Central Office Instruction

amending General Orders (1993 edition)

Instruction No. 33

Date of Effect: 25 October 1994

LOANS FOR MODIFICATIONS

Purpose

The purpose of this Instruction is remove restrictions on what constitutes "acceptable" modifications for the purpose of section 18 of the DSH Act.

Background

Amendments to the DSH Act, commencing on 1 January 1993, allowed loans to be used for modifications to a dwelling house. The change was introduced, in line with Government policy, to allow people to remain in their homes longer and was particularly targeted at older veterans and widows.

Upon introduction of the change we were concerned that loans could be used for items which could be seen as luxuries and, thus, not meeting the intention of the amendments. As a consequence, we issued an all States memorandum on 5 January 1993 to which was attached a list of modifications which were regarded as unequivocally acceptable.

With 21 months of experience behind us, we have reviewed the situation and have found that the general intention of the amendments are being met and applications for "luxury" items have been minimal.

Policy to be applied

As the term "modify" is not defined in the legislation, there are administrative advantages in removing the earlier imposed restrictions. Hence, the restrictions imposed on 5 January 1993 are not to be imposed any longer. The commentary in Entitlement GO 3.3.2.2 is considered sufficient to guide delegates in future decisions and ensures that they have maximum flexibility in deciding individual cases.

General Orders

No changes are required to General Orders.

Effect on previously issued COIs

This Instruction supports the policy introduced by COI 21.

DAVID MACKRELL

General Manager

20 October 1994