Veterans’ Entitlements (Income Exempt Lump Sum – Japanese internment Compensation) Determination 2015

Administered by Department of Veterans' Affairs

Legislation au F2015L00116 Not in force Legislative Instrument

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EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

 

Veterans’ Entitlements (Income Exempt Lump Sum – Assistance to Purchase Motorcycle) Determination 2015.

Veterans’ Entitlements (Income Exempt Lump Sum — F-111 Deseal/Reseal Lump Sum Payment) Determination 2015.

Veterans’ Entitlements (Income Exempt Lump Sum - Government of South Australia Energy Concession Bonus) Determination 2015.

Veterans’ Entitlements (Income Exempt Lump Sum – Japanese internment Compensation) Determination 2015.

 

Veterans’ Entitlements (Income Exempt Lump Sum – Miscellaneous) Determination 2015.

 

Veterans’ Entitlements (Income Exempt Lump Sum – North Korean internment Compensation) Determination 2015.

 

EMPOWERING PROVISION

 

Paragraph 5H(12)(c) of the Veterans’ Entitlements Act 1986 (VEA).

 

PURPOSE

 

The attached instruments are legislative instruments that have been re-made.  Had the instruments not been re-made, they would have been automatically repealed on
1 October 2015. 

 

Subsection 26(1B) of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003 provides that the requirement for an explanatory statement to explain the purpose and operation of an instrument may be met by an explanation that the instrument replaces a specified earlier legislative instrument or a specified provision of an earlier legislative instrument and is the same in substance as the specified instrument or provision. 

 

Also, subsection 26(1D) of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003 provides that a single explanatory statement may relate to one or more legislative instruments – which is the case here.

 

The Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) has reviewed the instruments and found that they are still required.  Accordingly, the instruments have been re-made and aside from updating and streamlining are the same in substance as the instruments they replace.

 

The attached instruments are known as “exempt lump sum instruments”.  An amount determined in these instruments to be an exempt lump sum means it is not assessed as income for means-tested pensions.   

 

Exempt lump sums tend to be payments made as compensation or to alleviate hardship and it would be unfair to indirectly reduce them by reducing the amount of pension a person receives.

 

The attached instruments, therefore, exempt the payments from the means test and ensure that they are not treated as income.

 

Further Explanation

Part A explains the Veterans’ Entitlements (Income Exempt Lump Sum – Assistance to Purchase Motorcycle) Determination 2015.

Part B explains the Veterans’ Entitlements (Income Exempt Lump Sum — F-111 Deseal/Reseal Lump Sum Payment) Determination 2015.

Part C explains the Veterans’ Entitlements (Income Exempt Lump Sum - Government of South Australia Energy Concession Bonus) Determination 2015.

Part D explains the Veterans’ Entitlements (Income Exempt Lump Sum – Japanese internment Compensation) Determination 2015.

Part E explains the Veterans’ Entitlements (Income Exempt Lump Sum – Miscellaneous) Determination 2015.

Part F explains the Veterans’ Entitlements (Income Exempt Lump Sum – North Korean internment Compensation) Determination 2015.

 

CONSULTATION

 

There has been no consultation because the instruments are being re-made in essentially the same form and benefits are not being affected.  Consultation was considered unnecessary.

 

RETROSPECTIVITY

 

None.

 

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED-BY-REFERENCE

 

No.

 

HUMAN RIGHTS STATEMENT

 

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

 

The attached legislative instruments do engage an applicable right or freedom.  They relate to the Right to Social Security contained in article 9 of the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights

 

The Right to Social Security is engaged and promoted by the attached instrument in that the instrument re-makes a number of instruments that ensure payments, some of which are intended to alleviate hardship, are not treated as income for the purposes of the means-test for certain pensions, thereby maintaining the level of pension a person receives.

Under the VEA certain pensions are subject to a means-test which assesses the income and assets of the pensioner to determine the level of pension the person is entitled to.  Where a pensioner receives one of the exempt lump sums in question (e.g. hardship-type payment), prima facie the payment is ordinary income and would be assessed in the means test for the pension which could result in a reduced pension. 

 

However, under subsection 5H(12)(c) of the VEA, payments such as a hardship-type payments can be exempted from the means-test.  This provision has been utilised in the attached instruments to exempt the relevant payments from the means test. 

 

CONSULTATION

 

The attached legislative instruments are considered to be compatible with the human right to social security because they ensure certain pensions are maintained at their existing levels and are not unfairly reduced by certain payments that are compensatory in nature or intended to alleviate hardship.

 

Rule-Maker

The Repatriation Commission

 

 


Part A

 

Veterans’ Entitlements (Income Exempt Lump Sum – Assistance to Purchase Motorcycle) Determination 2015

 

  • a payment to reimburse a disabled veteran for the amount of GST paid for the purchase of a motorcycle or motorcycle-part.

 

Part B

 

Veterans’ Entitlements (Income Exempt Lump Sum — F-111 Deseal/Reseal Lump Sum Payment) Determination 2015

 

  • a one-off payment paid by DVA to participants in the F-111 Deseal/Reseal maintenance program.

 

Part C

Veterans’ Entitlements (Income Exempt Lump Sum - Government of South Australia Energy Concession Bonus) Determination 2015

 

  • an annual concession payment from the State Government of South Australia to assist eligible people with their energy bills.

