Social Security Act 1991

This section applies for the purposes of working out a person’s (the recipient’s) rate of payment of a social security pension or a social security benefit if:

the rate of payment is worked out with regard to the income test module of a rate calculator in this Chapter; and

one or more amounts of employment income, each of which is in respect of a particular period or periods (each period is an employment period), are paid by the same employer in an instalment period of the recipient to or for the benefit of a person (the employee) who is:

the recipient; or

the recipient’s partner.

If the employee has multiple employers, this section applies separately in relation to each employer.

If the employee is paid employment income monthly, section 1073B may apply to that income instead of this section for the purposes of working out the recipient’s rate of payment of a social security pension.

Section 1073BA deals with the payment of employment income that is not in respect of a particular period.

The employee is taken to have received the employment income over a period (the assessment period) that consists of the number of days that is equal to the sum of the number of days in each employment period, where the assessment period begins on the first day of the instalment period in which the amounts of employment income are paid.

On 3 June a person is paid $756 employment income for work the person performed in the period beginning on 9 May and ending at the end of 29 May. The number of days in the employment period is 21.

Subject to subsection (4), for each day in the assessment period, the employee is taken to have received an amount of employment income worked out by dividing the total amount of the employment income covered by paragraph (1)(b) by the number of days in the assessment period.

To continue the example in subsection (2), the person is taken to have received $36 ($756/21) on each of the days in the period beginning on 1 June and ending at the end of 21 June.

If the employee is taken, under subsection (3), to have received employment income (the attributed employment income) during a part, but not the whole, of a particular instalment period, the employee is taken to receive on each day in that instalment period an amount of employment income worked out by dividing the total amount of the attributed employment income by the number of days in the instalment period.

To continue the example in subsection (2), for the instalment period beginning on 15 June and ending at the end of 28 June the person is taken, under subsection (3), to have received employment income during a part of that instalment period (15 June to 21 June). The person is taken to have received $252 ($36 x 7).

Despite the previous subsections, if:

the employee is or was the recipient’s partner; and

the employee is taken, under subsection (3) or (4), to have received an amount of employment income on a day; and

the employee and the recipient are not members of a couple on that day;

This section applies in relation to an amount of employment income paid on a day in an instalment period, whether or not the amount is received on that day.

In applying subsection (2) in relation to one or more amounts of employment income paid by a particular employer in an instalment period, in working out the sum of the number of days in each employment period, if a day in an employment period overlaps with a day in another employment period, that day must only be counted once.