Matt Thistlethwaite (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I am pleased to present the Defence Home Ownership Assistance Scheme Amendment Bill 2022.

This bill fulfils another election commitment from the Albanese Labor Government to boost homeownership for defence members and veterans by expanding the Defence Home Ownership Assistance Scheme eligibility criteria.

This scheme was established in 2008 by the Rudd government, and it continues to be an important retention offering by the Australian Defence Force. The scheme also has an important secondary benefit of improving home ownership levels for Defence Force members, veterans and their families.

The bill advances these objectives and it comes as housing affordability remains one of the biggest issues facing Australians.

The bill also responds to the struggles experienced by veterans communities and the role that housing can play in their greater wellbeing. We've seen with the veterans royal commission the effect that homelessness has had on the mental wellbeing of veterans throughout the country. The Australian Institute of Health and Wellbeing found that safe, secure and affordable housing is fundamental to veteran wellbeing. While maintaining the retention focus, the bill makes four broad policy amendments to the scheme which look to further homeownership levels amongst serving Defence Force personnel and members of the veterans community.

Firstly, the bill expands access to the scheme by providing Defence members with access to the benefits earlier in their careers. This amendment reduces by half, the period of effective service that a Defence member must complete before they can access the scheme. The qualifying period will be reduced to two years for serving members and four years for reservists. So this means that a member of the permanent Defence Force will qualify in two years. For members of the reserves it's four years, and for a foreign service member it's two years.

To accommodate the halving of the qualifying service period, the bill similarly amends the requisite period of effective service to access each subsidy tier. There are three subsidy tiers: 40, 60 and 80 per cent of the average house price. Based on the years of effective service, the tiers determine the subsidy amount received by participants of the scheme.

The bill provides members of the permanent forces and the Reserves, as well as members who have separated from the Defence Force because of a compensable condition, with access to each subsidy tier between two and four years earlier than is currently provided by the act. And that is a great benefit to serving and veteran personnel. The amendment will provide members of the permanent forces access to tier 1 when they have less than four years of effective service, to tier 2 when they have between four and eight years of effective service and to tier 3 when they have between eight and 12 years of effective service.

Secondly, the bill allows veterans to apply for their final subsidy certificate at any time after they have separated from the Defence Force. Currently, veterans must apply to access the scheme within five years of separating from the Defence Force. Removing this limitation will ensure veterans can access the scheme at any time that suits them without feeling pressured to do so in that five-year period.

The Albanese Labor government acknowledges that the nature of military service is unique and families can be deeply affected by military service. This can include the frequency of postings throughout Australia, which has an impact on homeownership. And that's why this amendment is so vitally important, by extending to surviving partners who have similarly been impacted by the nature of their family's service within the Australian Defence Force.

Thirdly, the bill creates a power to continue paying a subsidy amount where a genuine error, mistake or accident caused all outstanding amounts due under the subsidised loan to be paid. This amendment is in response to observations by Defence that the current legislation provides little reprieve where a loan is paid down due to a genuine error, mistake or accident, and as a result the subsidised borrower stops receiving their monthly subsidy.

It's intended that this power will address scenarios including, but not limited to, where a subsidised borrower mistakenly transfers money into their loan account which results in it being paid off, or where a third party mistakenly transfers money to a subsidised borrower's loan account when it was not for the purpose of paying down the loan.

Finally, the bill provides a power to make and recover relevant payments, including overpayments, which may occur in the administration of the scheme. This technical amendment assists the scheme's administrators in efficiently processing subsidy payments. For transparency and good governance, the bill also requires the secretary to report any such payment every financial year.

The bill assists in positioning the Australian Defence Force as an employer of choice, assisting serving members and veterans to own a home, and ensuring the scheme can be administered as efficiently and beneficially as possible.

As the Australian government seeks to grow the Australian Defence Force into the future to ensure that we have the capability to defend Australians and keep them safe, a recruitment tool like this will be vitally important.

The bill is scheduled to commence on 1 January 2023. From this date, new applicants will be able to apply for a subsidy certificate under the proposed amendments. The bill will also allow applicants who are veterans to re-apply where they were previously refused a subsidy certificate because they had not completed their qualifying service period or made their application outside of the five-year post-separation limit.

For existing members of the scheme, their monthly payments may increase as they move up the subsidy tiers and additional subsidy credits applied to their subsidised loan.

Boosting the Defence Home Ownership Assistance Scheme delivers on the Albanese Labor government's key election commitment to help more Australian Defence Force members and veterans buy their own home and give them that security associated with owning their own home. The Albanese government is improving access to homeownership for defence personnel earlier in their careers, and it means more eligible local veterans can now also access the scheme any time after they've completed their service.

This investment helps defence personnel and veterans with the cost-of-living pressures that have made it increasingly difficult to achieve the great Australian dream of homeownership. I want to thank all serving Defence Force personnel and veterans who gave the government feedback in respect of this scheme and I want to particularly mention the member for Herbert, the shadow minister for veterans' affairs, for the feedback he's given us in helping deliver this scheme. And I thank him for his service to our nation.

In conclusion, Labor created the Defence Home Ownership Assistance Scheme, and now the Albanese Labor government is expanding. I commend the bill.

Debate adjourned.