EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

Migration Regulations 1994

HEALTH SERVICE PROVIDER

(REGULATION 1.15AA(2))

1. This Instrument is made under regulation 1.17 and subregulation 1.15AA(2) of the Migration Regulations 1994 (“the Regulations”).
2. Regulation 1.17 of the Regulations provides that the Minister may, by notice published in the Gazette, specify matters required by individual provisions of the Regulations to be specified for the purposes of those provisions.
3. Effective from 23 April 2007, subregulation  1.15AA(2) of the Regulations provides that:

A certificate meets the requirements of this subregulation if:

(a) it is a certificate:

(i) in relation to a medical assessment carried out on behalf of a health service provider specified by the Minister in an instrument in writing; and

(ii) signed by the medical adviser who carried it out; or

(b) it is a certificate issued by a health service provider specified by the Minister in an instrument in writing in relation to a review of an opinion in a certificate mentioned in paragraph (a), that was carried out by the health services provider in accordance with its procedures.

4.                  The purpose of the Instrument is to specify Health Services Australia (HSA) as a health service provider under subregulation 1.15AA(2) until if or when a contract is entered into with a different health service provider and a new instrument  is issued. 

5.                  The Instrument operates to specify HSA as a health service provider for the purposes of the carer definition in regulation 1.15AA.  HSA, a government business enterprise, has been contracted to provide Onshore Medical Services (OMS) for the Immigration Programme since its creation in 1997.  One of the services included in the contract is medical assessments of Australian citizens and permanent citizens who are seeking to bring a relative to Australia as a carer.  This contract is subject to regular tender process. As such, no single provider will be guaranteed to perform these services in perpetuity.  To allow for the possibility that the OMS contract may be won by a body other than HSA, the Regulations have been amended to require that the medical assessment of a person seeking a carer be carried out by a health services provider specified by the Minister in an instrument in writing.  

6.      Pursuant to section 18 of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003 consultation was not necessary.  The Instrument is of a minor or machinery nature and does not substantially alter existing arrangements.

7.      The Instrument, IMMI 07/013, commences on 23 April 2007.