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Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986
5CEligibility related definitions
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#### 5C Eligibility related definitions
(1) In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears:
> allied country means any country (not being Australia or a Commonwealth country):
(a) that was, at the relevant time, at war with the enemy; or
(b) the forces of which were, at the relevant time, engaged in an operational area against forces against which the forces of the Commonwealth were engaged in that area;
and includes:
(c) a state, province or other territory that is one of 2 or more territories that together form, or formed at the relevant time, a discrete part of such a country; and
(d) a place that is, or was at the relevant time, a territory, dependency or colony (however described) of such a country.
> allied mariner means a person who:
(a) was during the period of World War 2 from its commencement to and including 29 October 1945:
(i) a master, officer or seaman employed under agreement, or an apprentice employed under indenture, in sea‑going service on a ship that was engaged in trading; or
(ii) a master, officer, seaman or apprentice employed in a lighthouse tender or pilot ship; or
(iii) employed as a pilot; or
(iv) a master, officer, seaman or apprentice employed in sea‑going service on a ship (being a hospital ship, troop transport, supply ship, tug, cable ship, salvage ship, dredge, fishing vessel or fisheries investigation vessel) that was operated by, or on behalf of, a foreign country; and
(b) was at any time during the course of that employment during the period referred to in paragraph (a) on a ship that was:
(i) operating from a port in Australia or from a port in a Commonwealth country or an allied country; or
(ii) engaged in trading with Australia or with a Commonwealth country or an allied country; or
(iii) engaged in providing assistance or support to the Defence Force, or to the forces, or any part of the forces, of a Commonwealth country or an allied country; or
(iv) engaged in providing assistance or support to Australia or to a Commonwealth country or an allied country;
but does not include:
(c) an Australian mariner; or
(d) a person who has, at any time, been employed by a foreign country that was, at that time, at war with Australia; or
(e) a person who has, at any time, been employed:
(i) on a ship that operated to, or was operating from, a port in a country that was, at that time, at war with Australia; or
(ii) on a ship that was engaged in trading with a country that was, at that time, at war with Australia; or
(iii) on a ship that was engaged in providing assistance or support to the enemy or to a country that was, at that time, at war with Australia.
> allied veteran means a person:
(a) who has been appointed or enlisted as a member of the defence force established by an allied country; and
(b) who has rendered continuous full‑time service as such a member during a period of hostilities;
but does not include a person who has served at any time:
(c) in the forces of a country that was, at that time, at war with Australia, or in forces engaged in supporting or assisting the forces of such a country; or
(d) in forces that were, at that time, engaged in war‑like operations against the Naval, Military or Air Forces of Australia.
> Note: See also subsection 5R(2).
> Australian mariner means a person who was, during the period of World War 2 from its commencement to and including 29 October 1945:
(a) a master, officer or seaman employed under agreement, or an apprentice employed under indenture, in sea‑going service on a ship registered in Australia that was engaged in trading between a port in a State or Territory and any other port; or
(b) a master, officer or seaman employed under agreement, or an apprentice employed under indenture, in sea‑going service on a ship registered outside Australia who was, or whose dependants were, resident in Australia for at least 12 months immediately before he or she entered into the agreement or indenture; or
(c) a master, officer, seaman or apprentice employed on a lighthouse tender, or pilot ship of the Commonwealth or of a State; or
(d) a pilot employed or licensed by Australia or a State or by an authority constituted by or under a law of the Commonwealth or of a State; or
(e) a master, officer, seaman or apprentice employed in sea‑going service on a ship owned in Australia and operating from an Australian port, being a hospital ship, troop transport, supply ship, tug, cable ship, salvage ship, dredge, fishing vessel or fisheries investigation vessel; or
(f) a member or employee of the Commonwealth Salvage Board engaged in sea‑going service under the direction of that Board; or
(g) a master, officer, seaman or apprentice employed in sea‑going service on a ship registered in New Zealand who the Commission is satisfied was engaged in Australia and is not entitled to compensation under a law of a Commonwealth country providing for the payment of pensions and other payments to seamen who suffered death or disablement as a result of World War 2.
