Commonwealth Consolidated Acts Commonwealth Consolidated Acts(1) If:
(a) a person is receiving disability support pension; and
(b) the person is a member of a couple; and
(c) the person's partner dies; and
(d) immediately before the partner died, the partner:
(i) was receiving a social security pension; or
(ii) was receiving a service pension, income support supplement or a veteran payment; or
(iii) was a long - term social security recipient; and
(e) on the person's payday immediately before the first available bereavement adjustment payday, the amount that would be payable to the person if the person were not qualified for payments under this Subdivision is less than the sum of:
(i) the amount that would otherwise be payable to the person under section 146J (person's continued rate) on that payday; and
(ii) the amount that would otherwise be payable to the person under section 146G (continued payment of partner's pension or benefit) on the partner's payday immediately before the first available bereavement adjustment payday;
the person is qualified for payments under this Subdivision to cover the bereavement period.
Note 1: Section 146G provides for the payment to the person, up to the first available bereavement adjustment payday, of amounts equal to the instalments that would have been paid to the person's partner during that period if the partner had not died.
Note 2: Section 146H provides for a lump sum that represents the instalments that would have been paid to the person's partner, between the first available bereavement adjustment payday and the end of the bereavement period, if the partner had not died.
(1A) If:
(a) a person is receiving a disability support pension; and
(b) immediately before starting to receive the disability support pension the person was receiving partner bereavement payments; and
(c) the bereavement rate continuation period in relation to the death of the person's partner has not ended;
the person is qualified for payments under this Subdivision to cover the remainder of the bereavement period.
(2) A person who is qualified for payments under this Subdivision may choose not to receive payments under this Subdivision.
Note: If a person makes an election, the date of effect of any determination to increase the person's rate of age pension may, in some circumstances, be the day on which the person's partner died (see subsection 146D(5A)).
(3) An election under subsection (2):
(a) must be made by written notice to the Secretary; and
(b) may be made after the person has been paid an amount or amounts under this Subdivision; and
(c) cannot be withdrawn after the Department has taken all the action required to give effect to that election.
(4) If a person is qualified for payments under this Subdivision in relation to the partner's death, the rate at which disability support pension is payable to the person during the bereavement period is, unless the person has made an election under subsection (2), governed by section 146J.
(5) For the purposes of this section, a person is a long - term social security recipient if:
(a) the person is receiving a social security benefit; and
(b) in respect of the previous 12 months, the person:
(i) was receiving a social security pension; or
(ii) was receiving a social security benefit; or
(iia) was receiving a youth training allowance; or
(iii) was receiving a service pension, income support supplement or a veteran payment.
(6) A person is taken to satisfy the requirements of paragraph (5)(b) if:
(a) the person was receiving one or a combination of the payments referred to in that paragraph for a continuous period of 12 months; or
(b) the person was receiving one or a combination of the payments referred to in that paragraph for 46 weeks of the previous 52.