Key points
- The Bill will:
- provide Pacific engagement visa holders with an exemption to the newly arrived resident’s waiting period for Family Tax Benefit (FTB) Part A, Youth Allowance (student and apprentice) and Austudy
- allow Pacific engagement visa holders to access the Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) and the Vocational Education and Training student loan (VSL) program and
- allow long-term Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme workers and their families who are in Australia to access FTB Part A, FTB Part B and the Child Care Subsidy.
- The Pacific engagement visa is a proposed new permanent visa, with up to 3,000 places allocated each year via a ballot or lottery system. Applicants will need to be citizens of eligible Pacific Island countries or Timor-Leste, and have a job offer in Australia.
- The PALM scheme commenced in April 2022 and enables eligible employers to hire workers from participating Pacific Island countries and Timor-Leste. In the October 2022–23 Budget, the Government announced a pilot program where a small number of long term PALM scheme workers could bring family members with them.
- The measures will enable Pacific engagement visa holders to access FTB Part A immediately on arrival in Australia, and will provide an opportunity for these visa holders (including family members) to take up tertiary studies with the support of student income support payments and student loans. PALM workers will also be able to access family assistance payments, unlike most other temporary visa holders.
- The proposed measures will provide Pacific engagement visa holders and long-term PALM workers with access to benefits that many other visa holders either cannot access or must serve long waiting periods before accessing.
Introductory Info
Date introduced: 4 September 2023
House: House of Representatives
Portfolio: International Development and the Pacific
Commencement: Schedule 1: the later of 1 February 2024 or the commencement of the Migration Amendment (Australia’s Engagement in the Pacific and Other Measures) Act 2023 (but not at all if this Act does not commence. At the time of writing the Bill for that Act is before the Senate). Schedule 2: the later of 1 October 2023 or the day after Royal Assent.
Purpose of the Bill
The purpose of the Social
Services and Other Legislation Amendment (Australia’s Engagement in the
Pacific) Bill 2023 (the Bill) is to amend the A New Tax System
(Family Assistance) Act 1999 (the FA Act), the Higher Education
Support Act 2003 (the HES Act), the Social Security Act
1991 (the SS Act) and the VET Student Loans
Act 2016 (the VSL Act) to:
- provide
an exemption to the newly arrived resident’s waiting period for Family Tax
Benefit Part A (FTB Part A), Youth Allowance (student and apprentices) and
Austudy for Pacific engagement visa (PEV) holders
- allow
PEV holders to access the Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) and the
Vocational Education and Training Student Loan (VSL) program
- allow
Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme workers and their families who
are in Australia to access FTB Part A, FTB Part B and the Child Care Subsidy
(CCS).
The measures relating to the PALM scheme were announced in
the October
2022–23 Budget (pp. 111–112).
Structure of the Bill and the Bills Digest
The Bill includes two schedules. Schedule 1 contains the
amendments relating to PEV holders and Schedule 2 contains the amendments
relating to the PALM scheme workers and their families.
This Bills Digest provides background to the PEV, the PALM
scheme, family assistance and social security waiting periods, and student loan
scheme eligibility. It analyses the key issues relating to all the proposed
measures before briefly summarising the key provisions in each schedule.
Background
Pacific Engagement Visa (PEV)
At the 2022 Election, the Australian
Labor Party committed to the introduction of a permanent PEV to encourage
more permanent migration to Australia from Pacific Island countries. Unlike
other Australian visas, PEVs
are to be allocated via a ballot system. Eligible individuals can register as
participants in a visa pre-application process with a capped number of visas
issued through a random selection of registered participants. The PEV ballot
system is modelled on New Zealand’s Pacific
Access Category visa ballot. The Government
has set the number of PEVs at 3,000 per year.
Funding for the Pacific engagement visa was announced in
the October 2022–23
Budget (p. 150).
While the Government’s
intent was to establish the visa from July 2023, Bills to establish the
ballot process and to charge participants registering for the process – the Migration
Amendment (Australia’s Engagement in the Pacific and Other Measures) Bill 2023
and the Migration
(Visa Pre-application Process) Charge Bill 2023 – have been before the
Senate since March 2023. The visa itself would be introduced via the Migration Regulations
1994. See the Bills
Digest for these Bills for further background to the PEV.
