Social Security (Australia) Order 1992

Year1992

1992 No. 1312

SOCIAL SECURITY

The Social Security (Australia) Order 1992

Made 4th June 1992

Coming into force 29th June 1992

At the Court at Buckingham Palace, the 4th day of June 1992

Present,

The Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty in Council

Whereas at London on 1st October 1990 an Agreement on Social Security between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of Australia (which Agreement is set out in Schedule 1 to this Order and is hereinafter referred to as “the Agreement”)1was signed on behalf of those Governments:

And Whereas by Article 25(1) of the Agreement it is provided that the Agreement shall enter into force on a date to be specified in Notes exchanged through the Diplomatic Channel by the Parties to the Agreement notifying each other that all matters as are necessary to give effect to the Agreement have been finalised:

And Whereas at Canberra on 22nd April 1992 Notes were exchanged on behalf of the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of Australia (which Notes are set out in Schedule 2 to this Order) specifying that the Agreement shall enter into force on 29th June 1992:

And Whereas the provisions in the said Agreement were modified by an Exchange of Notes2(which Notes are set out in Schedule 3 to this Order) which specify that the amendments to the Agreement shall enter into force on 29th June 1992:

And Whereas by section 143 of the Social Security Act 19753and section 15(1) of the Child Benefit Act 19754it is provided that Her Majesty may by Order in Council make provision for modifying or adapting the said Social Security Act and for modifying the provisions of Part I of the said Child Benefit Act and regulations made under it in their application to cases affected by agreements with other Governments providing for reciprocity in matters specified in those sections:

And Whereas by virtue of section 166(4) of the Social Security Act 1975 any Order in Council made under the said section 143 may be varied by a subsequent Order in Council made under that section:

Now, therefore, Her Majesty in pursuance of the powers conferred by the said section 143 and the said section 15(1), and of all other powers enabling Her in that behalf, is pleased, by and with the advice of Her Privy Council, to order, and it is hereby ordered, as follows:

S-1 Citation and commencement

Citation and commencement

1. This Order may be cited as the Social Security (Australia) Order 1992 and shall come into force on 29th June 1992.

S-2 Modification of Acts

Modification of Acts

2. The Social Security Act 1975 and Part I of the Child Benefit Act 1975 and any regulations made under it shall be modified to such extent as may be required to give effect to the provisions contained in the Agreement so far as the same relate to England, Wales and Scotland.

S-3 Revocation and variation of Orders

Revocation and variation of Orders

3.—(1) The Family Allowances and National Insurance (Australia) Order 19585, the Family Allowances and National Insurance (Australia) Order 19626, the Social Security (Australia) Order 19757, and the Social Security (Australia) Order 19878are hereby revoked.

(2) The National Insurance (Australia and New Zealand) Order 19649is hereby revoked insofar as it relates to Australia.

(3) The reference to the Family Allowance and National Insurance (Australia) Order 1958 and to the Family Allowances and National Insurance (Australia) Order 1962 shall be omitted in the Schedule to the Social Security (Reciprocal Agreements) Order 197910and the reference to all the Orders set out in paragraph (1) of this Article shall be omitted in the Schedule to the Social Security (Reciprocal Agreements) Order 198811.

G. I. de Deney

Clerk of the Privy Council

SCHEDULE 1

Article 2

AGREEMENT ON SOCIAL SECURITY BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND AND THE GOVERNMENT OF AUSTRALIA

The Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of Australia,

Wishing to strengthen the existing friendly relations between the two countries;

Having established reciprocity in the field of social security by means of an Agreement signed by the Parties at Canberra on 29 January 1958, which was amended by a further Agreement signed at Canberra on 16 August 1962 and by other Agreements set out in Exchanges of Notes at Canberra on 6 March 1975 and at London on 29 and 31 December 1986;

Wishing to consolidate the above Agreements and their extensions and modifications into a single document; and

Wishing to extend and modify the scope of that reciprocity and to take account of changes in their legislation;

Have agreed as follows:

