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This is a Bill, not an Act. For current law, see the Acts databases.
1996
The Parliament of
the
Commonwealth of
Australia
HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES
Presented and read a first time
Housing Assistance Bill
1996
No. ,
1996
(Social
Security)
A Bill for an Act to assist
people to obtain access to housing that is affordable and appropriate to their
needs, and for related
purposes
9600320—3,200/29.4.1996—(3/96)
Cat. No. 96 4474 1 ISBN 0644 434767
Contents
9600320—3,200/29.4.1996—(3/96)
Cat. No. 96 4474 1 ISBN 0644 434767
This preamble sets out the matters taken into account by the Parliament
in enacting this Act.
Housing and shelter are basic human needs.
Most Australian residents are able to obtain housing of an appropriate
standard within their means.
However, people who are economically or socially disadvantaged may be
less likely to obtain affordable, secure and appropriate housing. They may also
be more likely to suffer discrimination in their efforts to obtain adequate
housing and may be at a greater risk of homelessness.
The inability to obtain adequate housing can have adverse effects on
health and the quality of life and reduces the prospects of obtaining employment
and other opportunities that would ordinarily arise for people during their
lifetimes.
Australia has acted to protect the rights of all its citizens, including
people who have inadequate housing, by recognising international standards for
the protection of universal human rights and fundamental freedoms
through:
(a) the ratification of the International Covenants on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights and on Civil and Political Rights; and
(b) the ratification of the Conventions on the Elimination of all Forms of
Racial Discrimination, on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against
Women and on the Rights of the Child; and
(c) the acceptance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and of the
Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women; and
(d) the enactment of legislation such as the Human Rights and Equal
Opportunity Commission Act 1986.
Accordingly the Parliament considers that the provision, by the
Governments of the Commonwealth, the States, the Australian Capital Territory
and the Northern Territory, of housing assistance to people requiring access to
affordable and appropriate housing is essential to reduce poverty and its
effects on individuals and on the community as a whole.
The Parliament therefore intends that:
(e) housing assistance should be directed towards people who are on low
incomes or otherwise meet barriers in obtaining the housing they need;
and
(f) housing assistance will be provided in ways that reflect their needs
and aspirations and will ensure that their rights are properly protected and due
regard is had to their responsibilities; and
(g) housing assistance will, as far as possible, offer a choice between
different forms of assistance and between different providers of assistance and
include the provision of targeted subsidies to home purchase aspirants;
and
(h) housing assistance for which money is provided under this Act will
have as its express objective the obtaining of benefits by the people who
receive the assistance in ways that are effective and ensure that money provided
is spent efficiently and is properly accounted for.
In giving effect to the above intentions, the Parliament recognises that
it is desirable for the Governments of the Commonwealth, the States, the
Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory to:
(i) work together in providing access to affordable appropriate housing
and work in cooperation with local governing bodies; and
(j) encourage private sector involvement in the provision of appropriate
and affordable housing; and
(k) work in cooperation with non-government organisations that provide
housing and related assistance, including organisations that provide community
and rental housing for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and
organisations that have responsibility for the provision of services for people
who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, in view of the contribution of
non-government organisations to the provision of housing assistance.
The Parliament regards it as essential that, in giving effect to these
intentions, housing assistance funded under this Act will be planned and
delivered so as to take full account of the range of factors that contribute to
the quality of life of the people receiving the assistance.
These factors include the liveability of communities, and equality of
opportunity, non-discrimination, and respect for dignity and self-esteem, for
people receiving housing assistance.
The Parliament of Australia enacts:
This Act may be cited as the Housing Assistance Act
1996.
(1) Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16 commence on the day
on which this Act receives the Royal Assent.
(2) The remaining provisions commence on the day on which this Act
receives the Royal Assent or 1 July 1996, whichever is the later.
In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears,
assistance year means the financial year beginning on 1 July
1996 or any later financial year.
grant means a payment authorised under section 7.
housing assistance means housing assistance referred to in an
inter-government housing agreement.
identified housing program, in relation to an
inter-government housing agreement, means a program that:
(a) is established for the purpose of providing housing assistance in
accordance with the agreement; and
(b) is to be carried out in accordance with financial, planning and
operational guidelines established in accordance with the agreement.
inter-government housing agreement means an agreement made
under subsection 6(2) or, if an agreement so made has been varied, the agreement
as so varied.
local governing body has the same meaning as in the
Local Government (Financial Assistance) Act 1995.
