Anthony Chisholm (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Regional Development) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I table a revised explanatory memorandum relating to the Veterans' Affairs Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures No. 2) Bill 2026 and 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 speech es read as follows—

AUSTRALIAN SECURITY INTELLIGENCE ORGANISATION AMENDMENT BILL (NO. 2) 2025

The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation performs an essential role in protecting Australia and Australians from threats to their security. ASIO's compulsory questioning powers contained in Division 3 of Part III of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Act 1979 provide ASIO with a unique and necessary tool to investigate the most significant threats confronting Australia today.

In his 2025 Annual Threat Assessment, the Director-General of Security outlined ASIO's outlook to 2030, which assessed that over the next five years Australia's security environment will become more dynamic, more diverse, and more degraded. Australia is facing multifaceted, merging, intersecting, concurrent and cascading threats, and if we are to ensure that Australians are safe, and feel safe, ASIO must be properly equipped to respond.

Today, I am introducing the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Amendment Bill (No. 2) 2025, which amends ASIO's compulsory questioning powers to reflect changes in Australia's security environment and further strengthen the safeguards and oversight mechanisms in the framework.

ASIO's compulsory questioning powers were first introduced in 2003 in response to the growing threat of terrorism following the 11 September 2001 attacks in the United States. After more than 20 years, Australia's security landscape has evolved considerably, and so have the powers.

This Bill acknowledges that ASIO's compulsory questioning powers remain a valuable intelligence collection tool, and makes amendments to ensure that ASIO has the powers it needs to operate effectively in an increasingly complex and challenging security environment. I now turn to the key amendments in the Bill.

The Bill repeals the sunset date in Division 3 of Part III of the ASIO Act and makes the questioning powers permanent. Since its introduction, the framework has been subject to five Parliamentary reviews and two independent reviews, causing the Parliament to extend the sunset date five times. Removing the sunset provision reflects the Government's view that these powers form an essential part of ASIO's intelligence collection powers, particularly in light of the threat environment. ASIO has used these powers judiciously in circumstances where ASIO's other powers were not appropriate for the circumstances.

The Bill also expands the security matters for which ASIO may seek an adult questioning warrant. This will enable ASIO to obtain an adult questioning warrant in relation to sabotage, attacks on Australia's defence systems, the promotion of communal violence, and serious threats to Australia's territorial and border integrity, in addition to terrorism, espionage and foreign interference. The Director-General's 2025 Annual Threat Assessment made it clear that ASIO anticipates multiple threats will intensify over the next five years:

"The most confronting thing about the new security environment—the prevailing security environment and the future security environment—is there is no single security concern."

These amendments ensure ASIO's questioning powers reflect this reality.

Importantly, the Bill makes targeted amendments to further strengthen existing safeguards and oversight mechanisms to protect individual rights. These include amendments to ensure the independence and impartiality of prescribed authorities, additional safeguards for questioning a person who is or will imminently be charged with a criminal offence, and additional reporting requirements to ensure the Attorney-General is made aware of any non-compliance with, or contraventions of, the requirements of a warrant. These amendments will strengthen key safeguards in the existing legislative framework to promote fairness, uphold human rights and the right to a fair trial, and enhance transparency and accountability.

Finally, the Bill amends the Intelligence Services Act 2001 to permit the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security to undertake a further review of the operation, effectiveness and implications of the framework three years after the commencement of this Bill.

Closing remarks

The measures I have outlined in this Bill deliver important reforms to ensure ASIO has the powers it needs to respond to emerging challenges and deliver on its mission to counter threats to Australia's security and ensure that all Australians can be safe and feel safe. The Bill reflects this Government's commitment to ensuring Australia's national security laws continually evolve to protect the Australian community, while ensuring strong safeguards remain firmly in place.

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NATIONAL HEALTH AMENDMENT (PASSIVE IMMUNOLOGICAL PRODUCTS) BILL 2026

I am pleased to introduce the National Health Amendment (Passive Immunological Products) Bill 2026.

This Bill expands the definition of vaccine in the National Health Act 1953 to enable new and emerging therapies to be listed on the National Immunisation Program.

