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Defence Force (Home Loans Assistance) Act 1990

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DEFENCE FORCE (HOME LOANS ASSISTANCE) ACT 1990 No. 14, 1991
DEFENCE FORCE (HOME LOANS ASSISTANCE) ACT 1990 No. 14 of 1991 - TABLE OF PROVISIONS
TABLE OF PROVISIONS PART 1 - INTRODUCTORYSection 1. Short title 2. Commencement 3. Definitions 4. When do former members stop being eligible members? 5. Ownership of house 6. Family members 7. Breaking continuity of service 8. Multiple widows or widowers 9. Approval of agreement etc. PART 2 - ENTITLEMENT CERTIFICATES, LOAN INCREASES AND SALES, PURCHASES AND TRANSFERS Division 1 - Entitlement certificates 10. Application for certificate 11. Issue of certificate 12. Criteria for issue of certificate 13. Cancellation of certificate Division 2 - Loan increases 14. Application for approval in relation to loan increase 15. Grant of approval 16. Revocation of approval Division 3 - Sale etc. of houses subject to subsidised loans 17. Application for approval in relation to sale, purchase or transfer
18. Grant of approval 19. Revocation of approval PART 3 - SUBSIDY 20. When does subsidy become payable? 21. Maximum amounts on which subsidy is payable 22. Minimum amounts on which subsidy is payable 23. Subsidy period - eligible persons 24. Subsidy period - widows and widowers 25. Calculation of amounts of subsidy 26. Joint loans to entitled persons who are spouses 27. Cancellation of subsidy 28. Request to cancel subsidy 29. When does subsidy stop? 30. What happens on the death of a borrower who is an eligible person?
31. Recovery of certain payments by Commonwealth 32. Waiver etc. PART 4 - MISCELLANEOUS 33. Internal review of reviewable decisions 34. Review of decisions by Administrative Appeals Tribunal 35. Certain provisions of agreement not to be revoked or amended 36. Exchange of information 37. Delegation 38. Appropriation 39. Annual report 40. Regulations SCHEDULE 1 AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE COMMONWEALTH AND THE BANK SCHEDULE 2 CONSEQUENTIAL AMENDMENTS OF THE DEFENCE SERVICE HOMES ACT 1918 DEFENCE FORCE (HOME LOANS ASSISTANCE) ACT 1990 No. 14 of 1991 - LONG TITLE
An Act providing for the payment of home loan subsidies in respect of certain members of the Defence Force and certain other persons, and for related purposes DEFENCE FORCE (HOME LOANS ASSISTANCE) ACT 1990 No. 14 of 1991 - PART 1 PART 1 - INTRODUCTORY
DEFENCE FORCE (HOME LOANS ASSISTANCE) ACT 1990 No. 14 of 1991 - SECT 1 Short title
(Assented to 21 January 1991) 1. This Act may be cited as the Defence Force (Home Loans Assistance) Act 1990. (Minister's second reading speech made in- House of Representatives on 8 November 1990 Senate on 15 November 1990) DEFENCE FORCE (HOME LOANS ASSISTANCE) ACT 1990 No. 14 of 1991 - SECT 2 Commencement
2. (1) Part 1 of this Act and Schedule 1 commence on the day on which this Act receives the Royal Assent. (2) Subject to subsection (3), the remaining provisions of this Act (including Schedule 2) commence on a day or days to be fixed by Proclamation. (3) If a provision referred to in subsection (2) does not commence under that subsection before 15 May 1991, it commences on that day. DEFENCE FORCE (HOME LOANS ASSISTANCE) ACT 1990 No. 14 of 1991 - SECT 3 Definitions

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3. In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears: "advanced amount" means the amount advanced to a person by the Bank under a subsidised loan; "agreement" means the agreement made between the Commonwealth and the Bank on 5 November 1990 (a copy of which is set out in Schedule 1), as that agreement is in force from time to time; "approved form" means a form approved by the Secretary for the purpose of the provision in which the expression is used; "Bank" means National Australia Bank Limited, or any person or body to whom it assigns all or any of its rights or obligations under the agreement; "basic service period" means: (a) in relation to a person covered by subparagraph (a) (i) of the definition of "eligible person" - 6 years of effective full-time service; and (b) in relation to a person covered by subparagraphs (b) (i), (ii) and (iii) of that definition - 6 years of effective full-time service less the number of years of effective full-time service completed before the person's discharge; and (c) in relation to a person covered by subparagraph (d) (i) of that definition - the number of years of effective full-time service set out in Column 2 of the following table opposite the number of years specified in Column 1 that applies to the person: Column 1 Column 2 Number of years of effective Number of years of effective full-time service completed full-time service to be completed before the person's discharge by the person after again becoming a member 10 or fewer 6 11 5 12 4 13 3 14 2 15 1 "benchmark rate" has the same meaning as in the agreement; "child", in relation to a person, means a child, stepchild or legally adopted child of the person who is: (a) under 16; or (b) a student; "commencing day" means the day on which Part 2 commences; "compensable disability" means any physical or mental incapacity or disability suffered by a member (whether before, on or after the commencing day) in respect of which compensation is payable under: (a) the Commonwealth Employees' Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988; or (b) the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986; or (c) a law of the Commonwealth prescribed by the regulations; "continuous full-time service" means an unbroken period of full-time service by a member in the Defence Force; Note: See section 7 for some special circumstances in which a period of full-time service is taken to have been broken. "DSH Act" means the Defence Service Homes Act 1918; "effective full-time service" means a period of continuous full-time service by a member, other than: (a) a period longer than 21 consecutive days during which the member is: (i) on leave of absence without pay; or (ii) absent without leave; or (iii) awaiting or undergoing trial for an offence of which the member is later convicted; or (iv) undergoing detention or imprisonment; or (b) in the case of a member who: (i) is an officer of the Defence Force; and (ii) on his or her appointment was enrolled as a student in a degree or diploma course at a university or other tertiary educational institution; and (iii) was required by an appropriate authority in the Defence Force to continue those studies after appointment; the period, determined by an appropriate authority in the Defence Force, during which the member cannot be treated as rendering effective full-time service because of the need to engage in those studies or in activities connected with them; "eligible person" means: (a) a person who: (i) is a non-DSH member (other than an operational service member, a rejoining member or a person covered by paragraph (b) or (d)); and (ii) completes (whether before, on or after the commencing day) the basic service period applicable to the person; or (b) a person who: (i) on or after the commencing day, is discharged from the Defence Force because of a compensable disability; and (ii) immediately before the discharge, was a non-DSH member engaged or appointed for a period of less than 6 years; and (iii) again becomes a member within 2 years after the day on which the
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discharge took effect; and (iv) then completes the basic service period applicable to the person; or (c) an incapacitated person; or (d) a person who: (i) having been an incapacitated person, again becomes a member within 2 years after the day on which his or her discharge as an incapacitated person took effect; and (ii) then completes the basic service period applicable to the person; or (e) a rejoining member; or (f) an operational service member; or (g) a person (other than an incapacitated person) who: (i) before, on or after the commencing day resigns, retires or is discharged from the Defence Force; and (ii) immediately before the resignation, retirement or discharge was an operational service member, or a non-DSH member covered by paragraph (a), (b), (d), (e) or (f); and (iii) has not again become a member; "entitled person" means a person who is the holder of an entitlement certificate that is in force; "entitlement certificate" means a certificate issued under Part 2; "Family Court" means the Family Court of Australia; "finishing day" means 31 December 2006; "government authority" means an authority (including a local governing body) established for a public purpose by or under a law of the Commonwealth, or of a State or Territory; "holder", in relation to an entitlement certificate, means the person to whom the certificate was issued; "house" means a dwelling-house and includes a single unit held under a strata title system, but does not include: (a) a house that is unfit for anyone to live in or that is the subject of a condemnation order; or (b) a house that is to be, or has been, compulsorily acquired by the Commonwealth or a State or Territory, or by a government authority; or (c) a building that is a block of flats, or a flat that is not held under a strata title system; or (d) a caravan or any kind of mobile house; "incapacitated person" means a person who, on or after the commencing day, is discharged from the Defence Force because of a compensable disability and who, immediately before the discharge: (a) had been a non-DSH member engaged or appointed for a period that would have allowed the person to complete at least 6 years of effective full-time service; and (b) had completed less than 16 years of effective full-time service; "intestacy law" means a law of, or in force in, a State or Territory that provides for the devolution of the estate of a person who dies intestate; "member" means a member of the Defence Force; "Middle-East operational area" means the area comprising the following countries and sea areas: (a) Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the Island of Cyprus; (b) the sea areas contained within the Gulf of Suez, the Gulf of Aqaba, the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman; (c) the sea area contained within the Arabian Sea north of the boundary formed by joining each of the following points to the next: (i) 20 degrees 30'N 70 degrees 40'E; (ii) 14 degrees 30'N 67 degrees 35'E; (iii) 8 degrees 30'N 60 degrees 00'E; (iv) 6 degrees 20'N 53 degrees 52'E; (v) 5 degrees 48'N 49 degrees 02'E; (d) the sea areas contained within the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea east of 30 degrees E; "non-DSH member" means: (a) a member whose first service in the Defence Force began after 14 May 1985 and who is not covered by paragraph (ga) of the definition of "Australian Soldier" in subsection 4 (1) of the DSH Act; or (b) a member: (i) whose first service in the Defence Force began on or before 14 May 1985; or (ii) whose first service in the Defence Force began after14 May 1985 and who is covered by paragraph (ga) of the definition of "Australian Soldier" in subsection 4 (1) of the DSH Act; and who has made an election under section 4ba of the DSH Act; "operational service member" means a non-DSH member allotted (whether retrospectively or otherwise) by written instrument signed by the Vice Chief of the Defence Force for duty anywhere within the Middle-East operational area and at any time on or after 2 August 1990; "rejoining member" means a person who: (a) before, on or after the commencing day resigns, retires or is discharged from the Defence Force; and (b) immediately before the resignation, retirement or discharge was an
