{"id":"F2018L00440","name":"Social Security (Top Up of Pension Bonus — Specified Circumstances) Determination 2018","slug":"social-security-top-up-of-pension-bonus-specified-circumstances-determination-2018","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":99985,"registerId":"commonwealth-F2018L00440-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-02","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Name of Determination","content":"#### 1 Name of Determination\n\n  This Determination is the Social Security (Top Up of Pension Bonus — Specified Circumstances) Determination 2018.","sortOrder":0},{"sectionNumber":"2","sectionType":"section","heading":"Commencement","content":"#### 2 Commencement\n\n  This Determination commences on 1 April 2018.","sortOrder":1},{"sectionNumber":"3","sectionType":"section","heading":"Authority","content":"#### 3 Authority\n\n  This Determination is made under subsection 93L(6) of the Social Security Act 1991.","sortOrder":2},{"sectionNumber":"4","sectionType":"section","heading":"Definition","content":"#### 4 Definition\n\n  In this Determination:\n  Act means the Social Security Act 1991.\n  5 Schedules\n  Each instrument that is specified in a Schedule to this instrument is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule concerned, and any other item in a Schedule to this instrument has effect according to its terms.","sortOrder":3},{"sectionNumber":"6","sectionType":"section","heading":"Specified circumstance","content":"#### 6 Specified circumstance\n\n  For paragraph 93L(1)(b) of the Act, a specified circumstance is that:\n\n(a) the Secretary makes a determination described in paragraph 93L(1)(a) of the Act because of a reduction, since the start day for the person’s pension bonus, in either or both of the following:\n\n(i) the value of the person’s assets;\n\n(ii) the person’s ordinary income; and\n\n(b) the determination takes effect on a day that is more than 13 weeks after the start day; and\n\n(c) the determination is made because:\n\n(i) an administrative error in determining the person’s rate of age pension was made before the end of the 13‑week period following the start day; or\n\n(ii) the person had given the Secretary, before the end of the 13‑week period following the start day, incorrect information about the value of the person’s assets or the person’s ordinary income.\n\n  \n\nSchedule 1—Repeals\n\nSocial Security (Top up of Pension Bonus — Specified Circumstances) Determination 2007\n\n1 The whole of the instrument\n\nRepeal the instrument","sortOrder":4}],"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":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This is a straightforward remake of the 2007 Determination with identical substantive scope. It specifies the same limited circumstances for pension bonus top-ups and does not expand beyond the original intent of subsection 93L(6) of the Social Security Act 1991."},"complexity_factors":["Only 1 substantive operative section (section 6) with 3 nested conditions","Minimal defined terms (only 2: 'Act' and 'Schedules')","Heavy reliance on external references to the Social Security Act 1991 (subsection 93L(6) and paragraph 93L(1)(b))","Nested sub-paragraphs creating conditional logic (6(a), 6(b), 6(c)(i) and (ii))","Time-bound conditions (13-week periods) requiring cross-referencing with the primary Act","Schedule 1 is purely mechanical (repealing the 2007 predecessor instrument)"],"plain_english_summary":"This law lets Centrelink pay a \"pension bonus top-up\" to Age Pension recipients who later become entitled to a higher pension rate because their assets or income fall, where the change stems from an administrative error or incorrect information provided within the first 13 weeks of the original claim and the new determination takes effect after those 13 weeks. It affects Age Pensioners eligible for the pension bonus and ensures they receive bonus entitlements despite early mistakes; it replaces the 2007 rules."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"This instrument repeals the Social Security (Top up of Pension Bonus — Specified Circumstances) Determination 2007 (Schedule 1) and establishes a specified circumstance limited to cases where a top-up determination takes effect after 13 weeks because of an administrative error or because the person gave incorrect asset/income information before the 13‑week cutoff (s6). The scope therefore changes by replacing the prior instrument with these explicit timing-and-cause conditions."},"complexity_factors":["Cross-references to the Social Security Act 1991 and paragraph 93L(1)(b) — this instrument operates by reference to provisions in the Act (see ss 3 and 4).","Temporal threshold: the determination must take effect more than 13 weeks after the start day, creating a sharp timing condition (s6(b)).","Causation conditions: requires a reduction in assets and/or ordinary income to trigger consideration of a top-up (s6(a)(i)-(ii)).","Limited permitted reasons for late action: only administrative error or incorrect information supplied by the person before the 13‑week deadline qualify (s6(c)(i)-(ii)).","Decision-maker discretion: the Secretary is the actor who makes the determination under the Act (s6 and s3), concentrating decision authority in the agency.","Dependence on external definitions and prior instrument: relies on terms and rules located in the Act and repeals the earlier 2007 Determination, so practical effect depends on how the Act defines 'start day', 'ordinary income' and 'assets' (s4; Schedule 1)."],"plain_english_summary":"This Determination (commencing 1 April 2018, made under subsection 93L(6) of the Social Security Act 1991) defines when the Secretary may ‘top up’ a person’s pension bonus if the person’s assets or ordinary income fall and a determination takes effect more than 13 weeks after the pension bonus start day. It applies only where the late determination is because of an administrative error or because the person gave incorrect assets/income information before the end of the 13‑week period, shifting eligibility to these narrow timing-and-cause conditions."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/social-security-top-up-of-pension-bonus-specified-circumstances-determination-2018","history":"/api/acts/social-security-top-up-of-pension-bonus-specified-circumstances-determination-2018/history","analysis":"/api/acts/social-security-top-up-of-pension-bonus-specified-circumstances-determination-2018/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/social-security-top-up-of-pension-bonus-specified-circumstances-determination-2018/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/social-security-top-up-of-pension-bonus-specified-circumstances-determination-2018/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/social-security-top-up-of-pension-bonus-specified-circumstances-determination-2018/documents"}}