To be eligible
for a Pacific engagement visa, applicants will need to:
- be
aged between 18 and 45
- have
secured a formal ongoing job offer in Australia (or their partner/spouse must
have a job offer)
- meet
English language, character and health requirements
- hold
a passport from a participating country
- have
been born in, or have a parent who was born in, an eligible country.
Applicants can include a partner and legally dependent
children in their application.
The website of the Department
of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) states that eligible countries ‘could
include’: the Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Palau,
Papua New Guinea, the Marshall Islands, Samoa, the Solomon Islands,
Timor-Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme
The PALM scheme was first
announced by the Morrison Government on 14 September 2021, with further
details released on 23 November 2021. The scheme merged the previous Seasonal
Worker Programme (SWP) and Pacific
Labour Scheme (PLS) under the administration of the DFAT, taking effect on
4 April 2022.
The PALM
scheme enables eligible employers to hire workers from participating
countries to fill roles in unskilled, low-skilled and semi-skilled positions in
rural and regional Australia, and nationally for the agriculture sector.
Employers can hire workers for seasonal positions for up to 9 months or
for longer-term roles for between 1 and 4 years, where not enough local workers
are available. The 2 streams reflect the former SWP and PLS programs.
Countries participate in the PALM scheme by entering
into a memorandum of understanding with Australia (p. 7). These
countries are Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon
Islands, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
DFAT's
website states that Pacific labour mobility is intended to fulfil a number
of roles:
It delivers jobs for Pacific and Timor-Leste workers,
enabling them to develop skills, earn income and support their families back
home. Pacific labour mobility also helps create strong links between people,
businesses, and communities, fostering deeper connections between Australia and
our neighbours.
Pacific and Timor-Leste workers help to fill labour gaps in
regional and rural Australia and offer employers access to reliable, productive
workers who also contribute to the cultural and economic vibrancy of regional
and rural communities across Australia.
DFAT is the lead agency, with the support of the Department
of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR), while the Department of Home
Affairs manages the visa aspects of the scheme. The PALM scheme uses a dedicated
stream of the Temporary
Work (International Relations) visa (subclass 403). A service provider, the
Pacific Labour Facility, is
contracted to manage administration of aspects of the program.
Recent developments
As a part of the October
2022–23 Budget the Albanese Government announced several changes to the
PALM scheme, based on its election commitments (pp. 111–112). Key
changes include allowing workers on longer-term placements to bring family
members with them; expanding the scheme’s existing pilots in the aged care
sector; and contributing to employers’ up-front travel costs for bringing in
workers (p. 1). The changes to allow long-term PALM workers to bring family
members included a commitment to provide access to FTB and the CCS (the
measures included in Schedule 2 of the Bill). Family
members that can accompany a PALM worker are a worker’s spouse or de facto
partner or their dependent child (biological, step-child or adopted child) (p.
1).
Further changes to the PALM scheme were announced in the 2023–24
Budget (p. 119). These
include strengthening oversight of the scheme by bringing its domestic
delivery into DEWR; increasing resources for participating countries to enable
them to mobilise more workers; supporting more than 1,000 PALM scheme workers
to attain formal qualifications over 4 years; making it easier for PALM scheme
workers to access their superannuation savings when they reach home; and
providing access to Medicare for 200 families participating in the PALM scheme
family accompaniment pilot.
Family assistance and social security residency
requirements and migrant waiting periods
Eligibility for Australian Government payments is normally
restricted to Australian
citizens and permanent residents, with some exceptions made for particular
payment categories or for groups such as refugees or New Zealanders. New
permanent residents often have to serve a waiting
period before they can access income support payments such as a pensions
and allowances. Residency requirements determine eligibility for a payment,
while waiting periods determine when an eligible person can start receiving a
payment.
For working-age payments to job seekers and students –
such as JobSeeker Payment, Parenting Payment, Youth Allowance and Austudy – the
current newly arrived resident’s waiting period is 4 years. This waiting period
commences from the later of the date the person arrived in Australia, or the
date the person was granted permanent residence. Only time spent in Australia
counts towards the waiting period.
For FTB Part A, the newly
arrived resident’s waiting period is 1 year. FTB Part B and the CCS do not
have newly arrived resident’s waiting periods but do have residency
requirements: an individual must be an Australian resident or a Special
Category Visa holder (New Zealand citizen) residing in Australia unless an exemption
applies.