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eligible person; and (c) again becomes a member within 2 years after the day on which the resignation, retirement or discharge took effect; "reviewable decision" means a decision: (a) refusing to issue an entitlement certificate; or (b) cancelling an entitlement certificate; or (c) refusing to grant approval under section 15 or 18; or (d) that subsidy is not payable under subsection 20 (2); or (e) giving a notice under section 27; or (f) refusing an application under section 31 or 32; or (g) revoking an approval; or (h) refusing to extend the period for making an application under section 33; "Secretary" means the Secretary to the Department; "spouse", in relation to a person, includes a person of the opposite sex to the person who lives with the person as his or her spouse, on a permanent and bona fide domestic basis, although not legally married to the person; "student" means a person who is: (a) at least 16 but under 25; and (b) receiving full-time education at a school or college, or at a university or other tertiary education establishment; "subsidised borrower" means a person who: (a) is liable, either alone or jointly with another person, to pay the outstanding amount of a subsidised loan; and (b) is an entitled person, or was an entitled person before the first payment of subsidy was made on the loan; "subsidised loan" has the same meaning as in the agreement; "subsidy" means a subsidy payable under Part 3 by the Commonwealth to the Bank on a loan by the Bank, being a monthly amount calculated under this Act and payable, for the benefit of the borrower, in the manner provided in the agreement; "subsidy period", in relation to a person, means the period to which the person is entitled under section 23; "widow", in relation to a man, includes a woman who lived with the man as his wife on a permanent and bona fide domestic basis, although not legally married to him; Note: See also section 8. "widower", in relation to a woman, includes a man who lived with the woman as her husband on a permanent and bona fide domestic basis, although not legally married to her. Note: See also section 8. DEFENCE FORCE (HOME LOANS ASSISTANCE) ACT 1990 No. 14 of 1991 - SECT 4 When do former members stop being eligible members?
4. An eligible person who is not a member stops being an eligible person at the end of 2 years after the day on which his or her resignation, retirement or discharge from the Defence Force took effect. DEFENCE FORCE (HOME LOANS ASSISTANCE) ACT 1990 No. 14 of 1991 - SECT 5 Ownership of house
5. (1) For the purposes of paragraphs 15 (1) (b) and 20 (2) (d), a person who is a part owner of a house is taken to own the house if: (a) the person owns an interest in the house that is more than a half interest; or (b) the person owns, together with his or her spouse or child or children, an interest in the house that is more than a half interest; or (c) the person owns an interest in the house that, when added to any other interest in the house owned separately by the person's spouse or child or children, is more than a half interest. (2) In this section: "interest" includes a legal or equitable interest and a life interest, but does not include an interest as lessee unless the relevant lease is a Crown lease for a term of more than 50 years. DEFENCE FORCE (HOME LOANS ASSISTANCE) ACT 1990 No. 14 of 1991 - SECT 6 Family members
6. For the purposes of this Act, the members of a person's family are: (a) the person's spouse; and (b) a child of the person or of the person's spouse; and (c) a parent of the person, or of the person's spouse, who is ordinarily dependent on the person. DEFENCE FORCE (HOME LOANS ASSISTANCE) ACT 1990 No. 14 of 1991 - SECT 7 Breaking continuity of service
7. (1) Without otherwise limiting the meaning of "continuous full-time service" as defined in section 3, a period of full-time service by a member in the Defence Force is taken to be broken, for the purposes of this Act, if: (a) the member is absent on leave without pay (other than prescribed leave) for longer than 12 consecutive months; or (b) in connection with a transfer of the member between 2 arms of the Defence Force, the member stops serving in one such arm and there is a delay of more than 21 consecutive days before the member starts serving in the other. (2) Paragraph (1) (b) does not apply if the delay was caused by the
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processing of the transfer by the relevant authorities in the Defence Force and was beyond the member's control. (3) A period of full-time service by a member of the Defence Force is not taken to have been broken by a period described in paragraph (a) or (b) of the definition of "effective full-time service" in section 3.