(b) the element that an instalment is an instalment of a social security payment under the social security law.
Division 3—Penalties
217 Penalty for contravention of Division 2
A person who contravenes a provision of Division 2 commits an offence punishable on conviction by imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months.
218 Repayment of social security payment
(1) If a person is convicted of an offence against section 217, the court may:
(a) impose a penalty in respect of the offence; and
(b) order the person to pay the Commonwealth an amount equal to any amount paid by way of social security payment because of the act, failure or omission that constituted the offence.
(2) In spite of anything in the social security law or any other law, a person is not to be imprisoned for failing to pay an amount payable to the Commonwealth under paragraph (1)(b).
219 Penalty where person convicted of more than one offence
(1) Subject to subsection (2), if a person is convicted of more than one offence against section 217, the court may, if it thinks fit, impose one penalty for all the offences.
(2) A single penalty imposed under subsection (1) must not exceed the sum of the maximum penalties that could be imposed if a separate penalty were imposed for each offence.
Division 4—Procedural matters
220 Joining of charges
Charges against the same person for a number of offences against section 217 may be joined in one complaint, information or declaration if those charges:
(a) are founded on the same facts; or
(b) form a series of offences of the same or a similar character; or
(c) are part of a series of offences of the same or a similar character.
221 Particulars of each offence
If 2 or more charges are included in the same complaint, information or declaration, particulars of each offence charged are to be set out in a separate paragraph.
222 Trial of joined charges
If charges are joined, the charges are to be tried together unless:
(a) the court considers it just that any charge should be tried separately; and
(b) the court makes an order to that effect.
223 Evidentiary effect of Secretary’s certificate
(1) For the purposes of paragraph 218(1)(b), a certificate signed by the Secretary is prima facie evidence of the matters specified in the certificate.
(2) Without limiting subsection (1), a certificate may specify:
(a) a person; and
(b) an amount that has been paid to the person by way of social security payment because of:
(i) an act; or
(ii) a failure; or
(iii) an omission; and
(c) the act, failure or omission that caused the amount to be paid.
224 Enforcement of court certificate as judgment
If:
(a) a court makes an order under paragraph 218(1)(b), under paragraph 1351(1)(b) of the 1991 Act as in force before 20 March 2000 or under subsection 239(7) of the 1947 Act; and
(b) the clerk or other appropriate officer of the court gives a certificate specifying:
(i) the amount ordered to be paid to the Commonwealth; and
(ii) the person by whom the amount is to be paid; and
(c) the certificate is filed in a court (which may be the court that made the order) that has civil jurisdiction to the extent of the amount to be paid;
the certificate is enforceable in all respects as a final judgment of the court in which the certificate is filed.
Division 5—Liability of certain employers and principals for offences
Subdivision A—Interpretation
225 State of mind of a person
A reference in this Division to the state of mind of a person includes a reference to:
(a) the knowledge, intention, opinion, belief or purpose of the person; and
(b) the person’s reasons for the intention, opinion, belief or purpose.
228 Offence
A reference in this Division to an offence against the social security law includes a reference to:
(a) an offence against the social security law that is taken to have been committed because of section 11.2 or 11.2A of the Criminal Code; or
(b) an offence created by:
(i) section 11.1, 11.4 or 11.5 of the Criminal Code; or
(ii) section 6 of the Crimes Act 1914;
that relates to the social security law.
Subdivision C—Proceedings against non‑corporations
231 State of mind of individual
If, in proceedings for an offence against the social security law in respect of conduct engaged in by a person other than a corporation, it is necessary to establish the state of mind of the person, it is sufficient to show that:
(a) the conduct was engaged in by an employee or agent of the person within the scope of his or her actual or apparent authority; and
(b) the employee or agent had that state of mind.
232 Conduct of employee or agent
If:
(a) conduct is engaged in on behalf of a person other than a corporation by an employee or agent of the person; and
(b) the conduct is within the scope of the employee’s actual or apparent authority;
the conduct is taken, for the purposes of a prosecution for an offence against the social security law, to have been engaged in by the person unless the person establishes that he or she took reasonable precautions, and exercised due diligence, to avoid the conduct.
233 Exclusion of imprisonment as penalty for certain offences
In spite of any other provision of the social security law, if:
(a) a person is convicted of an offence; and
(b) the person would not have been convicted if sections 231 and 232 had not been in force;
the person is not liable to be punished by imprisonment for that offence.
Part 7—Miscellaneous
234 Delegation
(1) Subject to subsection (3), the Secretary may, in writing, delegate to an officer all or any of the powers of the Secretary under the social security law.
(2) Subject to subsection (3), the Secretary may, in writing, delegate to the Chief Executive Centrelink or a Departmental employee (within the meaning of the Human Services (Centrelink) Act 1997) all or any of the powers of the Secretary under the social security law.
