Social Security (Personal Care Support - Queensland Your Life Your Choice Self-Directed Support: Host Providers and Direct Payment) (FaHCSIA) Determination 2013

Administered by Department of Social Services

Legislation au F2013L00911 Not in force Legislative Instrument

Legislation content

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

Social Security (Personal Care Support - Queensland Your Life Your Choice Self-Directed Support: Host Providers and Direct Payment) (FaHCSIA) Determination 2013

This Determination provides that the Queensland Government’s Your Life Your Choice Self-Directed Support: Host Providers and Direct Payment is an ‘approved scheme’ under section 35A of the Social Security Act 1991 (the Act).

Background

Under the social security law, income includes any income amount earned, derived or received for a person’s own use or benefit. However, the social security law specifically excludes some amounts from being recognised as income for the purposes of social security law. Paragraph 8(8)(zi) of the Act provides that a payment towards the cost of personal care support services for the person, being a payment made under a scheme approved under section 35A, is not income for the purposes of the Act.

Section 35A of the Act allows the relevant Minister to determine that a scheme for the provision of personal care support is an ‘approved scheme’ for the purposes of the Act.

The scheme known as Your Life Your Choice Self-Directed Support: Host Providers and Direct Payment has been established under the Your Life Your Choice Self-Directed Support Framework by the Queensland Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services to allow a person with a disability to purchase disability services and supports with their disability funding under the direct payment model or the host provider model. Under the direct payment model, a person with a disability would receive direct payments from the Queensland Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services to spend on disability services and supports. Under the host provider model, it is possible for the person with a disability to receive payments from the host provider to spend on disability services and supports. These payments are not intended as income, or to be used as an income source for the person. It is expected that payments to individuals under the direct payment model may commence from 1 July 2013.

Purpose

The purpose of the Determination is to determine that the Queensland Government’s Your Life Your Choice Self-Directed Support: Host Providers and Direct Payment is an approved personal care support scheme for the purposes of the Act.

A person for whom a payment is made under the scheme may also receive a social security payment. The effect of this Determination is that the person will not have the payment received taken into account for the purposes of the income test under the social security law to the extent that the payment is for the cost of personal care support services for the person. This would ensure that the receipt of payments for personal care support services under the scheme would not have the unintended effect of reducing a person’s entitlement to any social security payment because of the operation of the income test.

This Determination has effect in relation to social security payments within the portfolio responsibility of the Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and Minister for Disability Reform.

Explanation of the Provisions

 

Section 1 states the name of the Determination.

 

Section 2 provides that the Determination commences on the day after registration.

 

Section 3 provides that the Your Life Your Choice Self-Directed Support: Host Providers and Direct Payment, being a scheme of that name established by the Queensland Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services is an approved scheme for the purposes of the Act.

 

Consultation

 

This Determination was made in response to a request from the Queensland Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services.

Consultation on the Determination was undertaken with the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, and Department of Industry, Innovation, Climate Change, Science, Research and Tertiary Education.

Public consultation was considered to be unnecessary as this determination is purely beneficial in character.

Regulatory Impact Analysis

 

The Determination is not regulatory in nature, will not impact on business activity and will have no, or minimal, compliance costs or competition impact.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights

 

 

Prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011

 

 

This Legislative Instrument is the Social Security (Personal Care Support – Queensland Your Life Your Choice Self-Directed Support: Host Providers and Direct Payment) (FaHCSIA) Determination 2013

 

 

The Social Security (Personal Care Support – Queensland Your Life Your Choice Self-Directed Support: Host Providers and Direct Payment) (FaHCSIA) Determination 2013 is compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the international instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011.

 

 

Overview of the Legislative Instrument

The Social Security (Personal Care Support – Queensland Your Life Your Choice Self-Directed Support: Host Providers and Direct Payment) (FaHCSIA) Determination 2013 (the Determination) is made under section 35A of the Social Security Act 1991 (the Act) and determines that the Queensland Government’s Your Life Your Choice Self-Directed Support: Host Providers and Direct Payment is an approved personal care support scheme for the purposes of the Act, thereby exempting payments received by a person under the scheme from the social security income test.

 

The Your Life Your Choice Self-Directed Support: Host Providers and Direct Payment has been established under the Your Life Your Choice Self-Directed Support Framework by the Queensland Government Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services to allow a person with a disability to purchase disability services and supports with their disability funding under the direct payment model or the host provider model. Payments to individuals under the direct payment model are expected to commence from 1 July 2013.

