EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Guidelines issued under subsection 238-10 of the Higher Education Support Act 2003
Amendment No. 12 to the Commonwealth Grant Scheme Guidelines No.1
Issued by the authority of the Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Science and Research
Subject: Higher Education Support Act 2003
Amendment No. 12 to the Commonwealth Grant Scheme Guidelines No.1
Authority
Section 238-10 of the Higher Education Support Act 2003 (the Act) provides that the Minister may make guidelines providing for matters required or permitted by a specified chapter(s), part(s) and/or section(s) of the Act, or which are necessary or convenient to be provided in order to carry out or give effect to a specified chapter(s), part(s) and/or section(s) of the Act. In particular, item 2 of the table at section 238-10 specifies that the Minister may make the Commonwealth Grant Scheme Guidelines to give effect to matters set out in Part 2-2 and section 93-10 and section 93-10 of the Act.
Purpose and operation
This legislative instrument amends the Commonwealth Grant Scheme Guidelines No.1 which was registered on 12 December 2006 and which commenced on 13 December 2006 (see F2006L04079).
The purpose of this amendment is to amend the Guidelines to update the Department’s name as a result of Machinery of Government changes, allow a final adjustment of the transitional loading following an amendment of the Act to remove the lower student contribution for mathematics, statistics and science units and correct duplication in the numbering of paragraph 6.10.5.
Explanation of amendments
Item 1 – This item amends the Department’s name in the definitions section to reflect Machinery of Government changes that occurred in December 2011.
Items 2, 4 and 6 – These items are amended to update the Department’s name.
Item 3 – This item corrects a duplicate numbering of paragraph 6.10.5 by removing the second occurring paragraph 6.10.5 and substituting new paragraph 6.10.10, which provides that the number of EFTSL coded as enabling student load will be that reported by the higher education provider and cleared as final by the Department.
Item 5 – This item is amended to update the Department’s name. It also removes the words ‘before the end of the preceding year’ from the definition of “A”. The effect of this amendment is that DIISRTE will not be limited in time in consulting relevant providers to determine an estimated EFTSL of post-2008 mathematics, statistics and science units in a particular year, in particular 2012.
Commencement
This legislative instrument will come into effect on the day after registration on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments.
Consultation
As the amendment updates the Department’s name, changes the formula in paragraph 11.3.2 to remove the words ‘before the end of the preceding year’ and corrects duplication in the numbering of paragraph 6.10.5, these changes are minor and technical in nature and as a result consultation was not undertaken.
Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights
Prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011
COMMONWEALTH GRANT SCHEME GUIDELINES
This Legislative Instrument is compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the international instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011.
Overview of the Legislative Instrument
The Commonwealth Grant Scheme Guidelines are made by the Minister under section 238‑10 of the Higher Education Support Act 2003 (the Act).
The Commonwealth Grant Scheme Guidelines set out which non-Table A higher education providers can be paid grants under Part 2-3 of the Act, when an advance for certain purposes may be made and how the funding clusters are determined. The Guidelines also set out the national priorities under section 30‑20 of the Act and how the regional, enabling, transitional and medical loadings and facilitation funding are calculated.
The amendments made by this instrument update the Department’s name as a result of Machinery of Government changes, amend the formula in paragraph 11.3.2 to remove the words ‘before the end of the preceding year’ and correct the duplication in the numbering of paragraph 6.10.5.
Human rights implications
The Instrument engages the following human rights:
Right to education
The Instrument engages the right to education contained in Article 13 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
The amendments in this instrument make minor and technical changes to the requirements in the Guidelines. The aim of the Guidelines is to improve the quality of higher education. For example, the Guidelines set out the calculations for the loadings that are paid to providers to assist them to meet the costs associated with regional campuses, medicine courses and enabling courses. The Guidelines also allow the Minister to advance a higher education provider their grant in particular circumstances such as to assist a provider with the cash-flow implications of restructuring.
The amendments contained in this instrument do not negatively impact on the provision of education. To the extent that the right to education is engaged, it is promoted as it improves the quality of education.
Conclusion
This Instrument is compatible with human rights because it advances the protection of human rights.
Senator Chris Evans, Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Science and Research