Commonwealth Consolidated Acts Commonwealth Consolidated ActsGeneral rule
(1) A person who is receiving a service pension or income support supplement is eligible for fringe benefits.
Certain persons eligible before 1 January 2017
(1A) A person is eligible for fringe benefits if:
(a) immediately before 1 January 2017, the person was receiving a service pension or income support supplement; and
(b) the Commission is satisfied that the rate of that pension or supplement was nil on 1 January 2017 because of the operation of the amendments made by Part 1 of Schedule 3 to the Social Services Legislation Amendment (Fair and Sustainable Pensions) Act 2015 ; and
(c) the person is not otherwise eligible under this section for fringe benefits.
Certain recipients of invalidity service pension who cease to be permanently incapacitated for work
(2) If:
(a) a person is receiving an invalidity service pension; and
(b) the person ceases to be eligible for that pension because the person ceases to be permanently incapacitated for work; and
(c) the circumstances in which the person ceases to be permanently incapacitated for work are continued fringe benefits eligibility circumstances in accordance with a determination under section 53B;
the person remains eligible for fringe benefits for the shorter of the following periods:
(d) the period those continued fringe benefits eligibility circumstances continue to exist;
(e) the period of 12 months beginning on the day the person ceased to be eligible for that pension.
Former recipients with employment income
(3) If:
(a) a person is receiving service pension or income support supplement; and
(b) the pension or supplement ceases to be payable to the person because the rate of the person's pension or supplement is nil; and
(c) the rate of the person's pension or supplement is nil because of the occurrence of an event or change of circumstances that results in the person's income reduced rate (see subsection (4)) being nil; and
(d) but for the person's income reduced rate being nil, the person would have continued to be eligible for fringe benefits because the person would have continued to receive the pension or supplement; and
(e) at the time of the cessation, the ordinary income of the person (as used to work out the person's income reduced rate) includes income for remunerative work performed by the person in Australia as an employee in an employer/employee relationship;
the person remains eligible for fringe benefits for the period of 2 years beginning on the day the pension or supplement ceased to be payable to the person.
(4) For the purposes of subsection (3), a person's income reduced rate , in relation to a service pension or income support supplement, is the rate worked out in relation to that pension or supplement at step 6 of method statement 1 or step 6 of method statement 5, as the case may be, in Module A of the Rate Calculator.
Partners of certain former recipients with employment
(5) If:
(a) because of the occurrence of an event or change of circumstances, a person is:
(i) eligible for fringe benefits under subsection (3) because the person's pension or supplement ceases to be payable to the person; or
(ii) qualified for a pensioner concession card under section 1061ZCA of the Social Security Act because subsection (2) of that section applies to the person as a result of age pension ceasing to be payable to the person; or
(iii) qualified for a pensioner concession card under section 1061ZD of the Social Security Act because subsection (2) of that section applies to the person as a result of the person ceasing to be qualified for disability support pension; or
(iv) qualified for a pensioner concession card under section 1061ZD of the Social Security Act because subsection (3) of that section applies to the person as a result of disability support pension ceasing to be payable to the person; and
(b) immediately before the event or change of circumstances, the person's partner was receiving service pension or income support supplement; and
(c) the partner's pension or supplement ceases to be payable to the partner because the rate of the partner's pension or supplement is nil; and
(d) the partner's cessation of payability occurs because of the occurrence of the same event or change of circumstances that resulted in the person's cessation of payability or qualification;
the partner remains eligible for fringe benefits for the period of 2 years beginning on the day the pension or supplement ceased to be payable to the partner.
(6) To avoid doubt, subsection (5) applies to the partner even if the partner ceases to be a member of the couple after that event or change of circumstances.