This compilation was prepared on 15 January 2001
taking into account amendments up to SR 1994 No. 347
Prepared by the Office of Legislative Drafting,
Attorney-General’s Department, Canberra
Contents
Page
1 Citation [see Note 1]
2 Interpretation
2A Approved interest — perpetual lease
3 Assisted person to be an eligible person
4 Eligible persons
4AA Renewal of eligibility
4A Prescribed earnings
5 Relevant amounts for the purposes of section 23 of the Act
6 Assistance — assisted persons not having a dependent child
7 Assistance — assisted persons having one dependent child
8 Assistance — assisted persons having 2 or more dependent children
9 Instalments of assistance
10 Election
11 Notice that assistance is payable
12 Manner of electing
13 Payment of assistance
14 Commencement and manner of payment
14A Instalments not to be less than $10
14AA Early payment of assistance
15 Cessation of entitlement to assistance
16 Resumption of entitlement to assistance
17 Request for resumption of assistance
18 Resumed assistance not payable unless certain conditions satisfied
19 Payment of resumed assistance
20 Failure to complete purchase or construction of later dwelling
21 Adjustment of payments of resumed assistance
22 Misleading statements
23 Notification of certain events
24 Death of certain persons
25 Surviving applicants
26 Delegation
27 Persons prescribed for purposes of paragraph 29 (2) (b) of the Act
Schedule Rates of assistance
Part I Assisted person(s) not having a dependent child
Part II Assisted person(s) having one dependent child
Part III Assisted person(s) having 2 or more dependent children
Notes
1 Citation [see Note 1]
These Regulations may be cited as the First Home Owners Regulations.
2 Interpretation
(1) In these Regulations, unless the contrary intention appears:
assisted person means an applicant to whom assistance is payable by virtue of section 16 of the Act.
eligible person means a person who is an eligible person by virtue of regulation 4.
the Act means the First Home Owners Act 1983.
year, in relation to a prescribed date in respect of a person, means a period of 12 months commencing on the prescribed date in respect of the person or on an anniversary of the date that was the prescribed date in respect of that person when the first payment of assistance was made to that person, as the case requires.
(2) A reference in these Regulations to 2 or more assisted persons is a reference to 2 or more persons to whom assistance is payable as joint applicants.
2A Approved interest — perpetual lease
A perpetual lease from the Crown in right of the Commonwealth, a State, the Northern Territory or the Australian Capital Territory is declared to be an approved interest for the purposes of paragraph (g) of the definition of approved interest in subsection 4 (1) of the Act.
3 Assisted person to be an eligible person
An assisted person continues to be an assisted person only for so long as he is an eligible person in relation to a dwelling.
4 Eligible persons
(1) Where a person, during any part of a year that commences on the date that is the prescribed date in respect of the person, is a prescribed person in relation to a dwelling, the person is, for the purposes of these Regulations, an eligible person in relation to the dwelling for the whole of that year.
(2) Where a person, during any part of a year that commences on the date that is the prescribed date, or an anniversary of that prescribed date, in respect of the person, owns, either alone or together with another person, a dwelling that is his principal place of residence, the first-mentioned person is, for the purposes of these Regulations, an eligible person in relation to the dwelling for the whole of that year.
(3) Where a person:
(a) owns a dwelling;
(b) does not reside in the dwelling as his principal place of residence; and
(c) intends so to reside in the dwelling within a reasonable time;
the dwelling shall, for the purposes of these Regulations, be taken to be the principal place of residence of the person.
(4) Where, but for this subregulation, a person would be an eligible person in relation to a dwelling in a year and more than 12 months has elapsed since the last year in which the person was an eligible person, the person is not an eligible person in relation to the dwelling in the first-mentioned year.
(5) Where:
(a) a person would, by virtue of subsection 14 (1) of the Act, be a prescribed person in relation to a dwelling; and
(b) the dwelling is not the dwelling in respect of which assistance first became payable to the person;
the person shall, for the purposes of subregulation (1), be taken to be a prescribed person in relation to the first-mentioned dwelling.
4AA Renewal of eligibility
(1) An eligible person shall, not earlier than 60 days before each anniversary of the prescribed date in respect of that person, furnish the Secretary with a declaration relating to the ownership and occupancy of the dwelling in relation to which he or she is an eligible person.
