Explanatory Statement

Family Assistance (Meeting the Immunisation Requirements) Amendment Determination 2003 (No. 1)

Summary

The Family Assistance (Meeting the Immunisation Requirements) Amendment Determination 2003 (No. 1) (this Determination) amends the Family Assistance (Meeting the Immunisation Requirements) Determination 2003  (the 2003 Determination) to ensure that the following classes of children continue to meet the immunisation requirements for the purposes of the family assistance law:

• a child who has not received a vaccination as required at a particular age because one or more vaccines for that vaccination are temporarily unavailable (until such time as the vaccine is available); and

• a child who is vaccinated overseas, where the vaccination/s have provided the same level of immunisation that the child would have acquired if vaccinated in accordance with the standard or catch up vaccination schedules determined in the Family Assistance (Vaccination Schedules) Determination 2003.

Background

This Determination is made under subsection 7(2) of the A New Tax System (Family Assistance) Act 1999 (the FA Act).  Subsection 7(2) provides that the Minister may, by disallowable instrument, determine classes of children who meet the immunisation requirement for the purposes of the family assistance law.  These are children who would otherwise not meet the immunisation requirements as set out in the FA Act.

The 2003 Determination, which is amended by this Determination, already provides that a child meets the immunisation requirement if the child is a participant in a defined vaccination study.  This Determination adds two further classes of children into the 2003 Determination.

These two classes are not new.

Children unable to be vaccinated because a vaccine is temporarily unavailable

This class of children was covered by the Family Assistance (Immunisation Requirements Exemption) Amendment Determination 2002 (No. 1) before its revocation by the new Family Assistance (Exemption from Immunisation Requirements) Determination 2003.

However, as this is a circumstance in which a child meets the immunisation requirement (rather than being exempt from the requirement), it is more appropriately located in a determination under subsection 7(2) of the FA Act.  This Determination is made under subsection 7(2).

The description of this class of children has been revised to take account of the new Family Assistance (Vaccination Schedules) Determination 2003.

Where children are vaccinated overseas

The immunisation status of children vaccinated overseas was dealt with in the Family Assistance (Vaccination Schedules) Determination 2000 prior to it being revoked by the new Family Assistance (Vaccination Schedules) Determination 2003.

The previous rules relating to children immunised overseas essentially provided another circumstance in which children meet the immunisation requirement and are therefore more appropriately located in a determination under subsection 7(2) of the FA Act.

The description of this class of children has been revised to take account of the new Family Assistance (Vaccination Schedules) Determination 2003.

Explanation of the Clauses

Clause 1 states the name of this Determination.

Clause 2 states that this Determination is taken to have commenced on 19 September 2003.  This commencement is consistent with the commencement of:

• the new Family Assistance (Exemption from Immunisation Requirements) Determination 2003 (which revokes the determination which previously covered children who are not vaccinated because of temporarily unavailable vaccines); and

• the new Family Assistance (Vaccination Schedules) Determination 2003 (which revokes the determination which previously covered children vaccinated overseas).

The same commencement date has been adopted to ensure there are no gaps in coverage.

Clause 3

This clause amends the 2003 Determination as set out in Schedule 1.

Schedule 1

Clause 1 of Schedule 1 inserts relevant definitions as a new section 2A of the 2003 Determination.  The terms “catch up vaccination schedule” and “standard vaccination schedule” are defined by reference to the new Family Assistance (Vaccination Schedules) Determination 2003.  A “recognised immunisation provider” has been defined by reference to subsection 3(1) of the FA Act.  A “relevant authority” has been defined to mean a person or organisation authorised by a Commonwealth, State or Territory health authority to declare that a vaccine is temporarily unavailable.

Clause 2 of Schedule 1 inserts new sections 4 and 5 into the 2003 Determination.

New section 4 covers the situation where a child is not vaccinated as required and a recognised immunisation provider or relevant authority provides a written declaration that the relevant vaccine is temporarily unavailable.  In this situation, the child meets the immunisation requirement provided the child has received all other relevant vaccinations and until such time as the unavailable vaccine becomes available.

New section 5 ensures that a child who is vaccinated overseas meets the immunisation requirement where a recognised immunisation provider provides a written declaration that the vaccinations provide the same level of immunisation that the child would have acquired if vaccinated in accordance with the standard or catch up vaccination schedules determined in the new Family Assistance (Vaccination Schedules) Determination 2003.