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Social Security, in Australia, refers to a system of social welfare payments provided by Commonwealth Government of Australia. These payments are administered by a Government body named Centrelink. In Australia, most benefits are subject to a means test. ...
The Commonwealth of Australia is a constitutional monarchy, a federation, and a parliamentary democracy. ...
A Centrelink office at Innaloo, Western Australia. ...
The term means test refers to an investigative process undertaken to determine whether or not an individual or family is eligible to receive certain types of benefits from the government. ...
Legal Framework Social security payments and other benefits are currently made available under the following acts of parliament
Social Security Act 1991
A New Tax System (Family Assistance) Act 1999
Student Assistance Act 1973
Social Security payments in Australia
Payments made under the Social Security Act and the Student Assistance Act - ABSTUDY - offers a range of allowances to assist Indigenous students and New Apprentices.
- Age Pension - for people planning for retirement or who are already retired.
- Assistance for Isolated Children - for families with a child who cannot attend school locally because of distance or special needs.
- Austudy Payment - for full-time students and New Apprentices aged 25 years or over.
- Carer Allowance - for people who care for an adult over 16 years with a disability.
- Carer Allowance (Child) - for people who care for a child under 16 years with a disability.
- Carer Payment - for people who provide full-time care for someone with a disability
- Disability Support Pension - for people unable to work for 2 years due to illness, injury or disability.
- Double Orphan Pension - for people who are raising children who have lost both parents.
- Newstart Allowance - for people who are looking for employment.
- Maternity Payment - for help with those extra costs after the birth of a new baby.
- Parenting Payment - for parents or guardians to help with the cost of raising children.
- Pensioner Education Supplement - for people on Pensions with education expenses.
- Special Benefit - for people who are in financial hardship, have no way of supporting themselves and are not entitled to another payment (normally due to residency requirements)
- Youth Allowance - for full-time students or New Apprentices aged 16 to 24 and people aged under 21 who are undertaking job search or a combination of approved activities.
Income support All Centrelink Income support payments are payable fortnightly, usually by direct deposit into the recipient's bank account. They are also subject to a means test which calculates the recipient (and their partner's) fortnightly income and assets and affects the rate of their payment accordingly. As such, people on lower incomes may be entitled to part-payment of their allowance (subject to other qualification requirements). The assesment of income and assets is very similar between different social security payments but the affect that income and assets have on each payment differs in that they have different income thresholds (ie how much income one can earn before it affects their payment) and different taper rates (the amount the payment drops by per dollar above these thresholds).
Age pension The Age pension was the first payment issued from the Commonwealth Government and dates back to 1909. It is available to men aged 65 years and over. The age for women to become eligible is being progressively phased upward from 60 to 65 years, in line with males. Women currently becoming eligible for Age pension is 63 years old. Unlike pension payments of many other countries, workers do not contribute to a pension or insurance within Australia, and the payment is available subject to means testing. This ensures that only those that require assistance receive it.
Newstart Allowance Newstart Allowance is an unemployment benefit paid in the form of a payment for people between 21 and 65, made when they find themselves unemployed and are seeking work. It is paid on the basis of a mutual agreement between the customer and Centrelink, where Centrelink will continue to pay fortnightly payments to the customer, for so long as the customer attempts to find employment. As a customer's period of unemployment lengthens, the requirements of Centrelink become more onerous. Customers are required to make up to 10 (Dependant on local labor market) Job Search Contacts per fortnight and record the details of these jobs within a 'Participation Contact Record'.They are required to apply for jobs within different sectors. The customer is obliged to contact a Job Network provider to spend one day a week with them. If the customer remains unemployed then they are subject to more intense voluntary work. A Job Network Provider may require a Newstart recipient to do voluntary work (between 15 to 50 hours) and apply for 4+ positions at the same time to meet their mutual obligations. Unemployment benefits are payments made by governments to unemployed people. ...
Youth Allowance Youth Allowance is an income support payment to young Australians in full-time study, an Australian Apprenticeship, actively looking for employment or undertaking a combination of activities leading to employment. If youre looking for the TV show, see The Apprentice. ...
'Youth' is defined as 15-24 for full-time students, or 15-20 for job seekers. The payment is only available to dependent children of low-income earners or young people who have met specified independence criteria. Some of the criteria to be considered independent for Youth Allowance purposes include young people who:
• have self supporting themselves through paid work, or
• are, or have been in a marriage like relationship, or
• have, or have had, a dependent child, or
• are an orphan or refugee without parents in Australia, or
• are unable to live with parents due to relationship breakdown or because the parent is incarcerated or missing.
