Social Security Act 1991

If:

a person is receiving a jobseeker payment; and

the person is a long‑term social security recipient; and

the person is a member of a couple; and

the person’s partner dies; and

immediately before the partner died, the partner:

was receiving a social security pension; or

was receiving a service pension or a veteran payment; or

was a long‑term social security recipient; and

on the person’s payday immediately before the first available bereavement adjustment payday, the amount that would be payable to the person if the person were not qualified for payments under this Subdivision is less than the sum of:

the amount that would otherwise be payable to the person under section 660LD (person’s continued rate) on that payday; and

the amount (if any) that would otherwise be payable to the person, under section 660LB (continued payment of partner’s pension or allowance) on the partner’s payday immediately before the first available bereavement adjustment payday;

Section 660LB provides for the payment to the person, up to the first available bereavement adjustment payday, of amounts equal to the instalments that would have been paid to the person’s partner during that period if the partner had not died.

Section 660LC provides for a lump sum that represents the instalments that would have been paid to the person’s partner, between the first available bereavement adjustment payday and the end of the bereavement period, if the partner had not died.

For long‑term social security recipient see subsection 23(1).

A person who is qualified for payments under this Subdivision may choose not to receive payments under this Subdivision.

By making such an election, the person may qualify for a payment under Subdivision A.

An election under subsection (2):

must be made by written notice to the Secretary; and

may be made after the person has been paid an amount or amounts under this Subdivision; and

cannot be withdrawn after the Department has taken all the action required to give effect to that election.

If a person is qualified for payments under this Subdivision in relation to the partner’s death, the rate at which jobseeker payment is payable to the person during the bereavement period is, unless the person has made an election under subsection (2), governed by section 660LD.