\n\n 4 Purpose\n\nPart 2 Excluded assets\n\n 5 Purpose of Part 2\n\n 6 Excluded asset — capital transfer by genuine investor\n\nPart 3 Excluded charge or encumbrance\n\n 7 Purpose of Part 3\n\n 8 Determination that charge or encumbrance is excluded\n\n 9 Criteria for arm’s length transaction\n\n 10 Other matters\n\n \n\nPart 4 Effect of loan not secured by charge or encumbrance over asset of company or trust\n\n 11 Purpose of Part 4\n\n 12 Effect of unsecured loan on value of assets\n\n 13 Criteria for arm’s length transaction\n\n 14 Other matters\n\n \n\n \n\nPart 1 Preliminary\n\n \n\n1 Name of Principles\n\n  These Principles are the Social Security (Attribution of Assets) Principles 2017.\n\n2 Commencement\n\n  These Principles commence on 1 April 2017.\n\n3 Definition\n\n  In these Principles:\n\nAct means the Social Security Act 1991.\n\n4 Purpose\n\n  These Principles set out decision-making principles with which the Secretary must comply for the purposes of making a determination under subsection 1208E (2), 1208G (6) or 1208H (1) of the Act.\n\n\n\n\nPart 2 Excluded assets\n\n5 Purpose of Part 2\n\n  This Part sets out decision-making principles with which the Secretary must comply for the purposes of making a determination under subsection 1208E (2) of the Act.\n\n6 Excluded asset — capital transfer by genuine investor\n\n (1) This section applies if an individual (the investor), who is not an attributable stakeholder of a company, makes a genuine transfer of capital to the company for shares in the company.\n\n (2) This section also applies if an individual (the investor), who is not an attributable stakeholder of a trust, makes a genuine transfer of capital to the trust for units in the trust.\n\n (3) For subsections (1) and (2), a transfer of capital is a genuine transfer of capital if:\n\n (a) the investor is over 18 years; and\n\n (b) the investor receives, as consideration for the transfer, shares in the company, or units in the trust, of a value that is equivalent to the value of the capital transferred; and\n\n (c) the investor has a legal or equitable right to a share of the capital on the winding-up of the company or trust; and\n\n (d) the investor has a legal or equitable right to receive dividends or distributions under the constituent documents of the company or the terms of the trust.\n\n (4) The Secretary must consider the extent to which capital transferred in accordance with subsection (3) should be determined to be an excluded asset in relation to an attributable stakeholder of the company or trust, having regard to:\n\n (a) the value of the capital transferred to the company or trust; and\n\n (b) the value of shares or units received by the investor; and\n\n (c) the extent, if any, to which the value of the capital would not be required to be disregarded by any express provision of the Act.\n\n\n\n\nPart 3 Excluded charge or encumbrance\n\n7 Purpose of Part 3\n\n  This Part sets out decision-making principles with which the Secretary must comply for the purposes of making a determination under subsection 1208G (6) of the Act.\n\n8 Determination that charge or encumbrance is excluded\n\n  In relation to a charge or encumbrance, the Secretary must take into account:\n\n (a) whether a transaction that gave rise to the charge or encumbrance was an arm’s length transaction, having regard to the criteria described in section 9; and\n\n (b) the matters referred to in section 10.\n\n9 Criteria for arm’s length transaction\n\n (1) For paragraph 8 (a), a transaction is an arm’s length transaction if:\n\n (a) the transaction is for the purposes of the business activities of the company or trust; and\n\n (b) the transaction is made under a written agreement that is signed by each party to the agreement, and witnessed by an individual who is not a party to the transaction; and\n\n (c) each party to the transaction is:\n\n (i) at least 18 years old; or\n\n (ii) at least 16 years old and engaged in a full-time occupation; or\n\n (iii) at least 16 years old and receiving a social security entitlement; and\n\n (d) the transaction is made for an arm’s length amount.\n\n (2) For subparagraph (1) (c) (ii), a full-time occupation:\n\n (a) includes any employment, trade, business, profession, vocation or calling; and\n\n (b) does not include a course of education at a school, college, university or similar institution.\n\n10 Other matters\n\n  For paragraph 8 (b), the Secretary must also take into account, in relation to the transaction that gave rise to the charge or encumbrance:\n\n (a) whether the individual is the sole attributable stakeholder, or a member of a couple both members of which are the only 2 attributable stakeholders of the company or trust; and\n\n (b) the commercial, social and familial relationships (if any) between the parties to the transaction; and\n\n (c) the nature and circumstances of the transaction.\n\n\n\n\nPart 4 Effect of loan not secured by charge or encumbrance over asset of company or trust\n\n11 Purpose of Part 4\n\n  This Part sets out decision-making principles with which the Secretary must comply in making a determination under subsection 1208H (1) of the Act.\n\n12 Effect of unsecured loan on value of assets\n\n  In relation to an unsecured loan, the Secretary must take into account:\n\n (a) whether a transaction that gave rise to the loan was an arm’s length transaction, having regard to the criteria described in section 13; and\n\n (b) the matters referred to in section 14.