{"id":"F2020L00036","name":"Social Security (Australian Government disaster recovery payment—Tasmania bushfires) Determination 2020 (No. 9)","slug":"social-security-australian-government-disaster-recovery-payment-tasmania-bushfires-determination-202","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":100581,"registerId":"commonwealth-F2020L00036-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-02","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Social Security (Australian Government disaster recovery payment—Tasmania bushfires) Determination 2020 (No. 9)","content":"![Commonwealth Coat of Arms of Australia](image.001.jpeg)\n\nSocial Security (Australian Government disaster recovery payment—Tasmania bushfires) Determination 2020 (No. 9)\n\nI, David Littleproud, Minister for Water Resources, Drought, Rural Finance, Natural Disaster and Emergency Management, make the following determination under subsection 1061L(2) of the Social Security Act 1991 (the Act).\n\nDated 17 January 2020\n\nMinister for Water Resources, Drought, Rural Finance, Natural Disaster and Emergency Management\n\n1 Name\n\nThis instrument is the Social Security (Australian Government disaster recovery payment—Tasmania bushfires) Determination 2020 (No. 9).\n\n2 Commencement\n\nThis instrument commences on the day it is signed.\n\n3 Definitions\n\n(1)In this instrument:\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> Note: 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\niv) 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.\n\n4 Person adversely affected by a major disaster\n\n(1)This section applies to the major disaster being bushfires occurring in December 2019 and January 2020 in Tasmania affecting the local government areas of Break O’Day, Central Highlands and Southern Midlands.\n\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\n(a) the person is seriously injured as a direct result of the disaster;\n\n(b) the person is an immediate family member of an Australian who is killed as a direct result of the disaster;\n\n(c) the person’s principal place of residence has been destroyed or has major damage as a direct result of the disaster;\n\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\n(e) the person is a principal carer of a child to whom paragraphs (a), (b), (c) or (d) apply.\n\n5 Repeal\n\nSocial Security (Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment—Tasmania Bushfires) Determination 2020 (No. 4) is repealed.\n\n6 Savings and transitional\n\nAnything done under the Social Security (Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment—Tasmania Bushfires) Determination 2020 (No. 4) continues to be in effect as if it had been done under this instrument.","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"},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This instrument maintains its original narrow purpose: activating disaster recovery payments for a specific, limited bushfire event in Tasmania. It does not expand beyond the original intent of the Disaster Recovery Payment scheme."},"complexity_factors":["Short instrument: only 6 sections covering 3 pages","Limited cross-referencing: only references subsection 1061L(2) of the Social Security Act 1991","Straightforward conditional logic: simple 'if X then Y' structure in section 4 with five clear eligibility criteria","Minimal defined terms: only 5 defined terms (destroyed, immediate family member, major asset, major damage, seriously injured) plus one interpretive rule for principal place of residence","No nested exceptions or complex temporal provisions","Single purpose instrument with clear geographic and temporal scope (three specific Tasmanian LGAs, December 2019-January 2020)"],"plain_english_summary":"This instrument declares the December 2019–January 2020 bushfires in Break O'Day, Central Highlands and Southern Midlands (Tas.) a \"major disaster\" and activates a one‑off Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment.  \n\nIt lets people directly affected—those seriously injured, immediate family of deceased, owners of destroyed/majorly damaged principal homes or major assets (≥$20,000), and principal carers of impacted children—claim emergency lump‑sum financial help, preserving any payments already made under the prior determination."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This instrument repeals the earlier Determination (No. 4) but expressly continues anything done under that Determination as if done under this instrument, indicating the practical scope of assistance is intended to continue without interruption. The instrument confines eligibility to specified Tasmanian LGAs and the stated categories of adverse effect (see sections 4, 5 and 6). A precise comparison with the prior instrument cannot be made from this text alone, but the savings clause signals continuity rather than an explicit expansion or contraction of beneficiary categories."},"complexity_factors":["Multiple operative definitions that determine eligibility (definitions of destroyed, major damage, major asset, seriously injured, immediate family member, principal place of residence) — see section 3.","Monetary threshold for 'major asset' ($20,000) creating a bright‑line eligibility test that may require valuation evidence — see section 3 (major asset or assets).","Medical threshold for 'seriously injured' tied to hospital admission (actual or would have been) which may require clinical verification — see section 3 (seriously injured).","Geographic limitation to specific local government areas in Tasmania (Break O’Day, Central Highlands, Southern Midlands) restricts scope and focuses administration — see section 4(1).","Legal basis and delegated decision‑making: instrument is made by the Minister under subsection 1061L(2) of the Social Security Act 1991, which supplies the statutory authority for treating persons as 'adversely affected' — see instrument preamble and section 4(2).","Commencement is immediate on signing, which can compress administrative lead times for implementation — see section 2.","Repeal and savings clause preserves actions taken under the prior Determination (No. 4) as if done under this instrument, which maintains continuity but may obscure any subtle drafting changes — see sections 5 and 6.","The instrument specifies eligibility mechanics but does not name the administering agency or outline evidentiary procedures or timetables, leaving operational verification and compliance burden details to be supplied elsewhere — see whole instrument (notably section 4 and absence of administrative detail).","Note in section 3 that 'immediate family member' is used in a sense different to the Act, creating a potential for interpretive difference between this determination and other Social Security provisions."],"plain_english_summary":"Provides a one‑off Australian Government disaster recovery payment for people adversely affected by the December 2019–January 2020 bushfires in three Tasmanian local government areas. It sets eligibility rules (serious injury, death of a household member, destroyed or majorly damaged principal residence or major assets, or being the principal carer of an affected child) and defines key terms, including a $20,000 threshold for “major asset”, which determines who can claim Commonwealth cash assistance."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/social-security-australian-government-disaster-recovery-payment-tasmania-bushfires-determination-202","history":"/api/acts/social-security-australian-government-disaster-recovery-payment-tasmania-bushfires-determination-202/history","analysis":"/api/acts/social-security-australian-government-disaster-recovery-payment-tasmania-bushfires-determination-202/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/social-security-australian-government-disaster-recovery-payment-tasmania-bushfires-determination-202/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/social-security-australian-government-disaster-recovery-payment-tasmania-bushfires-determination-202/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/social-security-australian-government-disaster-recovery-payment-tasmania-bushfires-determination-202/documents"}}