EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Defence Home Ownership Assistance Scheme (Average House Price and Median Interest Rate) Amendment Determination 2011 (No.1)
The Defence Home Ownership Assistance Scheme Act 2008 (the Act) provides a home ownership assistance scheme for eligible members of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). Section 52 of the Act enables the making of determinations dealing with the average house price.
The purpose of this Determination is to set the average house price for the purpose of calculating the monthly subsidy amount for the Defence Home Ownership Assistance Scheme (the Scheme). The Determination has been prepared by the Office of Legislative Drafting and Publishing in the Attorney-General’s Department and is made by the Minister for Defence under subsection 52(1) of the Act.
Section 1 of this Determination sets out the manner in which this Determination may be cited.
Section 2 of this Determination provides that the Determination commences on 1 July 2011.
Section 3 provides that Schedule 1 contains amendments to the Defence Home Ownership Assistance Scheme (Average House Price and Median Interest Rate) Amendment Determination 2008 (the Principal Determination), as amended.
Item 1 of the Schedule inserts a new subsection 4 into the Principal Determination for the purpose of section 52 of the Act. The new subsection 4(4) provides that the average house price for 2011-2012 financial year is $508,098. Subsection 52(1) of the Act confers power on the Minister to set a figure as the average house price under the Scheme, by determination from time to time. The Minister for Defence has delegated this power to the Director General Personnel Policy and Employment Conditions.
Subsection 52(2) requires the Minister to have regard to the national average house price and regional weighting data for the purpose of the determination of an average house price for the scheme. The national average house price has been derived according to statistical data published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics for the period up to the end of the March 2011 quarter for each of the eight capital cities, from the unstratified median house prices for a capital city multiplied by the house price index weighting for that city.
Subsection 52(3) explains that the average house price is to be determined annually for a financial year. This ensures that the scheme will be adjusted each year to take account of changes that have been observed in the housing market across Australia. The average house price for the 2011-2012 financial year is $13,666 higher than the figure determined for the previous year, reflecting broad upward movement in the market and house prices generally.
Consultation was considered inappropriate and unnecessary pursuant to section 18 of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003 because the Determination relates to the service of members of the Australian Defence Force. However, the Treasury, the Department of Finance and Deregulation and Australian Bureau of Statistics were consulted in relation to the methodology for determining the average house price. The Office of Best Practice Regulation has advised that a regulation impact statement is not required for this amendment (OBPR exemption no.10425).
Authority: Defence Home Ownership Assistance Scheme Act