Commonwealth Consolidated Acts Commonwealth Consolidated Acts(1) In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears:
"allied country" means any country (not being Australia or a Commonwealth country):
(a) that was, at the relevant time, at war with the enemy; or
(b) the forces of which were, at the relevant time, engaged in an operational area against forces against which the forces of the Commonwealth were engaged in that area;
and includes:
(c) a state, province or other territory that is one of 2 or more territories that together form, or formed at the relevant time, a discrete part of such a country; and
(d) a place that is, or was at the relevant time, a territory, dependency or colony (however described) of such a country.
"allied mariner" means a person who:
(a) was during the period of World War 2 from its commencement to and including 29 October 1945:
(i) a master, officer or seaman employed under agreement, or an apprentice employed under indenture, in sea - going service on a ship that was engaged in trading; or
(ii) a master, officer, seaman or apprentice employed in a lighthouse tender or pilot ship; or
(iii) employed as a pilot; or
(iv) a master, officer, seaman or apprentice employed in sea - going service on a ship (being a hospital ship, troop transport, supply ship, tug, cable ship, salvage ship, dredge, fishing vessel or fisheries investigation vessel) that was operated by, or on behalf of, a foreign country; and
(b) was at any time during the course of that employment during the period referred to in paragraph (a) on a ship that was:
(i) operating from a port in Australia or from a port in a Commonwealth country or an allied country; or
(ii) engaged in trading with Australia or with a Commonwealth country or an allied country; or
(iii) engaged in providing assistance or support to the Defence Force, or to the forces, or any part of the forces, of a Commonwealth country or an allied country; or
(iv) engaged in providing assistance or support to Australia or to a Commonwealth country or an allied country;
but does not include:
(c) an Australian mariner; or
(d) a person who has, at any time, been employed by a foreign country that was, at that time, at war with Australia; or
(e) a person who has, at any time, been employed:
(i) on a ship that operated to, or was operating from, a port in a country that was, at that time, at war with Australia; or
(ii) on a ship that was engaged in trading with a country that was, at that time, at war with Australia; or
(iii) on a ship that was engaged in providing assistance or support to the enemy or to a country that was, at that time, at war with Australia.
"allied veteran" means a person:
(a) who has been appointed or enlisted as a member of the defence force established by an allied country; and
(b) who has rendered continuous full - time service as such a member during a period of hostilities;
but does not include a person who has served at any time:
(c) in the forces of a country that was, at that time, at war with Australia, or in forces engaged in supporting or assisting the forces of such a country; or
(d) in forces that were, at that time, engaged in war - like operations against the Naval, Military or Air Forces of Australia.
Note: See also subsection 5R(2).
"Australian mariner" means a person who was, during the period of World War 2 from its commencement to and including 29 October 1945:
(a) a master, officer or seaman employed under agreement, or an apprentice employed under indenture, in sea - going service on a ship registered in Australia that was engaged in trading between a port in a State or Territory and any other port; or
(b) a master, officer or seaman employed under agreement, or an apprentice employed under indenture, in sea - going service on a ship registered outside Australia who was, or whose dependants were, resident in Australia for at least 12 months immediately before he or she entered into the agreement or indenture; or
(c) a master, officer, seaman or apprentice employed on a lighthouse tender, or pilot ship of the Commonwealth or of a State; or
(d) a pilot employed or licensed by Australia or a State or by an authority constituted by or under a law of the Commonwealth or of a State; or
(e) a master, officer, seaman or apprentice employed in sea - going service on a ship owned in Australia and operating from an Australian port, being a hospital ship, troop transport, supply ship, tug, cable ship, salvage ship, dredge, fishing vessel or fisheries investigation vessel; or
(f) a member or employee of the Commonwealth Salvage Board engaged in sea - going service under the direction of that Board; or
(g) a master, officer, seaman or apprentice employed in sea - going service on a ship registered in New Zealand who the Commission is satisfied was engaged in Australia and is not entitled to compensation under a law of a Commonwealth country providing for the payment of pensions and other payments to seamen who suffered death or disablement as a result of World War 2.
