Commonwealth Consolidated Acts

SOCIAL SECURITY ACT 1991 - SECT 1100

  (1)   If:

  (a)   the rate of a payment to be made to a person under this Act is being worked out for a calculation day; and

  (b)   an amount received by the person in a foreign currency needs to be taken into account in working out the rate;

the value in Australian currency of the amount received is to be determined in accordance with this section.

  (2)   Except in the case of:

  (a)   amounts received in a foreign currency in respect of which the Secretary determines that it is not appropriate for this subsection to apply; or

  (b)   a payment, or class or kind of payments, received in a foreign currency, being a payment or a class or kind of payments in respect of which the Secretary determines that it is not appropriate for this subsection to apply;

the value in Australian currency of the amount received is to be calculated using the appropriate market exchange rate for the foreign currency on the fifth business day before the calculation day.

  (3)   For the purposes of subsection   (2), the appropriate market exchange rate on a particular day for a foreign currency to which subsection   (2) applies is:

  (a)   if there is an on - demand airmail buying rate for the currency available at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia at the start of business in Sydney on that day and the Secretary determines it is appropriate to use that rate--that rate; or

  (b)   in any other case:

  (i)   if there is another rate of exchange for the currency, or there are other rates of exchange for the currency, available at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia at the start of business in Sydney on that day and the Secretary determines it is appropriate to use the other rate or one of the other rates--the rate so determined; or

  (ii)   otherwise--a rate of exchange for the currency available from another source at the start of business in Sydney on that day that the Secretary determines it is appropriate to use.

  (4)   In the case of a foreign currency or a payment in a foreign currency in respect of which the Secretary has determined that it is not appropriate for subsection   (2) to apply, the value in Australian currency of the amount received is to be calculated using a rate of exchange that the Secretary determines to be appropriate.

  (5)   The Secretary may make written determinations for the purposes of this section.

  (6)   In this section:

"business day" means a day other than:

  (a)   a Saturday; or

  (b)   a Sunday; or

  (c)   a day that is a public holiday or bank holiday in Canberra or Sydney.

"calculation day" means the first business day for each month.

"month" means one of the 12 months of the calendar year.