118NDBereavement payments under the Social Security Act

118ND Bereavement payments under the Social Security Act

Increase of bereavement payments to take account of DFISA (1) If, immediately before a person dies: (a) a social security pension or social security benefit was payable to the person; and (b) DFISA was payable to the person; then, for the purposes of the bereavement payment provisions of the Social Security Act, the rate of the pension or benefit that, if the person had not died, would have been payable to the person on a day during the bereavement period is increased by the rate of DFISA that would also have been payable to the person on that day.

Note 1: For social security pension and social security benefit see section 5Q.

Note 2: For bereavement payment provision and bereavement period see subsection (4).

DFISA paid to person after the person dies (2) If: (a) a person is qualified for payments under a bereavement payment provision of the Social Security Act in relation to the death of the person’s partner; and (b) after the person’s partner died, an amount of DFISA to which the partner would have been entitled if the partner had not died has been paid under this Part; and (c) the Social Security Secretary is not satisfied that the person has not had the benefit of the DFISA amount; the following provisions have effect: (d) the DFISA amount is not recoverable from the person or from the personal representative of the person’s partner, except to the extent (if any) that the DFISA amount exceeds the amount payable to the person under the bereavement payment provision; (e) the amount payable to the person under the bereavement payment provision is to be reduced by the DFISA amount.

Note: For bereavement payment provision and Social Security Secretary see subsection (4).

Financial institutions not liable (3) If: (a) a person is qualified for payments under a bereavement payment provision of the Social Security Act in relation to the death of the person’s partner; and (b) the amount of DFISA to which the person’s partner would have been entitled if the person’s partner had not died has been paid under this Part into an account with a financial institution within the bereavement period referred to in the bereavement payment provision; and (c) the financial institution pays to the person, out of the account, an amount not exceeding the total of the DFISA amounts paid as mentioned in paragraph (b); the financial institution is, in spite of anything in any other law, not liable to any action, claim or demand by the Commonwealth, the personal representative of the person’s partner or anyone else in respect of the payment of that money to the person. Definitions (4) In this section:

bereavement payment provisions of the Social Security Act means the following provisions of that Act: