Explanatory Statement
Social Security (Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment) Determination 2009 (No. 1)
The Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment (the AGDRP) provides an immediate, one-off payment to Australians adversely affected by a major disaster.
Section 1061K of the Social Security Act 1991 (the Act) contains the qualification criteria for the AGDRP. One of the qualification criteria requires a person to be “adversely affected by a major disaster”.
Subsection 1061L(1) of the Act provides that, for the purposes of the Act, “a person is adversely affect by a major disaster if the person is affected by the disaster in a way determined by the Minister in relation to the disaster.”
Subsection 1061L(2) of the Act provides that the “Minister may determine in writing, in relation to a major disaster, the circumstances in which persons are to be taken to be adversely affected by the disaster”.
Section 36 of the Act empowers the Minister to determine in writing that an event is a “major disaster” if the Minister is satisfied that an event is a disaster that has such a significant impact on individuals that a government response is required.
The Minister has made a declaration under section 36 of the Act that applies to the flooding that occurred as a result of the rain depression caused by Tropical Cyclone Ellie which commenced on 31 January 2009 and affected the Far North and Northern regions of Queensland.
The Social Security (Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment) Determination 2009 (No. 1) (the Determination) gives effect to the declaration referred to above and sets out the circumstances in which a person is to be regarded as “adversely affected” by the flooding.
Section 1 of the Determination specifies the name of the Determination.
Section 2 of the Determination provides that it commences on the date it is signed.
Section 3 contains definitions relevant to the Determination.
Section 4 contains a specific definition of “principal place of residence”.
Section 5 provides that for the purposes of subsection 1061L(2) of the Act, a person is adversely affected by a disaster mentioned in Schedule 1 if the person is affected in the way mentioned in Schedule 2.
Schedule 1 to the Determination applies to the flooding that occurred as a result of the rain depression caused by Tropical Cyclone Ellie which commenced on 31 January 2009 and affected the Far North and Northern regions of Queensland.
Schedule 2 to the Determination provides five circumstances where a person is adversely affected as a direct result of the major disaster referred to in Schedule 1.
The first circumstance is where the person is seriously injured.
The second circumstance is where the person is the immediate family member of an Australian killed and is the first family member to make a claim for the AGDRP in respect of the major disaster mentioned in Schedule 1.
The third circumstance is where the person’s principal place of residence has been destroyed.
The fourth circumstance is where a person’s principal place of residence has sustained major damage.
The fifth circumstance is where a person’s principal place of residence is inaccessible for a period of 48 hours or more.
For the purposes of the second circumstance, the meaning of Australian an immediate family member is further clarified in Schedule 2.
What is considered to constitute “destroyed”, “inaccessible”, “major damage” and “seriously injured” is as defined in section 3 of the Determination.
Subsection 1061L(3) of the Act provides that a determination under section 1061L is a legislative instrument.
This instrument is not subject to disallowance by the Parliament (subsection 1061L(3) of the Act provides that section 42 of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003 does not apply to the determination).
Formal consultation has not been undertaken as the Determination was required as a matter of urgency.