Up until the early 1990s, permanent migrants were subject
to qualifying residence periods for pensions but no waiting periods applied to
social security benefits such as the unemployment benefit (now known as
JobSeeker Payment). Newly arrived resident’s waiting periods for unemployment
and sickness benefits were
introduced in 1993 (p. 9, 11). Over time, the durations of waiting
periods have been extended and the number of payments subject to a newly
arrived resident’s waiting period has grown. Legislation passed by
the Morrison Government in 2018 extended the waiting period for payments
such as JobSeeker Payment and Youth Allowance from 2 years to 4 years (applying
from 1 January 2019). This legislation also introduced the newly arrived
resident’s waiting period for FTB Part A. Prior to this, no newly arrived
resident’s waiting period applied to any family assistance payments.
Student loan scheme eligibility
The HELP
and VSL program provide loans to students studying approved higher
education and vocational education and training courses, respectively. These
programs allow students to defer the costs associated with study until their
taxable income reaches a certain level, at which point repayments commence.
There are a number of different student loan programs:
- HECS-HELP—assists
eligible Commonwealth
supported higher education students to pay their student contribution
amounts.
- FEE-HELP—assists
domestic full fee-paying students to pay their tuition fees.
- OS-HELP—assists
eligible Commonwealth-support students undertaking part of their studies
overseas. Loans can be used for airfares, accommodation and other costs of
overseas study.
- SA-HELP— assists
eligible students to pay for all or part of their student services and
amenities fee.
- STARTUP-HELP—assists
eligible students participating in a pilot program supporting participation in
startup or accelerator courses at higher education providers
- VET student loans— assist
eligible students enrolled in higher level VET courses to pay their fees.
Eligibility for these loan programs is generally
restricted to Australian citizens, permanent humanitarian visa holders who
usually reside in Australia, and New Zealand citizens who meet residency
criteria. New Zealand citizens must meet the following long
term residency requirements (the same requirements apply to the HELP and
VSL program):
- must
have commenced being usually resident in Australia at least 10 years ago
- when
they became usually resident in Australia, they were a child under the age of
18 with no spouse or de facto partner, and
- have
been in Australia for at least 8 of the last 10 years and 18 months out of the
last 2 years.
New Zealanders who have moved
from a Special Category Visa to a permanent visa on the pathway to
Australian citizenship can retain access to the HELP and VSL program.
Committee consideration
At the time of writing, the Bill had not been referred to
any committees.
At its meeting on 9 August 2023, the Senate
Selection of Bills Committee deferred consideration of the Bill to its next
meeting.
Senate
Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills
At the time of writing, the Senate
Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills had not considered the Bill.
Policy
position of non-government parties/independents
At the time of writing, non-government members and
Independents had not commented specifically on the Bill.
In his second
reading speech for the Migration Amendment (Australia’s Engagement in the
Pacific and Other Measures) Bill 2023 and the Migration (Visa Pre-application
Process) Charge Bill 2023, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship Dan
Tehan raised concerns that PEV holders could lose employment soon after
arriving in Australia and end up needing income support:
For instance,
under this lottery scheme, what would happen if someone wins the lottery, is
able to find a job, comes to this country and loses that job after two weeks?
The government has not been able to say what will happen, and our assumption is
that it will mean that that person who has won the lottery and come here as a
permanent resident will get eligibility to welfare and to Medicare. The
incentive to come here and work, and to continue to work, would not be there
if, after a week, not liking the job that you'd come to, you would be able to
have full access to welfare and to Medicare.
The Coalition
Senators Dissenting Report on the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs
Committee inquiry into these migration bills did not raise similar concerns
around access to social security payments (pp. 27–32).
While the Bill proposes to exempt PEV holders from the
waiting period for some student income support payments and FTB Part A,
residency requirements for pensions and waiting periods for payments such as
JobSeeker Payment (currently 4 years) would still apply.
Position of
major interest groups
At the time of writing, interest groups and stakeholders
had not commented directly on the measures in the Bill.
Various interest groups, academics and think tanks made submissions
to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee inquiry into the
bills for the PEV ballot system and pre-application charge.
