Special Needs Grant Programme Amendment (No. 5) Pursuant to section 124 (1) (d) of the Social Security Act 1964, I, Steven Maharey, Minister of Social Services and Employment, approve the following amendments to the Special Needs Grant welfare programme for special assistance (as established and approved on 18 December 1998), which are to be read with and considered part of the programme with immediate effect. Dated this 10th day of December 1999. STEVE MAHAREY, Minister of Social Services and Employment. AMENDMENTS 1. Clause 4.1 of the programme is amended by adding the words ``, except that section 74a of the Act does not apply to clauses 15a.1 to 15a.4.'' 2. The programme is amended by inserting, after clause 15.4.2, the following heading and clauses: 15a Persons released from custody under section 128a of the Immigration Act 1987 15a.1 The chief executive may, in the chief executive's discretion, make non-recoverable Grants on account of hardship to any of the persons (a) whose applications for refugee status were refused; and (b) who were subsequently detained under the Immigration Act 1987 in a penal institution until their release on conditions by a District Court Judge under section 128a of the Immigration Act 1987 on 1 December 1999. 15a.2 When deciding whether to make a Grant under clause 15a.1, the following provisions of this programme do not apply and the chief executive must not take them into account, namely clause 5 (b), clause 6, clause 7.2, and clause 8.2. 15a.3 Grants under clause 15a.1 may be made to a person described in that clause on a weekly basis commencing from 1 December 1999 until the earliest of the following dates: (a) if the person becomes eligible to be granted a benefit under section 74a of the Act, the date on which that occurs: (b) the date that the person becomes liable to arrest and placement in custody under section 128a (10a) of the Immigration Act 1987: (c) the date that section 128a of the Immigration Act 1987 ceases to apply to the person by reason of the grant to the person of a permit under that Act, or by reason of the continuation of the person's custody under section 128 of that Act. 15a.4 The weekly amount of a Grant under clause 15a.1 (a) is equivalent to the appropriate amount of a community wage set out in clause 1 (a) or (b) of the Ninth Schedule of the Act; and (b) is subject to Income Test 3 (which applies as if the amount of a Grant were a rate of a benefit). Definitions benefit, chief executive, community wage, Income Test 3, Social Security Act 1964, s 3; penal institution, Penal Institutions Act 1954, s 2 Explanatory Note This note is not part of the amendments, but is intended to explain their general effect. These amendments, to the Special Needs Grant Programme under section 124 (1) (d) of the Social Security Act 1964, allow special assistance equivalent to the single rate of a community wage to be granted on account of hardship to certain refugee claimants who were released from custody under section 128a of the Immigration Act 1987, pending the disposal of court proceedings. The Department of Work and Income administers the programme.