Defence Service Homes Act 1918

The Secretary shall not issue a certificate of entitlement in relation to subsidy on a widow or widower advance that a person may seek from a credit provider unless satisfied that:

the person is:

the widow, widower or a widowed parent of an eligible person; or

a spouse or de facto partner of an eligible person who is temporarily or permanently insane; and

the person is a purchaser or a borrower in relation to:

land; or

land and a dwelling‑house; or

a right of residence in a retirement village; and

the widow or widower advance relates to that land, land and dwelling‑house or right of residence.

Paragraph (a)—see the definitions of widow and widower in subsection 4(1). Widowed parent has a corresponding meaning: see section 18A (parts of speech and grammatical forms) of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901.

For the purposes of paragraph (1)(b), the person is taken to be a borrower in relation to a right of residence in a retirement village if the person is, or will be, an assignor in relation to the advance.

The Secretary shall not issue a certificate of entitlement in relation to a subsidy on a widow or widower advance that a person may seek from a credit provider unless satisfied that:

the advance is for the purpose of keeping the buildings, fences, fixtures and other improvements on the relevant land or of the person’s retirement village accommodation in good order and repair and it would cause financial hardship to the person if he or she were to bear the cost of keeping them in good order and repair; or

the advance is for the purpose of paying rates, taxes, charges or other outgoings in relation to the relevant land, land and dwelling‑house or right of residence in a retirement village and it would cause financial hardship to the person if he or she were to pay those rates, taxes, charges or other outgoings.

In deciding whether a person is suffering financial hardship for the purposes of paragraph (2)(a) or (b), the Secretary is to have regard to any guidelines approved by the Minister under subsection (4).

The Minister may, by legislative instrument, approve guidelines setting out matters to be taken into account in deciding whether a person is suffering financial hardship for the purposes of this Act.