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 recipient’s rate of payment of the pension or benefit is worked out with regard to the income test module of a rate calculator in this Chapter; and

an amount of employment income is paid 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; and

the employment income is not in respect of a particular period.

The employee is taken to have received that employment income over such period, not exceeding 52 weeks, as the Secretary determines.

When determining the period, the Secretary may take into consideration the following:

the nature of the employee’s remunerative work;

the nature of the employee’s employment income;

the employee’s financial interests;

any financial hardship which may be caused to the recipient;

whether the employment income relates to remunerative work that was undertaken at a time when the recipient was not receiving a social security pension or a social security benefit.

The period determined by the Secretary should be fair and reasonably beneficial, taking into account the financial interests of the recipient.

The period determined by the Secretary must begin on the first day of the instalment period in which the amount of employment income is paid.

Subject to subsection (5), for each day in the period determined by the Secretary, the employee is taken to have received an amount of employment income worked out by dividing the amount of employment income covered by paragraph (1)(b) by the number of days in that period.

If the employee is taken, under subsection (4), 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.

Despite the previous subsections, if:

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

the employee is taken, under subsection (4) or (5), 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, whether or not the amount is received on that day.