Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2024C00838:reg:38:p1
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2024C00838
Segment Type: reg
Provision Reference: reg 38 (pt 1/2)
Character Range: 57327–60014

38  Matters to which Secretary must have regard in deciding whether to make financial hardship determination
 (1) For section 52K‑1 of the Act, this section sets out matters to which the Secretary must have regard in deciding whether to make a financial hardship determination in relation to a person.
 (2) The Secretary must not make a financial hardship determination in relation to a person if:
 (a) the person's means have not been assessed in accordance with the Act; or
 (b) the value of the person's assets (worked out under section 44‑26A of the Act and section 47 of the Subsidy Principles 2014) is more than 1.5 times the sum of the annual amount of the following (worked out under the Social Security Act):
 (i) the basic age pension amount;
 (ii) the pension supplement amount;
 (iii) the clean energy supplement; or
 (c) the person has gifted:
 (i) more than $10 000 in the previous 12 months; or
 (ii) more than $30 000 in the previous 5 years.
Note: Basic age pension amount is defined in clause 1 to Schedule 1 to the Act.
 (3) In determining the value of a person's assets for paragraph (2)(b), unrealisable assets are not to be included.
Note: Unrealisable asset is defined in section 4.
 (4) In deciding whether to make a financial hardship determination in relation to a person, the Secretary may have regard to the following matters:
 (a) the person's total assessable income (worked out under section 44‑24 of the Act and section 41 of the Subsidy Principles 2014);
 (b) whether the amount of income available to the person after expenditure on essential expenses is less than 15% of the basic age pension amount;
 (c) the person's financial arrangements;
 (d) the person's entitlement to income support:
 (i) under the Social Security Act; or
 (ii) under the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986; or
 (iii) from any other source;
 (e) whether the person has taken steps to obtain information about his or her entitlement to a pension, benefit or other income support payment;
 (f) whether the person has access to financial assistance:
 (i) under section 1129 of the Social Security Act (relating to access to financial hardship rules for pensions); or
 (ii) under the pension loans scheme under Division 4 of Part 3.12 of the Social Security Act; or
 (iii) from any other source;
 (g) whether any income of the person is income that he or she does not reasonably have access to;
 (h) whether there is a charge on the person's income over which the payment of an accommodation payment or accommodation contribution cannot practically take precedence;
 (i) whether the person is in Australia on a temporary basis;
 (j) any other matters the Secretary considers relevant.