In the Committee’s public hearing, representatives from
the Pacific Islands Council of South Australia and the Pacific Islands Council
of Queensland raised concerns that PEV holders would not have immediate access
to other payments (such as JobSeeker Payment) and that where a PEV holder’s
employment situation does not work out or ends suddenly, the Pacific diaspora
community would have to step-in and support them. Ema
Vueti from the Pacific Islands Council of Queensland suggested there should
be some kind of safety net in place for situations where the PEV holder is
unable to work:
The Pacific
Islands Council here in Queensland has always been advocating that there be
government programs so we could stop using our community diaspora to have to
get things done when people are in need. PALM Queensland, we're very similar to
the South Australia council, we're very involved with the support of the PALM
workers and all the others communities. So, in this respect we hope that clause
is amended so that it just allows that safety net, for the successful applicant
not to be left and get stranded when the main breadwinner is not able to work.
(p. 8)
Ben
Rogers from the National Farmers Federation suggested the waiting period
for access to JobSeeker and other payments could give an employer greater
leverage over a PEV holder employee, which increases the potential for worker
exploitation:
… But the point around the PEV worker not having access to
employment support would mean, theoretically, that the employer in that
situation is going to have greater leverage because, if the PEV worker loses
their job and they've got their family and are paying rent, they're in deep
strife. They may find it easy to find another job, but that may not. I would
think that having that hanging over their head—'If I lose this job, I will have
no source of income'—is going to be a pretty powerful motivator for the
employee not to upset the employer, giving the employer greater power in that
relationship. (p. 24)
In its Answers
to Questions on Notice from the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs
Committee, the Department of Home Affairs noted that while PEV holders would be
subject to the 4-year newly arrived resident’s waiting period for JobSeeker
Payment:
… PEV holders who experience a substantial change of
circumstances during this waiting period, such as job loss or illness/injury,
may be able to access Special Benefit, which is paid at the same rate as
JobSeeker Payment (p. 2).
The Social
Security Guide states that a person losing a job through no fault of
their own after arriving in Australia would be considered as having a
substantial change of circumstances for the purposes of Special Benefit
qualification. For visas granted offshore (such as the PEV), this criteria
applies where the job was arranged prior to arrival in Australia.
Financial
implications
According to the Explanatory
Memorandum:
- the
amendments in Schedule 1 relating to PEV holders will cost $66.9 million over 4
years from 2022–23
- the
amendments in Schedule 2 relating to PALM scheme workers and their families
will cost $24.3 million over 4 years from 2022–23 (p. 4).
The Explanatory Memorandum notes that the costs may be
lower over this period due to the measures commencing later than the date the
government used in its costing (p. 4).
Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights
As required under Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary
Scrutiny) Act 2011, the Government has assessed the Bill’s compatibility
with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the international
instruments listed in section 3 of that Act. The Government
considers that the Bill is compatible (pp. 21–27).
Parliamentary
Joint Committee on Human Rights
At the time of writing, the Parliamentary
Joint Committee on Human Rights had not considered the Bill.
Key issues
and provisions
In his second
reading speech for the Bill, Minister for International Development and the
Pacific, Pat Conroy, stated the proposed measures:
… extend support and benefits to Pacific engagement visa
holders so that participants have the opportunity to not just settle in
Australia but pursue education opportunities and flourish in their new
communities.
…
PALM scheme workers participating in family accompaniment
will be able to access benefits to support them with the costs of raising a
family and enable full participation of spouses in the workforce, if they
choose to do so.
It recognises the invaluable contribution that people from
the Pacific and Timor-Leste make to Australia and addresses the
under-representation of some of Australia's closest neighbours and partners in
our migration program.
It brings to the fore the importance Australia places on our
relationships with the countries of this region, and upholds our commitment to
strengthening ties with the Pacific family.
The Minister’s speech sets out two key reasons for
expanding access to payments and student loan programs to these visa holders:
- to
offer extra assistance to PEV holders and PALM workers and their families
living in Australia and
- improving
diplomatic and social connections with Pacific Island and Timor-Leste
communities.
Access to social
security and student loan programs will assist new migrants and their families
Allowing PEV holders access to student loan programs and
providing immediate access to student income support payment will offer these
migrants the immediate option of pursuing tertiary education. While these visa
holders will be required to hold a job offer to apply for the visa, the Government
has not suggested there would be any visa requirement for them to remain in
that employment (p. 4). Providing eligibility for loans and student income
support will allow these visa holders to pursue other opportunities or gain new
qualifications after arriving in Australia. It will also open the same options
to their partners and dependent children.
