AUSTUDY Regulations (Amendment) 1998 No. 71
EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Statutory Rules 1998 No. 71
Issued by the authority of the Minister for Schools, Vocational Education and Training
Subject: 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 amendments to the AUSTUDY Regulations take account of initiatives in the Government's rural policy package, Agriculture - Advancing Australia, which included the introduction of.
* an Exceptional Circumstances Relief Payment (ECRP) to replace the Drought Relief Payment (DRP); and
* the Farm Family Restart Scheme (FFRS) to deliver improved welfare to the rural sector.
These arrangements commenced on 1 December 1997 following passage of the Farm Household Support Amendment (Restart and Exceptional Circumstances) Bill 1997.
The ECRP is available to eligible farmers in declared exceptional circumstances areas. Under transitional arrangements, drought exceptional circumstances certificates that were in effect immediately before the commencement of the Farm Household Support Amendment (Restart and Exceptional Circumstances) Act 1997 have effect as if they were exceptional circumstances certificates.
The FFRS provides a welfare safety net for low income farmers experiencing financial hardship who cannot borrow further against their assets and/or who are not ready to place their property on the market and access welfare support under the Social Security hardship provisions. Under the FFRS, restart income support, payable at the Department of Social Security's Newstart Allowance rate, is available for a maximum of one year.
Under current AUSTUDY arrangements, the actual means, income and assets tests are waived where a student's family is receiving a DRP and farm assets are excluded from the assets test where a farm family does not receive DRP but nevertheless lives in a drought declared area. These concessions apply until the end of the calendar year in which the drought recovery period (if any) ends.
The amendments provide that:
the actual means test does not apply while a student's parent or spouse gets ECRP (regulation 3);
* farm assets are excluded from a person's assets if the person is living in an exceptional circumstances areas and is not receiving ECRP (regulation 4);
* a person cannot get AUSTUDY for a period in the year before the start of a course he or she intends to undertake if, for that period, the person receives ECRP or restart income support (regulation 5); and
* the income and assets tests does not apply while a student's parent or spouse gets ECRP or restart income support (regulations 6 and 7).
Regulation 1 provides that the regulations, except subregulations 3.2 and 3.3, regulation 5 and subregulations 6.2, 7.1 and 8.2 commenced on 1 December 1997. As these amendments do not disadvantage clients, their retrospective commencement does not contravene subsection 48(2) of the Acts Interpretation Act 1991. Subregulations 3.2 and 3.3, regulation 5 and subregulations 6.2, 7.1 and 8.2 commenced on gazettal.
The Attachment contains more details about the amendments.
ATTACHMENT
DETAILS OF THE AUSTUDY REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT)
Regulation 1 Commencement
Subregulation 1.1 provides that these regulations (except subregulations 3.2 and 3.3, regulation 5 and subregulations 6.2, 7.1 and 8.2) commenced on 1 December 1997.
Subregulation 1.2 provides that subregulations 3.2 and 3.3, regulation 5 and subregulations 6.2, 7.1 and 8.2 commenced on gazettal.
Regulation 2 Amendment
Regulation 2 provides that the AUSTUDY Regulations are amended as set out in these regulations.
Regulation 3 Regulation 12G (Actual means test - application of Division)
Background
Paragraphs 12G(1)(b) and (c) provide respectively that the actual means test does not apply to a student while a parent or the spouse of the student receives a DRP or a payment under Part 5 or 6 of the Farm Household Support Act 1992. Subregulation 12G(2) provides that, for the purpose of paragraph 12G(1)(b), if, in a year of study, a parent or spouse's entitlement to a DRP ends, the person is taken to be receiving a payment under the scheme until the end of that year.
Amendments made by these regulations
Subregulation 3.1 omits paragraph 12G(1)(b) and inserts new paragraph 12G(1)(b) which replaces the reference to a DRP with a reference to an exceptional circumstances relief payment which is defined by subregulation 3.4 to mean:
* an exceptional circumstances relief payment under the Farm Household Support Act 1992; or
* a drought relief payment under that Act as in force immediately before the commencement of the Farm Household Support Amendment (Restart and Exceptional Circumstances) Act 1997.
Subregulation 3.2 removes the link to paragraph 12G(1)(c) which is omitted by subregulation 3.3.
Subregulation 3.4 omits subregulation 12G(2) and inserts new subregulation 12G(2) which replaces the reference to a DRP with a reference to an exceptional circumstances relief payment.
Regulation 4 Regulation 18A (What is excluded from assets? (e) farm assets)
Background
Regulation 18A provides that the assets of a person living in an exceptional circumstances drought affected area do not include the person's farm assets in that area until the end of the year in which the drought recovery period ends.
Amendments made by these regulations
Regulation 4 omits regulation 18A and inserts new regulation 18A to provide that if a person has farm assets in an exceptional circumstances area, the person's assets do not include the farm assets until the end of the year in which:
* the exceptional circumstance recovery period (if any) for the area ends; or
* if there is no exceptional circumstance recovery period for the area, the area ceases to be an exceptional circumstances area.
"Exceptional circumstances area" means an area stated in writing by the Minster for Primary Industries and Energy to be an exceptional circumstances area.
"Exceptional circumstances recovery period" for an exceptional circumstances area, means the period (if any) stated in writing by the Minister for Primary Industries and Energy to be an exceptional circumstances recovery period for the area.
The meaning of "farm assets" is unchanged.
Regulation 5 Regulation 22 (Excluded: (b) Students getting certain pensions and allowances)
Background
Subregulation 22(2) provides that a student cannot get AUSTUDY for a period in the year before the start of a course he or she intends to undertake if the student receives certain allowances.
Amendment made by these regulations
Subregulation 5.1 inserts new paragraph 22(2)(c) to provide that a student cannot get AUSTUDY for a period in the year before the start of a course he or she intends to undertake if, for that period, the student receives farm support.
Subregulation 5.2 inserts new subregulation 22(6) to define "farm support" to mean an exceptional circumstance relief payment or restart income support under the Farm Household Support Act 1992.
Regulation 6 Regulation 91 (Concession to the parental income test:
(c) pensions and allowances)
Regulation 7 Regulation 97 (Concession to the spouse's income test:
(b) pensions and allowances)
Background
Paragraphs 91(1)(ac) and 91(c) provide respectively that the parental income test does not apply while a parent of the student receives a DRP or a payment under Part 5 or 6 of the Farm Household Support Act 1992. Paragraphs 97(1)(bb) and (ba) provide similarly in respect of a spouse of the student under the spouse income test. Subregulations 91(1AA) and 97(1AA) provide respectively that if, in a year of study, a parent's or spouse's entitlement to a DRP ends, the parental and spouse income tests concessions apply until the end of that year.
Amendments made by these regulations
Subregulation 6.1 omits paragraph 91(1)(ac) and inserts new paragraph 91(1)(ac) which replaces the reference to DRP with a reference to farm support. Subregulation 7.2 similarly amends paragraph 97(1)(bb).
Subregulations 6.2 and 7.1 omit paragraphs 91(1)(c) and 97(1)(ba) respectively which are no longer required.
Subregulation 6.3 on-omits subregulation 91(1AA) and inserts new subregulation 91(1AA) to provide that for the purpose of paragraph 91(1)(ac), the reference to DRP is replaced by a reference to farm support that is exceptional circumstances relief payment. Subregulation 7.3 similarly amends subregulation 97(1AA).
Regulation 8 Regulation 113 Definitions
Regulation 113 provides an Index of the expressions that are defined for the purposes of these Regulations. Subregulations 8.1 and 8.2 insert in the Index a reference to exceptional circumstances relief payment and farm support respectively.