Social Security Legislation Amendment (Technical Changes) Bill 2025

The majority voted in favour of a motion to read the bill for a second time (parliamentary jargon for agreeing with the main idea of the bill). This means the Senate can now discuss the bill in more detail.

What does this bill do?

According to the explanatory memorandum (which is a document prepared by the Government, which introduced the bill):

The Social Security Legislation Amendment (Technical Changes) Bill 2025 (the Bill) amends the Social Security Act 1991 to make provision for the payment of different rates for disability support pension recipients aged under 21, depending on their circumstances. This includes a lower single dependent living at home rate, and a higher independent rate, consisting with longstanding policy and service delivery arrangements.

The measures in the Bill make provision for appropriate rates to be available to disability support pension recipients under 21 (also referred to as “youth” recipients) based on their circumstances, including their family situation. For example, the dependent rate may be paid to youth recipients who are undertaking study or training while living at a home of their parent, and the independent rate may be paid to those living independently or away from home.

The Bill provides that disability support pension rates for youth recipients are not affected by whether they are undertaking full-time study or are a new apprentice. This addresses the unintended impact on payment rates caused by the Employment and Workplace Relations Legislation Amendment (Welfare to Work and Other Measures) Act 2005.

The Bill also validates past rate decisions and other matters that were previously based on the dependent rate, in relation to disability support pension youth recipients, in line with the policy intent.