(2) A declaration under subregulation (1):
(a) shall be in writing signed by the person making the declaration or, if the declaration is to be made by more than one person, signed by each such person or by one such person on behalf of all persons making the declaration; and
(b) shall be in accordance with a form made available by the Secretary.
(3) Where a person who would otherwise be eligible to receive assistance in a year:
(a) fails to furnish the Secretary with a completed declaration in accordance with this regulation in the year immediately preceding the first-mentioned year; or
(b) furnishes the Secretary with such a completed declaration but the information provided by that person in that declaration does not establish that that person is an eligible person, or will continue to be an eligible person, in respect of that first-mentioned year;
assistance shall not be paid to that person in respect of that first-mentioned year.
(4) Where a person who would otherwise be eligible to receive assistance in a year fails to furnish the Secretary with a completed declaration in accordance with this regulation in the year immediately preceding the first-mentioned year, the Secretary may accept such declaration furnished to the Secretary after the commencement of the first-mentioned year and that declaration, if so accepted, shall be deemed for the purposes of paragraph (3) (a) to have been furnished to the Secretary in the year immediately preceding the first-mentioned year.
(5) Where a person furnishes the Secretary with a declaration under this regulation and a statement indicated in that declaration as applying to that person or to a person referred to in the declaration was correct at the time the declaration was furnished to the Secretary but not on the anniversary of the prescribed date relevant to that declaration, the declaration shall be deemed to be correct on that anniversary.
4A Prescribed earnings
For the purposes of section 19 of the Act, in relation to an applicant in relation to whom a direction is in force under section 22 of the Act, the amount of the taxable income of the applicant for the relevant year of income is that amount as reduced in accordance with:
(a) if the prescribed date in relation to the applicant is a date not later than 30 June 1984 and the relevant year of income in relation to the applicant is the current year of income — the formula:
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(b) if the prescribed date in relation to the applicant is a date not later than 30 June 1984 and the relevant year of income in relation to the applicant is the succeeding year of income — the formula:
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(c) if the prescribed date in relation to the applicant is a date later than 30 June 1984 and not later than 30 June 1985 and the relevant year of income in relation to the applicant is the current year of income — the formula:
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(d) if the prescribed date in relation to the applicant is a date later than 30 June 1984 and not later than 30 June 1985 and the relevant year of income in relation to the applicant is the succeeding year of income — the formula:
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(e) if the prescribed date in relation to the applicant is a date later than 30 June 1985 and not later than 30 June 1986 and the relevant year of income in relation to the applicant is the current year of income — the formula:
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(f) if the prescribed date in relation to the applicant is a date later than 30 June 1985 and not later than 30 June 1986 and the relevant year of income in relation to the applicant is the succeeding year of income — the formula:
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(g) if the prescribed date in relation to the applicant is a date later than 30 June 1986 and not later than 30 June 1987 and the relevant year of income in relation to the applicant is the current year of income — the formula:
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(h) if the prescribed date in relation to the applicant is a date later than 30 June 1986 and not later than 30 June 1987 and the relevant year of income in relation to the applicant is the succeeding year of income — the formula:
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(i) if the prescribed date in relation to the applicant is a date later than 30 June 1987 and not later than 30 June 1988 and the relevant year of income is the current year of income — the formula:
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(j) if the prescribed date in relation to the applicant is a date later than 30 June 1987 and not later than 30 June 1988 and the relevant year of income in relation to the applicant is the succeeding year of income — the formula:
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(k) if the prescribed date in relation to the applicant is a date later than 30 June 1988 and not later than 30 June 1989 and the relevant year of income is the current year of income — the formula:
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(l) if the prescribed date in relation to the applicant is a date later than 30 June 1988 and not later than 30 June 1989 and the relevant year of income in relation to the applicant is the succeeding year of income — the formula:
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(m) if the prescribed date in relation to the applicant is a date later than 30 June 1989 and not later than 30 June 1990 and the relevant year of income in relation to the applicant is the current year of income — the formula:
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(n) if the prescribed date in relation to the applicant is a date later than 30 June 1989 and not later than 30 June 1990 and the relevant year of income in relation to the applicant is the succeeding year of income — the formula:
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(o) if the prescribed date in relation to the applicant is a date later than 30 June 1990 and not later than 21 August 1990 and the relevant year of income in relation to the applicant is the current year of income — the formula:
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(p) if the prescribed date in relation to the applicant is a date later than 30 June 1990 and not later than 21 August 1990 and the relevant year of income in relation to the applicant is the succeeding year of income — the formula:
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where A is the amount that, but for this regulation, would be the amount of the taxable income of the applicant for the relevant year of income in relation to the applicant.
