Mr BROUGH (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Employment, Workplace Relations and Small Business) (12:41 PM) —I move:

The Social Security and Veterans' Entitlements Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Matters) Bill 2000 is a positive measure introduced by the Howard government to help with portability of some social security and veterans affairs matters. I call on the opposition to withdraw these amendments so that this portability can actually move forward. I remind honourable members that the simplification of the portability provisions will benefit around 90,000 Australians. Many benefits that are not portable or that have very limited portability at present will become portable for 26 weeks, simply meaning that an individual who has these benefits in hand can leave the country for that period of time without losing the assistance. Ancillary benefits such as rent assistance and pharmaceutical allowance will become portable for the very first time. I know from practical experience in my electorate office that this is a very important issue, particularly for some of the elderly in our electorates. Simplification will reduce red tape and improve service delivery. However, simplification can benefit customers only if the new rules are consistent. As it currently stands we have some which are 52 weeks and some which are 13 weeks. This collapses all these benefits into 26 weeks so that the uniformity is clearly understood by those who, for whatever reason, find themselves leaving the country.

The new standard of 26-week portability is far longer than the majority of customers need. The median overseas absence of social security customers is in fact only around 14 weeks. The community would rightly question a policy that allows beneficiaries not being paid in respect of the permanent contingencies of life to remain overseas for an extended period of time. The proposed changes to the bill do undermine the purpose of simplification. This purpose was acknowledged as commendable. For that reason the government rejects the opposition's amendments as put.