It is unclear how many visa holders will access these
payments and loans soon after they arrive in Australia. Youth Allowance and
Austudy payment rates are relatively low, when compared to wages. The maximum Youth
Allowance (living away from home) and Austudy rates for someone aged 18 or
older with no children is currently around $285 a week (pp. 23–24). The full-time
minimum wage is currently around $883 per week. At the same time, taking on
a large student loan may be concerning for a new migrant and their family.
PEV holders will not have immediate access to JobSeeker
Payment
The Bill does not provide for PEV holders to have
immediate access to payments such as JobSeeker Payment. Some Pacific Island
community groups have suggested that there should be some kind of safety net in
place for PEV holders who lose their job after arrival in Australia (see
‘Position of major interest groups’ section above).
While most other permanent visa holders are subject to the
newly arrived resident’s waiting period for JobSeeker Payment and other income
support payments, PEV holders are being depicted as different from the skilled
and family permanent visa categories. The Explanatory
Memorandum notes that Pacific and Timor-Leste nationals on a PEV ‘may be
less skilled and in lower wage jobs compared to other visa holders’ (p. 23).
PEV holders with low skill levels may find it harder to maintain or find
employment when compared to other visa holders. There is the possibility that
PEV holders are more likely to need support such as unemployment benefits
sooner than other permanent visa holders and that the existing waiting period
settings are not appropriate for this cohort.
As noted in the ‘Position of major interest groups’
section above, PEV holders who experience a substantial
change of circumstances such as job loss or illness or injury before
finishing the newly arrived resident’s waiting period, may be eligible for Special Benefit.
Special Benefit is paid at equivalent rates to JobSeeker Payment and Youth
Allowance (Other).
Supporting PALM workers’ families
Access to FTB and the CCS will assist long-term PALM
workers who bring their families to Australia. Those eligible for FTB Part A at
a rate higher than the base rate may also be able to access Rent
Assistance and those eligible for the maximum FTB-A rate will be provided
with a Health
Care Card which provides access to cheaper prescription medicines and other
concessions.
Eligibility for the CCS is partly based on an activity
test which applies to both partners in a couple family. The activity test
determines the number of hours of approved child care for which the CCS can be
paid. For couple families, the partner with the lowest number of hours of
recognised activities is used for the activity test. PALM worker families may
have limited access to the CCS unless the worker’s partner is able to undertake
recognised
activities such as work, study or volunteering. Families with total income
under $80,000 per annum can access 24 hours of subsidised care per fortnight
where the number of hours in recognised activities is less than 8 hours in the
fortnight.
Measures may discriminate against holders of other visas
The proposed measures will provide PEV holders and
long-term PALM workers with access to benefits that many other visa holders
either cannot access or must serve long waiting periods before accessing. This
includes migrants in Australia from Pacific Island nations and Timor-Leste on
other temporary and permanent visa classes.
The social security system already provides for
differential treatment of individuals from countries with which Australia has
entered into a bilateral
social security agreement. These agreements tend to recognise periods of
residency or contributions to another country’s social insurance system for the
purposes of Australia’s social security residency requirements. In turn, the
agreement country will generally recognise periods of Australian residency in
determining eligibility for social security payments. Australia and New Zealand
have an international
social security agreement and Australia’s social security law has specific
conditions for Special Category Visa holders (pp. 4–6) reflecting the
longstanding arrangements for freedom of movement between the two countries.
The measures proposed in the Bill differ from these social
security agreements and the arrangements for New Zealand citizens in that they
are neither reciprocal nor based on bilateral agreements. The diplomatic and
social connection rationale for the measures could be used to justify removing
restrictions on access to the same programs for all visa holders from Pacific
Island nations and Timor-Leste, and even to other countries Australia is
seeking to improve relations with. The proposed measures limit the numbers
involved and thus the cost, but these limitations will mean that migrants and
workers from the same countries will have different access to supports and
services in Australia, based on which category of visa they have been able to
obtain. For example, an individual from Vanuatu who is successful in the ballot
to come to Australia and then decides to study at university can access both
Youth Allowance and the HELP system while a compatriot on a student visa will
not be able to access either. A migrant from Fiji on a skilled permanent visa
will have to serve a 4-year waiting period before being able to access student
payments while their compatriot holding a PEV will not.
The proposed measures bear some similarity to the special
social security and student loan arrangements for refugee and humanitarian visa
holders—i.e. exemptions
from waiting periods and eligibility
for the HELP and VSL
program. The arrangements for these visa holders are in recognition of the
additional support these visa holders might require after arriving in
Australia.
