Amendments to FHOG 2005

Amendments to the First Home Owner Grant Act 2000

The changes to the First Home Owner Grant Act 2000 make the legislation generally more consistent with the corresponding legislation of other jurisdictions.

The amendments to the First Home Owner Grant Act commence on the date of assent except where otherwise specified.

Minimum age applicants

An amendment to section 8A(1) increases the minimum age for persons making an application under the first home owner grant scheme from 16 years to 18 years. The Chief Commissioner retains a discretion to waive that requirement under section 8A(2).

This applies to applications made on or after the commencement of the amendment (date of assent).

Eligibility following repayment

An amendment to section 10(2) allows an applicant who has previously received a first home owner grant to be eligible for a further grant, provided the earlier grant was repaid.

This applies to applications made on or after the commencement of the amendment.

Eligibility following prior ownership of residential property

Amendments to section 11(3) remove a provision that renders an applicant for the grant ineligible for the grant if the applicant has previously held an interest in residential property, being a property that was used at any time as the residence of the applicant. The provision is replaced with a requirement that the applicant must not have previously held an interest in residential property that the applicant used as a residence for a continuous period of at least 6 months. (This corresponds with the residence requirement, as it relates to the grant of the first homeowner grant.)

This applies to applications made on or after the commencement of the amendment.

Residence requirement

New section 12 amends the residence requirement relating to the first home owner grant so that the Chief Commissioner may vary the requirement, or exempt a person from the requirement, in any particular case at any time (including following a failure by a person to satisfy the residence requirement).

This applies to applications made on or after the commencement of the amendment.

Objections

Amendments extend the provisions of the Act that allow an applicant who is dissatisfied with a decision of the Chief Commissioner on an application to object to the decision (section 25). The amended provisions will also allow objections to be lodged in respect of the following decisions:

This applies to decisions made by the Chief Commissioner of which he or she gives notice on or after the commencement of the relevant amendment.

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