(3) The Secretary cannot delegate to anyone except the Chief Executive Centrelink the Secretary’s power under subsection 208(1) to disclose information to a person referred to in subparagraph 208(1)(b)(i).
(4) If the Secretary delegates to the Chief Executive Centrelink the Secretary’s power under subsection 208(1) to disclose information to a person referred to in subparagraph 208(1)(b)(i), the Chief Executive Centrelink cannot, in spite of any provision to the contrary in the Human Services (Centrelink) Act 1997, delegate the power to a Departmental employee (within the meaning of the Human Services (Centrelink) Act 1997).
(7) Without limiting the operation of the definition of officer in subsection 23(1) of the 1991 Act, in this section officer includes a person engaged (whether as an employee or otherwise) by:
(a) an Agency (within the meaning of the Public Service Act 1999); or
(b) another authority of the Commonwealth; or
(c) an organisation that performs services for the Commonwealth;
but does not include the Chief Executive Centrelink or a Departmental employee (within the meaning of the Human Services (Centrelink) Act 1997).
235 Authorised review officers
The Secretary may, in writing, authorise an officer to perform duties as an authorised review officer for the purposes of the social security law.
236 Decisions to be in writing
(1) A decision of an officer under the social security law must be in writing.
(2) A decision under the social security law is taken to be in writing if it is made, or recorded, by means of a computer.
237 Notice of decisions
(1) If notice of a decision under the social security law is:
(a) delivered to a person personally; or
(b) left at the address of the place of residence or business of the person last known to the Secretary; or
(c) sent by prepaid post to the postal address of the person last known to the Secretary;
notice of the decision is taken, for the purposes of the social security law, to have been given to the person.
(2) Notice of a decision under the social security law may be given to a person by properly addressing, prepaying and posting the document as a letter.
(3) If notice of a decision is given in accordance with subsection (2), notice of the decision is taken to have been given to the person at the time at which the notice would be delivered in the ordinary course of the post unless the contrary is proved.
(4) This section only applies to notices of decisions, and nothing in this section affects the operation of sections 28A and 29 of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 in relation to other notices under the social security law (for example, a notice that requires a person to inform the Department about some matter or a notice that requires a person to give the Secretary a statement about some matter).
238 Payments to Commissioner of Taxation or the Child Support Registrar
(1) The Secretary must, in accordance with section 218 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936, or Subdivision 260‑A in Schedule 1 to the Taxation Administration Act 1953, for the purpose of enabling the collection of an amount that is, or may become, payable by a recipient of a social security payment:
(a) make deductions from the instalments of, or make a deduction from, the social security payment payable to a person; and
(b) pay the amount deducted to the Commissioner of Taxation.
(1A) Subsection (1) does not apply to a social security payment that is a payment of an essential medical equipment payment.
(1B) Subsection (1) does not apply to a social security payment that is a student start‑up loan.
(2) The Secretary must, in accordance with a notice given to the Secretary under section 72AA of the Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988 in relation to the recipient of a social security pension or a social security benefit:
(a) make deductions from the instalments of the pension or benefit payable to the person; and
(b) pay the amounts deducted to the Registrar.
239 Judicial notice of certain matters
(1) All courts are to take judicial notice of a signature that purports to be attached or appended to any official document if the signature is of a person who:
(a) holds or has held the office of:
(i) Secretary; or
(ii) Director‑General of Social Security; or
(iii) Director‑General of Social Services; or
(b) is or has been an officer.
(2) If the signature of a person referred to in subsection (1) purports to be attached or appended to any official document, all courts are to take judicial notice of the fact that the person holds, or has held, an office referred to in subsection (1) or is, or has been, an officer.
240 Documentary evidence
(1) If the signature of any person who:
(a) holds or has held the office of:
(i) Secretary; or
(ii) Director‑General of Social Security; or
(iii) Director‑General of Social Services; or
(b) is or has been an officer;
purports to be attached or appended to any official document, the document is to be received in all courts as prima facie evidence of the facts and statements contained in it.
(2) A statement in writing signed by a person referred to in subsection (1) that a person is or was receiving a social security payment under the social security law or the 1947 Act on a certain date at a certain rate is to be received in all courts as prima facie evidence that the person is or was receiving the social security payment on the date, and at the rate, stated.
