Commonwealth Consolidated Acts

SOCIAL SECURITY ACT 1991 - SECT 621

  (1)   Subject to subsections   (3) and (5), if a person:

  (a)   is subject to an ordinary waiting period; and

  (b)   is not disqualified for jobseeker payment under section   598 (liquid assets test);

the ordinary waiting period is the period of 7 days that starts on the person's start day (worked out disregarding clauses   4A and 5 of Schedule   2 to the Administration Act).

  (2)   Subject to subsections   (3) and (5), if a person:

  (a)   is subject to an ordinary waiting period; and

  (b)   is disqualified for jobseeker payment under section   598 (liquid assets test);

the ordinary waiting period is the period of 7 days that starts on the day after the end of the liquid assets test waiting period referred to in subsection   598(2).

  (3)   Subject to subsection   (5), if:

  (a)   a person is subject to an ordinary waiting period; and

  (b)   apart from this subsection, the ordinary waiting period would be the period of 7 days that starts on the person's start day (worked out disregarding clauses   4A and 5 of Schedule   2 to the Administration Act); and

  (c)   that start day falls within one or more of the following periods (each of which is an exclusion period ) that the person is subject to:

  (i)   a newly arrived resident's waiting period;

  (ii)   a seasonal work preclusion period;

  (iii)   a lump sum preclusion period under Part   3.14;

  (iv)   an income maintenance period, where the person's rate of jobseeker payment on that start day would be nil;

then the ordinary waiting period is the period of 7 days that starts on the first day after all the exclusion periods have ended.

  (4)   If:

  (a)   subparagraph   (3)(c)(iv) applies to a person; and

  (b)   on a day in that income maintenance period, the person's rate of jobseeker payment would be greater than nil if jobseeker payment were payable to the person on that day;

then, for the purposes of subsection   (3), that income maintenance period is taken to have ended at the end of the day before that day.

  (5)   If:

  (a)   a person qualifies for a social security payment (other than jobseeker payment); and

  (b)   because the person is subject to an ordinary waiting period relating to that social security payment, that social security payment is not payable to the person for a period starting on a particular day (the initial day ); and

  (c)   during that period the person:

  (i)   ceases to be qualified for that social security payment; and

  (ii)   claims jobseeker payment;

the person's ordinary waiting period relating to jobseeker payment is the period of 7 days that starts on the initial day.

Note:   Ordinary waiting periods apply to parenting payment, youth allowance and jobseeker payment.