Severe Disability Definition

To be eligible to be a beneficiary of a Special Disability Trust, the disabled person must
meet the definition of severe disability under section 1209M of the Social Security Act 1991:

(a)   a person who has reached 16 years of age:

• whose level of impairment would qualify the person for Disability Support Pension
  or who is already receiving a Department of Veterans’ Affairs Invalidity Service Pension
  or Department of Veterans’ Affairs Invalidity Income Support Supplement, and
• who has a disability that would, if the person had a sole carer, qualify the carer for
  Carer Payment or Carer Allowance, or
• who is living in an institution, hostel or group home in which care is provided for people
  with disabilities and for which funding is provided under an agreement between the
  Commonwealth, the states and the territories, and
• who has a disability as a result of which he or she is not working and/or who has no
  likelihood of working for more than seven hours per week at or above the relevant
  minimum wage.

or

(b)    a person under 16 years of age who is a profoundly disabled child as defined in
Social Security Act 1991 section 197(1) who was a beneficiary immediately before
1 July 2009,

or

(c)    a child under 16 years of age:

• who is a person with a severe disability or a severe medical condition, and
• another person (the carer) has been given a qualifying rating of intense under
  the Disability Care Load Assessment (Child) Determination for caring for the child
  under 16 years of age, and
• a treating health professional has certified in writing that, because of that disability
  or condition:

–        the child will need personal care for 6 months or more, and

–        the child care is required to be provided by a specified number of persons,

and

• the carer has certified in writing that the beneficiary will require the same care,
  or an increased level of care, to be provided to him or her in the future.

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