EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Issued by the authority of the Minister for Mental Health and Ageing
Commonwealth of Australia
Australian Hearing Services Act 1991
Declared Hearing Services Amendment Determination 2011 (No. 1)
The Australian Hearing Services Act 1991 (the Act) establishes Australian Hearing Services (Australian Hearing) with the function, among others, of providing declared hearing services to young Australians, referred Comcare clients, referred Commonwealth employees and designated persons. Declared hearing services to young Australians and designated persons are delivered by Australian Hearing under the Community Services Obligation (CSO) component of the Hearing Services Program (HSP), funded by the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing.
Subsections 8 (4) to 8 (8) inclusive of the Act empower the Minister to determine designated persons for the purposes of 8(1) (ad) of the Act, and determine the declared hearing service(s) available to designated persons, young Australians, referred Comcare clients and referred Commonwealth employees. The Declared Hearing Services Determination 1997 (the Principal Determination) is the legislative instrument that describes the "designated persons" and the specified hearing services determined to be declared hearing services by the Minister.
The May 2010 Senate Inquiry Report Hear Us: Inquiry into Hearing Health in Australia identified children and young people as being a particular at risk group. The report found that young people often lacked access to hearing services at a stage of their lives that could impact their future earning potential and social participation. To better assist these young adults complete their education/training and establish their careers, the Australian Government, in the 2011-12 Budget, committed to extending eligibility under the CSO for hearing rehabilitation and hearing devices (including hearing aids and cochlear speech processor upgrades), to young adults up to their 26th birthday. Previously, eligibility was lost at age 21.
The Declared Hearing Services Amendment Determination 2011 (No. 1) (the determination) amends the Principal Determination to implement the 2011-12 Budget commitment.
Under subsection 8(10) of the Act, "young Australians" are Australian citizens and permanent residents under 21 years of age. Before the amendments made by the determination, the effect of the Principal Determination was that:
class 1 services were available to young Australians (ie until the person turns 21); and
class 5 (ie maintenance) services were available for 5 years after a young Australian turned 21 (ie until the person turns 26).
The determination amends the Principal Determination with the effect that:
class 1 services are available to young Australians and "young adults" (ie until the person turns 26); and
class 5 services are available for 5 years after a young adult turns 26 (ie until the person turns 31).
The determination does this by amending the Principal Determination to:
determine a new class of designated person, known as "young adults", being Australian citizens and permanent residents who have turned 21 but are under
26 years of age;
determine that class 1 services are declared hearing services for young adults; and
determine that class 5 services are declared hearing services for former young adults for 5 years after they turn 26.
The determination also makes a number of consequential amendments and other updates to the Principal Determination.
CONSULTATION
While the 2010 Senate Inquiry involved significant and broad community consultation, the more immediate consultation regarding the proposed hearing services amendments has been confined to the Department of Human Services (which has portfolio responsibility for Australian Hearing) and Australian Hearing directly.
NOTES ON SECTIONS
1 Name of Determination
This section states that the name of the determination is the Declared Hearing Services Amendment Determination 2011 (No. 1).
2 Commencement
This section states that the determination commences on 1 January 2012.
3 Amendment of Declared Hearing Services Determination 1997
This section provides that Schedule 1 of the determination amends the Principal Determination.
Schedule 1 Amendments
Item [1] corrects the reference to the department responsible for the administration of the Community Development Employment Projects Program in the definition of the term “CDEP Program” in subsection 3 (1).
Item [2] inserts the words “or young adult” after "young Australian" in the definition of “parent” in subsection 3 (1). This amendment reflects that advice and support under class 1 services can now be provided to parents of young adults as well as parents of young Australians.
Item [3] repeals and replaces the definition of “profound hearing loss” in subsection 3 (1) to correct a typographical error.
Item [4] inserts a definition of “young adult” in subsection 3 (1).
Item [5] adds an additional subsection to the interpretation section that applies to references in Schedule 1 to any hearing service. This subsection states that references to hearing services in Schedule 1 do not include services that test for, treat and rehabilitate individuals who have Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD).
This provision is intended to clearly define the extent of availability of hearing services under the CSO. CAPD is a condition characterised by difficulties in listening and attention skills. This inability to process the meaning of sound(s) is generally not associated with hearing loss or impairment. As the purpose of the HSP is to reduce the incidence and impact of hearing loss, services to test for, treat or rehabilitate people who have CAPD are outside the scope of, and funding for, the CSO. Australian Hearing may still provide CAPD services where that falls within one of its functions other than those under paragraphs 8 (1) (aa) to (ad).
Item [6] repeals section 4 and replaces it with a new section providing that class 1 services are declared hearing services for young Australians and young adults.
Item [7] repeals paragraph 8 (2) (a) and replaces it with a paragraph that provides that class 5 services are only declared hearing services for former young adults for 5 years after the person turns 26.
Item [8] repeals and replaces the note to section 8 to correct a typographical error. This note explains the application of paragraphs 8 (2) (a) and 8 (2) (b) for persons ceasing to be a member of class 1 and 7 respectively.
Item [9] repeals section 9 as it ceased to be in force on 1 July 2002.
Item [10] repeals the note to section 11 and replaces it with a new note that describes the authority of the Minister in the Act to declare hearing services available to classes of person. Item [10] updates the note to reflect other amendments made by the determination.
Item [11] amends the current paragraph 12 (a) (i), which specifies the group of designated persons for whom class 5 services are declared hearing services. It provides that a person who has turned 26 and, immediately before turning 26, was a young adult is a designated person. Accordingly, under section 8, class 5 services are available to a person who was an Australian citizen or permanent resident immediately before turning 26. Note that, under this amendment, some former young Australians who lost access to class 5 services because they turned 26 before the commencement of the determination may access class 5 services again.
Item [12] repeals paragraph 12 (b) as this class of designated persons is no longer required following the repeal of section 9 by Item [9] of the determination. The paragraph established transitional arrangements for this class of persons when the Principal Determination commenced in 1997.
Item [13] amends paragraph 12 (d) (i) to substitute "26" for "21". This is to provide that Aboriginal persons and Torres Strait Islanders under the age of 26 (previously 21 years) are recognised as designated persons.
Item [14] is a technical amendment to enable the addition of another paragraph to section 12.
Item [15] adds another paragraph to section 12 that extends the classes of designated persons to include young adults, ie Australian citizens and permanent residents who have turned 21 but are under 26 years of age.
Item [16] amends section 12A by substituting "2012" with "2015". The effect of section 12A was to remove a class of designated persons from 1 July 2012 (being CDEP Program participants between 2005 and 2008). This class of designated persons continues to have high hearing rehabilitation needs that are unlikely to be addressed if their eligibility under the CSO component of the Program is not continued. Amending this section to continue the "grandfathering" arrangement until 30 June 2015 will provide continuing access to hearing services for this class of designated persons.
Item [17] repeals the note to the heading to Schedule 1 and replaces it with a new note that provides guidance on interpretation of references in the schedule to provision of a hearing device and hearing services with reference to subsections 3 (2) and 3 (4).
Item [18] repeals the heading of Part 1 of Schedule 1 and replaces it with a new heading to include young Australians and young adults.
Item [19] simplifies the drafting of Part 5 of Schedule 1 to refer to the relevant part of the Act.
Item [20] adds a note to Part 5 of Schedule 1 that explains the availability of hearing services specified in the Part (after a person ceases to be a member of class 1 or 7).
Item [21] repeals Part 6 of Schedule 1 as this Part ceased to be in force on 1 July 2002.