The Statement
of Compatibility with Human Rights for the Bill states that the Bill
engages the rights to equality and non-discrimination under the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights by:
- direct
differential treatment of holders of PEVs compared to other permanent visa
holders and
- direct
differential treatment of eligible PALM scheme participants compared to other
PALM participants and holders of other temporary visas (pp. 25–26).
The Statement of Compatibility reads: ‘To the extent that
the Bill limits the right to equality and non-discrimination, this is
reasonable and proportionate to achieving the legitimate purposes of family
accompaniment for the PALM scheme and of the Pacific engagement visa’ (p. 26).
Key provisions
Schedule 1—Pacific engagement visa
A New Tax System (Family Assistance) Act 1999
Item 1 inserts proposed subparagraph
61AA(2)(b)(iia) to the FA Act to add Subclass 192 (Pacific
Engagement) visa to the list of permanent visas exempt from the FTB Part A
newly arrived resident’s waiting period.
Higher Education Support Act 2003
Item 2 repeals and substitutes subsection
90-5(1) of the HES Act so that holders of a PEV are considered to
meet the citizenship and residency requirements for HECS-HELP assistance,
alongside Australian citizens, permanent humanitarian visas holders and
eligible former permanent humanitarian visa holders who will be resident in
Australia for the duration of their study. The requirements for New Zealanders
are set out in subsection 90-5(2A).
Item 4 repeals and substitutes subsection
104-5(1) so that holders of a PEV are considered to meet the citizenship
and residency requirements for FEE-HELP assistance, alongside Australian
citizens, permanent humanitarian visas holders and eligible former permanent
humanitarian visa holders who will be resident in Australia for the duration of
their study.
Item 6 proposes to amend subsection 118-5(1)
so that PEV holders are eligible for OS-HELP assistance.
Item 7 repeals and substitutes paragraph
126-5(1)(b) so that holders of a PEV are considered to meet the citizenship
and residency requirements for SA-HELP assistance, alongside Australian
citizens, permanent humanitarian visas holders and eligible former permanent
humanitarian visa holders.
Item 8 repeals and substitutes subsection
128B-30(1) so that holders of a PEV are considered to meet the citizenship
and residency requirements for STARTUP-HELP assistance, alongside Australian
citizens, permanent humanitarian visas holders and eligible former permanent
humanitarian visa holders.
Item 10 inserts a proposed definition of Pacific
engagement visa holder at subclause 1(1) of Schedule 1 of the HES
Act. The proposed definition refers to a holder of the visa referred to in
the regulations made under the Migration Act 1958 as a Subclass 192
(Pacific Engagement) visa or a visa determined via a legislative instrument
made under new subclause 1(4) of Schedule 1 of the HES Act,
inserted by item 11. Proposed subclause 1(4) of Schedule 1 allows the
Minister for Education to determine, via legislative instrument, a kind of visa
for the purposes of the definition of a Pacific engagement visa holder
where the Minister for Immigration has advised that this kind of visa has
replaced or will replace the Subclass 192 (Pacific Engagement) visa or another
visa previously determined under this subclause.
Social Security Act 1991
Item 12 adds a proposed definition of Pacific
engagement visa to subsection 7(1) of the SS Act. The definition
is the same as that inserted into the HES Act by item 10 (above).
Item 13 inserts new subsection 7(4C) which allows the Minister
for Social Services to determine, via legislative instrument, a kind of visa
for the purposes of the definition of a Pacific engagement visa holder
where the Minister for Immigration has advised that this kind of visa has
replaced or will replace the Subclass 192 (Pacific Engagement) visa or another
visa previously determined under this subsection.
Item 15 inserts new paragraph 549D(7)(ba)
which provides an exemption from the newly arrived resident’s waiting period
for Youth Allowance for full-time students or new apprentices who hold a PEV at
the time of their claim for the payment.
Item 16 inserts a similar exemption from the newly
arrived resident’s waiting period for accessing Austudy via new paragraph
575D(3)(ba).
VET Student Loans Act 2016
Item 19 adds PEV holders to the list of visa
holders eligible for the VET loan program at subsection 11(1) of the VSL
Act.
Item 20 inserts new subsections 11(1A)–(1C)
which set out definitions of permanent humanitarian visa and Pacific
engagement visa. The definition of Pacific engagement visa is
similar to that inserted into the HES Act by item 10 and into the
SS Act by item 12.