5 Relevant amounts for the purposes of section 23 of the Act
(1) Where the prescribed date in relation to an applicant is a date not later than 21 August 1984, the higher relevant amount for the purposes of section 23 of the Act is $27,900 and the lower relevant amount for the purposes of that section is $24,300.
(2) Where the prescribed date in relation to an applicant is a date later than 21 August 1984 and not later than 30 March 1987, the higher relevant amount for the purposes of section 23 of the Act is:
(a) in the case of a sole applicant who does not have a dependent child — $13,950; and
(b) in any other case — $27,900;
and the lower relevant amount for the purposes of that section is:
(c) in the case of a sole applicant who does not have a dependent child — $10,000; and
(d) in any other case — $20,000.
(3) Where the prescribed date in relation to an applicant is a date later than 30 March 1987, the higher relevant amount for the purposes of section 23 of the Act is:
(a) in the case of a sole applicant who has, or joint applicants who together have, 2 or more dependent children — $34,000;
(b) in the case of a sole applicant who has, or joint applicants who together have, only one dependent child — $33,000;
(c) in the case of joint applicants neither of whom has a dependent child — $31,000; and
(d) in the case of a sole applicant who does not have a dependent child — $15,500;
and the lower relevant amount for the purposes of that section is:
(e) in the case of a sole applicant who has, or joint applicants who together have, 2 or more dependent children — $26,000;
(f) in the case of a sole applicant who has, or joint applicants who together have, only one dependent child — $25,000;
(g) in the case of joint applicants neither of whom has a dependent child — $23,000; and
(h) in the case of a sole applicant who does not have a dependent child — $11,500.
6 Assistance — assisted persons not having a dependent child
(1) Subject to regulation 15, the amount of assistance payable to an assisted person who does not have, or to 2 or more assisted persons neither of whom has, a dependent child is:
(a) an amount of $3,000 payable by instalments.
(2) Assistance to the assisted person or assisted persons, as the case may be, is payable:
(a) in the case of the amount specified in paragraph (1) (a) — at the annual rate, in respect of each year specified in column 2 of an item in Part I of the Schedule, specified in column 3 of that item.
7 Assistance — assisted persons having one dependent child
(1) Subject to regulation 15, the amount of assistance payable to an assisted person who has, or to 2 or more assisted persons any one of whom has, one dependent child is:
(a) an amount of $4,500 payable by instalments;
(b) a lump sum of $700, together with an amount of $3,300 payable by instalments; or
(c) a lump sum of $2,000, together with an amount of $1,750 payable by instalments.
(2) Assistance to the assisted person or assisted persons, as the case may be, is payable:
(a) in the case of the amount specified in paragraph (1) (a) — at the annual rate, in respect of each year specified in column 2 of an item in Part II of the Schedule, specified in column 3 of that item;
(b) in the case of the amount of $3,300 specified in paragraph (1) (b) — at the annual rate, in respect of each year specified in column 2 of an item in Part II of the Schedule, specified in column 4 of that item; and
(c) in the case of the amount of $1,750 specified in paragraph (1) (c) — at the annual rate, in respect of each year specified in column 2 of an item in Part II of the Schedule, specified in column 5 of that item.
8 Assistance — assisted persons having 2 or more dependent children
(1) Subject to regulation 15, the amount of assistance payable to an assisted person who has, or to 2 or more assisted persons who together have, 2 or more dependent children is:
(a) an amount of $5,000 payable by instalments;
(b) a lump sum of $1,200, together with an amount of $3,300 payable by instalments; or
(c) a lump sum of $2,500, together with an amount of $1,750 payable by instalments.
