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5.9.4 DFISA Bonus (ceased 2022)

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Last amended 
25 February 2022

DFISA was removed 1 January 2022.  This is for historical reference only.

VEA →

 

What was the DFISA bonus?

The DFISA bonus was a VEA payment. A person was entitled to the DFISA bonus if their social security pension bonus was reduced because of the inclusion of adjusted DP in the calculation of their age pension rate.

There was no DFISA bonus payable to a recipient of DFISA-like payment as the underlying payments that attracted a DFISA-like payment were not eligible for the social security pension bonus.

How was it calculated?

    

VEA →

 

The DFISA bonus was the difference between:

  • the amount of pension bonus received under social security law, and
  • the amount of pension bonus that would have been received if adjusted DP had not been included in the assessment of age pension.

Any amount of DFISA bonus payable was calculated automatically, using the adjusted DP details from the age pension claim. There was no need to claim the DFISA bonus separately.

Who calculated the DFISA bonus?

The following table clarifies which agency calculated the DFISA bonus.

If a person claimed the pension bonus and age pension from...

Then...

Centrelink

Centrelink calculated the amount of DFISA bonus and transmitted the amount payable to DVA.

DVA

DVA calculated the amount of DFISA bonus.

Who paid the DFISA bonus?

DVA paid the DFISA bonus, regardless of whether it was calculated by Centrelink or DVA.

DFISA bonus may have been payable where DFISA not payable

It was possible for a person to receive a DFISA bonus but not receive ongoing DFISA payments. Where the notional increase in age pension equalled the reduction applied to the notional rate of rent assistance, no DFISA was payable. However, because the pension bonus calculation does not take account of rent assistance, a DFISA bonus payment may have been payable.    

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Example of DFISA bonus

Mrs Phillips registered with Centrelink for the social security pension bonus scheme in March 2004. On 27 March 2009 she claimed the age pension and the pension bonus and a bonus of $15,000 was payable. The amount was reduced because of her husband's adjusted DP. If adjusted DP were excluded from her age pension assessment she would have received a bonus of $18,500.

Bonus if adjusted DP excluded

$18,500

less social security pension bonus payable

$15,000

DFISA bonus

= $3,500

Centrelink advised DVA to pay a DFISA bonus of $3,500.

Impact on pension bonus eligibility if DFISA bonus received

Once a person had received a DFISA bonus they:    

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  • could no longer be a member of either the social security law or VEA pension bonus scheme, and
  • could never receive a pension bonus.
Impact on pension bonus eligibility if DFISA payment received

Generally, if a person received DFISA after the age at which they would otherwise become eligible for a pension bonus under the VEA or the SSA, they:     

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  • could no longer be a member of either the social security law or VEA pension bonus schemes, and
  • could never receive a pension bonus.

Note: This did not apply if the primary payment of the person, who received the DFISA, was a carer payment. That is, if their DFISA was paid in respect of carer service pension or carer payment.

DFISA top up

    

VEA →

 

DFISA top ups could apply to pension bonus claims lodged on or after 1 January 2008.  They allowed pension bonus recipients to receive an extra amount on top of the pension/DFISA bonus they originally received if there was a reduction in their income and/or assets resulting in an increase in their combined rate of pension and DFISA within the first 13 weeks following the grant of the pension bonus.

There was no formal claim for the top-up.  The top up was a recalculation of the original bonus amount and was payable if they had received less than the maximum possible combination of pension rate and DFISA at the time the pension was granted.

DFISA bonus bereavement payment

    

VEA →

 

From 1 January 2008, if a DFISA bonus would have been payable to a person who dies before claiming the person's social security pension bonus, a DFISA bonus bereavement payment may have been payable to the person's surviving partner. The payment was made automatically when the pension bonus bereavement payment was worked out. No separate DFISA bonus claim was required.


 

 

 

Amount of DFISA bonus

Section 118NI VEA

 

VEA → (go back)

 

Example of disability income rent test reducing DFISA to nil

5.9.3/DFISA Calculation Examples

 

More → (go back)

 

Pension Bonus Scheme

Chapter 5.6

 

More → (go back)

 

Pension Bonus Scheme

Chapter 5.6

 

More → (go back)

 

DFISA Bonus Bereavement Payment

Section 118NIB VEA

 

VEA → (go back)

The information below is for historical reference only.

