Family Tax Benefit - by Residency Status

Question

Senator RUSTON: I was going to say, in response to that, if you just want to say, 'We don't provide the data, and this is the location of it,' that's absolutely cool too. Mr Flavel: Sure. Senator RUSTON: I'm seeking the breakdown of this data. Is it able to be done by residency status? Mr Flavel: I'll take that on notice. One of the things on residency I think is really important to note is that, as you probably might recall from your time as minister, in order to qualify for a payment, you've got to meet residency tests under section 7 of the Social Security Act, which requires you to be a citizen or a permanent visa holder. When people come into the system, we therefore know whether they're one of those two categories. However, if somebody becomes a citizen, they're not required to tell Services Australia that information because by definition they still meet the test under the law. Senator RUSTON: Okay, so if they get their access to the particular payment because they get PR then there is no mechanism by which you know that they've moved from PR to citizenship? Senator RUSTON: Yes, sure. Senator Chisholm: I'll also add the point that, if you wanted to get the opposition budget response policy costed, you shouldn't be trying to use the department to do that. You should use the PBO. Senator RUSTON: Senator Chisholm, I draw your attention to the collegiate and polite way that I ask questions when I'm in estimates. I don't necessarily think comments like that are conducive to me continuing to politely and respectfully ask questions of the department. They're quite able to take them on notice or seek further advice, but I'm not sure that your comments are entirely helpful to the collegiate process of this committee. [...] Senator RUSTON: Well, I'm going to continue to ask the questions. If you have a problem with that, you can raise it with me later. Thank you. To your point, Mr Flavel, any information that you're able to provide to us in relation to numbers would be helpful, but I take the point that you've just made. There are obviously other visa categories, like the special visa categories, as you know-for example, PALM visa holders, temporary visa holders et cetera. That would be helpful where possible.

Answer

Please see attached answer.

Documents

• Question with answer (PDF) (opens in a new tab)
• DSS SQ26-000719.pdf (opens in a new tab)