1Social Security (Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment—Western Australian Bushfires) Determination 2021 (No. 1)

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LIN 21/024

Social Security (Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment—Western Australian Bushfires) Determination 2021 (No. 1)

I, David Littleproud, Minister for Agriculture, Drought, and Emergency Management, make this instrument under subsection 1061L(2) of the Social Security Act 1991.

Dated 3 February 2021

David Littleproud

Minister for Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management

1 Name

This instrument is the Social Security (Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment—Western Australian Bushfires) Determination 2021 (No. 1).

2 Commencement

This instrument commences on the day it is signed.

3 Definitions

(1) In this instrument:

destroyed means damaged to the extent that:

(a) for a residence—it must be demolished; or

(b) for a major asset or assets—it is unusable.

immediate family member, of a person, means:

(a) the person’s partner; or

(b) the person’s natural child, adoptive child or step-child; or

(c) the person’s natural parent, adoptive parent or step-parent; or

(d) the person’s legal guardian; or

(e) the person’s brother, sister, step-brother or step-sister.

Note This term is used in a different sense to that used in the Act.

major asset or assets means:

(a) an asset, with a market value of at least $20 000, located at the person’s principal place of residence; or

(b) assets, with a combined market value of at least $20 000, located at the person’s principal place of residence.

Note: Examples Building, large fixed structure, motor vehicle, caravan, water tank, large scale machinery, heavy equipment.

major damage means:

(a) for a residence:

(i) damage to the interior of the residence; or

(ii) that the residence is structurally unsound; or

(iii) damage to the residence that exposes the interior of the residence to the elements; or

(iv) sewage contamination of the interior of the residence or of the water supply to the residence; or

(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

(c) for a major asset that is a water tank—damage to the extent that it needs to be repaired or cleaned, or the water replaced.

seriously injured, for a person, means:

(a) the person has sustained an injury; and

(b) because of the injury:

(i) the person was admitted to hospital; or

(ii) under normal circumstances, the person would have been admitted to hospital.

(2) A place of residence is a person’s principal place of residence if:

(a) the person regularly lives at the place with a degree of settled purpose; and

(b) the person has a lawful right to reside at the place; and

(c) the place is not:

(i) a prison or a place of detention; or

(ii) a secondary residence used for holidays.

Note It is possible for a person to have more than 1 principal place of residence.

4 Person adversely affected by a major disaster

(1) This section applies to the major disaster being the bushfires that commenced on 1 February 2021 in Western Australia affecting the local government areas of Mundaring and Swan.

(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:

(a) the person is seriously injured as a direct result of the disaster;

(b) the person is an immediate family member of an Australian who is killed as a direct result of the disaster;

(c) the person’s principal place of residence has been destroyed or has major damage as a direct result of the disaster;

(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;

(e) the person is a principal carer of a child to whom paragraph (a), (b), (c) or (d) applies.