> Commonwealth country means a country (other than Australia) that is, or was at the relevant time, a part of the Dominions of the Crown, and includes:
(a) a state, province or other territory that is one of 2 or more territories that together form, or formed at the relevant time, a discrete part of such a country; and
(b) a place that is, or was at the relevant time, a territory, dependency or colony (however described) of a part of such a country.
> Commonwealth veteran means a person who rendered continuous full‑time service as a member of:
(a) the naval, military or air forces; or
(b) the nursing or auxiliary services of the naval, military or air forces; or
(c) the women’s branch of the naval, military or air forces;
of a Commonwealth country during a period of hostilities.
> continuous full‑time service means:
(a) in relation to a member of the Defence Force:
(i) service in the Naval Forces of the Commonwealth of the kind known as continuous full‑time naval service; or
(ii) service in the Military Forces of the Commonwealth of the kind known as continuous full‑time military service; or
(iii) service in the Air Force of the Commonwealth of the kind known as continuous full‑time air force service; or
(b) in relation to a member of the naval, military or air forces of a Commonwealth country or an allied country—service in those forces of a kind similar to a kind of service referred to in subparagraph (a)(i), (ii) or (iii).
> Note: See also subsection 5R(1).
> Defence Force has the same meaning as in the Defence Act 1903.
> defence force established by a Commonwealth country means:
(a) the naval, military or air forces of the country; or
(b) the nursing and auxiliary services of the naval, military or air forces of the country; or
(c) the women’s branch of the naval, military or air forces of the country.
> defence force established by an allied country means:
(a) the regular naval, military or air forces; and
(b) the nursing or auxiliary services of the regular naval, military or air forces; and
(c) the women’s branch of the regular naval, military or air forces;
raised by an allied country and operated by the country with regular military‑like lines of command, that is to say, raised and operated in such a manner that the members of those forces and services:
(d) were formally appointed to, or enlisted in, those forces or services; and
(e) were required to wear uniforms or insignia distinguishing them as members of those forces or services; and
(f) were required to carry arms openly; and
(g) were subject to the rules and conventions of warfare.
> Note 1: For extended meaning of this term in relation to a government‑in‑exile, see subsection (3).
> Note 2: For an extended meaning of this term in relation to an allied veteran see subsection 5R(2).
> eligible civilian means a person:
(a) who was killed, or detained by the enemy, during World War 2; and
(b) who was, at the time the person was killed or first detained:
(i) a British subject; and
(ii) a resident, but not an indigenous inhabitant, of the Territory of Papua or the Territory of New Guinea; and
(c) who was not, at that time:
(i) rendering service as a member of the Defence Force; or
(ii) employed by the Commonwealth on a special mission outside Australia.
> enemy means:
(a) in relation to World War 1 or World War 2—the naval, military or air forces, or any part of the naval, military or air forces, of a State at war with the Crown during that war; and
(b) in relation to service in, or a period of hostilities in respect of, an operational area—the naval, military or air forces against which the Naval, Military or Air Forces of the Commonwealth were engaged in that operational area; and
(c) persons assisting any of those forces.
> fishing vessel means a ship employed in connection with the occupation of sea fishing for profit.
> former refugee means a person who was a refugee but does not include a person who ceased to be a refugee because his or her entry permit or visa (as the case may be) was cancelled.
> government‑in‑exile, in relation to an allied country, includes a person, or group of persons, claiming to represent, or administer, the country or a part of the country or the people of the country.
> member of a unit of the Defence Force means:
(a) a member of the Defence Force; or
(b) another person who is:
(i) a member of the unit; or
(ii) attached to the unit; or
(iii) appointed for continuous full‑time service with the unit.
> Note: See also subsection 5R(1).
> member of the Defence Force includes a person appointed for continuous full‑time service with a unit of the Defence Force.
> Note: See also subsection (2).