(2) Assistance to the assisted person or assisted persons, as the case may be, is payable:
(a) in the case of the amount specified in paragraph (1) (a) — at the annual rate, in respect of each year specified in column 2 of an item in Part III of the Schedule, specified in column 3 of that item;
(b) in the case of the amount of $3,300 specified in paragraph (1) (b) — at the annual rate, in respect of each year specified in column 2 of an item in Part III of the Schedule, specified in column 4 of that item; and
(c) in the case of the amount of $1,750 specified in paragraph (1) (c) — at the annual rate, in respect of each year specified in column 2 of an item in Part III of the Schedule, specified in column 5 of that item.
9 Instalments of assistance
(1) Subject to subregulation (2), assistance at a rate referred to in subregulation 6 (2), 7 (2) or 8 (2) is payable by monthly instalments.
(2) Subject to subregulation (2A) and regulation 14, the amount of an instalment payable in respect of a month in a year is an amount equal to the amount ascertained by dividing the amount of the rate specified in a column in an item in the Schedule in respect of that year by 12.
(2A) Where:
(a) a person is entitled to payment over a period of one or more years by instalments ascertained in accordance with subregulation (2) of an amount of assistance that is not less than $10; and
(b) but for this subregulation, the amount of the last of those instalments, or the sum of the amounts of a number of consecutive such instalments (including the last instalment), would be less than $10;
the amount of the last instalment, or the sum of the amounts of the consecutive instalments referred to in paragraph (b), as the case requires, shall be added to the last of the instalments payable to that person that would be equal to or exceed $10 or, if there is no such instalment, to the first instalment payable to that person.
(3) Where, but for this subregulation, the amount of an instalment ascertained in accordance with subregulation (1) would include a fraction of a cent, the amount shall be adjusted in such manner as the Secretary from time to time directs, but so that:
(a) the amount by which the instalment is adjusted does not exceed one cent; and
(b) the sum of the instalments payable to a person in respect of a year does not exceed an amount equal to the amount of the rate applicable in respect of that person in respect of that year.
10 Election
(1) An assisted person or 2 or more assisted persons may elect to be paid:
(b) in the case of a person or persons referred to in regulation 7 — the assistance referred to in paragraph 7 (1) (a), (b) or (c); or
(c) in the case of a person or persons referred to in regulation 8 — the assistance referred to in paragraph 8 (1) (a), (b) or (c).
(2) Where an assisted person makes, or 2 or more assisted persons make, an election under subregulation (1), assistance is payable to the person or persons in accordance with the election.
11 Notice that assistance is payable
Where assistance is payable to an assisted person, or to 2 or more assisted persons, the Secretary shall, in writing:
(a) notify the person or persons, as the case may be, of:
(i) the amount of that assistance; and
(ii) the manner in which that amount is payable; and
(b) in the case of a person or persons referred to in regulation 7 or 8:
(i) notify the person or persons, as the case may be, of the election that the person or persons may make under regulation 10; and
(ii) request the person or persons to make that election accordingly.
12 Manner of electing
(1) An election under regulation 10 shall be:
(a) in writing in accordance with a form made available by the Secretary;
(b) subject to subregulation (2), signed by the assisted person or by each of 2 or more assisted persons, as the case requires; and
(c) furnished to the Secretary.
(2) Where:
(a) an election that is required to be signed by 2 or more persons has been signed by any, but not all, of those persons; and
(b) the Secretary is satisfied, in respect of a person who has not signed the election as mentioned in paragraph (a), that:
(i) the person is unable to sign the election because of physical or mental incapacity, absence or any other reason that the Secretary considers sufficient;
(ii) the person has refused to sign the election;
(iii) the whereabouts of the person are not known; or
(iv) the person has died;
the Secretary may, if he considers that the person who has not signed the election should be treated as having signed the election, direct that the person is to be deemed to have signed the election.
(3) Where, in relation to an election, the Secretary gives a direction under subregulation (2), the person in respect of whom the direction is given shall be deemed to have signed the election.
13 Payment of assistance
(1) Subject to subregulation (4), assistance payable to an assisted person shall be paid to the person.
(2) Subject to subregulation (4), assistance payable to 2 or more assisted persons shall be paid to the persons jointly.
(3) An assisted person or 2 or more assisted persons may, from time to time, by writing furnished to the Secretary, request the Secretary to pay the assistance payable to the person or persons, as the case may be, to a person or persons specified in the request.
