Social Services Legislation Amendment (Workforce Incentive) 2022

# Social Services Legislation Amendment (Workforce Incentive) Bill 2022 ## What it does The bill changes how the government treats people who temporarily lose eligibility for pensions or veterans' benefits. Instead of cancelling their payments outright, benefits will be **suspended** — meaning they can be quickly restored if circumstances change. The bill also extends pensioner concession cards (which give discounts on medicines, transport, etc.) to people who've recently lost pension eligibility due to work or income changes. ## Why it matters If you start earning more money and lose your pension, you won't have to reapply from scratch if your circumstances change again — your payment just pauses instead. This removes a major barrier to people taking on more work, since they won't risk permanently losing their benefits status. It's designed to encourage people to enter the workforce without fear of losing support. ## Key details - **Who's affected**: Age pensioners, disability support pensioners, and veterans whose payments stop because their income goes up, plus their partners - **Pensioner concession cards**: People who've recently lost pensions can keep their concession cards for longer, maintaining access to discounts - **Start date**: The changes come into effect on the first of January, April, July, or October after the bill passes — not immediately