✦ Plain-English Summary

Services Australia Governance Amendment 2020

What it does

This bill updates references across dozens of Australian laws to reflect the creation of Services Australia as an independent agency. Instead of referring to the "Secretary of the Department of Human Services," the laws now point to the "Chief Executive Officer of Services Australia." It's essentially a housekeeping exercise to make sure all the legislation talks about the same organisation in a consistent way.

Why it matters

Services Australia runs Centrelink, Medicare, Child Support, and other critical welfare payments. Updating the laws ensures there's no confusion about who's responsible for delivering these services or making decisions about your payments and benefits. Without this clarity, there could be grey areas about accountability and how complaints are handled.

Key details

• Scope: The bill updates 17 major laws covering family payments, child support, dental benefits, paid parental leave, student assistance, and more
• Timeline: The main changes (Schedule 1) took effect from 1 February 2020, with additional amendments following Royal Assent
• Who's affected: Anyone receiving government payments or services through Services Australia—so potentially millions of Australians relying on Centrelink, family tax benefits, or child support

Official Description

Amends: 17 Acts to make consequential amendments as a result of the establishment of Services Australia as an executive agency under the Public Service Act 1999 on 1 February 2020; and the Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988 , Human Services (Centrelink) Act 1997 and Human Services (Medicare) Act 1973 to make governance changes in relation to Services Australia.

No formal division recorded

This bill passed by voice vote — parliament agreed without calling a formal count. A division is only recorded when a member explicitly requests one.

No votes yet.

No votes were recorded for this bill.