EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Statutory Rules 1987 No. 16
Issued by the authority of the Minister of State for Social Security
Subject Social Security Act 1947
Social Services (Reciprocity with United Kingdom) Regulations (Amendment)
The purpose of these Statutory Rules is to give effect in Australian domestic law to an agreement amending the Agreement on Social Security between the Government of the United Kingdom and the Government of Australia, as amended (the Agreement).
The Agreement was signed at Canberra on 29 January 1958, revised by an agreement signed at Canberra on 16 August 1962 and further amended by an agreement constituted by an exchange of Notes dated 6 March 1975 and an agreement constituted by an exchange of Notes, dated 29 and 31 December 1986.
During 1985 and 1986, there were indications that some visitors from the United Kingdom under the Working Holidaymaker Scheme were taking advantage of the Agreement and were choosing to claim unemployment benefit in Australia rather than taking positive steps to obtain work. There was also a need to have the Agreement reflect domestic legislative changes made since the Agreement was amended in 1975.
Accordingly, the 1986 agreement -
• precludes working holiday-makers admitted to either country from eligibility for unemployment benefit while in the other country;
• enables recipients of United Kingdom benefits in Australia to receive additional United Kingdom payments for dependent children;
• removes from the Agreement discriminatory provisions applying in the United Kingdom to married women with former Australian residence claiming United Kingdom benefits under the Agreement; and
• enables periods of qualification to receive sickness benefit or invalid pension under Australian legislation to be counted as periods of entitlement to sickness benefit or invalidity pension under United Kingdom legislation.
The 1986 agreement will enter into force on 9 February 1987. In Australia, effect is given to the amending agreement by these Statutory Rules, which amend the Social Services (Reciprocity with United Kingdom) Regulations (the Principal Regulations) made under sections 149 and 137 of the Social Security Act 1947 (the Act).
The Statutory Rules also amend the Principal Regulations to reflect better the form in which the 1975 amendments to the Agreement were made, and make other formal amendments.
Regulation 1 : Commencement
This Regulation provides that the Regulations shall come into force on 9 February 1987, the date specified in the 1986 agreement, which is set out in Schedule 4.
Regulation 2 : Principal Regulations
This Regulation provides that the Social Services (Reciprocity with United Kingdom) Regulations are referred to in the Regulations as the Principal Regulations.
Regulation 3 : Citation
This Regulation amends the citation of the Principal Regulations in Regulation 1 of those Regulations by omitting “Services” and substituting “Security”, reflecting the change in the short title of the Social Security Act 1947 made in 1982.
Regulation 4
This Regulation repeals Regulations 2 to 5 (inclusive) of the Principal Regulations and substitutes new Regulations 2 and 3.
Regulations 2 (Commencement) and 3 (Repeal) are spent.
Omitted Regulations 4 (Interpretation) and 5 (Modifications and Adaptations of Social Services Act) are remade as follows:
• New Regulation 2 : Interpretation
This Regulation consolidates and rationalises definitions. Accordingly, “the Act” means the Social Security Act 1947 and “the Agreement” means the agreement set out in Schedule 1 as amended by the agreements set out in Schedules 2 to 4 (inclusive).
• New Regulation 3 : Modifications and adaptations of the Act
This Regulation provides that the application of the Act to cases affected by the Agreement is subject to such modifications and adaptations as are necessary for the purposes of giving effect to the Agreement.
Regulations 5 to 7 (inclusive) make formal amendments to the headings of Schedules.
Regulation 5 : Heading omitted
This Regulation omits the general heading “The Schedules”.
Regulation 6 : First Schedule
By this Regulation, the First Schedule to the Principal Regulations becomes “Schedule 1”, and a reference to Regulation 2 is substituted for the reference to Regulation 4.
Regulation 7 : Second Schedule
By this Regulation, the Second Schedule to the Principal Regulations becomes “Schedule 2”, and a reference to Regulation 2 is substituted for the reference to Regulation 4.
Regulation 8 : Third Schedule
The Third Schedule reflects the amendments made by the 1975 amending agreement. Regulation 8 repeals the Third Schedule to the Principal Regulations and substitutes new Schedules 3 and 4.
New Schedule 3 sets out the full text of the Notes which comprise the 1975 agreement.
New Schedule 4 sets out the full text of the Notes which comprise the 1986 agreement. The Agreement is amended as follows:
(a) Article 3
Paragraph (2) and the proviso to paragraph (4) are omitted from Article 3.
This removes a discriminatory restriction on the payment of retirement pension to a married woman residing in the United Kingdom. Such women were formerly required either to have paid 156 contributions as married women to the United Kingdom scheme, or to have been treated as widows under Australian legislation, in order to have their former Australian periods of residence credited for the purposes of obtaining a retirement pension in the United Kingdom.
(b) Article 17
A new paragraph (4) is inserted in Article 17.
The new paragraph enables periods of qualification for a sickness benefit or an invalid pension under Australian legislation to be taken into account as periods of entitlement to sickness benefit or invalidity pension completed under United Kingdom legislation.
(c) Article 18
A new paragraph (3) is inserted after paragraph 2 in Article 18 and existing paragraph (3) is renumbered (4).
The Act requires temporary entrants to be in Australia for 12 months before they can qualify for unemployment benefit. However, the Agreement allows residence in the United Kingdom to be treated as residence in Australia, thus enabling people from that country to meet the Australian residence requirements immediately on arrival, and so qualify for unemployment benefit as long as they are unemployed and seeking work.
New paragraph (3) has the effect of precluding persons admitted to either country under the working holidaymaker schemes from eligibility for unemployment benefit while in the other country.
(d) Article 22
Where Australian family allowance is payable for dependent children, a bar prevents the payment in Australia of United Kingdom child dependency additions for the dependent children of persons receiving United Kingdom retirement pension, widow’s benefits or other benefits in Australia.
The amendment to this Article removes this bar.