Rural and Regional Adjustment Amendment Regulation (No. 2) 2009 (Qld)

Queensland Rural and Regional Adjustment Amendment Regulation (No. 2) 2009 Subordinate Legislation 2009 No. 150 made under the Rural and Regional Adjustment Act 1994 Contents Page 1 Short title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 2 Regulation amended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 3 Amendment of s 7 (Approval of schemes—Act, s 11) . . . . . . . . . 3 4 Amendment of schedule (Approved assistance schemes). . . . . . 3 Part 26 Special Disaster Flood Assistance—TC Charlotte - TC Ellie Scheme Division 1 Preliminary 246 Definitions for pt 26. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 247 Objective of scheme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 248 Purpose of assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 249 Meaning of small business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Division 2 General provisions for scheme 250 Nature of assistance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 251 Eligibility criteria—primary producer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 252 Eligibility criteria—small business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 253 Special requirement for assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 254 Financial hardship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 255 Amount of assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 256 Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 257 Special provision for particular applications . . . . . . . . 11

Rural and Regional Adjustment Amendment Regulation (No. 2) 2009 Contents 258 Special provision about insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259 Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260 Deciding applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 12 12 Page 2 2009 SL No. 150

Rural and Regional Adjustment Amendment Regulation (No. 2) 2009 [s 1] 1 Short title This regulation may be cited as the Rural and Regional Adjustment Amendment Regulation (No. 2) 2009 . 2 Regulation amended This regulation amends the RuralandRegionalAdjustmentRegulation 2000. 3 Amendment of s 7 (Approval of schemes—Act, s 11) Section 7— insert— ‘(z) the Special Disaster Flood Assistance—TC Charlotte - TC Ellie Scheme set out in the schedule, part 26.’. 4 Amendment of schedule (Approved assistance schemes) Schedule— insert— ‘Part 26 Special Disaster Flood Assistance—TC Charlotte - TC Ellie Scheme ‘Division 1 Preliminary ‘246 Definitions for pt 26 ‘In this part— applicant means a person applying for assistance under the scheme. eligible business entity means a primary producer or small business eligible for assistance under the scheme. flood event means the floods caused by TC Charlotte, TC Ellie and monsoonal rains in regional Queensland in January 2009 SL No. 150 Page 3

Rural and Regional Adjustment Amendment Regulation (No. 2) 2009 [s 4] and February 2009 that have affected the prescribed local government areas. natural disaster relief and recovery arrangements means the funding arrangements agreed between the Commonwealth and the State for providing financial assistance to communities affected by natural disasters. Editor’s note — At the commencement of this definition, the funding arrangements were described in the document called ‘Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements Community Recovery Package Guidelines 2007’ published by the Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department and available on that department’s website at < prescribed local government area means the local government area of any of the following local governments— (a) Burke Shire Council; (b) Carpentaria Shire Council; (c) Cloncurry Shire Council; (d) Croydon Shire Council; (e) Doomadgee Aboriginal Shire Council; (f) Etheridge Shire Council; (g) Hinchinbrook Shire Council; (h) McKinlay Shire Council; (i) Richmond Shire Council. primary producer means an individual who spends the majority of the individual’s labours on, and derives the majority of the individual’s income from, a primary production enterprise. primary production enterprise means a business that involves primary production, including, for example, the agricultural. aquacultural, horticultural or pastoral industries. scheme means the scheme under this part. small business see section 249. Page 4 2009 SL No. 150

Rural and Regional Adjustment Amendment Regulation (No. 2) 2009 [s 4] TC Charlotte means the cyclone known as Tropical Cyclone Charlotte that affected certain communities in north Queensland in January 2009. TC Ellie means the cyclone known as Tropical Cyclone Ellie that affected certain communities in north Queensland in February 2009. ‘247 Objective of scheme ‘The objective of the scheme is to provide, under the natural disaster relief and recovery arrangements and an agreement between the Commonwealth and the State of 15 June 2009, assistance to eligible business entities that have suffered direct damage caused by the flood event. ‘248 Purpose of assistance ‘(1) The purpose of the assistance under the scheme is to help an eligible business entity pay for costs arising out of direct damage caused by the flood event. ‘(2) However, assistance under the scheme is not intended to compensate eligible business entities for losses suffered because of the flood event. ‘249 Meaning of small business ‘(1) A small business is a business that— (a) holds an Australian Business Number; and (b) employs not more than— (i) 20 full-time employees of the business; or (ii) if the business has employees who do not work full-time for the business—20 equivalent full-time employees of the business. ‘(2) A business is not a small business if the business is a public company within the meaning of the Corporations Act. ‘(3) Also, a business is not a small business if— 2009 SL No. 150 Page 5