 

The Determination ensures that people receiving funding under the direct payment model or the host provider model will not have this funding assessed as income for social security purposes.

 


Human rights implications

 

The Determination engages the human right: Right to social security.

 

The right to social security

 

Section 35A of the Act allows the Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and the Minister for Disability Reform to determine that when a person receives funding provided by a personal care support scheme this funding is exempt from the social security income test in relation to social security payments for which the Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and the Minister for Disability Reform is responsible. The determination is therefore beneficial to persons who receive such a social security payment.



Conclusion

 

The Determination under section 35A of the Act ensures that individuals receiving funding from a personal care support scheme do not have this funding assessed for income test purposes. The Determination supports their human right to social security.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Hon Jenny Macklin MP, Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Minister for Disability Reform

 

Overview

The Social Security (Personal Care Support – Queensland Your Life Your Choice Self-Directed Support: Host Providers and Direct Payment) (FaHCSIA) Determination 2013 was enacted to address the issue of ensuring that payments for personal care support services under the Queensland Government’s Your Life Your Choice Self-Directed Support: Host Providers and Direct Payment scheme are not considered income for the purposes of social security law. This Determination was made under section 35A of the Social Security Act 1991 by the Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and the Minister for Disability Reform. The policy objective is to ensure that the receipt of such payments does not reduce a person's entitlement to social security payments due to the operation of the income test, thereby supporting the human right to social security. The Determination was introduced in response to a request from the Queensland Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services and ensures that payments for personal care support services under the scheme are exempt from the social security income test.

Scope and Application

The Social Security (Personal Care Support – Queensland Your Life Your Choice Self-Directed Support: Host Providers and Direct Payment) (FaHCSIA) Determination 2013 applies to individuals receiving disability funding under the direct payment model or the host provider model established by the Queensland Government’s Your Life Your Choice Self-Directed Support Framework. This Determination ensures that the payments these individuals receive for personal care support services are not considered as income for the purposes of the Social Security Act 1991. This means that the payments made under the scheme are exempt from the social security income test, thereby preserving the individual's entitlement to any social security payments they may receive. The Determination operates within the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth of Australia, specifically under the purview of the Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and the Minister for Disability Reform. While the Determination itself does not contain explicit exclusions, exemptions, or thresholds, the scheme it approves, the Your Life Your Choice Self-Directed Support: Host Providers and Direct Payment, may have its own criteria for eligibility and operation, which are not detailed in the Determination.

Key Provisions

The main operative sections of the Social Security (Personal Care Support – Queensland Your Life Your Choice Self-Directed Support: Host Providers and Direct Payment) (FaHCSIA) Determination 2013 (section 3) determine that the Queensland Government’s Your Life Your Choice Self-Directed Support: Host Providers and Direct Payment is an approved personal care support scheme under section 35A of the Social Security Act 1991 (the Act). This means that payments made under this scheme are exempt from the social security income test. This determination ensures that individuals receiving funding under the scheme will not have their funding assessed as income for social security purposes. The obligations and requirements imposed by the Determination on the parties or entities it governs include the establishment of the Your Life Your Choice Self-Directed Support: Host Providers and Direct Payment scheme by the Queensland Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services. The scheme allows a person with a disability to purchase disability services and supports with their disability funding under the direct payment model or the host provider model. Under the direct payment model, a person with a disability would receive direct payments from the Queensland Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services to spend on disability services and supports. Under the host provider model, it is possible for the person with a disability to receive payments from the host provider to spend on disability services and supports. These payments are not intended as income or to be used as an income source for the person. The Determination also ensures that the payments received by individuals under the scheme will not be taken into account for the purposes of the income test under the social security law. Any breach of the provisions of the Determination could result in unintended consequences for individuals receiving payments under the scheme, such as their social security payments being incorrectly assessed due to the inclusion of the payments as income. However, the Determination does not specify any offences, penalties, or civil/criminal consequences for breach. The Determination is designed to ensure that individuals receiving funding under the scheme are not disadvantaged by having their funding assessed as income for social security purposes. The focus is on providing a benefit to individuals with disabilities by exempting their payments from the social security income test.

Legal classification tags

Area of Law
Social Security Law
Instrument
Determination
Concepts
Definitions & Interpretation
Regulatory Standards
Exemptions & Exclusions
Catchwords
Personal Care Support
Approved Scheme

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Sourced from the Federal Register of Legislation at 26 August 2026. For the latest information on Australian Government law please go to https://www.legislation.gov.au.