Commonwealth Consolidated Acts Commonwealth Consolidated Acts(1) If:
(a) a person is receiving a carer payment; 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 238 (continued payment of partner's pension or allowance); and
(ii) the amount that would otherwise be payable to the person under section 240 (person's continued rate);
the person is qualified for payments under this Subdivision to cover the bereavement period.
Note 1: Section 238 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 239 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 carer payment; and
(b) immediately before starting to receive the carer payment 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.
(1AB) Subsection (1) or (1A) does not apply in relation to care receivers who are a lower ADAT score adult and one or more multiple care children if:
(a) the person is receiving carer payment under section 235 because of the death of the child or children; and
(b) the person's partner is the lower ADAT score adult.
(1B) Subsection (1) or (1A) does not apply if:
(a) the person is receiving carer payment under section 235 because of the death of a care receiver who is a dependent child of a lower ADAT score adult; and
(b) the person's partner is the lower ADAT score adult.
(2) A person who is qualified for payments under this Subdivision may choose not to receive payments under this Subdivision.
(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 carer payment is payable to the person during the bereavement period is, unless the person has made an election under subsection (2), governed by section 240.
(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
(iii) was receiving a youth training allowance; or
(iv) 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.