State includes the Australian Capital Territory and the
Northern Territory.
State housing expenditure, in relation to a State and
in respect of an assistance year, means the total amount that the State has
spent, or proposes to spend, out of its own financial resources in respect of
that year in relation to housing in accordance with an inter-government housing
agreement.
State Minister, in relation to a State with which the
Commonwealth has made an inter-government housing agreement, has the same
meaning as in the agreement.
tertiary institution means a tertiary institution established
by or under a law of the Commonwealth or a State.
Funding of housing assistance
(1) The objects of this Act are to provide financial assistance to
the States for the purpose of ensuring that people can obtain housing that is
affordable, secure and appropriate to their needs, and to make payments for the
purposes of research, development, demonstration and evaluation in relation to
housing.
Aim of Act
(2) The overall aim of this Act is to provide housing assistance by which
people can obtain affordable, secure and appropriate housing. Within this aim
the goals are:
(a) to target housing assistance to those most in need, including the
homeless and those discriminated against in the private rental market;
and
(b) to make available to them a choice between different forms of housing
assistance and different providers of that assistance; and
(c) to ensure that rental housing provided under inter-government housing
agreements is of an adequate size, has adequate amenity and is appropriately
located in relation to employment opportunities and necessary services and
facilities.
How the aim is to be achieved
(3) The aim of the housing assistance provided for under this Act is to be
achieved by:
(a) identifying needs for which the provision of housing assistance is an
appropriate response; and
(b) providing, or arranging for the provision of, housing assistance;
and
(c) giving the assistance in ways that are effective and ensure that money
provided is spent efficiently and is properly accounted for; and
(d) encouraging the provision of different kinds of housing assistance;
and
(e) ensuring that the rights of people receiving assistance are properly
protected and that due regard is had to their responsibilities.
Housing assistance to be implemented through inter-government
agreements
(4) A key feature of housing assistance provided under this Act is that
the assistance is to be implemented through common-form agreements between the
Commonwealth and the States.
(1) For the purposes of this Act, the Minister may determine a form
of agreement dealing with the provision of housing assistance.
(2) If the form is varied or revoked, the variation or revocation does not
affect the validity of an inter-government housing agreement entered into before
the variation or revocation took effect.
(3) The form of agreement is to include provisions relating to the
following matters:
(a) the making of grants to a State or States;
(b) the amounts, or the formula for determining the amounts, of the
grants;
(c) the obligations of a State in relation to the spending of the
grants;
(d) arrangements for the planning, funding and carrying out of identified
housing programs;
(e) expenditure by a State from its own resources in accordance with
subsection 9(1);
(f) the planning by a State of the housing assistance to be provided out
of the grants and out of State housing expenditure;
(g) the rights and obligations of the people to whom the assistance is to
be provided;
(h) the measurement of the performance of a State in the carrying out of
its obligations under an agreement entered into by the State substantially in
accordance with the form;
(i) the reporting by a State of its operations under such an
agreement;
(j) arrangements for the evaluation of such an agreement.
(4) An instrument determining, varying or revoking a form of agreement
under subsection (1) is a disallowable instrument for the purposes of section
46A of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901.
(1) This section applies if an instrument (the disallowable
instrument) is in force under section 5.
(2) The Commonwealth may make an agreement or agreements with a State or
States substantially in accordance with the form set out in the disallowable
instrument in so far as that form is applicable to the State or States
concerned.
(3) The Commonwealth may make, with the other party or parties to an
inter-government housing agreement, a subsidiary agreement or subsidiary
agreements for the purpose of giving effect to the inter-government housing
agreement.
(4) Subject to subsection (5), the Commonwealth may agree with the
other party or parties to an inter-government housing agreement, or to a
subsidiary agreement referred to in subsection (3), to vary the agreement or to
revoke the agreement and make a new agreement under subsection (2) or (3), as
the case may be, in place of the revoked agreement.
(5) An inter-government housing agreement may not be varied if the
agreement as varied would not be substantially in accordance with the form set
out in the disallowable instrument so far as that form is applicable to the
State or States that are parties to the agreement.
