National Health Amendment Act (No. 2) 1980
No. 131 of 1980
An Act to amend the National Health Act 1953
[Assented to 19 September 1980]
BE IT ENACTED by the Queen, and the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Australia, as follows:
Short title, &c.
1. (1) This Act may be cited as the National Health Amendment Act (No. 2) 1980.
(2) The National Health Act 1953 is in this Act referred to as the Principal Act.
Commencement
2. (1) Sections 1, 2, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 15 shall be deemed to have come into operation on 4 September 1980.
(2) Sections 4, 5, 6 and 14 shall come into operation on 1 October 1980.
(3) Section 3 shall come into operation on 1 November 1980.
(4) Sections 11, 12 and 13 shall come into operation on a date to be fixed by Proclamation.
Interpretation
3. Section 4 of the Principal Act is amended—
(a) by omitting from sub-paragraph (i) of paragraph (a) of the definition of “pensioner” in sub-section (1) “or a sheltered employment allowance” and substituting “, a sheltered employment allowance or a sickness benefit”; and
(b) by omitting from paragraph (a) of sub-section (3) “or a sheltered employment allowance” and substituting “, a sheltered employment allowance or a sickness benefit”.
Travel allowance
4. (1) Section 17 of the Principal Act is amended—
(a) by omitting sub-sections (1) and (2) and substituting the following sub-sections:
“(1) In this section—
‘prescribed amount’, in relation to a prescribed journey, means $20 or such other amount as is prescribed by regulations in force at the commencement of the journey;
‘prescribed journey’, in relation to the rendering of a relevant professional service to an approved patient, means the relevant journeys made in connection with the rendering of that professional service, being those journeys regarded as one journey.
“(2) Subject to this Part, a travel allowance of an amount ascertained in accordance with the succeeding provisions of this section is payable in respect of a prescribed journey.”;
(b) by omitting from sub-section (3) “of the person concerned” (wherever occurring);
(c) by omitting from sub-section (4) “of a person” (wherever occurring);
(d) by omitting from sub-section (4) “in respect of that person”; and
(e) by omitting sub-section (6).
(2) Notwithstanding the amendments made by sub-section (1), section 17 of the Principal Act continues to apply in relation to any journey made in connection with the rendering of a professional service that was rendered before the commencement of this section.
Accommodation allowance
5. Section 18 of the Principal Act is amended by omitting from paragraph (b) of sub-section (2) “$15” (wherever occurring) and substituting “$20”.
6. Section 20 of the Principal Act is repealed and the following section substituted:
Payment not to be made in case of late application
“20. (1) Subject to this section, a payment under this Part shall not be made if the relevant application under section 13 is not made before the expiration of 12 months after the referral to which the application relates.
“(2) Where an application under section 13 is made after the expiration of 12 months after the referral to which the application relates, the Permanent Head may request the applicant to forward a statement of the reasons for the delay.
“(3) The Permanent Head shall consider the reasons for the delay in making an application and, if he is satisfied that there were extenuating circumstances that excuse the delay in making the application, direct that sub-section (1) is not to apply in relation to the application but, if he is not so satisfied, he shall refuse to give such a direction.”.
Interpretation
7. Section 58d of the Principal Act is amended by adding at the end thereof the following sub-section:
“(2) For the purposes of this Part, any care provided by an approved person, before his approval takes effect, for the patient in relation to whom he is approved shall be deemed not to be domiciliary nursing care.”.
Payment of benefit
8. Section 58g of the Principal Act is amended by omitting all the words after the word “benefit” and substituting “at the rate of $42 per fortnight.”.
9. (1) After section 58g of the Principal Act the following section is inserted:
Domiciliary nursing care benefit to be paid in fortnightly instalments
“58ga. (1) In this section, unless the contrary intention appears—
‘benefit’ means a domiciliary nursing care benefit;
‘fortnightly instalment’ means an instalment calculated with respect to a fortnight;
‘instalment’ means a fortnightly instalment or a pro-rata instalment;
‘pro-rata instalment’, in relation to an approved person in respect of a benefit pay-day, means an instalment of benefit of an amount equal to the product of $3 and the number of days in the relevant fortnight on which the approved person provided domiciliary nursing care for the patient;
‘relevant fortnight’, in relation to a benefit pay-day, means the fortnight ending on the day immediately preceding that benefit pay-day.