(4) Where an assisted person makes, or 2 or more assisted persons make, a request under subregulation (3), the Secretary shall pay the assistance to the person or persons specified in the request.
(5) Assistance paid in accordance with a request under subregulation (3) shall, for the purposes of the Act and these Regulations, be deemed to have been paid to the assisted person, or to the assisted persons jointly, as the case may be.
14 Commencement and manner of payment
(1) Assistance payable by way of a lump sum to an assisted person, or to 2 or more assisted persons, shall be paid as a lump sum as soon as practicable after the person makes, or the persons make, as the case may be, an election under regulation 10 in respect of that assistance.
(2) Where assistance is payable by monthly instalments to an assisted person, or to 2 or more assisted persons, the first instalment shall be paid:
(a) in the case of a person or persons referred to in regulation 6 — as soon as practicable after the Secretary makes a decision under subsection 16 (1) of the Act to pay the assistance; or
(b) in the case of a person or persons referred to in regulation 7 or 8 — as soon as practicable after an election under regulation 10 is made by the person or persons in respect of the assistance.
14A Instalments not to be less than $10
(1) Notwithstanding regulations 6, 7 and 8, where assistance is payable in instalments to a person and an instalment in a year to which the person would be entitled but for subsection 23 (4) of the Act would, but for this regulation, be less than $10 and:
(a) that person is entitled in that year to the payment of one or more further instalments of assistance; or
(b) that person may be entitled to one or more further instalments of assistance payable in respect of a subsequent year;
then the amount of the first-mentioned instalment shall be increased to $10 and the total amount of assistance to which that person remains entitled after the payment of each such instalment shall be reduced accordingly.
(2) Nothing in this regulation shall operate to increase the total amount of assistance to which a person would otherwise be eligible.
14AA Early payment of assistance
In spite of any other provision of these Regulations, the Secretary may pay as a lump sum the balance of an amount of assistance that would, but for this regulation, be payable to an assisted person in instalments.
15 Cessation of entitlement to assistance
(1) Subject to regulation 16, where an assisted person ceases to be an eligible person, assistance ceases to be payable to the person in respect of any period that occurs after the expiration of the year during which the person ceases to be an eligible person.
(2) Where:
(a) a person who is an eligible person in relation to a dwelling ceases to own the dwelling;
(b) a dwelling in respect of which a person is an eligible person ceases to be the principal place of residence of the person; or
(c) in the case of a person who has never resided in a dwelling in respect of which he is an eligible person — the person ceases to hold the intention to reside in the dwelling as his principal place of residence within a reasonable time;
the person ceases to be an eligible person.
(3) Nothing in subregulation (1) shall be taken to affect the entitlement of a person to be paid instalments in respect of a period that occurred before the date on which the person ceased to be an eligible person, being instalments that, at that date, had not been paid.
16 Resumption of entitlement to assistance
(1) This regulation applies to a person:
(a) to whom assistance ceases to be payable in respect of a dwelling by virtue of the fact that the person ceases to be an eligible person; and
(b) who, within 12 months after the expiration of the year in respect of which assistance so ceases to be payable, again becomes an eligible person in relation to a dwelling.
(2) Subject to regulations 17 and 18, there is payable to a person to whom this regulation applies, in relation to the dwelling referred to in paragraph (1) (b), the assistance that, but for regulation 15, would have been payable to the person in respect of the dwelling referred to in paragraph (1) (a).
(3) Assistance to a person to whom this regulation applies is payable:
(a) at the rate at which, and in the manner by which, assistance was payable to the person in respect of the dwelling referred to in paragraph (1) (a); and
(b) in respect of each year during which the person is an eligible person.
(4) A dwelling shall not be taken to be a dwelling for the purposes of this regulation unless the Secretary is satisfied that:
(a) the facilities it provides are such that it is reasonable to regard it as the principal place of residence of a person or persons; and
(b) if any building standards are applicable to it — it complies with those standards.
17 Request for resumption of assistance
(1) A person to whom regulation 16 applies may make a request in accordance with this regulation for the resumption of payment of assistance.
(2) A request under this regulation:
(a) shall be in writing in accordance with a form made available by the Secretary;
(b) shall be signed by the person making the request; and
(c) shall be furnished to the Secretary.
