Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Transport) Share this | Hansard source

This bill, the Social Services and Other Legislation Amendment (Military Invalidity Payments Means Testing) Bill 2024, amends the Social Security Act 1991 and the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986 to establish a clear legal basis for means testing the income from military invalidity benefits affected by the full Federal Court's 2020 Douglas decision when recipients of those payments also seek support for other income support systems.

It is now understood that, in light of the Douglas decision, the historical classification and treatment of these invalidity benefits in the means test can no longer be applied. The bill will introduce a new classification of military invalidity pension income stream in the Social Security Act and Veterans' Entitlements Act to include the military invalidity benefits affected by the Douglas decision. The assessment of the military invalidity pension income stream within the means test is designed to produce the same result as the historical assessments of the affected invalidity payments. This bill gives these veterans certainty about the assessment of payments for income support purposes. I commend the bill to the Senate, and I table an addendum to the explanatory memorandum related to this bill, the addendum being a response to matters raised by the Scrutiny of Bills Committee.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.