Zed Seselja (ACT, Liberal Party, Minister for International Development and the Pacific) 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—

Territories Stolen Generations Redress Scheme (Facilitation) Bill 2021

This Bill will facilitate the implementation of certain aspects of the Territories Stolen Generations Redress Scheme, a redress scheme for Stolen Generations survivors who were forcibly removed as children from their families in the Northern Territory or the Australian Capital Territory prior to their respective self-government, or the Jervis Bay Territory - as announced by the Prime Minister on 5 August 2021 as part of the Commonwealth's Closing the Gap Implementation Plan.

The establishment of the Scheme represents an important practical step forward to healing this country and reflects our government's commitment to our nation's journey to reconciliation.

The Scheme will operate from 1 March 2022 to 30 June 2026, and will be open for applications between 1 March 2022 and 28 February 2026.

The Scheme will provide to eligible participants:

The Scheme adopts a survivor-focused and trauma-informed approach. This means access to the Scheme will be simple, and support, including free legal and financial advice, will be available to Scheme applicants.

In line with the survivor-focused approach of the Scheme, this Bill will facilitate the delivery of certain aspects of the Scheme by ensuring that participants in the Scheme will not be adversely affected by receiving a redress payment. This is achieved by providing that receipt of a redress payment does not:

The Bill also ensures that the payment is absolutely inalienable, which, among other things, means the Commonwealth cannot set-off the amount of the redress payment determined under the Scheme against amounts owing to the Commonwealth by the participant.

The Bill will be supported by the Territories Stolen Generations Redress Scheme (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2021.

These Bills will:

With many Stolen Generations survivors being of an advanced age and suffering life threatening illnesses, the imperative to act now has been brought into sharp focus.

I am pleased to introduce this Bill so that the Commonwealth can facilitate steps towards healing.

Territories Stolen Generations Redress Scheme (Consequ ential Amendments) Bill 2021

This is a companion Bill to the Territories Stolen Generations Redress Scheme (Facilitation) Bill 2021.This Bill will facilitate the implementation of certain aspects of the Territories Stolen Generations Redress Scheme, a redress scheme for Stolen Generations survivors who were forcibly removed as children from their families in the Northern Territory or the Australian Capital Territory prior to their respective self-government, or the Jervis Bay Territory.

The Scheme adopts a survivor-focused approach and the redress payments under the Scheme are in recognition of the harm caused by forced removal and are aimed at healing.

As such, this Bill makes amendments to various Commonwealth Acts to ensure that eligible participants will receive the full benefit of their redress payment and that receipt of the payment does not adversely affect income testing for other Commonwealth payments or benefits.

Amendments to the Social Security Act 1991 and Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986 will ensure the redress payments are exempt from the applicable income test under those Acts.

Amendments to the Bankruptcy Act 1966 will ensure that the redress payment is quarantined from the divisible property of a bankrupt and the recipient can fully benefit from redress payments provided under the Scheme, regardless of their circumstances.

Amendments to the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 provide that any redress payments made under the Scheme to a person will be exempt from income tax, and not be subject to capital gains tax. These amendments will also prevent a redress payment from being considered in income testing for some other Commonwealth payments and benefits.

This Bill also makes amendments to the Social Security (Administration) Act 1999. These amendments facilitate access to protected information, which will be used in limited circumstances in administering the Scheme. For example, to verify the identity of applicants to the Scheme, it may be necessary to cross check identity information provided by applicants with information held by the Department of Social Services or Services Australia. At all times, the protections applying to social security protected information continue to apply.

These amendments:

Debate adjourned.