> member of the Interim Forces means a person who:
(a) enlisted or re‑engaged in, or was appointed or re‑appointed to, the Defence Force for continuous full‑time service for a term of not more than 2 years; or
(b) was appointed for continuous full‑time service with a unit of the Defence Force for a term of not more than 2 years;
on or after 1 July 1947 and before 1 July 1949.
> non‑warlike service means service in the Defence Force of a kind determined in writing by the Defence Minister to be non‑warlike service.
> operational service has the meaning given by sections 6 to 6F.
> qualifying service has the meaning given in section 7A.
> refugee has the meaning given by subsection (4).
> special mission means a mission that, in the opinion of the Commission, was of special assistance to the Commonwealth in the prosecution of a war to which this Act applies.
> unit of the Defence Force means a body, contingent or detachment of the Defence Force.
> veteran means:
(a) a person (including a deceased person):
(i) who is, because of section 7, taken to have rendered eligible war service; or
(ii) in respect of whom a pension is, or pensions are, payable under subsection 13(6); and
(b) in Parts III and VIIC also includes a person who is:
(i) a Commonwealth veteran; or
(ii) an allied veteran; or
(iv) an allied mariner.
> Note: Commonwealth veteran, allied veteran and allied mariner are defined in this subsection.
> warlike service means service in the Defence Force of a kind determined in writing by the Defence Minister to be warlike service.
Army Medical Corps Nursing Service
(2) For the purposes of this Act, a member of the Army Medical Corps Nursing Service who:
(a) rendered service during World War 1, either within or outside Australia; and
(b) rendered the service as such a member in accordance with an acceptance or appointment by the Director‑General of Medical Services for service outside Australia;
is taken to have been serving as a member of the Defence Force while rendering that service.
Defence force of government‑in‑exile
(3) In relation to any period during which there was a government‑in‑exile in relation to an allied country, defence force established by an allied country includes:
(a) the regular naval, military or air forces; and
(b) the nursing or auxiliary services of the regular naval, military or air forces; and
(c) the women’s branch of the regular naval, military or air forces;
raised by that government‑in‑exile and operated by it with regular military‑like lines of command, that is to say, raised and operated in such a manner that the members of those forces and services:
(d) were formally appointed to, or enlisted in, those forces or services; and
(e) were required to wear uniforms or insignia distinguishing them as members of those forces or services; and
(f) were required to carry arms openly; and
(g) were subject to the rules and conventions of warfare.
> Note: For an extended meaning of the defence force of a government‑in‑exile in relation to an allied veteran see subsection 5R(2).
Refugee
(4) For the purposes of Part III, a person is a refugee if the person:
(a) is taken, under the Migration Reform (Transitional Provisions) Regulations, to be the holder of a transitional (permanent) visa because the person was, immediately before 1 September 1994, the holder of:
(i) a visa or entry permit that fell within Division 1.3—Group 1.3 (Permanent resident (refugee and humanitarian) (offshore)) in Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the Migration (1993) Regulations as then in force; or
(ii) a visa or entry permit that fell within Division 1.5—Group 1.5 (Permanent resident (refugee and humanitarian) (on‑shore)) in Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the Migration (1993) Regulations as then in force; or
(b) was, immediately before 1 February 1993, the holder of a visa or entry permit of a class prescribed under the Migration Regulations as then in force that corresponds to a visa or entry permit referred to in subparagraph (a)(i) or (ii); or
(c) is the holder of:
(i) a permanent protection visa; or
(ii) a permanent visa of a class referred to in Schedule 2A; or
(iii) a permanent visa of a class referred to in a declaration of the Minister under subsection (5) that is in force.
Declaration of class of visas
(5) If:
(a) after the commencement of this subsection, a class of permanent visas (other than a class referred to in Schedule 2A) is prescribed by regulations made for the purposes of section 31 of the Migration Act 1958; and
(b) the Minister is of the view that a person holding a visa of that class should be regarded as a refugee for the purposes of Part III;
the Minister may, by legislative instrument, declare that class of visas to be a class of visas for the purposes of subparagraph (4)(c)(iii).