Young people can gain independence through other criteria, and each criteria has specific conditions that are required to be met, before the independent status can be gained.
The underlying philosophy of Youth Allowance is that parents are responsible for supporting their children where they have the means and the young person has not lived independently from them. 15 year olds can only receive Youth Allowance if they are defined as independent and are over the school leaving age in the state of residence. Most states and territories in Australia have a school leaving age of 16. The school leaving age states the minimum age which a person is legally allowed to leave compulsory education. ...
Youth Allowance is subject to a number of means tests. Independent Youth Allowance recipients are subject only to the personal (and partner where applicable) income and assets test. Dependent Youth Allowance recipients are subject to the personal income test. A dependent Youth Allowance recipient can never be a member of a couple, although being married or a member of a de facto couple for a period of usually 12 months will make the person independent, so a partner's means will not affect entitlement. They are also subject to the parental income test and family assets test unless a parent is in receipt of a specified income support payment themselves. They may also be subject to the Family Actual Means Test (FAMT) which applies where the parent is self employed, involved in a trust or company or several other categories. The rationale behind the FAMT is that the taxable income on which Youth Allowance is normally based may not accurately reflect the true financial means of parents in these categories. It asks for details of the family's spending on living expenses during the relevant tax year and extrapolates an equivalent notional taxable income from this. Sole traders involved in primary production and parents receiving drought assistance such as Exceptional Circumstances Relief Payment are exempt. The term means test refers to an investigative process undertaken to determine whether or not an individual or family is eligible to receive certain types of benefits from the government. ...
Look up trust in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
Look up company in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
Taxable income is the portion of income that is the subject of taxation according to the laws that determine what is income and the taxation rate for that income. ...
A sole proprietorship, or simply proprietorship, is a type of business entity which legally has no separate existence from its owner. ...
To meet Wikipedias quality standards and make it easier to understand, this article or section may require cleanup. ...
Youth Allowance was introduced from July 1998 and replaced Youth Training Allowance and Newstart Allowance for job seekers under 21 and AUSTUDY for students under 25. Year 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar). ...
The AUSTUDY Scheme was an Australian educational assistance scheme that provided financial assistance to eligible students between 16 and 64 years of age. ...
Austudy Payment Austudy Payment was originally known as the AUSTUDY Scheme, an all-ages study allowance, but since the introduction of Youth Allowance (see above) it has been reserved for the over 25s. To qualify, one must be an Australian resident, over 25, and studying full time at an approved education institution. However, students who were receiving Youth Allowance prior to turning 25 and are still pursuing the same course of study continue to receive Youth Allowance until they finish (or otherwise terminate) their course. Like most Centrelink payments, Austudy Payment is subject to a personal and/or partner income and assets test. The AUSTUDY Scheme was an Australian educational assistance scheme that provided financial assistance to eligible students between 16 and 64 years of age. ...
The major differences between the Austudy Payment and Youth Allowance payment is that the rate does not vary based on 'living at home'; and that Austudy Payment recipients are not eligible for Rent Assistance, However as part of the 2007 Federal Budget Announcement on 8th May 2007 Austudy Payment recipients will be eligible for Rent Assistance from the 1st of January 2008. The other major difference is that Youth Allowance recipients are subject to a Parental Income Test, Family Assets Test and the Family Actual Means Test, unless they are able to prove independence from their parents in accordance with the provisions in the Social Security Act, 1991. The Social Security Act 1991 (SSA) is an act passed by the Parliament of Australia in 1991 to provide for the payment, to eligible people in Australia, certain pensions, benefits and allowances, and for other related purposes. ...
ABSTUDY ABSTUDY (The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Study Assistance Scheme) is a welfare payment for Indigenous Australians undergoing some form of study. All Indigenous students at secondary or tertiary institutions, as well as those studying by correspondence, and primary students who turned 14 prior to January 1 of their current year of study. To qualify as Indigenous, a student must be of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent by Centrelink standards and be a current Australian citizen. ABSTUDY is tailored according to income tests, and the status of partners, guardians, and dependent children. Indigenous Australians are descendants of the first known human inhabitants of the Australian continent and its nearby islands. ...
The Torres Strait Islander Flag. ...
Australian Aborigines are the main indigenous people of Australia. ...
Torres Strait Islanders are the indigenous people of the Torres Strait Islands, part of Queensland, Australia. ...
Whilst this payment is administered through Centrelink, the payment is made under ABSTUDY Policy. The responsibility for ABSTUDY Policy rests with the Minister of Education, Science and Training and the Minister's Department, and is not contained within the Social Security Act, 1999. A Centrelink office at Innaloo, Western Australia. ...