Rural and Regional Adjustment Amendment Regulation (No. 2) 2009 [s 4] (a) the business is operated by a sole owner; and (b) the business has no employees, other than the sole owner; and (c) the sole owner does not derive the majority of the owner’s income from the business. ‘(4) For subsection (1)(b)(ii), the number of equivalent full-time employees of a business is worked out using the formula— E = F + P / 35 where— E means the number of equivalent full-time employees of the business. F means the number of full-time employees of the business. P means the total number of hours worked each week by employees who do not work full-time for the business. ‘Division 2 General provisions for scheme ‘250 Nature of assistance ‘(1) The nature of the assistance under the scheme is the provision of a grant to help eligible business entities clean and restore their small businesses or primary production enterprises that have suffered direct damage caused by the flood event. ‘(2) In particular, assistance is to be provided under the scheme to help an eligible business entity to cover the costs of the following— (a) purchasing, hiring or leasing plant, equipment or materials— (i) to clean premises or a property; or (ii) that are essential to the immediate resumption of farming or other business activities; (b) clearing or disposing of debris, damaged goods or injured or dead livestock; Page 6 2009 SL No. 150

Rural and Regional Adjustment Amendment Regulation (No. 2) 2009 [s 4] (c) repairing and restoring fields; (d) repairing and restoring the bed and banks of a watercourse; (e) repairing buildings other than houses, and repairing or replacing fencing on a property; (f) repairing or reconditioning essential plant or equipment; (g) repairing roads and infrastructure essential to the operation of the entity’s primary production enterprise or small business— (i) whether or not the road or infrastructure is owned by the entity; and (ii) whether the entity is contributing the whole or a part of the repair costs; (h) leasing temporary premises for the purpose of resuming trading; (i) engaging a person— (i) to conduct a safety inspection of premises; or (ii) to check the health of livestock or poultry; (j) paying wages to an employee of the entity, if the payment is more than the wages ordinarily paid to the employee. ‘251 Eligibility criteria—primary producer ‘An applicant is eligible for assistance under the scheme if— (a) the applicant is a primary producer; and (b) the applicant’s primary production enterprise has suffered direct damage as a result of the flood event; and (c) the applicant’s primary production enterprise is located in a prescribed local government area; and (d) the applicant is primarily responsible for meeting the costs claimed in the application; and 2009 SL No. 150 Page 7

Rural and Regional Adjustment Amendment Regulation (No. 2) 2009 [s 4] (e) the applicant was engaged in the primary production enterprise when the prescribed local government area in which the enterprise is located was affected by the flood event; and (f) the authority is satisfied the applicant intends to re-establish the primary production enterprise. ‘252 Eligibility criteria—small business ‘An applicant is eligible for assistance under the scheme if— (a) the applicant owns (whether as sole owner, in partnership or as a private company) a small business; and (b) the applicant’s small business has suffered direct damage as a result of the flood event; and (c) the small business is located in a prescribed local government area; and (d) the applicant is primarily responsible for meeting the costs claimed in the application; and (e) the applicant was engaged in conducting the business when the prescribed local government area in which the business is located was affected by the flood event; and (f) the authority is satisfied the applicant intends to re-establish the small business. ‘253 Special requirement for assistance ‘(1) An applicant is eligible for assistance under the scheme only if the applicant provides evidence to the authority that all amounts claimed by the applicant under the scheme have been paid by the applicant. ‘(2) However, if the applicant demonstrates financial hardship under section 254— (a) subsection (1) does not apply; and (b) the applicant is eligible for assistance under the scheme only if the applicant provides evidence to the authority, Page 8 2009 SL No. 150

Rural and Regional Adjustment Amendment Regulation (No. 2) 2009 [s 4] in the form of quotations for work, equipment or materials, that all amounts claimed by the applicant under the scheme are needed for cleaning and restoring the applicant’s small business or primary production enterprise. ‘254 Financial hardship ‘(1) To demonstrate financial hardship for the purposes of section 253(2), an application for assistance must be accompanied by— (a) evidence that the applicant is the holder of a current health care card under the Social Security Act 1991 (Cwlth); or (b) a certificate from a suitably qualified person stating that— (i) the applicant cannot pay the amounts claimed in the application because of financial hardship; and (ii) the continuation of the applicant’s primary production enterprise or small business is in doubt because the applicant cannot pay the amounts claimed. ‘(2) In this section— suitably qualified person means— (a) generally, a person who— (i) has financial qualifications that enable the person to give a certificate mentioned in subsection (1)(b); and (ii) is a member of a professional association whose members normally provide financial advice; and (b) for an applicant for whom it is not reasonably practical to engage a person mentioned in paragraph (a), including, for example, because the applicant’s residence is not located near a populated area, a person who— 2009 SL No. 150 Page 9

