Commonwealth Consolidated Acts Commonwealth Consolidated Acts(1) Subject to subsections (5) and (6) and section 198MB, the living cost indexation factor on an indexation day is:
worked out to 3 decimal places.
(2) For the purposes of this section, the living cost index number , in relation to a quarter, is the All Groups Pensioner and Beneficiary Living Cost Index number that is the weighted average of the 8 capital cities and is published by the Australian Statistician in respect of that quarter.
(3) For the purposes of this section, the reference quarter is:
(a) if the indexation day is a 20 March--the most recent December quarter before the indexation day; and
(b) if the indexation day is a 20 September--the most recent June quarter before the indexation day.
(4) For the purposes of this section, the base quarter is the June or December quarter that:
(a) is a quarter before the reference quarter; and
(b) has the highest living cost index number.
Rounding
(5) If a living cost indexation factor worked out under subsection (1) would, if it were worked out to 4 decimal places, end in a number that is greater than 4, that indexation factor is to be increased by 0.001.
(6) If a living cost indexation factor worked out under subsections (1) and (5) would be less than 1, that indexation factor is to be increased to 1.
Publication of substituted living cost index numbers
(7) Subject to subsection (8), if at any time (whether before or after the commencement of this section) the Australian Statistician publishes a living cost index number for a quarter in substitution for a living cost index number previously published by the Australian Statistician for that quarter, the publication of the later living cost index number is to be disregarded for the purposes of this section.
Change to index reference period
(8) If at any time (whether before or after the commencement of this section) the Australian Statistician changes the index reference period for the Pensioner and Beneficiary Living Cost Index, regard is to be had, for the purposes of applying this section after the change takes place, only to living cost index numbers published in terms of the new index reference period.