States Grants (Advanced Education) Act 1973
No. 93 of 1973
AN ACT
To amend the States Grants (Advanced Education) Act (No. 3) 1972.
[Assented to 24 August 1973]
BE IT ENACTED by the Queen, the Senate and the House of Representatives of Australia, as follows:—
Short title and citation.
1. (1) This Act may be cited as the States Grants (Advanced Education) Act 1973.
(2) The States Grants (Advanced Education) Act (No. 3) 1972 is in this Act referred to as the Principal Act.
(3) The Principal Act, as amended by this Act, may be cited as the States Grants (Advanced Education) Act 1972–1973.
Commencement.
2. This Act shall come into operation on the day on which it receives the Royal Assent.
Grants for acquisition of library material.
3. Section 7 of the Principal Act is amended—
(a) by omitting from sub-section (2) the words “Five hundred thousand dollars” and substituting the words “Five million dollars”, and
(b) by omitting sub-sections (3), (4) and (6).
4. After section 7 of the Principal Act the following sections are inserted:—
Grants for assistance to students in need.
“7a. (1) There is payable to each State during the year 1973, for the purpose of financial assistance in connexion with students in need, the amount specified in the following table opposite to the name of that State:—
Name of State | Amount |
| $ |
New South Wales................... | 134,000 |
Victoria.......................... | 392,000 |
Queensland....................... | 92,000 |
South Australia..................... | 51,000 |
Western Australia................... | 96,000 |
Tasmania......................... | 41,000 |
| 806,000 |
“(2) The financial assistance by way of payment of an amount to a State under sub-section (1) is granted on the conditions that—
(a) the State will ensure that the amount is applied towards assisting students in need; and
(b) the State will furnish annually to the Commission statistics and information in respect of the application, of the amount by the State.
“(3) In this section, ‘student in need’, in relation to a State, means a student who is enrolled at a college of advanced education situated in the State, is undertaking at the college a course of study approved by the Commission under section 4 and is determined by the college to be experiencing hardship by reason of his financial circumstances.
Grant for course in social work.
“7b. (1) Subject to sub-section (2), there is payable to the State of Tasmania during the year 1973, for the purpose of financial assistance, the sum of Forty thousand dollars.
“(2) The financial assistance to the State of Tasmania by way of payment of an amount under sub-section (1) is granted on the condition that that State will ensure that the amount of the payment is applied, in a manner approved by the Commission, towards the costs of planning, and other preparatory work in connexion with, the post-graduate course of study in social work that the Tasmanian College of Advanced Education proposes to offer in the year 1974 and subsequent years.”.
Overview
The States Grants (Advanced Education) Act 1973 was enacted to amend the States Grants (Advanced Education) Act (No. 3) 1972. This Act was introduced to address the need for increased funding in advanced education and to provide specific grants to support students in need and educational initiatives. Enacted by the Queen, the Senate and the House of Representatives of Australia, the Act aims to facilitate financial assistance to states for advanced education purposes. The policy objective is to support educational programs and students experiencing financial hardship, as well as to aid in the development of new courses, such as a post-graduate course in social work in Tasmania.
Scope and Application
The States Grants (Advanced Education) Act 1973 applies to the States of Australia, specifically targeting the allocation of grants for advanced education purposes. This Act is a direct amendment to the States Grants (Advanced Education) Act (No. 3) 1972, altering the provisions for financial assistance towards advanced education. The Act provides grants to individual states for specific educational purposes, such as the acquisition of library material and financial assistance to students in need, as well as targeted grants for courses in social work. The financial assistance is contingent on the state's compliance with conditions set by the Commonwealth Commission, including the application of funds towards the specified educational purposes and the provision of statistical and informational reports on the use of these funds. The Act applies to the entire Commonwealth of Australia, encompassing all states and territories, and extends its application through subordinate instruments, which can further detail the administration and enforcement of the grants.
Key Provisions
The main sections of the States Grants (Advanced Education) Act 1973 (sections 3 and 4) revise and supplement the earlier States Grants (Advanced Education) Act (No. 3) 1972. Section 3 increases the maximum amount for grants to States for the acquisition of library material from $500,000 to $5,000,000, and removes certain other limitations on such grants. Section 4 introduces new grants for the financial assistance of students in need (section 7a) and for preparatory work related to a post-graduate course in social work in Tasmania (section 7b).
The obligations imposed by the Act on the states and the Tasmanian College of Advanced Education include ensuring that the grants for students in need are applied specifically towards financial assistance, with states required to submit annual statistics and information to the Commission regarding the application of these funds. For the grant to Tasmania for the social work course, the state must ensure the funds are used for the costs of planning and preparatory work for the course, in a manner approved by the Commission.
Breaches of the conditions set out in the Act may result in civil or criminal consequences. For instance, if a state fails to apply the grant for students in need as specified, it could face civil action to recover the misused funds. Similarly, if Tasmania does not use the grant for the social work course in the approved manner, it may also be subject to civil action to recover the misused funds. The Act does not specify maximum penalties for these breaches, but they could potentially be enforced through the relevant courts with penalties determined according to the applicable law.