Social Services (Reciprocity with United Kingdom) Regulations (Amendment) (Cth)

STATUTORY RULES.

1962. No. 85.

REGULATIONS UNDER THE SOCIAL SERVICES ACT 1947-1962.

I, THE ADMINISTRATOR of the Government of the Commonwealth of Australia, acting with the advice of the Federal Executive Council, hereby make the following Regulations under the Social Services Act 1947-1962.

Dated this twentieth day of September, 1962.

DALLAS BROOKS

Administrator.

By His Excellency’s Command,

Minister of State for Social Services.

 

Amendments of the Social Services (Reciprocity with United Kingdom) Regulations. 

Commencement.

1. These Regulations shall come into operation on the first day of October, 1962.

2. Regulations 4 and 5 of the Social Services (Reciprocity with United Kingdom) Regulations are repealed and the following regulations inserted in their stead:—

Definitions.

“4. In these Regulations, unless the contrary intention appears—

‘the Principal Agreement’ means the agreement on social security between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the Commonwealth, being the agreement a copy of which is set out in the First Schedule to these Regulations;

‘the Amending Agreement’ means the agreement on social security between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the Commonwealth, being the agreement a copy of which is set out in the Second Schedule to these Regulations.

Modifications and adaptations of Social Services Act.

“5. The Social Services Act 1947-1962, in its application to cases affected by the Principal Agreement as amended by the Amending Agreement, has effect subject to such modifications and adaptations as are necessary for the purpose of giving effect to the Principal Agreement as so amended.”.

Second Schedule.

3. The Second Schedule to the Social Services (Reciprocity with United Kingdom) Regulations is repealed and the following Schedule inserted in its stead:—

 

* Notified in the Commonwealth Gazette on 27th September, 1962.

  Statutory Rules 1958, No. 30.

6608/62.—Price 5d. 9/23.8.1962.

 

SECOND SCHEDULE.

Regulation 4.

AGREEMENT ON SOCIAL SECURITY BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA.

Canberra, 16th August, 1962.

The Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the Commonwealth of Australia,

Desiring to modify and extend the Agreement on Social Security which was signed on their behalf at Canberra on the 29th January, 1958,

Have agreed as follows:

ARTICLE 1.

For the purposes of this Agreement, the expression “the Principal Agreement” means the Agreement on Social Security between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the Commonwealth of Australia which was signed at Canberra on behalf of those Governments on the 29th January, 1958.

ARTICLE 2.

Article 1 of the Principal Agreement shall be amended—

(a) by inserting alter paragraph (d) the following paragraph:—

“(da) ‘contribution’, in relation to the legislation of the United Kingdom, does not include a graduated contribution within the meaning of that legislation;”;

(b) by omitting paragraph (n) and substituting the following paragraph:—

“(n) ‘retirement pension’ means a retirement pension under the legislation of the United Kingdom and includes a contributory old age pension under that legislation and any graduated retirement benefit constituted by an increase in the weekly rate of a retirement pension under that legislation;”; and

(c) by omitting paragraph (p) and substituting the following paragraph:—

“(p) ‘widow’s benefit’, in relation to the United Kingdom, means a widow’s allowance, a widowed mother’s allowance (including any graduated retirement benefit constituted by an increase in the weekly rate of a widowed mother’s allowance) or a widow’s pension under the legislation of that country or a widow’s basic pension payable under the legislation of that country to a woman who became a widow before the 5th July, 1948;”.

ARTICLE 3.

Article 2 of the Principal Agreement shall be amended by inserting in clause (ii) of sub-paragraph (a) of paragraph (1), after the words “the Family Allowances Act, 1945,”, the words “the Family Allowances Act (Northern Ireland), 1945”.

ARTICLE 4.

Article 3 of the Principal Agreement shall be amended—

(a) by inserting in paragraph (2), before the word “unless”, the words “in respect of any period during which she was a married woman”; and

(b) by omitting paragraph (3) and substituting the following paragraphs:—

“(3) Where—

(a) a woman claiming a retirement pension by virtue of her own insurance has been, but is not at the time of the claim, married and chooses to have her former husband’s contributions taken into account for the purposes of her claim; and

(b) her former husband had been resident in Australia for any period,

her former husband shall be treated, for the purposes of her claim, as if he had paid contributions under the legislation of the United Kingdom for any period referred to in sub-paragraph (b) of this paragraph and for any other period commencing immediately after, or ending immediately before, that period during which he was proceeding on a journey between Australia and the United Kingdom that was completed within thirteen weeks.