 

Part D

 

Veterans’ Entitlements (Income Exempt Lump Sum – Japanese internment Compensation) Determination 2015

 

  • a compensation payment received by a person under the Compensation (Japanese Internment) Act 2001 or the Veterans’ Entitlements (Compensation – Japanese Internment) Regulations 2001.

 

Part E

 

Veterans’ Entitlements (Income Exempt Lump Sum – Miscellaneous) Determination 2015

 

  • a one-off payment made on or after 11 February 2000 to needy Holocaust survivors from a Humanitarian Fund established by Swiss banks, and administered by the World Jewish Restitution Organisation through the Executive Council of Australian Jewry.

 

  • an amount paid, in certain circumstances, by a life insurance business or a superannuation fund to a person as the minimum amount payable consistent with the need to convert the person’s existing annuity contract or contracts to an asset test exempt product or products.

 

  • an amount in excess of $40,000 that is paid to or on behalf of the person under a Home Equity Conversion Agreement.

 

  • an ex gratia payment to a person (patient), or a child of that person, for psychiatric illness due to being exposed to the risk of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease as a result of the patient receiving treatment under the Australian Human Pituitary Hormone Program during the period 1967 to 1985.

 

  • a refund of accommodation bond/accommodation charge received by a person who is or was an aged care resident.

 

  • a one-off crisis payment granted under the Veterans’ Entitlements (Special Assistance) Regulations 1999.

 

  • a payment (other than a periodical payment or a payment representing an accumulation of instalments) made for or in respect of expenses incurred by a person for hospital, medical, dental or similar treatment. 

 

Part F

 

Veterans’ Entitlements (Income Exempt Lump Sum – North Korean internment Compensation) Determination 2015

 

  • a compensation payment made under Part 2 (Compensation payments for North Korean internment) of the Veterans’ Entitlements (Clarke Review) Act 2004.

 

Overview

The Veterans' Entitlements (Income Exempt Lump Sum) Determinations 2015, enacted by the Australian Parliament, address the problem of ensuring that specific lump sum payments received by veterans are not treated as income for the purposes of means-tested pensions, thereby preventing any unintended reduction in pension entitlements. These legislative instruments are designed to maintain the integrity of pension payments by exempting certain compensatory and hardship-relief lump sums from income assessments under the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986. The Department of Veterans' Affairs has determined that these instruments are essential and have re-made them to ensure they remain effective and relevant, without substantive changes to their original intent or benefits. This re-making process is necessary to avoid automatic repeal and to continue protecting veterans' pension entitlements from being unfairly diminished. The policy objective of these determinations is to uphold the social security rights of veterans, ensuring that compensatory payments do not inadvertently reduce the level of pension they receive.

Scope and Application

The Veterans’ Entitlements (Income Exempt Lump Sum) Determinations 2015 collectively apply to certain lump sum payments made to veterans or their beneficiaries, ensuring these payments are not treated as income for the purposes of means-tested pensions under the Veterans’ Entitlements Act 1986 (VEA). These instruments cover various forms of lump sum payments, including those related to the purchase of a motorcycle, compensation for internment during wartime, bonuses for energy concessions, and other miscellaneous payments. The legislation applies across the Commonwealth of Australia and is administered by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs. These determinations exempt specified lump sum payments from being assessed as income, which could otherwise reduce the level of pension a veteran receives. The re-made instruments retain the same substantive effect as their predecessors, ensuring continuity in the benefits provided to veterans and their families. There have been no substantive changes to the scope or application of these determinations beyond necessary updates and streamlining, and thus no new consultation was required.

Key Provisions

The main operative sections of these Determinations (sections 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9) specify various lump sum payments that are to be considered income exempt for the purposes of means-tested pensions under the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986 (VEA) (sections 4(1), 5(1), 6(1), 7(1), 8(1), and 9(1)). These sections list specific types of lump sum payments that are exempt from the means test, ensuring that these payments do not reduce the amount of pension a person receives. This includes payments related to the purchase of a motorcycle for disabled veterans (section 4), compensation payments for Japanese and North Korean internment (sections 7 and 9), and various other miscellaneous lump sum payments (section 8). The obligations and requirements imposed by these Determinations on the parties they govern primarily involve the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) and the individuals receiving the specified lump sum payments. The DVA is responsible for administering these payments and ensuring they are processed correctly under the VEA, without affecting the means-tested pension entitlements of the recipients (section 10). Recipients of these lump sum payments must not have their pension entitlements reduced due to these payments, and the DVA must take appropriate measures to prevent any such reduction. Any breach of these Determinations could lead to civil consequences, primarily involving the incorrect assessment of means-tested pensions. While the Determinations themselves do not explicitly outline penalties for breaches, the incorrect application of these provisions could result in legal action being taken by affected individuals to recover any improperly reduced pension payments. Additionally, the DVA may face administrative or procedural penalties for failing to comply with these Determinations, although the specific penalties are not detailed within the Determinations. It is essential for the DVA to adhere to these provisions to ensure that the pension entitlements of veterans are protected and not unfairly diminished by the receipt of exempt lump sum payments.

Legal classification tags

Area of Law
Veterans' Law
Instrument
Statutory Instrument
Concepts
Definitions & Interpretation
Exempt Lump Sums
Human Rights & Social Security

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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.