EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
STATUTORY RULES 1984 NO. 235
MATERNITY LEAVE (COMMONWEALTH EMPLOYEES)
REGULATION (AMENDMENT)
Issued with the authority of the Public Service Board
Paragraph 5(1)(b) of the Maternity Leave (Commonwealth Employees) Act 1973 provides, inter alia, that the Act applies to such persons employed by the Commonwealth, and to such persons employed by a prescribed authority, as prescribed.
Section 15 of the Act provides that the Governor-General may make regulations prescribing all matters required or permitted to be prescribed.
Paragraph 4(a) of the Maternity Leave (Commonwealth Employees) Regulations provides, inter alia, that a body corporate specified in column 2 of Schedule 1 to the Regulations is a prescribed body in relation to which the Act applies.
Paragraph 6(a) of the Regulations provides, inter alia, that a person employed by a body corporate referred to in regulation 4 is a prescribed person.
Paragraph 6(b) of the Regulations provides that a person specified in column 2 of Schedule 3 to the Regulations is a prescribed person.
The purposes of these regulations are, firstly, to include the Health Insurance Commission as a body corporate to which the Act applies and, secondly, to omit three references to prescribed persons which are no longer relevant to the Regulations.
The Health Insurance Commission, which administers the Medicare system, is established under the Health Insurance Commission Act 1973. It engages staff on its own behalf and determines terms and conditions of employment. The Minister for Health, who administers the Health Insurance Commission Act, has sought the inclusion of the Commission as a prescribed authority for the purposes of paragraph 5(1)(b) of the Maternity Leave (Commonwealth Employees) Act and it is appropriate that the Commission be included.
Schedule 3 to the Regulations, which lists prescribed persons, contains three references which have been made unnecessary by the passage of the Commonwealth Electoral Legislation Amendment Act 1983 and the creation of the Australian Electoral Commission.
The offices of Chief Australian Electoral Officer and Deputy Chief Australian Electoral Officer no longer exist, and the office of Australian Electoral Officer for each State can now be covered by the Maternity Leave (Commonwealth Employees) Act without recourse to the Regulations. It is therefore appropriate that these references be repealed.