Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That these bills be now read a second time.

I seek leave to have the second reading speeches incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The speeches read as follows—

CUSTOMS TARIFF AMENDMENT (EXPANDED INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AGREEMENT IMPLEMENTATION AND OTHER MEASURES) BILL 2016

The Customs Tariff Amendment (Expanded Information Technology Agreement Implementation and other measures) Bill 2016 implements commitments made in the 2016-17 Budget to reduce customs duty on certain information technology products.

This Bill contains amendments to the Customs Tariff Act1995 to reduce the customs duty on certain information technology products to Free. These reductions will occur incrementally over time, commencing on 1 January 2017.

The customs duty for the majority of products included in this Bill, including printing ink and certain types of equipment used in the manufacture of printed circuits, will become Free on 1 July 2019. A small number of products, including certain types of audio speakers, will become Free on 1 July 2021.

Australia is a net importer of information technology products. The progressive elimination of customs duty on certain information technology products will benefit Australian industries and consumers through lower costs.

SOCIAL SERVICES LEGISLATION AMENDMENT (FAMILY ASSISTANCE ALIGNMENT AND OTHER MEASURES) BILL 2016

This Bill introduces amendments to align the time period for income reconciliation for certain Family Tax Benefit recipients for the 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15 financial years and to correct an unintended consequence generated by the Youth Allowance Rate Calculator.

Specifically, amendments will be made to the date of effect provisions to clarify longstanding administrative practices in relation to the payment of arrears of family tax benefit. In effect, the amendments will ensure it is clear that an individual cannot be paid Family Tax Benefit supplements and top-ups where they notified that they were not required to lodge an income tax return more than one year after the end of the relevant income year.

These amendments ensure consistency with the equivalent timeframe currently applying to families who were required to lodge a tax return for the 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15 financial years.

These amendments strengthen existing provisions to ensure that their interpretation is beyond doubt. There will be no material effect on Family Tax Benefit recipients for these years given the one year timeframe has been in effect since the 2012-13 year and has been communicated to recipients clearly since this time.

One year is considered a reasonable amount of time for families to notify Centrelink that they are not required to lodge and/or provide details of types of income not included in a tax return in order for reconciliation of their Family Tax Benefit entitlement to occur.

These amendments will ensure that full effect is given to the original 2013 Realignment of Time Period for Income Reconciliation Budget measure and that the intent of the family assistance programme is met, which is to deliver financial assistance to families to help with the cost of raising children when it is needed.

The Bill also includes contingent amendments to remove reference to Family Tax Benefit supplements in the event they are phased out as part of the Social Services Legislation Amendment (Family Payments Structural Reform Bill and Participation Measures) Bill 2016, designed to improve the sustainability of the family payments system.

The Bill also introduces amendments to correct an unintended consequence of amendments that were made in Part 3 of Schedule 1 of the Social Services Legislation Amendment (More Generous Means Testing for Youth Payments) Act 2015 to the Youth Allowance Rate Calculator in section 1067G of the Social Security Act 1991.

It is intended that the rate calculator produce a fortnightly rate. Currently there is an inconsistency in that step 1 of the rate calculator is expressed as an annual amount while subsequent steps are expressed as fortnightly amounts. The result is that comparing the outcome of the subsequent steps from the calculation in step 1 does not generally provide the correct threshold test outcome, and in most cases will result in a harsh outcome.

The error occurred because of introducing complex maintenance income rules from A New Tax System (Family Assistance) Act 1999 (which are predicated on annual amounts) to the Social Security Act 1991 (where payments are based on fortnightly amounts). The change that is proposed amends step 1 in the rate calculator to reduce the figure to a fortnightly amount consistent with the original intent of the changes as announced by the Government in the 2015-16 Budget.

This amendment ensures that the aim to align the parental means testing arrangements for youth allowance more closely with those for Family Tax Benefit Part A will be met.

VETERANS' AFFAIRS LEGISLATION AMENDMENT (BUDGET & OTHER MEASURES) BILL 2016

The Government is pleased to present legislation that will give effect to three Veterans' Affairs' 2016-17 Budget measures.

This government continues to honour its strong commitment to veterans and the veteran community by recognising the unique nature of military service.

The Veterans' Affairs Legislation Amendment (Budget & Other Measures) Bill 2016 contains three important measures to support veterans. It:

Non-Liability Health Care

Expanding access to Non-Liability Health Care is a very important component of mental health treatment for current and former members of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). In the 2016-17 Budget, this Government committed $37.9 million to extend eligibility for Non-Liability Health Care to all current and former permanent members of the ADF for five mental health conditions:

In addition to expanding the range of conditions for which Non-Liability Health Care may be provided, accessing this treatment has also become easier:

The treatment is known as Non-Liability Health Care because it need not be linked to a condition arising from the service of the eligible person. Further, it is completely separate from any claim for compensation.

Non-Liability Health Care is available via a legislative instrument made under the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986. This has been in place since 1 July 2016 and I am encouraged by reports from the Department of Veterans' Affairs that there has been a marked increase in the number of requests for Non-Liability Health Care between July – September 2016. This is to be strongly encouraged and I urge any ADF members in need of mental health treatment to get in contact with the Department of Veterans' Affairs.

Interim Incapacity Payments

In the 2016-17 Budget, this Government committed $0.2 million for this measure. It will allow interim incapacity payments to be paid to former ADF members immediately upon discharge at a level that matches their regular salary.

This is important because, currently, when a member discharges from the ADF there can be a period of time - sometimes several months – before incapacity payment amounts can be determined while superannuation entitlements are finalised.

Some members can experience financial hardship during this period. These amendments will enable veterans to receive their pre-discharge salary during this period and the Department of Veterans' Affairs will make an adjustment to a person's incapacity payments after the superannuation component has been finalised.

Align cut-off age for incapacity payments to pension age

The Government committed $5.5 million to this measure in the 2016-17 Budget to improve support for veterans by increasing the incapacity cut-off age to align with age pension eligibility.

The amendments will enable veterans to continue to receive incapacity payments up until they become eligible for the age pension. Approximately 120 veterans per annum will benefit from this change.

Currently, payment of incapacity entitlements under the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004 (MRCA) ceases when an employee reaches 65 years of age or, if the injury occurred on or after the age of 63, after a maximum of 104 weeks of incapacity entitlements have been received.

However, the legislation needs to be amended to keep pace with the scheduled age pension increases, otherwise injured veterans may be without adequate means of financial support upon reaching 65 years of age once the age pension eligibility changes take effect.

These amendments align the cut-off age for incapacity payments to "pension age" as defined in the Social Security Act 1991. Rather than defining a set age, this approach means incapacity payment cut-off will remain in alignment with age pension eligibility age into the future.

Conclusion

This Bill will support our veterans in real and tangible ways from increasing access to vital mental health treatment, to better financial support for ADF members transitioning to civilian life and ensuring access to incapacity entitlements through to pension age.

Debate adjourned.

Ordered that the bills be listed on the Notice Paper as separate orders of the day.