Social Security Act 1964

  • repealed
  • Social Security Act 1964: repealed, on 26 November 2018, by section 455(1) of the Social Security Act 2018 (2018 No 32).
11A Power to obtain information for matching purposes

(1)

Where the chief executive has reason to suspect that there is, or may have been, any person or persons in the employ of any employer—

(a)

to whom benefits or payments under this Act have been paid; or

(b)

to whom entitlement cards have been issued; or

(c)

in respect of whom or whose spouse or partner, a means assessment under Part 4 has been conducted—

that should not have been, the chief executive may, subject to this section, issue a notice under section 11(1) requiring that employer to provide the following information within a specified period:

(d)

the names and addresses of that employer’s employees or a specified class of employees (including any former employees who were employed by that employer within a specified period); and

(e)

the tax file numbers of those employees or former employees.

(2)

The chief executive may issue a notice to an employer pursuant to subsection (1) whether or not the chief executive is able to identify any employees or former employees of that employer as being individuals who—

(a)

are or have been receiving a benefit or payment under this Act; or

(b)

are or have been issued with entitlement cards pursuant to regulations in force under this Act; or

(c)

have had their financial circumstances, or the financial circumstances of their spouse or partner, assessed under this Act.

(3)

The chief executive shall not issue a notice to any employer pursuant to subsection (1) more than once in any 12-month period.

(4)

Where the chief executive obtains information pursuant to a notice issued under subsection (1), and that information, when used in an information matching programme, produces a discrepancy, the chief executive shall not take adverse action against any individual in relation to that discrepancy—

(a)

unless the chief executive has given that individual written notice—

(i)

specifying particulars of the discrepancy and of the adverse action the chief executive proposes to take; and

(ii)

stating that the individual has 5 working days from the receipt of the notice in which to show cause why the action should not be taken; and

(b)

until the expiration of those 5 working days.

(5)

Nothing in subsection (4) prevents the chief executive from taking adverse action against an individual if compliance with the requirements of that subsection would prejudice any investigation into the commission of an offence or the possible commission of an offence.

(6)

The provisions of sections 100 to 102 and 104 to 106 of the Privacy Act 1993, and of the information matching rules specified in Schedule 4 of that Act, shall apply, with all necessary modifications, to any information obtained by the chief executive pursuant to subsection (1) and to any information matching programme using that information; but, notwithstanding anything in rule 4 of those rules,—

(a)

the chief executive shall not be required to prepare more than 1 technical standards report in respect of information received from any employer or employers pursuant to subsection (1) where the standards in that report are to apply to information so obtained from any employers generally; and

(b)

the chief executive shall not be required to make that report available to any employer given notice pursuant to subsection (1), and nor shall any such employer be required to hold a copy of that report.

(7)

Where the chief executive fails to comply, in relation to any individual, with subsection (4) or with any of the provisions of the sections or rules applied by subsection (6), the failure shall, for the purposes of Part 8 of the Privacy Act 1993, be deemed to constitute a failure to comply with the provisions of Part 10 of that Act.

(8)

In this section, information matching programme means the comparison of information obtained pursuant to subsection (1) with other personal information held by the department for the purpose of producing or verifying information about an identifiable individual; and expressions otherwise defined in section 97 of the Privacy Act 1993 shall have the meanings so defined, with any necessary modifications.

(9)

Nothing in this section shall limit or affect the provisions of section 103(1A) of the Privacy Act 1993.

(10)

In this section, tax file number has the same meaning as in section YA 1 of the Income Tax Act 2007.

Section 11A: replaced, on 30 June 1993, by section 3 of the Social Security Amendment Act (No 3) 1993 (1993 No 57).

Section 11A(1): amended, on 1 October 1998, by section 11 of the Employment Services and Income Support (Integrated Administration) Act 1998 (1998 No 96).

Section 11A(1)(c): amended, on 1 July 2005, by section 13(1) of the Social Security (Long-term Residential Care) Amendment Act 2004 (2004 No 101).

Section 11A(1)(c): amended, on 26 April 2005, by section 3 of the Social Security Amendment Act 2005 (2005 No 21).

Section 11A(2): amended, on 1 October 1998, by section 11 of the Employment Services and Income Support (Integrated Administration) Act 1998 (1998 No 96).

Section 11A(2)(c): replaced, on 26 April 2005, by section 3 of the Social Security Amendment Act 2005 (2005 No 21).

Section 11A(3): amended, on 1 October 1998, by section 11 of the Employment Services and Income Support (Integrated Administration) Act 1998 (1998 No 96).

Section 11A(4): amended, on 1 October 1998, by section 11 of the Employment Services and Income Support (Integrated Administration) Act 1998 (1998 No 96).

Section 11A(4)(a): amended, on 1 October 1998, by section 11 of the Employment Services and Income Support (Integrated Administration) Act 1998 (1998 No 96).

Section 11A(4)(a)(i): amended, on 1 October 1998, by section 11 of the Employment Services and Income Support (Integrated Administration) Act 1998 (1998 No 96).

Section 11A(5): amended, on 1 October 1998, by section 11 of the Employment Services and Income Support (Integrated Administration) Act 1998 (1998 No 96).

Section 11A(6): amended, on 1 October 1998, by section 11 of the Employment Services and Income Support (Integrated Administration) Act 1998 (1998 No 96).

Section 11A(6)(a): amended, on 1 October 1998, by section 11 of the Employment Services and Income Support (Integrated Administration) Act 1998 (1998 No 96).

Section 11A(6)(b): amended, on 1 October 1998, by section 11 of the Employment Services and Income Support (Integrated Administration) Act 1998 (1998 No 96).

Section 11A(7): amended, on 1 October 1998, by section 11 of the Employment Services and Income Support (Integrated Administration) Act 1998 (1998 No 96).

Section 11A(10): amended, on 1 April 2008 (effective for 2008–09 income year and later income years, except when the context requires otherwise), by section ZA 2(1) of the Income Tax Act 2007 (2007 No 97).