EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
SUBJECT - NATIONAL HEALTH ACT 1953
NATIONAL HEALTH REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT)
1990 No. 24
ISSUED ON THE AUTHORITY OF THE MINISTER FOR COMMUNITY SERVICES AND HEALTH
Section 140 of the National Health Act 1953 (the Act) provides that the Govenor-General may make Regulations, not inconsistent with the Act, prescribing all matters required or permitted to be prescribed or which are necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to the Act.
Section 68 of the Act provides for applications to be made by organizations wishing to become registered health benefits organizations for the purposes of the Act. Subsection 69(1) provides that the National Health Regulations (the Regulations) shall make provision for, and in relation to, the manner and form in which such applications are to be lodged and the documents and information which are to accompany them.
Regulation 19 of the Regulations sets out, for the purposes of subsection 69(1), the documents and information required to accompany such applications. It also requires the applications to be in accordance with an authorized form. The new Regulations have made amendments to Regulation 19 to modify some of these current requirements. Details of the proposed amendments to Regulation 19 are set out in Attachment A.
Subsection 68(1D) of the Act has only recently been inserted into the Act. It commenced operation on 15 November 1989. It allows an organization already registered to apply to carry on business in States other than those in respect of which it is already registered.
Subsection 69(1) also provides that the Regulations shall make provision for the manner and form in which these applications are to be lodged and the documents and information which are to accompany them. Until now, however, the Regulations have not made such provision. The new Regulations, therefore, have inserted a new Regulation 19A into the Regulations to cover such matters. This Regulation provides for such applications to be made in accordance with an approved form and also sets out the information and documents which must accompany them. Details of the new Regulation 19A are set out in Attachment B.
Regulation 20 of the Regulations allows the Secretary of the Department of Community Services and Health to require an organization applying for registration under section 68 of the Act to furnish him with specified additional information relating to the documents already required to be provided by Regulation 19 or the general affairs, finances or conduct of the organization.
The new Regulations have amended Regulation 20 to allow the Secretary to also request such information from registered organizations applying under subsection 68 (1D) of the Act to carry on business in States other than those in respect of which it is already registered.
ATTACHMENT A
AMENDMENTS TO REGULATION 19
Regulation 19 of the Regulations requires applications for registration to be made in accordance with an authorized form accompanied by the documents and information set out in the Regulation. The new Regulations have made a number of modifications to these requirements - most of which are of a minor and cosmetic nature.
The changes include, however, the addition of two further documents which will be required to accompany such applications. One is a statement signed by an actuary stating that the estimates made by the organization and provided under paragraphs (c), (d) and (f) of Regulation 19 (relating to assets and liabilities, income and expenditure, management and administrative expenses and fund contributions), are reasonable and consistent.
The other additional document is a statement setting out, in relation to each Director or other officer of the organization responsible for the conduct of the organization’s affairs, particulars of any employment or other experience relevant to the conduct of a business.
ATTACHMENT B
REGULATION 19A
The new Regulations have inserted a new Regulation 19A into the Regulations to make provision for the manner and form in which applications under subsection 68(1D) must be made.
The new Regulation requires such applications to be in accordance with the approved form and lodged with the Secretary to the Department of Community Services and Health.
The application is required to be accompanied by:
(i) Two copies of the rules and articles of association of the organization;
(ii) A statement estimating the assets and liabilities of the new fund proposed to be conducted in the new State or States;
(iii) A statement, in relation to the above proposed fund, estimating the anticipated income and expenditure of the fund during the first 12 months, the fund’s estimated assets and liabilities at the end of that period, and the estimated number of contributors to the fund at the end of that period;
(iv) A statement setting out the ratio that the estimated management and administrative expenses of the above fund bears to the estimated amount of contributions to the fund;
(v) A statement setting out the tables or classes of benefits to be offered in the above fund, the contributions in respect of those benefits and the amount of those benefits;
(vi) A statement signed by an actuary stating that the estimates required by paragraphs (ii), (iii) and (iv) above are reasonable and consistent; and
(v) A statement setting out, in relation to each Director of other officer of the organization responsible for the conduct of its affairs, particulars of any employment or other experience relevant to the conduct of a business.
The new Regulation requires the person signing the application on behalf of the organization to certify that the copies of the rules and articles of association are true and correct and that the above estimates have been prepared on the basis of information that is true and correct.