The government is committed to ensuring that Australians can access the most clinically effective products through the National Immunisation Program. This includes the provision of new and emerging therapies, such as immunising monoclonal antibodies.

One example is Beyfortus, which protects children and babies from respiratory syncytial virus, also known as RSV. In 2025, there were 78,000 cases of RSV in young children. The virus can lead to serious chest infections in babies and also lead to long-term respiratory problems such as asthma that persist into adulthood. The Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee has deferred a positive recommendation for Beyfortus because they are unable to recommend this product for inclusion under the NIP until the definition of a vaccine under the Act is amended.

Currently, new therapies are unable to be listed on the National Immunisation Program as they do not meet the current vaccine definition. Not listing new and emerging therapies will make it harder for Australians to access the healthcare they need.

Australians may miss out on innovative immunisation products that are readily available in other countries. Furthermore, not being able to list new and emerging therapies on the National Immunisation Program may lead to a fragmented approach in accessing these products nationwide.

The Bill will also contribute to the priority goals of the National Immunisation Strategy for Australia 2025-2030 which was released in June last year. Most notably, expanding the definition of vaccine will make a positive contribution to the Strategy's priority areas of improving access to immunisation, and to harnessing new therapies to respond to the evolving disease and vaccine landscape.

A flexible National Immunisation Program that is fit for purpose in a rapidly evolving healthcare environment is important for all Australians. As new and emerging therapies are developed, steps must be taken to ensure that the program remains as effective as possible.

The Bill demonstrates the government's commitment to protecting Australians against preventable diseases by enabling access to the latest therapies nationwide and providing these products free of charge to eligible people in Australia.

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SOCIAL SECURITY AND OTHER LEGISLATION AMENDMENT (TECHNICAL CHANGES NO. 1) BILL 2026

Since the Albanese Labor government was first elected, we have been hard at work restoring trust in Australia's social security system.

This is one of the critical tasks of government, because without the trust of Australian taxpayers and income support recipients, the social security system loses legitimacy in the eyes of the community.

This was the legacy of the Coalition government and of Robodebt.

Across consecutive budget cycles and record funding, the Government has restored fairness and adequacy for many income suppqrt recipients by:

Parents who have a child today can receive almost $12,000 more through the Paid Parental Leave scheme than when we came to government.

And from 20 March 2026, the Government will increase the small debt waiver threshold to $250, to be indexed annually, with around 1.2 million debts expected to be waived or no longer needing to be raised in 2025-26 as a result [Note: this includes debts in the income apportionment backlog.]

Access to special circumstances debt waivers was also expanded for more victims of financial abuse and coercion, specifically those coerced into providing false information to the government by their abusers.

The Social Security and Other Legislation Amendment (Technical Changes No. 1) Bill 2026 marks another important milestone in strengthening the legal framework of Australia's social security system.

It is a largely technical bill and reflects the need for social security legislation to be dynamic and to evolve with the policy intent of government and as external challenges demand.

The bill also responds to priorities identified through the Legal Compliance and Remediation Program in Services Australia.

Many are being resolved simply by policy or system change in Services Australia. Others require legislation.

Again, the Robodebt era saw too many of these hidden away, put in the too-hard basket and left for someone else to·fix.

Minister Gallagher and I are responding to these issues as they arise.

This bill gives legal clarity to long-established practice and policy intent across four key areas:

• clarifying the commencement date of child support periods when the Child Support Registrar receives information about a parent's tax assessment

The bill amends the Child Support (Assessment) Act 1989 (Assessment Act)

to allow a child support period to start a month later than currently provided for, if a new child support assessment is made after the fifteenth day of the month.

This ensures parents have sufficient time to adjust to a new child support assessment before it comes into effect.

Currently, where a new tax assessment is received by the Child Support Registrar after the fifteenth day of the month and a new child support assessment is made in the same month, the legislation requires a new child support period to commence from the start of the next month.

This would mean parents may have as little as one day to adjust to the new child support assessment.