GENERAL PROVISIONS

PART I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

SCH-1.ARTICLE 1

DEFINITIONS

ARTICLE 1.—(1) For the purpose of this Agreement, unless the context otherwise requires:

“benefit”means pension, allowance or benefit payable under the legislation of one (or the other) Party and includes any increase payable for a dependant;

“competent authority”means, in relation to the territory of the United Kingdom, the Secretary of State for Social Security for Great Britain, the Department of Health and Social Services for Northern Ireland, the Department of Health and Social Security of the Isle of Man, the Social Security Committee of the States of the Island of Jersey or the States of Guernsey Insurance Authority, as the case may require, and, in relation to Australia the Secretary to the Department of Social Security;

“competent institution”means the institution from which the person concerned is entitled to receive benefit or would be entitled to receive benefit if he were resident in the territory of the Party where that institution is situated;

“contribution”, in relation to the legislation of the United Kingdom, does not include a reduced rate contribution payable by a married woman or a widow, or a graduated contribution within the meaning of that legislation;

“employed person”means a person who, in the applicable legislation, comes within the definition of an employed earner or of an employed person or is treated as such and the words “person is employed”shall be construed accordingly;

“employment”means employment as an employed person and the words “employ”, “employed”or “employer”shall be construed accordingly;

“equivalent period”means, in relation to the United Kingdom, a period for which contributions appropriate to the benefit in question have been credited under the legislation of that Party;

“family allowance”, in relation to the United Kingdom, includes child benefit payable under the legislation of the United Kingdom, and, in relation to Australia means family allowance payable under the legislation of Australia;

“former Agreement”means the Agreement on Social Security signed at Canberra on 29 January 1958, on behalf of the Parties, as amended by the Agreement on Social Security signed at Canberra on 16 August 1962 and by the Agreements set out in the Exchanges of Notes at Canberra on 6 March 1975 and at London on 29 and 31 December 1986;

“full standard rate”means, in relation to any benefit payable under the legislation of the United Kingdom, the rate at which the beneficiary would be qualified to receive that benefit if the relevant contribution conditions were fully satisfied;

“gainfully occupied”means employed or self-employed;

“Guernsey”means the Islands of Guernsey, Alderney, Herm and Jethou;

“income support”means income support payable under the legislation of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and supplementary benefit payable under the legislation of the Isle of Man;

“legislation”means the legislation specified in Article 2 which, in relation to the United Kingdom, is in force in any part of the territory of the United Kingdom and, in relation to Australia, is in force in Australia;

“means test”means any provision of the legislation of Australia which affects the payment or rate of a benefit on account of income or property;

“qualified to receive”means, in relation to the United Kingdom, entitled to receive subject to any disqualification or any provision about claiming, hospital treatment or overlapping benefits which may be appropriate;

“retirement pension”means retirement pension or old age pension payable under the legislation of the United Kingdom and includes a contributory old age pension under that legislation and any graduated retirement benefit constituted by an increase in the weekly rate of retirement pension under that legislation, but excludes additional (earnings-related) pension payable under that legislation;

“self-employed person”means a person who, in the applicable legislation, comes within the definition of a self-employed earner or of a self-employed person or is treated as such, and the words “person is self-employed”shall be construed accordingly;

“spouse carer’s pension”means a carer’s pension payable to a husband under the legislation of Australia;

“territory”means in relation to the United Kingdom, Great Britain, Northern Ireland and also the Isle of Man, the Island of Jersey and Guernsey;

“widow”means, in relation to Australia, ade jurewidow but does not include a woman who is the de factospouse of a man;

“widow’s benefit”means, in relation to the United Kingdom, widow’s allowance, widow’s payment, widowed mother’s allowance (including any graduated retirement benefit constituted by an increase in the weekly rate of widowed mother’s allowance), widowed father’s allowance or widow’s pension under the legislation of any part of the United Kingdom.

(2) In the application by a Party of this Agreement in relation to a person, any term not defined in this Article shall, unless the context otherwise requires, have the meaning ascribed to it in the legislation of the Parties or, in the event of a conflict of meaning, by whichever of the legislation of the Parties is the more...

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