AUSTUDY Regulations (Amendment) 1997 No. 187
EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
STATUTORY RULES 1997 No. 187
Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Employment. Education, Training and Youth Affairs
Student and Youth Assistance Act 1973
AUSTUDY Regulations (Amendment)
The Student and Youth Assistance Act 1973 (the Act) provides the legislative authority for the AUSTUDY scheme. Section 56 of the Act provides that the Governor-General may make regulations for the purposes of the Act.
The parental and spouse income tests are contained in Chapter 4 of the AUSTUDY Regulations. These tests allow for deductions from parental and spouse income for dependent children (apart from the student) in a student's family. In some cases, this results in students qualifying for AUSTUDY who would not otherwise have qualified and, in other cases, it increases the amount that a student who qualifies for AUSTUDY can get.
Subregulation 87(1) provides that a deduction is available for a child who is:
(a) wholly or substantially dependent on a parent; and
(b) either:
(i) under 16 years old; or
(ii) 16 years or over, but under 25 years, and is undertaking full-time study; and
(c) not independent under regulation 67, or getting a payment listed in Schedule 1.
Subregulation 87(2) provides the amount of the deduction for various children. Subregulation 94(2A) provides that a spouse with children gets the same deductions for those children as does a parent under regulation 87.
The purpose of the amendments is to implement the Government's 1997-98 Budget decision to increase the parental and spouse income test deductions available to families with two or more tertiary student children who qualify for the away-from-home living allowance from $3,700 to $7,400 for each such child (apart from the student). So, for example, in a family with two tertiary students who qualify for the away-from-home living allowance the deduction for students 1 and 2:
* when considering student l's AUSTUDY application, is currently $3,700 for student 2; and
* when considering student 2's AUSTUDY application, is currently $3,700 for student 1.
The regulations increase these deductions to $7,400.
Regulation 3 inserts new subregulation 87(2A) to provide the increased deduction of $7,400 and amends subregulations 87(1) and (2) to align them with the new provision.
Regulation 1 provides that the amendments commence on 1 July 1997.
A Regulation Impact Statement is not required as the amendments do not impact on business.
The Attachment contains more details about the amendments.
Attachment
DETAILS OF AUSTUDY REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT)
Regulation 1 Commencement
Subregulation 1.1 provides that the regulations commence on 1 July 1997.
Regulation 2 Amendment
Subregulation 2.1 provides that the AUSTUDY Regulations are amended as set out in these regulations.
Regulation 3 Regulation 87 What are the deductions for children?
Subregulation 3.4 inserts new subregulation 87(2A) to provide that, in respect of the application for AUSTUDY of a tertiary student who qualifies for the away-from-home living allowance, the amount of the deduction for each other child who is a tertiary student who qualifies for the away-from-home living allowance is $7,400.
Subregulation 3.3 omits "The deduction is:" from subregulation 87(2) and substitutes "The amount of a deduction for a child for whom a deduction under subregulation (2A) is not available is:". This ensures that the group of children dealt with under subregulation 87(2) and new subregulation 87(2A) are mutually exclusive.
The amendments mean that, in a family with one secondary student (student 1) who qualifies for the standard (at-home) living allowance, two tertiary students (students 2 and 3) who qualify for the away-from-home living allowance, and one tertiary student (student 4) who does not qualify for the away-from-home living allowance, the deductions available are:
* for student 1's application, $3,700 for each of students 2, 3 and 4 (i.e. $11,100 in total). New subregulation 87(2A) does not apply because student l's application is not the application of a tertiary student qualifying for the away-from-home living allowance. The amount of the deductions is therefore set out in subregulation 87(2);
* for student 2's application, $3,700 for student 1, $7,400 for student 3 and $3,700 for student 4 (i.e. $14,800 in total). Student 1 is not a tertiary student qualifying for the away-from-home living allowance so new subregulation 87(2A) does not apply. The deduction for student 1 is set out in subregulation 87(2). As student 2 is a tertiary student who qualifies for the away-from-home living allowance and student 3 is a tertiary student who qualifies for the away-from-home living allowance, the deduction of $7,400 under new subregulation 87(2A) is available for student 3. As student 4 is a tertiary student who does not qualify for the away-from-home living allowance, the new deduction is not available for student 4. The amount of the deduction for student 4 is set out in subregulation 87(2);
* for student 3's application, the total deduction is the same as for student 2 (i.e. $14,800).
However, for student 3, student 2 attracts the $7,400 deduction;
* for student 4's application, $3,700 for each of students 1, 2 and 3 (i.e. $11,100 in total). New subregulation 87(2A) does not apply because student 4's application is not the application of a tertiary student who qualifies for the away-from-home living allowance. The amount of the deductions is therefore set out in subregulation 87(2).
Subregulation 3.1 omits from subregulation 87(1) all the words before paragraph (a) and substitutes "The deductions for children are available for a child (except the student) who:". This clarifies that a deduction does not apply to a child, rather it is available in respect of a child.
Subregulation 3.2 omits "a parent" from paragraph 87(1)(a) and substitutes "the parent, or parents, of the student". This clarifies that, for a deduction to be available for a child, the child must be wholly or substantially dependent on the parent, or parents, considered in the parental income test.