Hon Julie Bishop The current Minister for Education, Science and Training is Julie Bishop. ...
The Department of Education, Science and Training is an Australian government department. ...
The Social Security Act 1991 (SSA) is an act passed by the Parliament of Australia in 1991 to provide for the payment, to eligible people in Australia, certain pensions, benefits and allowances, and for other related purposes. ...
Disability Support Pension Provides income support for people who suffer a long-term disability, which in the opinion of a medical professional they will not recover from in the next two years, and which will render themselves unable to support themselves. It is more than you get on Newstart, and is income and assets-tested. However, if you are permanently blind, you can receive DSP without income and assets tests, and without needing to prove any inability to work, etc. DSP can take a while to process, so as a temporary measure claimants are placed on another payment (e.g. Newstart with a medical certificate to cover the activity tests) while the payment is being assessed; once granted it is backdated to the claim date at the higher DSP rate.
Sickness Allowance A payment for those who are currently suffering an Illness / Injury / Disability (Short Term ie. less than 2 years), are employed, and have no access to leave or have used all their leave. Paid Under the Newstart System without an Activity Test.
Carer Payment A payment for those providing full time care to someone who is ill, injured or has a disability.
Parenting Payment A payment for those who are principal carers of dependent children under the age of 6 for partnered customers and children under the age of 8 for single customers granted payments after 1 July 2006. Those customers granted Parenting Payment prior to 1 July 2006 are eligible to remain on the Parenting Payment until their youngest child turns 16 with compulsory participation requirements from 1 July 2007 or when their youngest child turns 7, whichever occurs later. Parenting Payment Partnered is classified as an allowance and Parenting Payment Single is classified as a pension.
Parenting Payment Partnered uses an individual and a partner income test to determine the rate of payment with benefit withdrawal rates of 60 cents in the dollar (as of 1 July 2007) on income over the legislated limits. A partner's gross earnings are assessed as shared, regardless of individual tax already paid. If, for example, the breadwinner is currently paying 30 per cent personal tax, the effective marginal tax rate (EMTR) after benefit withdrawal is 90 percent of earnings above the legislated limit (the EMTR prior to 1 July 2007 is 100% as the benefit withdrawal rate is 70% of the partner's earnings above the legislated income limit). A tax (also known as a dutyor Zakat in islamic economics) is a charge or other levy imposed on an individual or a legal entity by a state or a functional equivalent of a state (e. ...
Additional and Supplementary Payments
Rent Assistance Income support recipients who are classed as non-homeowners and pay more than a required amount of board or rent for accommodation are eligible for Rent Assistance payments. This payment is paid as part of the income support payment. Verification of the rent details are required either a lease or by completing a Rent Certificate every six months.
Pharmaceutical Allowance A very small payment for those receiving Centrelink payments, to help cover the cost of prescription medicines. This payment froms part of the Pharmacutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) and effectively gives Health Care Card holders free access to medicines on the PBS.
Telephone Allowance A payment issued quarterly to eligible customers receiving Pension payments, to help cover the cost of telephone bills. Eligible customers must have a telephone service subscribed in their name to be eligible for Telephone Allowance.
Pensioner Education Supplement An additional payment, for those on a pension who are studying, to help cover the cost of study. It only applies to approved courses of study. Bachelor's degrees and many TAFE courses are approved courses of study, but generally postgraduate study is not. You are still eligible for PES for study even if you have completed previous studies. For the Texas educational association, see Texas Association of Future Educators. ...
Payments made under the A New Tax System (Family Assistance) Act - Family Tax Benefit Part A - for parents or carers to help with the cost of raising children.
- Family Tax Benefit Part B - for single income families or sole parents.
- Maternity Immunisation Allowance - for fully immunised children or those exempt from immunisation
- Child Care Benefit - for families to help with the cost of child care.
Family Tax benefit Family Tax Benefit is a payment made to the carers of children through the tax system. As, entitlements to these payments are dependent on the family's taxable income in the given financial year. This payment can be made after a person has lodged their tax return or in advance based on an estimate of their taxable income during the financial year. If these payments are received fortnightly they will be reconciled at the end of the financial year and the amount they received based on their estimate of income will be compared to the amount they should've recieved based on their actual income according to their tax return.
Family tax benefit part A is payed based on the combined taxable income of the recipient and their partner (if applicable). Family Tax benefit Part B is payed based on the lower of the recipient and their partners income or at the highest rate if ther are a single parent.