(3) A person making a request under this regulation shall furnish to the Secretary such declarations and other documents as the Secretary requires.
18 Resumed assistance not payable unless certain conditions satisfied
(1) Assistance in respect of a dwelling shall not be paid to a person to whom regulation 16 applies unless the Secretary is satisfied that the person, whether alone or with any other person, has or will have adequate financial resources (including resources obtained or to be obtained by borrowing) to perform in relation to the dwelling a contract of the kind referred to in paragraph 14 (1) (a) or (b) of the Act, or to complete in respect of the dwelling construction of the kind referred to in paragraph 14 (1) (c) of the Act, as the case may be.
(2) Subregulation (1) does not apply in relation to a contract for the purchase of a dwelling, being a contract that provides for the payment of the whole or part of the purchase price by instalments, if the Secretary is satisfied that it would be unreasonable for that subregulation to apply having regard to all the circumstances.
(3) In this regulation, ‘dwelling’ does not include a dwelling referred to in paragraph 16 (1) (a).
19 Payment of resumed assistance
Where assistance again becomes payable to a person by reason that the person is a person to whom regulation 16 applies, the first instalment shall be paid as soon as practicable after the person makes a request under regulation 17.
20 Failure to complete purchase or construction of later dwelling
(1) This regulation applies where assistance has been paid to a person, as a result of a request under regulation 17, in respect of a dwelling the purchase or construction of which had not been completed on the date on which the person made the request in respect of that dwelling.
(2) Where:
(a) in the case of a dwelling the purchase of which had not been completed on the date on which the request was made:
(i) the purchase of the dwelling is not completed within 3 months after the date specified in the request as the date on which it was expected that the purchase would be completed or, if no date was so specified, within 3 months after the date of the first payment of that assistance; or
(ii) the contract for the purchase of the dwelling is discharged otherwise than by performance of the contract; or
(b) in the case of a dwelling the construction of which had not been completed on the date on which the request was made:
(i) the construction of the dwelling is not completed within 6 months after the date specified in the request as the date on which it was expected that the construction would be completed or, if no date was so specified, within 6 months after the date of the first payment of that assistance;
(ii) if the dwelling was being, or was to be, constructed by a building-contractor — the contract for the construction of the dwelling is discharged otherwise than by performance of the contract; or
(iii) before the expiration of 12 months after the date on which the person, or each of the persons who made the request, became a prescribed person in relation to the dwelling, the person, or none of those persons, as the case may be, became the owner of the dwelling;
and the Secretary is not forthwith notified in writing of the fact, then the person, or each of the persons, as the case may be, is guilty of an offence punishable, upon conviction, by a fine not exceeding $1,000.
21 Adjustment of payments of resumed assistance
(1) Where an amount of assistance has been paid to a person or persons as a result of a request under regulation 17 and the whole or part of the amount should not have been paid, the whole, or that part, as the case may be, of the amount is referred to in this regulation as an amount overpaid, and the succeeding provisions of this regulation apply.
(2) If further assistance is payable, but not paid, to the person or persons, the Secretary may recover the amount overpaid:
(a) where only one amount of assistance is so payable — by deduction from that amount; or
(b) where 2 or more amounts of assistance are so payable — by deduction of equal amounts from the amounts so payable.
(3) So much of the amount overpaid as exceeds the total amount (if any) of further assistance payable, but not paid, to the person or persons is a debt due to the Commonwealth by the person, or by the persons jointly and severally, as the case may be, and may at any time be sued for and recovered in a court of competent jurisdiction by the Secretary suing in his official name.
(4) Where by virtue of subregulation (3) a debt is due by persons jointly and severally, the Secretary is not entitled to recover amounts that, in the aggregate, exceed the amount of the debt.
(5) Without limiting the generality of subregulation (1), where:
(a) an amount of assistance has been paid to a person or persons on the basis of an amount of the prescribed earnings of the person or persons and the amount of those prescribed earnings is subsequently determined to be a greater amount; and
(b) as a result of the determination, the whole or part of the amount of assistance is not payable;
then, for the purposes of this regulation, the whole, or that part, as the case may be, of the amount of assistance shall be treated as if it should not have been paid.