DFISA bonus ceased 1 January 2022 because adjusted disability income became exempt income under the Social Security Act.  It was defined in section 5Q(1) of the VEA and was a VEA payment under the former Part VIIAB of the VEA.  A person was entitled to the DFISA bonus if their social security pension bonus was reduced because of the inclusion of adjusted DP in the calculation of their age pension rate. The DFISA bonus was the difference between:

  • the amount of pension bonus received under SSL , and
  • the amount of pension bonus that would have been received if adjusted DP had not been included in the assessment of age pension.

 

Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986.

On 1 January 2022, both DFISA and the Disability Income Rent Test were removed.   Thus the term Adjusted Disability Pension was made redundant.  The following is for historical reference only.

Section 118NA of the VEA defined adjusted disability pension as:

  • disability pension (known as disability compensation payment from 2022) paid under Parts II or IV of the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986 (VEA); and
  • permanent impairment payments and special rate disability pension paid under the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004.

Adjusted disability pension did not include war widow's/widower's pension, or payments made by other governments to compensate for war or service related injuries.

 

 

From 1 January 2022, DFISA-like payments ceased.  The information below is for historical reference only.

The Defence Force Income Support Allowance-like (DFISA-like) payment was an ISP under regulations made under the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986. DFISA-like payment may have been payable to a person whose:

  • income support payment was administered by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF), or
  • living allowance made under ABSTUDY

was reduced or not payable because of adjusted disability pension ADP.

 

 

The social security law includes:

  • the Social Security (Administration) Act 1999; and
  • the Social Security Act 1991;and
  • the Social Security (International Agreements) Act 1999.

On 1 January 2022, both DFISA and the Disability Income Rent Test were removed.   Thus the term Adjusted Disability Pension was made redundant.  The following is for historical reference only.

Section 118NA of the VEA defined adjusted disability pension as:

  • disability pension (known as disability compensation payment from 2022) paid under Parts II or IV of the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986 (VEA); and
  • permanent impairment payments and special rate disability pension paid under the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004.

Adjusted disability pension did not include war widow's/widower's pension, or payments made by other governments to compensate for war or service related injuries.

 

 

Centrelink is a Government service delivery agency responsible for delivering a range of Commonwealth Government services (including social security pensions and allowances) to the Australian community through a network of more than 400 Centrelink offices.

The Department of Veterans' Affairs.

From 1 January 2022, DFISA and the Disability Income Rent Test were removed.  The information below is for historical purposes only.

For DFISA purposes, if the person was entitled to rent assistance, the adjusted DP was used to calculate a rent assistance reduction amount in order to determine the notional rent assistance rate. Calculation of the rent assistance reduction amount used the same taper rates and income free area as applied to the person's income support payment.

Note: This step was only for DFISA calculation purposes and did not affect the person's actual payment of rent assistance. The notional rent assistance calculation was similar to the former disability income rent test used to calculate rent assistance for service pensioners, income support supplement and veteran payment recipients.

 

 

The information below is for historical reference only.

DFISA bonus ceased 1 January 2022 because adjusted disability income became exempt income under the Social Security Act.  It was defined in section 5Q(1) of the VEA and was a VEA payment under the former Part VIIAB of the VEA.  A person was entitled to the DFISA bonus if their social security pension bonus was reduced because of the inclusion of adjusted DP in the calculation of their age pension rate. The DFISA bonus was the difference between:

  • the amount of pension bonus received under SSL , and
  • the amount of pension bonus that would have been received if adjusted DP had not been included in the assessment of age pension.

 

The social security law includes:

  • the Social Security (Administration) Act 1999; and
  • the Social Security Act 1991;and
  • the Social Security (International Agreements) Act 1999.

Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986.

The information below is for historical reference only.

Defence Force Income Support Allowance (DFISA) ceased on 1 January 2022 because adjusted disability income became exempt income under the Social Security Act 1991.  It was an income support payment paid by DVA to people whose income support payment under Social Security Law was reduced, or not payable, because of the impact of adjusted disability pension. DFISA was the difference between the person's existing entitlement, and what the entitlement would have been had adjusted DP been exempt, but was assessed in the calculation of rent assistance.

 

 

Social Security Act, 1991.