(3) A certificate given by the Secretary stating:
(a) that a specified amount was the principal sum at a particular time under a specified financial supplement contract; or
(b) that a specified amount was the sum of the amounts repaid, or the sum of the amounts notionally repaid, before a particular time or during a particular period in respect of a specified financial supplement contract; or
(c) that a specified amount was the amount, or the total of the amounts, of subsidy paid by the Commonwealth to a specified participating corporation in respect of a specified financial supplement contract in lieu of interest on the principal sum or in lieu of interest on the principal sum in relation to a specified period; or
(d) that a specified amount was, at a particular time, the amount outstanding under a specified financial supplement contract; or
(e) that a specified amount was, at a particular time, the indexation amount in relation to a specified financial supplement contract; or
(f) that the rights, or specified rights, of a specified participating corporation in respect of a specified person under a specified financial supplement contract were transferred by the corporation to the Commonwealth on a specified date; or
(g) that, on a specified day, a person had an FS debt or FS debts to the Commonwealth of a specified amount or specified amounts; or
(h) that, on a specified day, a notice, to a specified effect, under a provision of Chapter 2B was given to a specified person by the Secretary;
is to be received in all courts as prima facie evidence of the matters stated in the certificate.
(4) In any proceeding, a document purporting to be a certificate by the Secretary under subsection (3) is to be taken, unless the contrary is established, to be such a certificate and to have been duly given.
240A Form of cards
(1) A pensioner concession card, a seniors health card or a health care card must be in a form approved in writing by the Secretary for that card.
(2) Subject to subsection (3), an approval under subsection (1) may extend to:
(a) the inclusion on a card of information in a form not capable of being read except by the use of equipment of a particular kind; and
(b) the specification in a card of a day as the day at the end of which the card will expire; and
(c) a form of card that is not an actual card carrying visible information.
(3) In the case of a concession card other than an automatic issue card or a card issued under subsection 1061ZJA(3), (4) or (5) of the 1991 Act:
(a) the card must specify the day at the end of which the card expires; and
(b) the day to be so specified is the last day of the period specified, for the purposes of subsection 37(9) or (10), in the determination granting the card.
(4) Subject to section 240B, a concession card is to include the name of each person (if any) who is a dependant of the holder of the card.
(5) The specification of a day in a card under paragraph (2)(b) does not affect the qualification of the person to whom the card is issued for a card of the same or any other type.
(6) The expiry of a card on a day specified under paragraph (2)(b) does not affect the qualification of the person to whom the card was issued for a card of the same or any other type.
(7) A failure to comply with subsection (4) in relation to a concession card does not alone render the card ineffective for the purposes of this or any other Act.
(8) In this section:
dependant has the same meaning as in Part 2A.1 of the 1991 Act.
240B Restrictions on listing of dependants
(1) A seniors health card is not to include the name of any person as a dependant of the holder of the card.
(2) A health care card issued to a person by virtue of subsection 1061ZK(7) or 1061ZO(9) of the 1991 Act is not to include the name of any person as a dependant of the holder of the card.
(3) A health care card is not to include the name of a person (other than the partner of the holder of the card) as a dependant of the holder of the card if the person is the holder of a pensioner concession card or a health care card.
(4) A pensioner concession card or a health care card is not to include the name of the partner of the holder of the card as a dependant of the holder of the card unless:
(a) the partner is in Australia and is:
(i) an Australian resident; or
(ia) is a special category visa holder residing in Australia; or
(ii) the holder of a visa included in a class of visas determined by the Minister for the purposes of this paragraph; or
(iii) a person declared by the Minister to be a person to whom this subparagraph applies; or
(b) the partner is a New Zealand citizen and the holder of the card:
(i) is in Australia; and
(ii) is receiving a social security pension or benefit solely because of the operation of the scheduled international agreement between Australia and New Zealand.
(4A) The Minister may, by legislative instrument, determine a class of visas for the purposes of paragraph (4)(a).
(5) The Minister may, by legislative instrument, declare that a person who:
(a) is included in a specified class of persons; and
(b) is, or has been, in Australia in specified circumstances;
is a person to whom subparagraph (4)(a)(iii) applies.
(6) The circumstances that may be specified in a declaration under subsection (5) include circumstances that existed or exist at any time before or after the making of the declaration.
(8) In this section:
dependant has the same meaning as in Part 2A.1 of the 1991 Act.
240C Issue of replacement card on expiry of certain concession cards
(1) If:
(a) a day is specified in an automatic issue card, or in a card issued under subsection 1061ZJA(3), (4) or (5) of the 1991 Act, under paragraph 240A(2)(b) of this Act; and
(b) on the day following that day, the person who was the holder of the card remains qualified for the card; and
(c) a further card has not been issued to the person under subsection (2);
the Secretary must issue a further card to the person.
(2) If:
(a) a day (the expiry day) is specified in an automatic issue card, or in a card issued under subsection 1061ZJA(3), (4) or (5) of the 1991 Act, under paragraph 240A(2)(b) of this Act; and
(b) the Secretary is satisfied that the person is likely to remain qualified for the card after the end of the expiry day;
the Secretary may, at any time before the expiry day, issue to the person a further card to take effect on the day following the expiry day.