Social Services Legislation Amendment Act 2017 (33 of 2017)

Schedule 3   Ordinary waiting periods

Social Security Act 1991

12   After section 549C

Insert:

549CA Ordinary waiting period

(1) This section applies if a person is qualified for a youth allowance, where neither section 540AA (about new apprentices) nor paragraph 541(1)(a) (about full-time study) applies.

(2) Subject to subsection (3), the person is subject to an ordinary waiting period unless:

(a) at some time in the 13 weeks immediately before the person's start day (worked out disregarding clause 5 of Schedule 2 to the Administration Act), the person received an income support payment; or

(b) the Secretary is satisfied that the person is experiencing a personal financial crisis; or

(c) on the day before the day the person qualified for the youth allowance mentioned in subsection (1), the person was qualified for a youth allowance where section 540AA or paragraph 541(1)(a) applied.

Note 1: For income support payment see subsection 23(1).

Note 2: For experiencing a personal financial crisis see section 19DA.

(3) Subsection (2) does not apply to a person who:

(a) is undertaking an activity specified in an instrument made under subsection (4); and

(b) has been exempted from the application of subsection (2) by the Secretary.

(4) The Secretary may, by legislative instrument, specify activities for the purpose of paragraph (3)(a).

549CB Duration of ordinary waiting period

(1) Subject to subsections (2) and (4), if a person is subject to an ordinary waiting period, the ordinary waiting period is the period of 7 days that starts on the person's start day (worked out disregarding clause 5 of Schedule 2 to the Administration Act).

(2) Subject to subsection (4), if:

(a) a person is subject to an ordinary waiting period; and

(b) apart from this subsection, the ordinary waiting period would be the period of 7 days that starts on the person's start day (worked out disregarding clause 5 of Schedule 2 to the Administration Act); and

(c) that start day falls within one or more of the following periods (each of which is an exclusion period ) that the person is subject to:

(i) a liquid assets test waiting period;

(ii) a newly arrived resident's waiting period;

(iii) a seasonal work preclusion period;

(iv) a lump sum preclusion period under Part 3.14;

(v) an income maintenance period, where the person's rate of youth allowance on that start day would be nil;

then the ordinary waiting period is the period of 7 days that starts on the first day after all the exclusion periods have ended.

(3) If:

(a) subparagraph (2)(c)(v) applies to a person; and

(b) on a day in that income maintenance period, the person's rate of youth allowance would be greater than nil if youth allowance were payable to the person on that day;

then, for the purposes of subsection (2), that income maintenance period is taken to have ended at the end of the day before that day.

(4) If:

(a) a person qualifies for a social security payment (other than youth allowance); and

(b) because the person is subject to an ordinary waiting period relating to that payment, that payment is not payable to the person for a period starting on a particular day (the initial day ); and

(c) during that period the person:

(i) ceases to be qualified for that payment; and

(ii) claims youth allowance and is qualified for youth allowance, where neither section 540AA (about new apprentices) nor paragraph 541(1)(a) (about full-time study) applies;

the person's ordinary waiting period relating to that youth allowance is the period of 7 days that starts on the initial day.

Note: Ordinary waiting periods apply to parenting payment, youth allowance, newstart allowance and sickness allowance.