Veterans' Entitlements, Treatment and Support (Simplification and Harmonisation) Act 2025 (17 of 2025)

Schedule 4   Merging commissions

Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004

26   After section 427

Insert:

427A Commission may accept contributions

(1) The Commission may accept from a person contributions of money and other property made to it:

(a) for a purpose specified by the person, if application of the money or other property for that purpose is necessary or convenient to be done for, or in connection with, the performance of the Commission's functions or duties; or

(b) for application by the Commission, as it deems fit, for, or in connection with, the performance of the Commission's functions or duties.

(2) Contributions accepted by the Commission in accordance with subsection (1) may be applied:

(a) if the person making the contribution specified that the person desired the contribution to be applied for a particular purpose, for the benefit of a particular class of persons or for the benefit of a particular institution maintained by the Commission - for the purpose so specified; or

(b) in any other case - by the Commission as it deems fit, for, or in connection with, the performance of the Commission's functions or duties.

(3) Subject to subsection (2), contributions accepted by the Commission in accordance with subsection (1) are to be dealt with as prescribed and, subject to the regulations (if any) prescribing the manner in which those contributions are to be dealt with, as determined by the Commission.

427B Commission may administer trusts

(1) Subject to this section, the Commission may be appointed, and may in its corporate name act, as trustee:

(a) under a will, settlement or other instrument creating a trust for the benefit of members, former members, dependants of members or former members or other persons who were dependent on members or former members; or

(b) under the will of a member or former member creating a trust for beneficiaries under that will.

(2) The Commission may decline to accept, or accept subject to such conditions as it deems fit, a trust or appointment to act as trustee.

(3) If the Commission accepts an appointment as trustee of a trust, the Commission:

(a) has the same powers, duties and liabilities; and

(b) is entitled to the same rights and immunities; and

(c) is subject to the same control by a court;

as a natural person would have, be entitled to and be subject to if appointed to be, and acting as, trustee of that trust.

(4) If the Commission is a trustee of 2 or more trusts under this section, the Commission may, subject to subsection (5), for the purpose of investing the trust funds, pool the trust funds in respect of those trusts.

(5) The Commission must not pool trust funds under subsection (4), or invest trust funds pooled under that subsection, in a way that prevents the trust funds held in respect of each trust being identified sufficiently to enable the Commission to properly perform its functions as trustee.

(6) The Commission may:

(a) make an arrangement with another person for the other person to manage the trust funds; and

(b) for the purposes of such an arrangement, transfer the trust funds to the other person;

but the making of such an arrangement, or the transferring of the trust funds, does not relieve the Commission of any duties or liabilities as trustee.

(7) The regulations may make provision for and in relation to the investment of money vested in the Commission as trustee pending application in accordance with the trust or for the purpose of deriving income for application in accordance with the trust.

(8) In this section:

trust funds , in relation to a trust of which the Commission is the trustee, means money vested in the Commission as trustee.