Education and Training Legislation Repeal Act 2017
No. 88, 2017
An Act to repeal certain obsolete Acts relating to education and training, and for related purposes
Contents
1 Short title
2 Commencement
3 Schedules
Schedule 1—Repeals of Acts
Part 1—Repeals
Australian Research Council (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Act 2001
Australian Technical Colleges (Flexibility in Achieving Australia’s Skills Needs) Act 2005
Skilling Australia’s Workforce Act 2005
Skilling Australia’s Workforce (Repeal and Transitional Provisions) Act 2005
Part 2—Consequential amendments
Social Security Act 1991
Part 3—Saving and transitional provisions
Education and Training Legislation Repeal Act 2017
No. 88, 2017
An Act to repeal certain obsolete Acts relating to education and training, and for related purposes
[Assented to 23 August 2017]
The Parliament of Australia enacts:
1 Short title
This Act is the Education and Training Legislation Repeal Act 2017.
2 Commencement
(1) Each provision of this Act specified in column 1 of the table commences, or is taken to have commenced, in accordance with column 2 of the table. Any other statement in column 2 has effect according to its terms.
Commencement information |
Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
Provisions | Commencement | Date/Details |
1. The whole of this Act | The day after this Act receives the Royal Assent. | 24 August 2017 |
Note: This table relates only to the provisions of this Act as originally enacted. It will not be amended to deal with any later amendments of this Act.
(2) Any information in column 3 of the table is not part of this Act. Information may be inserted in this column, or information in it may be edited, in any published version of this Act.
3 Schedules
Legislation that is specified in a Schedule to this Act is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule concerned, and any other item in a Schedule to this Act has effect according to its terms.
Schedule 1—Repeals of Acts
Part 1—Repeals
Australian Research Council (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Act 2001
1 The whole of the Act
Repeal the Act.
Australian Technical Colleges (Flexibility in Achieving Australia’s Skills Needs) Act 2005
2 The whole of the Act
Repeal the Act.
Skilling Australia’s Workforce Act 2005
3 The whole of the Act
Repeal the Act.
Skilling Australia’s Workforce (Repeal and Transitional Provisions) Act 2005
4 The whole of the Act
Repeal the Act.
Part 2—Consequential amendments
Social Security Act 1991
5 Subsection 23(1) (definition of VET provider)
Repeal the definition, substitute:
VET provider means a registered training organisation (within the meaning of the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act 2011) that provides vocational education and training.
Part 3—Saving and transitional provisions
6 Saving provision
Despite the repeal of the Australian Technical Colleges (Flexibility in Achieving Australia’s Skills Needs) Act 2005 made by Part 1 of this Schedule:
(a) a Part 2 agreement in force under that Act immediately before the commencement of this item continues in force on and after that commencement; and
(b) that Act, as in force immediately before that commencement, continues to apply on and after that commencement in relation to the Part 2 agreement.
7 Transitional rules
(1) The Minister may, by legislative instrument, make rules prescribing matters of a transitional nature (including prescribing any saving or application provisions) relating to the amendments or repeals made by this Schedule.
(2) To avoid doubt, the rules may not do the following:
(a) create an offence or civil penalty;
(b) provide powers of:
(i) arrest or detention; or
(ii) entry, search or seizure;
(c) impose a tax;
(d) set an amount to be appropriated from the Consolidated Revenue Fund under an appropriation in this Act;
(e) directly amend the text of this Schedule.
(3) This Schedule (other than subitem (2)) does not limit the rules that may be made for the purposes of subitem (1).
[Minister’s second reading speech made in—
House of Representatives on 22 June 2017
Senate on 17 August 2017]
Overview
The Education and Training Legislation Repeal Act 2017, enacted by the Parliament of Australia and assented to on 23 August 2017, addresses the need to remove outdated and obsolete legislation related to education and training. The Act aims to streamline the legislative framework by repealing several Acts, including the Australian Research Council (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Act 2001, the Australian Technical Colleges (Flexibility in Achieving Australia’s Skills Needs) Act 2005, the Skilling Australia’s Workforce Act 2005, and the Skilling Australia’s Workforce (Repeal and Transitional Provisions) Act 2005. The policy objective is to ensure that the legislative environment is current and efficient, facilitating better governance and compliance within the education and training sectors. Consequential amendments to existing legislation, such as the Social Security Act 1991, are also included to align definitions and provisions with the repealed Acts.
Scope and Application
The Education and Training Legislation Repeal Act 2017 is a Commonwealth Act that repeals certain obsolete legislation relating to education and training. This Act applies to various Acts, including the Australian Research Council (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Act 2001, the Australian Technical Colleges (Flexibility in Achieving Australia’s Skills Needs) Act 2005, the Skilling Australia’s Workforce Act 2005, and the Skilling Australia’s Workforce (Repeal and Transitional Provisions) Act 2005. The repeal of these Acts is designed to streamline and modernise the legislative framework for education and training in Australia. The Act also includes consequential amendments to the Social Security Act 1991 to reflect the changes in the definition of a VET provider. Furthermore, the Act allows the Minister to make transitional rules via legislative instruments to manage the transition from the repealed Acts, though these rules are restricted from creating offences or imposing certain powers and penalties. The Act came into effect on the day after receiving Royal Assent, which was 24 August 2017.
Key Provisions
The Education and Training Legislation Repeal Act 2017 (the "Act") serves primarily to repeal certain obsolete Acts relating to education and training, and includes consequential amendments to other legislation. Section 1 of the Act establishes its short title, while Section 2 details the commencement of the Act, which occurred the day after Royal Assent on 24 August 2017. The Act repeals the Australian Research Council (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Act 2001, the Australian Technical Colleges (Flexibility in Achieving Australia’s Skills Needs) Act 2005, the Skilling Australia’s Workforce Act 2005, and the Skilling Australia’s Workforce (Repeal and Transitional Provisions) Act 2005, as detailed in Schedule 1, Part 1.
The Act imposes several obligations and requirements on entities governed by the repealed Acts. For instance, it mandates the repeal of the definition of 'VET provider' in the Social Security Act 1991 and substitutes it with a new definition, which now refers to a registered training organisation under the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act 2011. Additionally, it includes saving and transitional provisions that ensure certain agreements and applications of the repealed Acts continue in force until otherwise specified. Under Section 6, for example, Part 2 agreements under the Australian Technical Colleges (Flexibility in Achieving Australia’s Skills Needs) Act 2005 remain in effect despite the repeal of that Act. Furthermore, Section 7 allows the Minister to make transitional rules by legislative instrument to address any transitional matters arising from the repeals, subject to certain limitations such as not creating offences, imposing taxes, or directly amending the Schedule.
In terms of potential breaches, the Act does not create new offences but references existing penalties under the repealed Acts. The transitional rules outlined in Section 7 cannot create new offences or civil penalties, nor can they grant powers of arrest, detention, entry, search, or seizure. The rules also cannot impose taxes or set amounts for appropriation from the Consolidated Revenue Fund. However, entities and individuals affected by the repealed Acts must comply with the new definitions and transitional provisions as specified in the Act. Failure to adhere to these changes could result in non-compliance with the current legislative framework governing vocational education and training in Australia.