House debates
Wednesday, 25 June 2008
Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and Other Legislation Amendment (2008 Budget and Other Measures) Bill 2008
Consideration of Senate Message
Message from the Governor-General recommending appropriation for requested amendment announced.
Bill returned from the Senate with a requested amendment.
Ordered that the requested amendment be considered immediately.
Senate’s requested amendment—
SCHEDULE A
(1) Schedule 6, page 34 (after line 16), after item 9, insert:
9A Paragraph 2(1)(b) of Schedule 3
Omit “reportable fringe benefits total”, substitute “adjusted fringe benefits total”.
9B Clause 4 of Schedule 3
Repeal the clause, substitute:
4 Adjusted fringe benefits total
An individual’s adjusted fringe benefits total for an income year is the amount worked out using the formula:
where:
FBT rate is the rate of tax set by the Fringe Benefits Tax Act 1986 for the FBT year (as defined in the Fringe Benefits Tax Assessment Act 1986) beginning on the 1 April just before the start of the income year.
reportable fringe benefits total is the amount that the Secretary is satisfied is the individual’s reportable fringe benefits total (as defined in the Fringe Benefits Tax Assessment Act 1986) for the income year.
9C Application
The amendments made by items 9A and 9B apply in relation to the 2008-09 income year and later income years.
1:02 pm
Jenny Macklin (Jagajaga, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
I move:
That the requested amendment be made.
This request from the Senate is to enact the government’s proposed amendments to ensure that employees in the charitable and not-for-profit sector will not lose up to $100 a fortnight from 1 July. The government’s amendments to the bill make sure that employees in the charitable sector are not hurt by the previous government’s 2006 budget measure that changed the definition of income for family assistance law. The government’s amendments will restore the use of the net value of reportable fringe benefits in the definition of adjusted taxable income for family assistance. This will ensure staff in not-for-profit organisations will not suffer a loss of family tax or childcare benefits of up to $100 a fortnight after 1 July this year if their circumstances have not otherwise changed.
Up to 85,000 Centrelink customers are expected to benefit from this decision. Once this amendment goes through the parliament, Centrelink call centre staff will be able to advise affected customers of the new arrangements. Once the legislation is passed by the Senate, Centrelink will issue an IT systems change to make sure that net fringe benefit amounts are used and will adjust customers’ records accordingly.
Centrelink will make every effort to make sure that payments are maintained; however, I would say to all customers who have been affected that these are complex changes, so if any families are unsure they should contact Centrelink or their Family Assistance Office. The government and the charitable and not-for-profit sector have only recently become aware of the potential impact of the changes to family assistance law that were due to come into effect on 1 July and we have acted very quickly to make these changes.
Both public benevolent organisations and other charities are working with some of the most disadvantaged people in our community. We certainly value their work very highly and that is why we wanted to move these amendments through the parliament as quickly as we could. Time certainly is of the essence here, otherwise we will see staff working in these charitable and not-for-profit organisations losing up to $100 a fortnight from next week. So it is urgent that this change to the law be made. I certainly look forward to the support of the opposition to make sure that these very significant impacts on families will not take place. I commend the amendment to the House and ask that the bill be passed immediately without further amendment.
1:06 pm
Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Families, Community Services, Indigenous Affairs and the Voluntary Sector) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
I am happy to support the motion moved by the Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs to the Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and Other Legislation Amendment (2008 Budget and Other Measures) Bill 2008. This amendment is designed to remove an unintended consequence of legislation that was passed in 2006 with the full support of the then opposition. The problem in question was so unintended and so unanticipated that it was actually reinforced by the current government’s budget legislation, which to that extent will also be corrected by this bill that we are now proposing to pass.
As the minister has said, this is a complex piece of policymaking. It is easy for governments to do things which have unintended ramifications. I suspect that this is not going to be the last time that these issues will be discussed in this parliament. I would not be at all surprised to find the government coming back into this House in the not-too-distant future to talk about changes that were announced in the budget to the treatment of salary sacrifice superannuation for the purposes of family assistance eligibility, but I digress somewhat. The fact is that this particular piece of legislation is dealing with 2006 changes and subsequent changes in 2008 and, because of the consequences that were not intended, the legislation before us should certainly be passed swiftly.
Question agreed to.