Schedule 2—Pacific Australia Labour Mobility Scheme
A New Tax System (Family Assistance) Act 1999
Item 3 inserts new subsection 21(1B) into
the FA Act which provides for certain visa holders connected with the
PALM scheme to be considered eligible for the FTB. Currently, Australian
residents, Special Category Visa holders and temporary visa holders who may
qualify for Special Benefit (as determined by legislative instrument for the
purposes of subparagraph 729(2)(f)(v) of the SS Act) meet the
residency requirements for the FTB.
Proposed subsection 21(1B) provides for individuals who
meet the following criteria to satisfy the Family Tax Benefit residency
criteria:
- they
hold a visa referred to in the regulations under the Migration Act 1958
as a subclass 403 (Temporary Work (International Relations)) visa or a visa
determined by the Minister for Social Services
- the
individual is a worker in the PALM scheme or the individual is a member of the
family unit of a worker in the PALM scheme and
- the
individual is in a class determined by the Minister for Social Services via
legislative instrument.
Where the Minister for Social Services determines a visa
for the criterion in the first dot point, they need to have been advised by the
Minister for Immigration that a different visa has replaced or will replace the
subclass 403 (Temporary Work (International Relations)) visa or another visa
previously determined for this purpose.
The Explanatory
Memorandum states that the class of persons to be determined by the
Minister for Social Services (the criterion in the third dot point) is intended
to ‘be those on a long-term PALM scheme placement who have been approved for
family accompaniment and the family members of such an individual’ (p. 14). The
Explanatory Memorandum states the use of delegated legislation to determine
classes of eligible individuals is to ensure the class can be appropriately
described given the exact PALM scheme settings and Migration regulations around
family accompaniment are yet to be finalised (p. 14).
Item 5 inserts new paragraph 61AA(2)(c) to
provide for visa holders connected with the PALM scheme to be subject to the
newly arrived resident’s waiting period for FTB Part A.
Item 9 inserts new subsection 61AA(4A) which
determines the start date of the newly arrived resident’s waiting period for
individuals who have previously been on a visa connected with the PALM scheme and
who then move to a permanent visa or temporary visa eligible for Special
Benefit. For these individuals, the waiting period starts on the day on which
the individual becomes the holder of the first of those visas (the one related
to the PALM scheme) and ends when the individual has been in Australia for a
period or periods totalling 52 weeks from the start date.
Item 12 inserts new subsections 61AA(5A) and
(5B) which determines the newly arrived resident’s waiting period for visa
holders connected with the PALM scheme where the visa is also of a kind
determined by legislative instrument under new subsection 61AA(5B). The waiting
period starts on the day the person become a holder of the relevant visa and
ends when the individual has been in Australia for a period of, or periods
totalling, 52 weeks after that day.
Section 85BB of the FA Act currently sets
out the residency requirements for accessing the CCS. Item 15 adds new
subsection 85BB(3) which makes certain visa holders connected with the PALM
scheme eligible for the CCS. Under the proposed subsection, the CCS residency
requirements will be met where an individual or the individual’s partner meets
the following criteria:
- they
hold a visa referred to in the regulations under the Migration Act 1958
as a subclass 403 (Temporary Work (International Relations)) visa or a visa
determined by the Minister for Education where the Minister for Immigration has
advised that this different visa has replaced or will replace the subclass 403
(Temporary Work (International Relations)) visa or another visa previously
determined for this purpose
- the
individual is a worker in the PALM scheme or the individual is a member of the
family unit of a worker in the PALM scheme (within the meaning of the Migration
Act 1958) and
- the
individual is in a class determined by the Minister for Education via
legislative instrument.
The Explanatory
Memorandum states that family unit in the Migration Act
1958 includes:
a PALM scheme worker’s spouse or de facto partner; a child or
step-child who is aged up to 18, or who is aged 18 to 23 and is dependent on
the PALM scheme worker or their spouse or de facto partner, or who has turned
23 and is dependent on the PALM scheme worker or their spouse or de facto
partner due to being incapacitated; and any dependent child of a child or
step-child as described here. (p. 14)
According to the Explanatory Memorandum, it is intended
that the class of persons determined by the Minister via legislative instrument
will be those on long-term PALM scheme placements who have been approved for
family accompaniment (p. 18).