(6) Without limiting the generality of subregulation (1), where an amount of assistance has been paid in respect of a dwelling and any of the circumstances referred to in paragraph 20 (2) (a) or (b) occurs, then, for the purposes of this regulation the amount of assistance shall be treated as if it should not have been paid.
(7) Where the whole or part of an amount of assistance that has become payable to a person or persons has not been paid, the Secretary shall pay the whole, or that part, as the case may be, by way of a single payment.
22 Misleading statements
A person shall not, in connection with, or in support of, a request under regulation 17 for the resumption of payment of assistance, make, whether orally or in writing, a statement that, to his knowledge, is false or misleading in a material particular.
Penalty: $1,000.
23 Notification of certain events
Where:
(a) a person ceases to own a dwelling in respect of which assistance is payable to him;
(b) a dwelling in respect of which assistance is payable to a person ceases to be the principal place of residence of that person; or
(c) in the case of a person who has never resided in a dwelling in respect of which assistance is payable to him — the person ceases to hold the intention to reside in the dwelling as his principal place of residence within a reasonable time;
the person shall, within 14 days after the occurrence of an event specified in paragraph (a), (b) or (c), notify the Secretary in writing of the occurrence of the event.
Penalty: $1,000.
24 Death of certain persons
Subject to regulation 25, where a person to whom assistance is payable dies:
(a) the assistance, including any instalment of the assistance that would otherwise have been payable to that person, ceases to be payable in respect of any period after the expiration of the month in which the person dies or, where the date of that person’s death is not known, the expiration of the month in which there are reasonable grounds for believing that that person died; and
(b) an amount of that assistance paid in respect of a period after the expiration of that month is a debt due to the Commonwealth and may at any time be sued for and recovered in a court of competent jurisdiction by the Secretary suing in his official name.
25 Surviving applicants
(1) Where:
(a) one of 2 assisted persons dies (in this regulation referred to as the ‘deceased applicant’); and
(b) the surviving assisted person (in this regulation referred to as the ‘surviving applicant’) is an eligible person at the date of the death of the deceased applicant;
there is payable to the surviving applicant, in addition to the amount of assistance that was payable to the surviving applicant immediately before the death of the deceased applicant, an amount equal to the amount of assistance that would, but for the death of the deceased applicant, have been payable to the deceased applicant.
(2) Where:
(a) a surviving applicant is not an eligible person at the date of the death of the deceased applicant; and
(b) the surviving applicant becomes an eligible person within 12 months of having ceased to be an eligible person;
there is payable to the surviving applicant:
(c) the amount of assistance to which the surviving applicant is entitled by virtue of regulation 16; and
(d) the amount of assistance that would, but for the death of the deceased applicant, have been payable to the deceased applicant.
(3) An amount of assistance that is, by reason of the death of a deceased applicant, payable to a surviving applicant by virtue of this regulation is payable at the rate at which, and in the manner by which, the assistance would have been payable to the deceased applicant.
26 Delegation
(1) The Secretary may, either generally or as otherwise provided by the instrument of delegation, by writing signed by him, delegate to an officer of the Department all or any of his powers under these Regulations, other than this power of delegation.
(2) A power so delegated, when exercised by the delegate, shall for the purpose of these Regulations, be deemed to have been exercised by the Secretary.
(3) A delegation under this Regulation does not prevent the exercise of a power by the Secretary.
27 Persons prescribed for purposes of paragraph 29 (2) (b) of the Act
For the purposes of paragraph 29 (2) (b) of the Act, each person who, for the time being, holds, or performs the duties of:
(a) the office of the Commissioner of Taxation; or
(b) the office of the Secretary to the Department of Social Security;
is prescribed.
Schedule Rates of assistance
(regulations 6, 7 and 8)
Part I Assisted person(s) not having a dependent child
Column 1Item No.
Column 2Year
Column 3Annualrate
$
1...................................
1
1,050
2...................................
2
825
3...................................
3
600
4...................................
4
375
5...................................
5
150
Part II Assisted person(s) having one dependent child
Note: The First Home Owners Regulations (in force under the First Home Owners Act 1983) as shown in this compilation comprise Statutory Rules 1983 No. 208 amended as indicated in the Tables below.