Maternity Immunisation Allowance Maternity Immunisation Allowance is payed to parents whose children who have received all immunisations specified by the national immunisation schedule by the time they are 2 years old. Alternatively, if the parents object to immunisation on any grounds and inform Centrelink of this, they may also receive this allowance. A Centrelink office at Innaloo, Western Australia. ...
Child Care Benefit Child Care Benefit is paid to Australians who use and are charged for child care services. This payment can be made either directly to the Child Care Centre, who then discount the recipient's fees or directly to the parent when they lodge their tax returns. It is a means tested payment and is based on the recipient's taxable income.
Concession cards The following concession cards are issued by Centrelink: - Health Care Card - primarily entitles holder to PBS medications at the concession rate. Most recipients of a payment are entitled to this as well as people receiving the maximum rate of Family Tax Benefit part A. This card has secondary benefits, including cheaper public transport in some states.
- Commonwealth Seniors Health Card- a HCC issued to senior citizens
- Pensioner Concession Card - this offers additional benefits to the Pensioner, including pensioner transportation fares (in some areas), and a certain number of free country rail journeys within the holder's state.
The Australian Health Care Card is issued by the Australian Governments Centrelink agency to certain people in the community that are deemed to be disadvantaged. ...
The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme or PBS is a programme of the Australian Government that provides heavily subsidised prescription drugs to residents of Australia. ...
Bangkok Skytrain. ...
Prisons and psychiatric hospitals Persons imprisoned or admitted to a psychiatric institution are not eligible to receive benefits for the duration of imprisonment or admission. (However, it may be payable if a psychiatric stay is classed as rehabilitation.) The benefits resume upon release or discharge. However, upon release or discharge from imprisonment or psychiatric hospitalisation of more than two weeks, the claimant is entitled to an additional payment equal to seven days of their regular payment, to help with adjustment.
Review of Social Security Decisions Every decision made under social security law is to be in writing and given sufficient notice, usually in a letter.[1] Applications for review of such decisions may be lodged at any time, but depending on the decision remedial action may only be taken if the review is received within 13 weeks of receiving notice, for decisions made under the Social Security act, or 52 weeks for decisions made under Family assistance law. At the bottom of each letter informing customers of a Centrelink decision, a “your rights” box informs individuals of potential avenues for review.
Internal Review Legislation ultimately governs the decision making process, and Centrelink policy guidelines provide the lens through which legislation is interpreted by Centrelink Customer Service Advisers (CSAs). However, notwithstanding legislation and policy, there are still many areas in which significant discretion is afforded to the decision maker, which may be subject to internal and external review.
Original Decision Maker (ODM) Review Centrelink possesses a prescribed two-tiered system of internal review. The initial stage is the ODM Review, where the matter is brought back to the CSA for reconsideration.[2] This is a wholly intra-office process and functions as an initial check on the decision, and the appeal progresses further from the ODM only if necessary. Many reviews are due to legislative changes, administrative errors, provision of new customer documentation, or customer disagreement with the decision. There is also the opportunity for the customer to make a formal written complaint. However, many individuals may not wish to have the same CSA make another decision, which may even lead to confusion as to whether internal review has actually taken place.
Once the ODM review has been completed it should contain the relevant legislative provisions, any new information considered, and a determination stating whether the original decision has been set aside, affirmed or varied.
Authorised Review Officer (ARO) Review If the individual is not satisfied, an Authorised Review Officer (ARO), an officer delegated review powers from the Secretary for the purposes of social security law, may affirm, vary, or set aside the original decision.[3] Although an employee of the Centrelink, an ARO is not to defend ODM decisions as it is a strong principle that the ARO is independent of the situation and has no previous involvement in the case in adherence to the Westminster model of separation of government and bureaucratic transparency. Nevertheless, AROs also look at legislation with the same policy guidelines as CSAs, and a recent Centrelink management decision has decentralised the location of AROs and has instead placed them together with CSAs and partially fulfilling the role of specialised trainers such as providing guidance with discretion in decision making and providing positive feedback.
Approximately 32% of ODMs are overturned by ARO review, with statistics actively monitored by management to identify inconsistencies between AROs or offices. With more time and resources than the CSA to look at the subjective facts of each case, an ARO has the ability to employ “preferential beneficial discretion” in light of the beneficial intent of social security legislation. For example, if an individual incurs a penalty for failing to attend an interview as dictated by policy, the ARO may consider subjective factors such as travel difficulties and reasonable delays, even though the CSA may have correctly made a decision in accordance with policy. In the Debt team the ARO regularly overturns a higher 50% of ODMs due to the availability of discretionary waiver powers.