"Commonwealth country" means a country (other than Australia) that is, or was at the relevant time, a part of the Dominions of the Crown, and includes:
(a) a state, province or other territory that is one of 2 or more territories that together form, or formed at the relevant time, a discrete part of such a country; and
(b) a place that is, or was at the relevant time, a territory, dependency or colony (however described) of a part of such a country.
"Commonwealth veteran" means a person who rendered continuous full - time service as a member of:
(a) the naval, military or air forces; or
(b) the nursing or auxiliary services of the naval, military or air forces; or
(c) the women's branch of the naval, military or air forces;
of a Commonwealth country during a period of hostilities.
"continuous full-time service" means:
(a) in relation to a member of the Defence Force:
(i) service in the Naval Forces of the Commonwealth of the kind known as continuous full - time naval service; or
(ii) service in the Military Forces of the Commonwealth of the kind known as continuous full - time military service; or
(iii) service in the Air Force of the Commonwealth of the kind known as continuous full - time air force service; or
(b) in relation to a member of the naval, military or air forces of a Commonwealth country or an allied country--service in those forces of a kind similar to a kind of service referred to in subparagraph (a)(i), (ii) or (iii).
Note: See also subsection 5R(1).
"Defence Force" has the same meaning as in the Defence Act 1903 .
"defence force established by a Commonwealth country" means:
(a) the naval, military or air forces of the country; or
(b) the nursing and auxiliary services of the naval, military or air forces of the country; or
(c) the women's branch of the naval, military or air forces of the country.
"defence force established by an allied country" means:
(a) the regular naval, military or air forces; and
(b) the nursing or auxiliary services of the regular naval, military or air forces; and
(c) the women's branch of the regular naval, military or air forces;
raised by an allied country and operated by the country with regular military - like lines of command, that is to say, raised and operated in such a manner that the members of those forces and services:
(d) were formally appointed to, or enlisted in, those forces or services; and
(e) were required to wear uniforms or insignia distinguishing them as members of those forces or services; and
(f) were required to carry arms openly; and
(g) were subject to the rules and conventions of warfare.
Note 1: For extended meaning of this term in relation to a government - in - exile, see subsection (3).
Note 2: For an extended meaning of this term in relation to an allied veteran see subsection 5R(2).
"eligible civilian" means a person:
(a) who was killed, or detained by the enemy, during World War 2; and
(b) who was, at the time the person was killed or first detained:
(i) a British subject; and
(ii) a resident, but not an indigenous inhabitant, of the Territory of Papua or the Territory of New Guinea; and
(c) who was not, at that time:
(i) rendering service as a member of the Defence Force; or
(ii) employed by the Commonwealth on a special mission outside Australia.
"enemy" means:
(a) in relation to World War 1 or World War 2--the naval, military or air forces, or any part of the naval, military or air forces, of a State at war with the Crown during that war; and
(b) in relation to service in, or a period of hostilities in respect of, an operational area--the naval, military or air forces against which the Naval, Military or Air Forces of the Commonwealth were engaged in that operational area; and
(c) persons assisting any of those forces.
"fishing vessel" means a ship employed in connection with the occupation of sea fishing for profit.
"former refugee" means a person who was a refugee but does not include a person who ceased to be a refugee because his or her entry permit or visa (as the case may be) was cancelled.
"government-in-exile" , in relation to an allied country, includes a person, or group of persons, claiming to represent, or administer, the country or a part of the country or the people of the country.
"member of a unit of the Defence Force" means:
(a) a member of the Defence Force; or
(b) another person who is:
(ii) attached to the unit; or
(iii) appointed for continuous full - time service with the unit.
Note: See also subsection 5R(1).
"member of the Defence Force" includes a person appointed for continuous full - time service with a unit of the Defence Force.
Note: See also subsection (2).