“(2) For the purposes of the definition of ‘pro-rata instalment’ in sub-section (1), a person shall be deemed not to have provided domiciliary nursing care for a patient on a day if the person ceased to provide that care at some time during that day.
“(3) Subject to this section, benefit shall be payable in fortnightly instalments on such benefit pay-days as the Permanent Head, by instrument in writing, directs.
“(4) Where the approval of a person as an approved person in respect of a patient takes effect on a day other than a benefit pay-day, no instalment of benefit is payable to the approved person in respect of the patient on the benefit pay-day immediately following the date that the approval takes effect.
“(5) An instalment of benefit is not payable to an approved person in respect of a patient on a benefit pay-day if the approved person has not provided domiciliary nursing care for the patient on at least one day of the relevant fortnight.
“(6) Subject to sub-section (7), where—
(a) an approved person provides domiciliary nursing care to a patient for at least one, but not on every, day of the relevant fortnight in relation to a benefit pay-day;
(b) domiciliary nursing care was not provided by the approved person to the patient on the last day of the relevant fortnight in relation to the benefit pay-day immediately preceding the benefit pay-day referred to in paragraph (a); and
(c) the last instalment of benefit paid to the approved person in respect of the patient was a fortnightly instalment,
no instalment of benefit is payable to the approved person in respect of the patient on the benefit pay-day referred to in paragraph (a).
“(7) Where an approved person has provided domiciliary nursing care for a patient on at least one, but not on every, day of the relevant fortnight in relation to a benefit pay-day, the Permanent Head may, by instrument in writing, direct that a pro-rata instalment is payable to the approved person in respect of the patient on that benefit pay-day and, if a fortnightly instalment would, but for this sub-section be payable to the approved person in respect of the patient on that benefit pay-day, that fortnightly instalment is not so payable.
“(8) A direction under sub-section (7) may operate with respect to a benefit pay-day that occurred before the giving of the direction.
“(9) Where—
(a) a fortnightly instalment of benefit has been paid to the approved person on a benefit pay-day; and
(b) by virtue of a direction under sub-section (7), a pro-rata instalment of benefit is payable to the approved person on that benefit pay-day and that fortnightly instalment is not so payable,
an amount equal to the amount by which that fortnightly instalment exceeds that pro-rata instalment may be deducted from any instalment payable to that approved person on the next benefit pay-day after the giving of the direction or on any subsequent benefit pay-day.”.
Revocation of approval of approved person
10. Section 58j of the Principal Act is amended by inserting after sub-section (1) the following sub-section:
“(1a) The Permanent Head is not required to exercise his power under sub-section (1) in relation to an approved person where he is satisfied that the approved person is likely to recommence, within a reasonable period, to provide domiciliary nursing care for the patient.”.
Determinations of forms of pharmaceutical benefits with respect to classes of persons
11. Section 85a of the Principal Act is amended by adding at the end of paragraph (a) of sub-section (2) “, either for all purposes or for particular purposes”.
Prescribing of pharmaceutical benefits
12. Section 88 of the Principal Act is amended—
(a) by omitting from sub-section (1) “or a participating dental practitioner”;
(b) by inserting after sub-section (1) the following sub-section:
“(1a) Subject to this Part, a participating dental practitioner is authorized to write a prescription for the supply of any pharmaceutical benefit determined from time to time by the Minister, for the purposes of this sub-section, by notice published in the Gazette.”; and
(c) by omitting sub-section (8).
13. After section 88 of the Principal Act the following section is inserted:
Prescription of certain pharmaceutical benefits authorized only in certain circumstances
“88a. (1) In this section, ‘prescribed pharmaceutical benefit’ means a pharmaceutical benefit prescribed for the purposes of this section.
“(2) The writing of a prescription for the supply of a prescribed pharmaceutical benefit is authorized under this Part only in circumstances prescribed in relation to that pharmaceutical benefit.”.
Applications for review by Tribunal of decisions under Part III
14. Section 105aaa of the Principal Act is amended by adding at the end thereof the following sub-section:
“(2) An application may be made to the Tribunal for review of a decision of the Permanent Head under section 20 refusing to give a direction under that section.”.
Application
15. The amendments made by sections 8 and 9 do not apply in relation to any domiciliary nursing care provided on a day before 4 September 1980.