It is significant to note that public sentiment is generally against Centrelink, with popular media regularly running stories on how Centrelink denies welfare to genuine claimants adding considerable stressors to the decisions that CSAs make. A national survey found that only 45% of respondents believed that they would get the same answer if they asked different CSAs the same question.
The decisions of the courts also filter down to the internal review level. For example, in a recent ARO review matter regarding whether or not to waive a debt owing to Centrelink incurred by an individual suffering mental illness under “special circumstances” provisions, AAT decisions provided useful precedent in interpreting legislation and applying Centrelink policy guidelines.
The Social Security Appeals Tribunal – SSAT A customer dissatisfied with an internal review of a decision may apply to the Social Security Appeals Tribunal (SSAT) [4] to review a decision affirmed, varied or set aside by internal review, subject to some exceptions. The SSAT generally has the same powers as the Secretary, and may affirm, vary, set aside and substitute a decision or return the matter to Centrelink with recommendations. SSAT hearings are generally informal, confidential and not bound by the Laws of Evidence.
Experience has indicated that at the SSAT more weighting goes towards the legislation as opposed to policy guidelines. Welfare advocacy groups such as the Welfare Rights Centre are often involved in providing legal help to individuals affected by Centrelink decisions.
External Review
The AAT and the Courts Further appeals (on questions of law only) are available to the Federal Court and High Court.[5] Only if there is a manifest error of law or a decision made which does not reflect the manner in which the law is normally interpreted would an appeal proceed to the AAT. A decision must have been reviewed by the SSAT before it can be heard at the AAT. However, the Secretary or a delegated person on behalf of the Secretary may appeal a decision from the SSAT. Only 17% of decisions are overturned at the AAT. Further appeal is available to the Federal Court and High Court but on points of law only.
The Commonwealth Ombudsman does not conduct a merits review (as would the ARO or SSAT), but considers the administrative decision making process employed by Centrelink to reach the decision or carry out the action complained of. An ombudsman (English plural: ombudsmans or ombudsmen) is an official, usually (but not always) appointed by the government or by parliament, who is charged with representing the interests of the public by investigating and addressing complaints reported by individual citizens. ...
An ombudsman (English plural: ombudsmans or ombudsmen) is an official, usually (but not always) appointed by the government or by parliament, who is charged with representing the interests of the public by investigating and addressing complaints reported by individual citizens. ...
Where the Ombudsman concludes that there has been a deficiency in Centrelink's action (for examples [6]) the Ombudsman may make recommendations to Centrelink for remedial action. This may result in Centrelink changing their decision, or providing a better explanation of their decision.
Investigations by the Ombudsman are usually result from a complaint about a decision or action of Centrelink, and in the process of an investigation the Ombudsman is entitled to view Centrelink records and ask questions of Centrelink staff. While the Ombudsman does not have coercive powers to make Centrelink change a decision or act in a certain way, recommendations made by the Ombudsman are rarely rejected.
References - ^ Social Security (Administration) Act 1999 (CTH) s237
- ^ Centrelink Information – A Guide to Payments and Services, Chapter 14 – Reviews and appeals, p 137
- ^ Social Security (Administration) Act 1999 (CTH) ss 125-126
- ^ Social Security (Administration) Act 1999 (Cth) s142(1)(a)
- ^ Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975 (Cth) s44
- ^ Ombudsman Act 1976 (CTH) s 15
See also Social security primarily refers to a field of social welfare service concerned with social protection, or protection against socially recognized conditions, including poverty, old age, disability, unemployment, families with children and others. ...
Social security primarily refers to a field of social welfare service concerned with social protection, or protection against socially recognized conditions, including poverty, old age, disability, unemployment, families with children and others. ...
For specific national programs, see Social Security (United States), National insurance (UK), Social Security (Sweden) Social security refers to a variety of government programs providing for social welfare and social protection and the alleviation of poverty among senior citizens and the disabled. ...
...
The social safety net is a term used to describe a collection of services provided by the state (such as welfare, universal healthcare, homeless shelters, and perhaps various subsidized services such as transit), which prevent any individual from falling into poverty beyond a certain level. ...
Superannuation is a pension scheme in Australia. ...
Welfare is financial assistance paid by taxpayers to groups of people who are unable to support themselves, and determined to be able to function more effectively with financial assistance. ...
There are three main interpretations of the idea of a welfare state: the provision of welfare services by the state. ...
Welfare reform is the name for a policy change in countries with a state-administered social welfare system to reduce dependence on welfare, as demanded by political conservatives. ...
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