Fair Entitlements Guarantee Act 2012

This section is a simplified outline of this Act.

Under Part 2, a person is eligible for financial assistance under this Act (called an advance) if:

the person’s employment by an employer has ended; and

the employer is being wound up or bankrupt; and

the end of the employment is connected with the insolvency or bankruptcy of the employer; and

the person has not been fully paid his or her entitlements relating to that employment; and

the person has made a claim for the advance.

A person’s claim for an advance is decided by the Secretary, who also decides the amount of the advance if the person is eligible for it (see section 15).

Part 3 explains how to work out the amount of an advance for a person, taking account of the person’s unpaid entitlements relating to unused annual leave, unused long service leave, payment in lieu of notice, redundancy pay and wages for a 13‑week period. The amount may be reduced because:

the person owes debts to his or her employer; or

the liquidator or bankruptcy trustee expects to be able to pay those entitlements in full soon.

Part 4 deals with payment of an advance by the Commonwealth, either:

directly to the person eligible for the advance; or

to the liquidator, the bankruptcy trustee or another intermediary who will pass it on to the person.

Part 5 lets the Commonwealth recover some or all of the advance, by:

substituting the Commonwealth for the person eligible for the advance as a creditor in the winding up or bankruptcy of the employer; and

requiring the person to pay the Commonwealth if he or she is later paid amounts for the entitlements the advance related to.

Part 6 deals with administrative matters, including:

review of decisions made by the Secretary on eligibility for advances and amounts of advances (see Division 2 of Part 6); and

use and disclosure of personal information in connection with the administration of the Act (see Division 3 of Part 6).

Part 7 deals with various matters, including:

letting the Secretary extend the scheme for advances to persons whose employment has ended and whose employer is in administration under the Corporations Act 2001; and

allowing regulations to provide for other schemes of financial assistance for persons who worked as contractors (rather than employees) but have not been paid because of the insolvency or bankruptcy of the persons they worked for.