The amendments will ensure that where a new child support assessment is made after the fifteenth day of a calendar month, the new child support period will begin from the first day of the second month following the assessment.

The practical effect here is that where a new assessment is made requiring a higher or lower child support payment, we ensure parents have the following month to prepare for the change, instead of potentially just one or two days.

The bill also amends the Assessment Act to fix legislative anomalies that could allow parents with less than 35 per cent care of a child to be entitled to child support.

It is a long-standing principle of the system that a parent or carer who has less than 35 per cent care ofa child is not eligible to receive child support for that child, as they do not bear a significant enough burden of the direct costs of care.

In most cases, the existing legislation ensures a parent with more than 65 per cent care is not required to pay child support. This ensures parents who provide the clear majority of care have sufficient resources to financially support their children.

These amendments ensure a parent with less than 35 per cent care is not entitled to receive child support, and validates decisions made since 2008 with that effect.

These amendments are necessary as amendments made in 2008 and 2018 to child support law had the unintended consequence of technically allowing some parents with less than 35 per cent care to be eligible for child support.

It was never the intention of parliament to make such a change, and these amendments correct this technicality.

The amendments will also validate previous decisions which have been made on this basis, to provide certainty for parents and carers.

And the changes uphold the objects, principles and policy intent of the child support scheme and reflect consistent practice over decades.

While these two measures clarify technical legal aspects of the current operation of the child support scheme, I'd like the House to note that there is more to be done to ensure the scheme delivers children the financial support they are owed and is safe for women at risk of violence or abuse. I expect to have more to say on further improvements to the child support scheme later this year.

The bill amends the Social Security Act 1991 and the Social Security (Administration) Act 1999 to strengthen the legislative basis for making urgent payments to people experiencing financial difficulties in exceptional and unforeseen circumstances.

Urgent payments are a long-standing and important part of the social security system, providing immediate financial assistance to vulnerable people in emergency situations.

An urgent payment is not an additional payment but enables a person to receive a portion of their usual fortnightly entitlement early.

Currently, a person can generally only receive two urgent payments in a 12-month period. This limit will be removed.

Instead, other safeguards will be implemented to ensure people still have enough funds on their usual payment delivery day to cover their regular expenses.

These safeguards will include limiting the payment amount to a maximum of between $20 to $200, and up to 50% of the person's accrued entitlement (whichever is lower) after any deductions (such as Centrepay) or repayments have been accounted for.

People who access a high number of urgent payments will also be offered personalised support. This could include referrals to financial counselling services and social work services, as well as alternative payment arrangements like weekly payments and Centrepay.

The Government has increased funding for frontline emergency relief and financial wellbeing services by 25%. These services are a lifeline when people are doing it tough.

And we've expanded our No Interest Loans Scheme, with more than $48 million over five years supporting people and families on low incomes. This gives them access to safe, fair Joans with no interest, no fees, and no charges. Every year, around 25,000 of these loans help Australians cover essential expenses without falling into debt traps.

Finally, the bill amends the Social Security Act 1991 to clarify the legal basis for the operation of employment income attribution provisions, which support the determination of a person's rate of social security payment.

In particular, these amendments will clarify that these provisions apply to the employment income of a social security recipient's partner, for the purposes of income testing that recipient, and that the provisions apply at any time employment income is being assessed for the purposes of working out a recipient's rate of pension or benefit.

These amendments will uphold long-established policy intent and practice. They will ensure there is no ambiguity around how employment income, particularly partner income, should be assessed when determining a recipient's rate of payment.

Together, the amendments in this bill improve the fairness and effectiveness of our social security safety net and ensure there is legislative clarity in how the social security system supports people when they need it most.

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VETERANS' AFFAIRS LEGISLATION AMENDMENT (MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES NO 2) BILL

I move: That this bill be now read a second time

I am pleased to introduce the Veterans' Affairs Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures No 2) Bill.

This Bill continues our government's response to the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide and furthers the implementation of a simpler veterans entitlement system. The Bill before us today complements the amendments made in the Veterans' Affairs Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures No 1) Bill that was introduced to Parliament on 29 October 2025.

