EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Issued by the authority of the Minister for Education, Science and Training
Subject:- Higher Education Support Act 2003
Commonwealth Grant Scheme Guidelines
Section 238-10 of the Higher Education Support Act 2003 (the Act) provides that the Minister may make Guidelines for the purposes of the Act. In particular, section 238-10 specifies that the Minister may make Commonwealth Grant Scheme Guidelines to give effect to matters set out in Part 2.2 and section 93-10 of the Act.
The Commonwealth Grant Scheme Guidelines are comprised of twelve chapters.
Chapter 1 specifies that the terms in the Guidelines have the same meaning as in the Act.
Chapter 2 specifies higher education providers other than Table A higher education providers that are eligible for grants under Part 2-2 of the Act. Grants are payable under the Commonwealth Grant Scheme (CGS) to higher education providers for providing a specified number of Commonwealth supported places distributed across 12 funding clusters that are set out in section 30-15 of the Act.
Chapter 3 specifies outcomes that are a national priority for the provision of higher education, as required by section 30-20. These national priorities are namely: to increase the number of persons undertaking teaching and nursing courses of study; and to support those student places currently funded by the Commonwealth as ongoing places at Avondale College and at the University of Notre Dame Australia.
Chapter 4 specifies how the amount of regional loading is worked out for Commonwealth supported places at regional campuses for the purposes of subsection 33-5(b) of the Act.
Chapter 5 specifies how the amount of the medical student loading, that assists higher education providers to meet teaching hospital costs, is worked out for the purposes of subsection 33-5(c) of the Act.
Chapter 6 specifies how the amount of the enabling loading is worked out for the purposes of subsection 33-5(d) of the Act. This loading applies for students undertaking courses that enable them to undertake a course leading to a higher education award.
Chapter 7 sets out the requirements known as the National Governance Protocols that higher education providers need to satisfy for increases in basic grant amount for a year and specify a date for higher education providers to meet these requirements.
Chapter 8 specifies the circumstances under which an eligible higher education provider’s basic grant amount for a year may be adjusted for the purposes of section 33-20 of the Act.
Chapter 9 specifies how to determine the funding clusters in which units of study are included and the particular funding cluster in which a particular unit of study is included for the purposes of section 33-35 of the Act.
Chapter 10 specifies the circumstances under which advances and reductions in grants may be made for the purposes of section 33-40 of the Act.
Chapter 11 details the requirements that higher education providers are required to meet in imposing fees for fee-paying overseas students in accordance with paragraph 19-105(3)(d) of the Act.
Chapter 12 specifies the criteria that allow a provider to levy a charge for fees for goods and services that are incidental to a course of study, for example, costs associated with field trips, in accordance with paragraph
19-105(3)(f) of the Act .
The Guidelines commenced on Gazettal.