 

“(3a) Where a person claiming a retirement pension is a woman who—

(a) would have been qualified to receive a widow’s benefit, other than a widow’s basic pension, for any period by virtue of Article 9 of this Agreement, if this Agreement had been in force during that period; or

(b) would be qualified, under the arrangements made for crediting contributions to widows claiming retirement pensions under the legislation of the United Kingdom, to have contributions credited to her for any period if this Agreement had been in force during that period,

she shall be treated, for the purposes of her claim, as if contributions had been credited to her for that period.”;

(c) by omitting from paragraph (4) the words and figures “paragraphs (1), (2) and (3)” and substituting the words “the preceding paragraphs”; and

(d) by omitting the proviso to paragraph (4) and substituting the following proviso:—

“Provided that, if that person is a married woman who does not satisfy either of the conditions specified in paragraph (2) of this Article, she shall be treated as if her husband and not she satisfied the said contribution conditions.”.

ARTICLE 5.

Article 5 of the Principal Agreement shall be amended by inserting after the word “contributions” (first occurring) the words “, including graduated contributions,”.

ARTICLE 6.

Article 8 of the Principal Agreement shall be amended by inserting after paragraph (1) the following paragraph:—

“(1a) For the purposes of any claim to receive an age pension, a woman who is permanently resident in Australia and who is, or has been, married shall be treated as if she had been resident in Australia during any period of absence from the United Kingdom during her marriage, if her husband paid contributions or had contributions credited to him for that period under the legislation of the United Kingdom.”.

ARTICLE 7.

Article 12 of the Principal Agreement shall be amended—

(a) by omitting paragraph (2) and substituting the following paragraph:—

“(2) Subject to the provisions of paragraph (1) of this Article—

(a) if a person who has claimed family benefit under the legislation of one country is permanently resident in that country, then, for the purposes of any right to receive that benefit, any period during which he was in the other country shall be treated as a period during which he was in the first-mentioned country, and, if he was born in the other country, he shall be treated as if he had been born in the first-mentioned country;

(b) if a child for whom family benefit has been claimed under the legislation of one country is permanently resident in that country, then, for the purposes of any right to receive that benefit, any period during which he was resident in the other country shall be treated as a period during which he was resident in the first-mentioned country, and, if he was born in the other country, he shall be treated as if he had been born in the first-mentioned country;

(c) if a person who has claimed family benefit for a child under the legislation of one country is in the other country and is not qualified to receive family benefit for that child under the legislation of the other country, he shall be treated for the purposes of his claim as if he were in the first-mentioned country; and

 

(d) if a person who has claimed family benefit under the legislation of one country is temporarily absent from that country and, during that absence, is in the other country for a period commencing within thirteen weeks after his departure from the first-mentioned country, he shall, for the purposes of any right to receive that benefit, be treated as if during that period he were in the first-mentioned country, but he shall not be qualified to receive during that period an amount of family benefit greater than the amount that he would have been qualified to receive during that period under the legislation of the other country if that legislation had applied in relation to him and his family during that period.”; and

(b) by omitting from paragraph (4) the word and letter “sub-paragraph (b)”and substituting the word and letter “sub-paragraph (d)”,

ARTICLE 8.

Article 14 of the Principal Agreement shall be omitted.

ARTICLE 9.

Article 16 of the Principal Agreement shall be amended—

(a) by omitting from paragraph (2) the word and figure “paragraph (3)”and substituting the words and figures “paragraphs (3) and (4)”; and

(b) by omitting paragraph (3) and substituting the following paragraphs:—

“(3) Where a person is permanently incapacitated for work or permanently blind at the time when he arrives in Australia, the fortnightly amount of any invalid pension, or the sum of the fortnightly amounts of any invalid pension, wife’s allowance and child’s allowance, payable in his case by virtue of the provisions of paragraphs (1) and (2) of this Article, shall not exceed twice the full standard weekly rate of sickness benefit which would be payable to him under the legislation of the United Kingdom if he and his family (if any) had remained in that country and none of the provisions of that legislation about overlapping benefits were applied to him.

“(4) Where the sum of the fortnightly amounts of two or more benefits is reduced by virtue of the provisions of paragraph (3) of this Article, the fortnightly amount payable by way of each of those benefits shall bear the same relation to the maximum fortnightly amount of that benefit as the first-mentioned sum, thus reduced, bears to the sum of the maximum fortnightly amounts of those benefits.

“(5) For the purposes of this Article, a person shall be deemed to be permanently incapacitated for work if the degree of his permanent incapacity for work is not less than 85 per centum as determined under the legislation of Australia.”.

ARTICLE 10.

Sub-paragraph (b) (ii) of paragraph (1) of Article 17 and sub-paragraph (b) (ii) of paragraph (2) of Article 18 of the Principal Agreement shall be omitted and in their places there shall be substituted the following sub-paragraph:—

“(ii) as a self-employed person for any other week during which he was resident in Australia and was incapable of work, if that week was part of a period during which he was ordinarily gainfully occupied or if he was having contributions credited to him on grounds of incapacity for work under the legislation of the United Kingdom immediately before the time when he last left that country before that week.”.

ARTICLE 11.

Article 19 of the Principal Agreement shall be omitted and in its place there shall be substituted:—

Australian pensioner migrating to the United Kingdom.