"member of the Interim Forces" means a person who:
(a) enlisted or re - engaged in, or was appointed or re - appointed to, the Defence Force for continuous full - time service for a term of not more than 2 years; or
(b) was appointed for continuous full - time service with a unit of the Defence Force for a term of not more than 2 years;
on or after 1 July 1947 and before 1 July 1949.
"non-warlike service" means service in the Defence Force of a kind determined in writing by the Defence Minister to be non - warlike service.
"operational service" has the meaning given by sections 6 to 6F.
"qualifying service" has the meaning given in section 7A.
"refugee" has the meaning given by subsection (4).
"special mission" means a mission that, in the opinion of the Commission, was of special assistance to the Commonwealth in the prosecution of a war to which this Act applies.
"unit of the Defence Force" means a body, contingent or detachment of the Defence Force.
"veteran" means:
(a) a person (including a deceased person):
(i) who is, because of section 7, taken to have rendered eligible war service; or
(ii) in respect of whom a pension is, or pensions are, payable under subsection 13(6); and
(b) in Parts III and VIIC also includes a person who is:
(i) a Commonwealth veteran; or
(ii) an allied veteran; or
(iv) an allied mariner.
Note: Commonwealth veteran , allied veteran and allied mariner are defined in this subsection.
"warlike service" means service in the Defence Force of a kind determined in writing by the Defence Minister to be warlike service.
Army Medical Corps Nursing Service
(2) For the purposes of this Act, a member of the Army Medical Corps Nursing Service who:
(a) rendered service during World War 1, either within or outside Australia; and
(b) rendered the service as such a member in accordance with an acceptance or appointment by the Director - General of Medical Services for service outside Australia;
is taken to have been serving as a member of the Defence Force while rendering that service.
Defence force of government - in - exile
(3) In relation to any period during which there was a government - in - exile in relation to an allied country, defence force established by an allied country includes:
(a) the regular naval, military or air forces; and
(b) the nursing or auxiliary services of the regular naval, military or air forces; and
(c) the women's branch of the regular naval, military or air forces;
raised by that government - in - exile and operated by it with regular military - like lines of command, that is to say, raised and operated in such a manner that the members of those forces and services:
(d) were formally appointed to, or enlisted in, those forces or services; and
(e) were required to wear uniforms or insignia distinguishing them as members of those forces or services; and
(f) were required to carry arms openly; and
(g) were subject to the rules and conventions of warfare.
Note: For an extended meaning of the defence force of a government - in - exile in relation to an allied veteran see subsection 5R(2).
(4) For the purposes of Part III, a person is a refugee if the person:
(a) is taken, under the Migration Reform (Transitional Provisions) Regulations, to be the holder of a transitional (permanent) visa because the person was, immediately before 1 September 1994, the holder of:
(i) a visa or entry permit that fell within Division 1.3--Group 1.3 (Permanent resident (refugee and humanitarian) (offshore)) in Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the Migration (1993) Regulations as then in force; or
(ii) a visa or entry permit that fell within Division 1.5--Group 1.5 (Permanent resident (refugee and humanitarian) (on - shore)) in Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the Migration (1993) Regulations as then in force; or
(b) was, immediately before 1 February 1993, the holder of a visa or entry permit of a class prescribed under the Migration Regulations as then in force that corresponds to a visa or entry permit referred to in subparagraph (a)(i) or (ii); or
(c) is the holder of:
(i) a permanent protection visa; or
(ii) a permanent visa of a class referred to in Schedule 2A; or
(iii) a permanent visa of a class referred to in a declaration of the Minister under subsection (5) that is in force.
Declaration of class of visas
(5) If:
(a) after the commencement of this subsection, a class of permanent visas (other than a class referred to in Schedule 2A) is prescribed by regulations made for the purposes of section 31 of the Migration Act 1958 ; and
(b) the Minister is of the view that a person holding a visa of that class should be regarded as a refugee for the purposes of Part III;
the Minister may, by legislative instrument, declare that class of visas to be a class of visas for the purposes of subparagraph (4)(c)(iii).