(1) Subject to sections 9 and 11, the Minister may authorise, in any
assistance year in which an inter-government housing agreement with a State is
in force, the payment to the State, by way of financial assistance, of any
amounts that the Minister determines to be appropriate:
(a) for expenditure by the State in respect of the year for the purposes
of an identified housing program referred to in the agreement; or
(b) for expenditure by the State in respect of the year for any other
purpose relating to housing for which an amount paid to the State under the
agreement may be spent.
(2) Payments to a State are to be made on the terms and conditions
set out in the agreement.
(1) The Minister may authorise the making of payments in an
assistance year of any amounts that the Minister determines for the purposes of
research, development, demonstration and evaluation in relation to
housing.
(2) The payments may be made to any of the following:
(a) an incorporated society, or an incorporated association, that is
carried on otherwise than for the purpose of profit or gain to its individual
members;
(b) a local governing body;
(c) a tertiary institution;
(d) a member of the academic staff of a tertiary institution who the
Minister is satisfied has recognised and relevant expertise;
(e) an incorporated research body whose staff the Minister is satisfied
have recognised and relevant expertise;
(f) a Government Department of the Commonwealth or a State;
(g) an authority of the Commonwealth or a State;
(h) a research organisation established by or under a law of the
Commonwealth or a State.
(3) The payments are to be made on any terms and conditions that the
Minister determines to be appropriate.
(1) The Minister must not authorise a payment to a State of
financial assistance in respect of an assistance year unless the Minister and
the State Minister have agreed, in accordance with the inter-government housing
agreement made between the Commonwealth and the State, as to the amount of State
housing expenditure in respect of the year.
(2) If the Minister, after consulting a State Minister, believes that the
State will not spend, in respect of a particular assistance year from its own
financial resources, the total amount agreed under subsection (1) to be so spent
by the State, the Minister may reduce the amount that would otherwise be payable
to the State under section 7 in respect of that assistance year by the amount of
the shortfall.
(3) If, under subsection (2), the Minister reduces the amount that would
otherwise be payable to a State, the Minister may authorise the payment of an
amount or amounts to another State or other States for the purposes of providing
housing assistance, provided that the amount, or the total of the amounts, does
not exceed the amount of the reduction.
(4) An authorisation under subsection (3) of the payment of an amount to a
State is to set out the way in which the amount is to be spent.
(5) Payments under subsection (3) are to be made on any terms and
conditions that the Minister determines to be appropriate.
(1) If a State has not made an inter-government housing agreement
with the Commonwealth in respect of the first assistance year, the Minister may
authorise the payment to the State in respect of that year, by way of financial
assistance to meet the State’s obligations to make payments for purposes
related to housing, of any amount or amounts that the Minister determines to be
appropriate.
(2) A payment made by the Commonwealth to a State under subsection (1) is
to be made on terms and conditions determined by the Minister having regard to
the provisions which, if an inter-government housing agreement were made between
the Commonwealth and the State, would be included in the agreement.
(3) If, after a payment is made by the Commonwealth to a State under
subsection (1), the State makes an inter-government housing agreement with the
Commonwealth in respect of the first assistance year, the payment is taken to
have been made to the State under the agreement and to have discharged, to the
extent of the amount paid, the liability of the Commonwealth under the agreement
to make payments to the State.
(1) Grants or other payments under this Act are to be made out of
money appropriated by the Parliament for the purpose of the making of the grants
or payments.
(2) The Consolidated Revenue Fund is appropriated for the purpose of the
making of grants or other payments under this Act (not exceeding, in total,
$1,067,863,000) in the financial year beginning on 1 July 1996.
(3) An authorisation of a grant or other payment is subject to the
appropriation of sufficient money to make the grant or payment.
A determination by the Minister under this Act must be in writing
signed by the Minister.
The Minister may, by signed writing, delegate to an officer of, or
person employed in, the Australian Public Service all or any of the Minister's
powers under this Act other than powers under section 5.
As soon as practicable after the end of each assistance year, the
Minister must cause to be laid before each House of the Parliament a report
relating to:
(a) the operation of inter-government housing agreements; and
(b) any other matters that the Minister thinks relevant.
The Governor-General may make regulations prescribing matters
necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to
this Act.
Each Act that is specified in a Schedule to this Act is amended or
repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule concerned, and any
other item in a Schedule to this Act has effect according to its
terms.
1 Section 3 (definition of grant
year)
Omit “1999”, substitute “1996”.