Mal Brough (Longman, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

This bill gives further effect to the government’s package of reforms announced as part of the 2006 budget. The measures will boost support for rural pensioners and people who have been subjected to domestic or family violence, and improve the delivery of income support and family payments to the community.

Age pension aged people living on farms and rural residential properties will be the winners from the first measure in this bill, based on an investment of over $173 million to improve the treatment of rural land under the social security and veterans’ affairs pension assets test. Currently, these people may not be paid a pension, or may be paid a reduced-rate pension, because only their home and adjacent land of up to two hectares is exempt from the assets test, even though the additional land may be held on the same title. The government is now moving to a fairer assets test for people who have their home and adjacent land held on the same title document, provided they have a long-term attachment, of 20 years or more, to their home. The government does not believe that older Australians should be forced to move from a home where they have lived for many years to ensure an adequate income in retirement.

To access the fairer assets test the person must show that land with commercial potential is being used productively to generate an income. The government recognises that some pensioners will have the potential to make an income themselves, while others will have lease arrangements in place or have the younger generation working their properties. Other properties will have very limited capacity to generate income, such as many rural residential properties. This bill recognises this fact.

The measure will enable some rural age pension or carer payment recipients of age pension age and qualifying service pensioners to have all the land adjacent to the family home that is held on the same title document excluded from the assets test. Clearly, this will increase pension payments or allow pensions to be paid to these rural people for the first time, improving their living standards while allowing them to stay in their long-term family home. Most meaningfully, perhaps, it will help retired farmers who are no longer able to work their properties to stay on their land, while encouraging the land to be worked to its potential by those who are capable. The government has taken seriously community concerns over whether older Australians in rural and city areas were being treated equally, when city dwellers had recently experienced substantial increases in the value of their home properties, yet still were not being asset tested.

The bill also includes important new one-off payment support for people who have been subjected to domestic or family violence and who choose to stay in their own homes. The support is in the form of a crisis payment, currently around $230 and payable up to four times in any 12-month period if appropriate. Crisis payment is already available to people experiencing hardship in certain personal crisis situations, such as if they have to leave home and start afresh because of domestic violence.

However, some people who have been subjected to domestic or family violence find it more viable to remain in their own homes, particularly if striving to maintain stability for children. Even so, there are often costs associated with such a crisis situation, especially in securing the home and other related expenses. Making crisis payment available will give valuable support to people to make these practical arrangements at these challenging times in their lives.

Additional amendments will be made by the bill to relevant provisions dealing with information management, as part of the government’s ongoing program to reduce debts and improve the accuracy of payments.

To achieve the proper targeting of income support payments, the assets test needs accurate valuations of people’s assets. Real estate assets have been identified as a particular area in which valuations held in the system may no longer be accurate, often because of rising property values. Also, pensioners who own real estate other than their own homes may not be aware of the current value of those properties and how that could affect their pensions, and may fail to declare this as they should. To reduce the possibility of incorrect payments, the law will be amended so Centrelink can check land titles records held by state and territory governments, and more regular valuations will be conducted.

Another area that is a debt risk for social security customers is if people receiving carer payment when caring for a frail or aged person overlook the need to tell Centrelink when the person they are caring for permanently enters residential aged care. Carer payment should stop in these circumstances; however, if it continues, potentially large debts can arise. To streamline the arrangements in this area, amendments will allow the Department of Health and Ageing to give Centrelink information about people permanently entering residential aged care, so the data can be checked against information on people receiving carer payment. This will identify cases in which the carer payment should be reviewed.

Proper privacy procedures will be followed to safeguard personal information provided through these new processes.

Finally, the bill will introduce several provisions to enhance Centrelink’s capacity to detect and investigate serious and complex cases of fraud. Centrelink’s current powers to pursue investigations into suspected fraud are limited to provisions that may be used to require the provision of relevant information and, if appropriate, search warrants executed by the Australian Federal Police under the Crimes Act. Over recent years, Centrelink’s investigative capacity has been developing to allow the detection, investigation and prosecution of more serious fraud of welfare payments, including a significantly increased focus on the cash economy and identity fraud. To put this capacity to its best use in protecting the integrity of the payments system, this bill introduces, for social security, family assistance and related student assistance payments, provisions for entry and search of premises, and copying and seizing material relevant to pursuing these investigations. These new provisions will mirror provisions already available to other Commonwealth agencies, such as the Health Insurance Commission, the Australian Taxation Office, the Child Support Agency and the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, in their similar activities. I commend the bill to the House.

Debate (on motion by Mr Griffin) adjourned.