Commonwealth of Australia
Hearing Services Administration Act 1997
Hearing Services (Eligible Persons) Amendment Determination 2006 (No. 1)
EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Subsection 5(3) of the Hearing Services Administration Act 1997 (the Act) provides that the Minister may, by written instrument, determine that a specified person is an eligible person for the purposes of the Act. This is in addition to those made eligible under subsection 5(2) of the Act. The Hearing Services (Eligible Persons) Determination 1997 (the Determination) currently sets out three classes of persons who have been made eligible under this subsection.
Subsection 5(2)(e) of the Act bestows eligibility for the Australian Government Hearing Services Program upon dependants of eligible persons. Specifically, subsection 5(2)(e) of the Act states that an eligible person was “a person who is a dependant within the meaning of the National Health Act 1953, of a person of a kind mentioned in paragraph (a), (b), (c) or (d) of this subsection”.
The definition of “dependant” was repealed from the National Health Act 1953 on 30 June 2001 as a consequence of the Social Security Legislation Amendment (Concession Cards) Act 2001. An unintended result of this change is that Subsection 5(2)(e) of the Act lost its reference and therefore dependants of eligible persons lost their eligibility.
The Hearing Services (Eligible Persons) Amendment Determination 2006 (No. 1) creates a fourth class of eligible person, a dependant of an eligible person mentioned in paragraph 5(2)(a-d) of the Act which recreates the class of eligible persons included in the Act on its enactment.
CONSULTATION
This Amendment restores an existing arrangement that was removed as an unintended consequence of a legislative change. Therefore no consultation about this issue has been undertaken.
The determination is a “legislative instrument” for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.
Details of the determination are set out in the Attachment.
The determination commences the day after it is registered.
Attachment
NOTES ON SECTIONS
1. Name of Determination
This section provides that the Determination may be cited as the Hearing Services (Eligible Persons) Amendment Determination 2006 (No. 1).
2. Commencement
This section provides that the Determination commences on the day after it is registered.
3. Amendment of Hearing Services (Eligible Persons) Determination 1997
This section provides that Schedule 1 amends the Hearing Services (Eligible Persons) Determination 1997.
SCHEDULE 1 AMENDMENTS
Item [1] inserts two definitions into the Determination. The definition of a de facto spouse is the same as that that which was included in the National Health Act 1953. The definition of dependant is similar to that which was included in the National Health Act 1953. It has been adjusted to remove any reference to children or young Australians under the age of 21 as these people are eligible for hearing services in their own right through the provisions of the Australian Hearing Services Act 1991.
Item [2] creates a fourth class of eligible person in the Determination.
Item [3] defines this class of eligible person as an Australian citizen or permanent resident who is a dependant of an eligible person as defined in the relevant sections of the Act.