\n\n13 Criteria for arm’s length transaction\n\n (1) For paragraph 12 (a), a transaction is an arm’s length transaction if:\n\n (a) the transaction is for the purposes of the business activities of the company or trust; and\n\n (b) the transaction is made under a written agreement that is signed by each party to the agreement, and witnessed by an individual who is not a party to the transaction; and\n\n (c) each party to the transaction is:\n\n (i) at least 18 years old; or\n\n (ii) at least 16 years old and engaged in a full-time occupation; or\n\n (iii) at least 16 years old and receiving a social security entitlement; and\n\n (d) the transaction is made for an arm’s length amount.\n\n (2) For subparagraph (1) (c) (ii), a full-time occupation:\n\n (a) includes any employment, trade, business, profession, vocation or calling; and\n\n (b) does not include a course of education at a school, college, university or similar institution.\n\n14 Other matters\n\n  For paragraph 12 (b), the Secretary must also take into account, in relation to the transaction that gave rise to the charge or encumbrance:\n\n (a) whether the individual is the sole attributable stakeholder, or a member of a couple both members of which are the only 2 attributable stakeholders of the company or trust; and\n\n (b) whether the loan is secured by a charge or encumbrance over an asset other than an asset described in paragraph 1208H (1) (b) of the Act; and\n\n (c) the commercial, social and familial relationships (if any) between the parties to the transaction; and\n\n (d) the nature and circumstances of the transaction.\n\n \n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":5,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"These Principles do not themselves alter who is covered under the Social Security Act; they prescribe decision-making principles the Secretary must follow when making determinations under subsections 1208E(2), 1208G(6) and 1208H(1) (s4). They guide how statutory provisions are applied (valuation, arm’s length tests, consideration of relationships) but do not on their face expand or contract the statutory criteria."},"complexity_factors":["Discretion given to the Secretary to make determinations and weigh matters (s4; s8; s12) increases interpretive complexity","Multiple legal tests with factual inquiry: 'genuine transfer of capital' requires valuation and rights analysis (s6)","Arm’s length criteria include documentary, witness and age/occupation conditions that require factual verification (s9; s13)","Requirement to consider commercial, social and familial relationships and transaction circumstances introduces open-ended judgment calls (s10; s14)","Cross-reference to specific Act subsections (1208E(2), 1208G(6), 1208H(1)) means application depends on statutory context external to these Principles (s4; s14(b))","Administrative/compliance burden on parties to produce signed, witnessed written agreements and valuation evidence (s9(1)(b); s13(1)(b))","Need to determine arm’s length amounts and whether capital value matches consideration creates valuation and evidence challenges (s6(3)(b); s9(1)(d))"],"plain_english_summary":"These Principles tell the Secretary of the Department of Social Services how to decide whether certain capital transfers, charges/encumbrances or unsecured loans should be treated as excluded when attributing company or trust assets for social security means tests (s4). They affect investors, attributable stakeholders in companies and trusts, and social security recipients because those determinations change whether assets are counted. The rules focus on genuine capital transfers (s6), arm’s length written agreements (s9, s13) and require the Secretary to consider relationships and transaction purpose, creating an incentive for formal documentation."},"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"},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains tightly focused on its original purpose: providing decision-making principles for asset attribution determinations under specific sections of the Social Security Act 1991. The three Parts address distinct but related aspects (excluded assets, excluded charges, and unsecured loans) that all fall within the core function of preventing artificial reduction of assessable assets. No scope creep is evident."},"complexity_factors":["Short document (14 sections, approximately 1,500 words)","Only 1 defined term ('Act') in the interpretation section","Minimal cross-referencing – primarily refers back to the parent Social Security Act 1991 for operative provisions","Straightforward conditional logic with clear 'if-then' structures","Some repetition between Parts 3 and 4 (sections 9 and 13 are nearly identical, as are sections 10 and 14)","No nested exceptions or complex definitional chains","Clear purpose statements at the start of each Part aid navigation"],"plain_english_summary":"This instrument tells Centrelink how to treat investments, loans, charges and other arrangements involving companies and trusts when assessing eligibility for social security. It mainly affects people who control or invest in those entities and anyone applying for or receiving payments.\n\nIt preserves recognition of genuine, arm’s‑length investments and commercial loans while preventing family or sham arrangements that artificially reduce assessable assets to gain benefits."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/social-security-attribution-of-assets-principles-2017","history":"/api/acts/social-security-attribution-of-assets-principles-2017/history","analysis":"/api/acts/social-security-attribution-of-assets-principles-2017/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/social-security-attribution-of-assets-principles-2017/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/social-security-attribution-of-assets-principles-2017/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/social-security-attribution-of-assets-principles-2017/documents"}}