“ARTICLE 19.

“Where a person—

(a) leaves Australia to become permanently resident in the United Kingdom and arrives in the United Kingdom within thirteen weeks after leaving Australia; and

(b) was qualified to receive and was receiving an age pension, an invalid pension, a wife’s allowance, a child’s allowance or a widow’s pension under the legislation of Australia, whether by virtue of this Agreement or otherwise, immediately before leaving Australia,

that pension or allowance shall not cease to be payable, and may be paid, for the period during which he is proceeding to the United Kingdom and, if he makes a claim within fourteen days after the day of his arrival in the United Kingdom for a benefit under the legislation of the United Kingdom corresponding to that pension or allowance and that benefit is payable to him under the legislation of the United Kingdom, for the period from the day of his arrival in the United Kingdom till the day immediately before the day from which the benefit that he claims becomes payable to him.”.

ARTICLE 12.

Article 20 of the Principle Agreement shall be amended—

(a) by inserting in sub-paragraph (a) of paragraph (2), after the word “Australia” (first occurring), the words “for the primary purpose of visiting the United Kingdom”; and

(b) by inserting in sub-paragraph (a) of paragraph (3), after the word “Australia” (first occurring), the words “for the primary purpose of visiting the United Kingdom”.

ARTICLE 13.

Article 21 of the Principal Agreement shall be amended by omitting paragraph (1) and substituting the following paragraph:—

“(1) Where a person—

(a) leaves the United Kingdom to become permanently resident in Australia and arrives in Australia within thirteen weeks after leaving the United Kingdom; and

(b) was qualified, whether by virtue of this Agreement or otherwise, to receive a retirement pension or a widow’s benefit under the legislation of the United Kingdom immediately before his departure from the United Kingdom.

that person shall continue to be so qualified for the period of the journey and, if he makes a claim within fourteen days after the day of his arrival in Australia for a benefit under the legislation of Australia corresponding to that retirement pension or widow’s benefit and that benefit is payable to him under the legislation of Australia, for the period from the day of his arrival in Australia till the day immediately before the day from which the benefit that he claims becomes payable to him.”.

ARTICLE 14.

Article 23 of the Principal Agreement shall be omitted and in its place there shall be substituted:—

Family benefit for the period of the journey and after.

“ARTICLE 23.

“Where—

(a) a person was qualified under the legislation of one country, whether by virtue of this Agreement or otherwise, to receive family benefit for a child immediately before he or the child or both left that country to travel to the other country, and

(b) the person or the child or both, as the case may be, completes the journey within thirteen weeks,

any family benefit that would have been payable under the legislation of the first-mentioned country if the person or the child or both, as the case may be, had not left the first-mentioned country shall not cease to be payable, and may be paid, for the period of the journey and, if a claim is made within six months after the day of arrival in the other country for a family benefit for the child under the legislation of the other country and that benefit is payable, for the period from the day of arrival in the other country till the day immediately before the day from which the benefit claimed becomes payable.”.

 

ARTICLE 15.

Article 25 of the Principal Agreement shall be amended—

(a) by inserting in paragraph (1), after the words “widows’ benefits”, the words “other than graduated retirement benefit”; and

(b) by omitting from paragraph (1) the words “whether they are payable by virtue of this Agreement or otherwise” and substituting the words “being benefits payable under the legislation of Australia by virtue of this Agreement”.

ARTICLE 16.

After Article 29 of the Principal Agreement there shall be added the following Article:—

Meaning of ‘gainfully occupied under a contract of service in Australia’.

“ARTICLE 29a.

“For the purposes of Articles 17 and 18, a person shall be treated as having been gainfully occupied under a contract of service in Australia during—

(a) any period of service, whether in Australia or elsewhere, in the Defence Force of Australia; and

(b) any period of absence from Australia during which he was an employee and was treated as being a resident of Australia within the meaning of any Act relating to the imposition, assessment and collection of a tax upon incomes in force in Australia.”.

ARTICLE 17.

Article 33 of the Principal Agreement shall be amended by omitting paragraph (3) and substituting the following paragraph:—

“(3) No provision of this Agreement shall diminish any rights which a person has acquired under the legislation of either country before the date of the entry into force of this Agreement, whether by virtue of the former. Agreement or otherwise, and a person who makes a claim to receive any benefit under the legislation of either country may choose to have his claim determined without regard to the provisions of this Agreement.”.

ARTICLE 18.

This Agreement shall enter into force on the 1st October, 1962, and shall be read and construed as one with the Principal Agreement.

In witness whereof the undersigned, duly authorized by their respective Governments, have signed this Agreement.

Done in duplicate at Canberra, this sixteenth day of August, nineteen hundred and sixty-two.

For the Government of the Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland:	For the Government of the Commonwealth of Australia:
W. P. OLIVER	HUGH S. ROBERTON

 

By Authority: A. J. Arthur, Commonwealth Government Printer, Canberra.