Positioning

In September, I came to the house to give an update on the important work underway to enact the recommendations from the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide.

The passage of the Veterans' Entitlements, Treatment and Support (Simplification and Harmonisation) Act 2025 (the VETS Act) earlier this year, is one part of the Albanese Government's response to these recommendations in indeed in response to the Royal Commission's Interim Report.

The VETS Act will simplify veteran legislation from 1 July 2026 and do away with the current tri-Act system. From 1 July 2026 all veterans' rehabilitation and compensation claims will be dealt with under a single piece of legislation, the new and improved Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004, also known as the MRCA.

To be ready for 1 July 2026 and to ensure all the great work that is coming out of the VETS Act is in place in time, there are some minor technical amendments that are required.

What is it?

This Bill proposes number of minor technical amendments to veterans' legislation.

These amendments will help to ensure the smooth implementation of these reforms and the transition from the complicated tri-Act arrangement to the single ongoing Act.

These changes do not change the key settings agreed to with the passage of the VETS Act.

This Bill is about good government and effective implementation.

Overview of the bill

Each amendment has been carefully considered to ensure the original policy intent from the VETS Act is enacted. There are no surprises in this Bill.

The Bill will make amendments to require the Veterans' Review Board (VRB) to notify the Chief of Defence Force (CDF) when a serving member makes an application for a review and the outcome of a review.

It will also make amendments to remove any requirement that applications for VRB-related travel expenses be communicated to the VRB.

The Bill will amend recovery provisions to provide legal authority to subtract any amount already paid under the VEA from any MRCA arrears payable to a dependant for the equivalent benefits for the same period.

The Bill clarifies the circumstances under which a partner may receive additional lump sum compensation for service-related death claimed on or after 1 July 2026, and ensures that this amount is available in respect of all service-related deaths on or after this date.

The Bill will clarify that the high rate (maximum $14,990) of funeral compensation under MRCA is available to anyone who meets the eligibility criteria, even if they also meet the criteria for the low rate ($3,000), and that combined total compensation cannot exceed the maximum payable.

The Bill will ensure that veterans who meet the criteria for Additional Disablement Amount (ADA) or Special Rate Disability Pension (SRDP) do not need to meet additional criteria to enable their eligible children to access education assistance through the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act Education and Training Scheme (MRCAETS).

Likewise, the Bill Clarify that Gold Cards are provided to ADA-eligible veterans without requiring them to meet additional criteria, and amend the Service Pension criteria so that the partners of ADA-eligible veterans (after 1 July 2026) are eligible for Partner Service Pension from age 50, to harmonise with the current eligibility/age requirements available to partners of Extreme Disablement Amount (EDA) veterans under the current framework.

The Bill will make amendments to continue to exclude the Victoria Cross Allowance and Decoration Allowance from income test arrangements.

The Bill makes clear the coverage for conditions resulting from unintended consequences of treatment provided or paid for by Defence during service, or later by DVA.

Lastly, the Bill makes amendments to ensure existing access to Non-Liability Health Care (NLHC) arrangements for serving members are maintained when transferred from VEA to MRCA, and maintain the current ability to notify the CDF when a serving member claims for or is accessing NLHC.

I want to reiterate mine and the Department of Veterans' Affairs commitment that no veterans or veteran family members will experience a reduction in the payments they are already receiving.

These technical amendments ensure that all the legislative requirements are in place so that the shift to the improved MRCA is seamless for veterans and their families receiving services. The exceptional treatment, payments and benefits they receive will continue, interrupted, from 1 July 2026 onwards.

Conclusion

The VETS Act is the most significant reform to how we support veterans in a century.

These amendments are evidence we want to get this right.

This Bill will continue to make it easier for veterans and families to know what they are entitled to and faster for the Department of Veterans' Affairs to process claims.

Whilst the amendments contained in this Bill are minor, they are critical to ensuring the intent of the VETS Act and the smooth delivery of services continues and is ready for 1 July 2026. We are committed to getting this right for veterans and veteran families.

Further details are included in the explanatory memorandum.

I commend the bill to the House.

Debate adjourned.

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