Rural and Regional Adjustment Amendment Regulation (No. 2) 2009 [s 4] (i) has experience in financial matters because of the person’s occupation, whether or not the person normally provides or provided financial advice; and Examples — accountant, bank manager, tax agent (ii) is a member of a relevant professional association. ‘255 Amount of assistance ‘The maximum amount of assistance that may be given to an applicant under the scheme is $15000. Note — See section 257 for special circumstances in which an applicant may be given more than the stated maximum amount. ‘256 Conditions ‘(1) An applicant may apply for assistance under the scheme in the applicant’s capacity as a primary producer or a small business, but not both. ‘(2) Payment of assistance under the scheme is subject to the following conditions— (a) an applicant must consent to the authority obtaining information or documents from an insurer of the applicant’s primary production enterprise or small business for the purpose of allowing the authority to verify the applicant’s entitlements under an insurance policy taken out with the insurer; (b) an applicant must consent to the authority conducting an audit of the applicant’s receipts, invoices or other evidence relevant to the applicant’s claim for assistance, for the purpose of allowing the authority to verify— (i) the information provided by the applicant in the claim for assistance; and Page 10 2009 SL No. 150

Rural and Regional Adjustment Amendment Regulation (No. 2) 2009 [s 4] (ii) whether amounts given to the applicant under the scheme have been used in accordance with the claim for assistance. ‘(3) Payment of assistance under the scheme is subject to any other conditions decided by the authority, including, for example, conditions requiring the applicant to give to the authority the following— (a) evidence of the direct damage in relation to which an application is made; (b) evidence that the majority of the applicant’s income is derived from the applicant’s primary production enterprise or small business. ‘257 Special provision for particular applications ‘(1) This section applies if— (a) an eligible business entity operates more than 1 business or primary production enterprise (each a separate business ) at separate locations; and (b) the authority is satisfied a separate business is a commercial entity that would be a commercially viable and autonomous business (an eligible separate business ) if other businesses operated by the eligible business entity ceased to operate. ‘(2) The eligible business entity may apply for assistance under the scheme for each eligible separate business as if each business were a separate primary production enterprise or small business for which the applicant is eligible for assistance under the scheme. ‘(3) Despite section 255, the maximum amount of assistance that may be given for each eligible separate business under the scheme is $15000. ‘(4) For subsection (1)(b), the authority may have regard to the following— (a) the staffing arrangements of the separate business; 2009 SL No. 150 Page 11

Rural and Regional Adjustment Amendment Regulation (No. 2) 2009 [s 4] (b) whether the business has its own plant, equipment or stock; (c) the accounting and insurance arrangements of the business; (d) whether the business operates under its own trading name. ‘(5) Subsection (4) does not limit the matters to which the authority may have regard. ‘258 Special provision about insurance ‘(1) This section applies if an applicant receives, or is entitled to receive, an amount (an insurance amount ) under a policy of insurance relating to direct damage caused by the flood event. ‘(2) The applicant is not eligible to receive a grant under the scheme to cover particular costs of cleaning and restoring a primary production enterprise or small business if the applicant receives, or is entitled to receive, an insurance amount to cover the costs. ‘259 Applications ‘(1) An application for assistance under the scheme must— (a) be made on the authority’s application form; and (b) be accompanied by the documentation stated on the application; and (c) be given to the authority. ‘(2) An application for assistance under the scheme must be received by the authority no later than 30 November 2009. ‘260 Deciding applications ‘The authority must consider, and decide to approve or refuse to approve, each application for assistance under the scheme.’. Page 12 2009 SL No. 150

Rural and Regional Adjustment Amendment Regulation (No. 2) 2009 ENDNOTES 1 Made by the Governor in Council on 16 July 2009. 2 Notified in the gazette on 17 July 2009. 3 Laid before the Legislative Assembly on . . . 4 The administering agency is the Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation. © State of Queensland 2009 2009 SL No. 150 Page 13