EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Commonwealth of Australia
Hearing Services Administration Act 1997
HEARING SERVICES (PARTICIPANTS IN THE VOUCHER SYSTEM) AMENDMENT DETERMINATION 2005 (No.1)
Subsection 13(1) of the Hearing Services Administration Act 1997 (“the Act”) provides that the Minister may, by writing, determine additional classes of eligible persons who are able to participate in the voucher system of the Australian Government Hearing Services Program, and the hearing services that may be available to such persons in the event that they are issued with a voucher by the Minister.
Under the Australian Government Hearing Services Program eligible people can receive hearing services including free hearing assessment, hearing rehabilitation and if appropriate hearing devices.
The Hearing Services (Participants in the Voucher Scheme) Determination 1997 (“the Determination”) sets out any additional classes of eligible persons not specified in the Act and the classes of hearing services.
The Hearing Services (Participants in the Voucher System) Amendment Determination 2005 (No. 1) (“the Amending Determination”) makes a number of minor amendments to the Determination as a consequence of the repealing of the Hearing Services Rules of Conduct 2000 and the making of the Hearing Services Rules of Conduct 2005, effective
1 October 2005. The amendments make no changes to the classes of persons who are eligible to participate in the voucher system or the services that they are eligible to receive.
The Amending Determination removes references to the Hearing Services Rules of Conduct 2000 and replaces such references with references to the Hearing Services Rules of Conduct 2005. The Amending Determination also amends the references to specific rules and paragraphs of the Hearing Services Rules of Conduct 2000 to reflect the renumbering of these rules and paragraphs in the Hearing Services Rules of Conduct 2005.
CONSULTATION
There was no consultation specifically about the amendments set out in the Amending Determination as they are purely technical in nature. There was consultation about the repealing of the Hearing Services Rules of Conduct 2000 and the making of the Hearing Services Rules of Conduct 2005.
The Amending Determination is a “legislative instrument” for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.
Details of the Amending Determination are set out in the Attachment.
Attachment
NOTES ON SECTONS
1. Name of Determination
This section provides that the determination may be cited as the Hearing Services (Participants in the Voucher Scheme) Amendment Determination 2005 (No. 1).
2. Commencement
This section provides that the determination commence on 1 October 2005.
3. Amendment of Hearing Services (Participants in the Voucher Scheme) Determination 1997
This section provides that Schedule 1 of the determination amends the Hearing Services (Participants in the Voucher Scheme) Determination 1997.
SCHEDULE 1 AMENDMENTS
Item [1] removes references to rule 11 of the Hearing Services Rules of Conduct 2000, appearing in subsection 6(2), Table B, class nos. 1 and 2 of the Determination, and replaces these references with references to rule 12 of the Hearing Services Rules of Conduct 2005.
Item [2] removes references to paragraph 40(2)(a) of the Hearing Services Rules of Conduct 2000, appearing in subsection 7(3)(b) of the Determination, and replaces these references with references to paragraph 42(2)(b) of the Hearing Services Rules of Conduct 2005.
Item [2] removes references to paragraph 40(2)(a) of the Hearing Services Rules of Conduct 2000, appearing in subsection 8(2)(b) of the Determination, and replaces these references with references to paragraph 42(2)(b) of the Hearing Services Rules of Conduct 2005.