QUESTION and ANSWER

Korero (AEWS), Volume 3, Issue 5, 9 April 1945, Page 19

QUESTION and ANSWER

SOME REHABILITATION INFORMATION

WE print below some ’ questions on W rehabilitation, submitted through Kor era's information service, and the answers to them. They are printed for the guidance of other servicemen in New Zealand and the Pacific who may have similar problems. Question — To what extent are home servicemen eligible for rehabilitation benefits ? For instance, what assistance can be expected in the purchase or erection of (a) a home, (&) a business. For either of these ? What is the position if the applicant has (a) a certain amount of capital, (&) a comparatively large amount of capital ?

Answer : Men who have served in New Zealand only are eligible to make application for all forms of rehabilitation assistance, but, speaking generally, assistance will be granted only on proof of hardship suffered as a direct result of service or after long continuous service.

It is important to remember that rehabilitation assistance is not available as of right, and that the intention of the legislation is to place ex-servicemen in a position not less advantageous than that occupied before service. Each application will receive consideration on its merits, and all relative factors will be taken into account.

Question 2. — What assistance, if any, in the purchase or erection of a home could be expected by an applicant still serving and likely to be so for a considerable time ?

Answer : The Rehabilitation Act, 1941, imposes on the Department the duty of rendering assistance to “ discharged servicemen.” There is no authority to grant assistance to serving personnel unless they have returned from overseas after serving a minimum of two years, and have been retained for instruction and duty or are on compassionate leave, &c. There is, of course, no reason why application should not be made to any lending organization, but the application would be dealt with as being from a civilian.

Question 3. —Does rehabilitation for home servicemen still serving in the Army take over existing mortgages on houses, and, if so, at what rate of interest ? My wife owns the house, and we are paying 5 per cent, on the first mortgage and 6 per cent, on the second. Answer : This o L uestion is answered by 2 above. The Rehabilitation Board has decided as a policy to re-finance existing mortgages with rehabilitation rates of interest (2 per cent, for the first year, thereafter 3 per cent.) and interest concessions, in the following cases :— (а) Ex-servicemen who, because of war service, have had their earning-capacity so affected as the result of disabilities, &c., as to prevent them from meeting commitments entered into prior to joining the forces. (b) Ex-servicemen who have had their continuity of work or their financial position so affected by their war service that their income on return to civil life has been materially reduced. (c) Ex-servicemen who have entered into arrangements to purchase properties while in the Forces, and who, had they been discharged, would have been eligible for immediate financial assistance by way of a rehabilitation loan. All cases will be considered on their respective merits. Question. 4. — I work on the electrical side of things on the ship, and am very interested to find out how much this would count for this trade in civilian life. Answer : The Rehabilitation Board’s “ B ” scheme would probably apply in this case, provided that the applicant has some appreciable practical experience behind him. Under this scheme the applicant is apprenticed to an employer, the Rehabilitation Board subsidizing his wages according to a graduated scale so that he has at least a living-wage.

Normally the employee commences at the rate of ss. per week, to which both the employer and the Rehabilitation Board contribute, and thereafter the employer’s share increases as the employee gains skill, and the Board’s subsidy decreases. At the same time the trainee’s total wage increases until he is drawing the award wage, generally at the end of three years’ training, or at such time as he is regarded as a fully qualified journeyman.

Broadly, all ex-servicemen are eligible for training under this scheme, but preference will be given to men who have had overseas service. The approval of the Rehabilitation Board will not be given to such a contract as the above in electrical work unless the applicant has had a reasonable amount of experience in one of the electrical trades, either in the Forces of before service. For practical purposes a reasonable amount of work is interpreted as being equivalent to a year’s full-time apprenticeship.

Under arrangements with the Electrical Wiremen’s Registration Board, service experience in electrical work may be credited towards apprenticeship time, the amount of time which may be so credited depending on the type and extent of work done. However, this Board has been generous in this respect, and exservicemen who have had trade experience in the Forces are thus enabled to qualify more rapidly for tradesmen’s rates of pay.

Where further theoretical knowledge is required, the Rehabilitation Board will assist in approved cases by payment of fees, cost of books, &c., in addition to the above scheme. Similarly, ex-service trainees may attend technical colleges or other such institutions free of charge.

Question 5. — What are the necessary qualifications to enable servicemen to obtain a business rehabilitation loan ? I have had five years’ experience as a grocer and did know the trade as well as any. Is this deemed sufficient, providing, of course, that my previous employer furnished further details. The business in mind is a cash grocery, which would minimize the trouble of keeping books. However, to make sure that no difficulty is experienced in

this part of the business I have been taking a course with a well-known correspondence school, and am securing certificates as the course progresses. Details of service : Three and a half years’ Navy with one year’s Fiji service. Answer : Ex-naval personnel who have served in a sea-going capacity outside territorial waters for six months or more, or who have served in territorial waters in such occupations as minesweeping, which may be regarded as equally hazardous as active service, are eligible for assistance immediately on grounds of service alone. Personnel engaged on shore duties or otherwise not included in the groups mentioned above are not immediately eligible on grounds of service, but may be considered eligible if it can be shown that due to their service they have' suffered substantial economic loss or loss of opportunity, so that their careers are prejudiced by reason of their having served. For business loans it is necessary first that the ex-serviceman should have been discharged.

Business loans are in general confined to businesses of an essential nature or to those which provide services of importance in the national economy. No exserviceman will be financed into a business which does not show a reasonable chance of becoming successful.

It is generally considered preferable that the serviceman should have had practical experience in the business concerned before a loan is granted, and should this not be the case, the Rehabilitation Board may require the applicant to undergo a course of training before he is established in a business.

It is also necessary that he have the personality and other qualifications necessary to make a success of the business in question. Successful previous experience may indicate this.

Such loans are in general limited to £SOO, with such terms and security as may seem convenient to the parties concerned.

With specific regard to the above query the applicant’s experience and qualifications seem satisfactory, and provided

that from the personal aspect he is of the type who may be expected to operate his own business successfully, his eligibility for a loan hinges upon his service qualifications and/or hardship or loss of

opportunity as mentioned above. It must be understood that without more detailed information, particularly as regards service, this question must be answered very generally, and it is difficult to judge what view the Rehabilitation Board would take of the application.