EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Statutory Rules No. 122
Veterans’ Entitlements Act 1986
Veterans’ Entitlements Regulations (Amendment)
Issued by the Minister for Veterans Affairs
Section 216 of the Veterans’ Entitlements Act 1986 (the Act) provides that the Governor-General may make Regulations, not inconsistent with the Act, prescribing all matters which are by the Act required or permitted to be prescribed, or which are necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to the Act.
These statutory rules provided for the alignment of terminology used in the Veterans’ Entitlements Regulations with that used in the Act and increases in the rates of travelling expenses payable to veterans and their dependants
for travel for treatment and pension purposes under sections 110 and 132 of the Act.
As a consequence of amendments to the Act made by the Veterans’ Affairs Legislation Amendment Act 1987 (Act No. of 1987, Assented to June 1987), these statutory rules also provided for the removal of a redundant reference from the Veterans’ Entitlements Regulations and the insertion of a new Regulation (pursuant to subsection 140(2A) of the Act inserted by the Veterans’ Affairs Legislation Amendment Act 1987) to specify the address of the Repatriation” Commission for the service of Veterans’ Review Board decisions.
Details of the Regulations are set out below. Unless otherwise specified in this Explanatory Statement, the provisions of the amending Regulations came into operation on June 1987, the date of their notification in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette.
Regulation 1 - Principal Regulations
Regulation 1 provided that the term “Principal Regulations” used in the Regulations meant the Veterans’ Entitlements Regulations.
Regulation 2 - Exempt class of persons for the purposes of subsection 84(6) of the Act
Sections 87 and 88 of the Act enable the Repatriation Commission to provide treatment, at Repatriation hospitals and institutions, to veterans who are not otherwise entitled to treatment under the Act or to members of the -general community, subject to spare capacity in those hospitals or institutions.
Subsection 84(6) of the Act provides that charges may be levied on a person, other than a person included in a class of prescribed persons, who is provided with treatment under section 87 or 88 of the Act.
Existing Regulation 5 declares two classes of persons to be exempt from charges under subsection 84(6) of the Act in respect of treatment provided under section 87 or 88 of the Act.
Subregulation 5(b) specified certain members of the Defence Force provided with treatment other than for a war-caused injury or a war-caused disease.
Regulation 2 amended existing subregulation 5(b) of the Principal Regulations to change references to “war-caused” to “defence-caused”, to make the terminology consistent with that applied to members of the Defence Force by the Act.
Regulation 3 - Information required for purposes of subsection 108(11) of the Act
Section 108 of the Act provides for the payment of a loss of earnings allowance in specified circumstances. Subsection 108(3) provides for the grant of a loss of earnings allowance to a person authorised to accompany a veteran who travels for certain purposes.
Subsection 108(11) provides that payment of loss of earnings allowance may not be made unless the claimant provides to the Repatriation Commission information as prescribed in the Principal Regulations. The relevant information is prescribed in Regulation 8 of the Principal Regulations.
Subregulation 8(1) of the Principal Regulations gives definitions of terms used in that Regulation. A “relevant absence” for the purposes of loss of earnings allowance payable to an attendant was defined (in paragraph (b)) as an absence while attending a veteran or a dependant of a veteran.
Subsection 108(3) was amended by section 28 of the Veterans’ Affairs Legislation Amendment Act 1987 (Act No. of 1987, Assented to June 1987) to remove a superfluous reference in the subsection to “a dependant of a veteran”.
Consequential to the amendment to subsection 108(3) of the Act, Regulation 3 removed the reference to “a dependant
of a veteran” from paragraph (b) of the definition of “relevant absence” in subregulation 8(1).
Regulation 4 - Travelling expenses under section 110 or 132 of the Act
Subsection 110(1) of the Act provides for the payment of prescribed travelling expenses in respect of approved travel in connection with treatment, restoration of health or fittings of artificial aids and appliances. Payment may be made to a veteran, a dependant of a deceased veteran or, by virtue of subsection 110(2), to a person authorised by the Repatriation Commission to accompany a veteran or dependant as an attendant.
Section 132 provides for payment of prescribed travelling expenses to a claimant for pension or a person likely to be affected by a review, or in certain circumstances, to an attendant of such a person.
Regulation 9 of the Principal Regulations prescribes the rates of travelling expenses payable under sections 110 and 132 and the conditions under which they may be paid.
Subregulation 9(1) of the Principal Regulations defines certain terms used in the Regulation. An “entitled person” is defined as any person who is eligible for payment of travelling expenses under section 110 or 132.
Subregulation 9(6) defines the relevant distance for the purposes of calculating the maximum amount of expenses payable. Paragraph 9(6)(a) referred to travel by a veteran for the purpose of obtaining treatment as provided by subsection 110(1) of the Act but made no reference to a dependant travelling for that purpose.
In order to ensure that the relevant distance is defined for a dependant who is eligible for expenses under subsection 110(1), as well as for a veteran, subregulation 4(1) omitted all references to “veteran” in existing paragraph 9(6)(a) and substituted “entitled person”.
Subregulation 4(2) amended existing subregulations 9(8) and 9(10) of the Principal Regulations to substitute new, higher rates of travelling expenses that may be met where travel is undertaken in accordance with section 110 or 132 of the Act.
Paragraph 4(2)(a) provided for an increase in the maximum amount payable in respect of commercial accommodation from $43 each night to $47.50 each night; paragraph 4(2)(b) provided for an increase in the amount payable for breakfast and lunch from $5.50 to $6; and paragraph 4(2)(c) provided for an increase in the amount payable for dinner from $13 to $15.50.
Subregulation 4(3) provided that the increased rates would become effective on 1 July 1987 in respect of travel undertaken on or after that date.
Regulation 5 - Address of the Commission - subsection 140(2A) of the Act
Section 140 of the Act provides that where the Veterans’ Review Board makes a decision upon a review it must make its decision in writing, prepare a statement of reasons for that decision, file the decision and the statement of reasons and serve a copy of the decision and statement of reasons on the applicant and the Repatriation Commission.
Subsection 140(2A) was inserted in the Act by section 37 of the Veterans’ Affairs Legislation Amendment Act 1987 (Act No. of 1987, Assented to June 1987) to permit the address of the Repatriation Commission for the service of copies of Veterans’ Review Board decisions and reasons to be prescribed. The purpose of that amendment was to overcome problems arising from service of documents at an inappropriate address, and consequent difficulties in satisfying the time limits for application to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for review of Veterans’ Review Board decisions.
Regulation 5 inserted a new Regulation 9A in the Principal Regulations prescribing the address of the Repatriation Commission for the purposes of subsection 140(2A) of the Act.