States Grants (Primary and Secondary Education Assistance) Regulations (Amendment) 1995 No. 263
EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
STATUTORY RUES 1995 No. 263
Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Schools, Vocational Education and Training
States Grants (Primary and Secondary Education Assistance) Act 1992
States Grants (Primary and Secondary Education Assistance) Regulations (Amendment)
Section 119 of the States Grants (Primary and Secondary Education Assistance) Act 1992 (the Act) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations for the purposes of the Act.
Paragraph 106 (1)(b) of the Act provides that the regulations may specify for a particular program year numbers to be used for the variation of amounts of recurrent and capital grants, respectively, specified in Schedules in relation to that year. The Minute recommends amendments to the States Grants (Primary and Secondary Education Assistance) Regulations to specify the numbers for the 1994, 1995 and 1996 program years in respect of recurrent grants and for 1994 and 1995 in respect of capital grants.
The amounts of recurrent and capital grants given to each State for specific purposes are set out in the Schedules for each program year and are supplemented each year to meet the cost of inflation by multiplying the amounts of the Schedules by the relevant numbers set out in the Regulations.
Recurrent grants are supplemented in line with the Average Government Schools Recurrent Costs (AGSRC) index. The AGSRC index used for this purpose is based on movements in Average Government School Costs, excluding capital costs associated with the provision of buildings and grounds, and with modifications for oneoff costs such as redundancy payments and the exclusion of the Commonwealth's own outlays. The AGSRC is maintained by the Ministerial Council for Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs. The latest available AGSRC is for the 1993/94 financial year.
Capital grants are supplemented by the Building Price Index (BPI) which is based on information provided by the Australia Bureau of Statistics.
The Regulations provide for the initial recurrent grants for 1995 and 1996 to be supplemented by movements in the AGSRC between the 1992/93 and 1993/94 financial years. The variation between these two years is 2.0%.
The Regulations provide for capital grants for 1995 to be supplemented by the BPI for cost movements between December 1993 and December 1994. The variation between these two years is 2.2%. Capital grants for 1996 have not yet been appropriated.
The effect of the Regulations is to provide an additional $55 million in 1995 and $56 million in 1996 for recurrent programs. For capital grants, the cost of the movement in the BPI is $7 million for 1995.
The supplementation applies to both government and non-government school sectors.
The flow-on effect of the Regulation on recurrent and capital grants is as follows:
Recurrent programs for 1995, an additional $55m increasing grants to $2.83 billion;
for 1996, an additional $56m increasing grants to $2.89 billion.
Capital Program for 1995, an additional $7m increasing grants to $320m.
Details of the Regulations are below.
Regulation 1: Commencement
Provides that the Regulations commence on Gazettal.
Regulation 2: Amendment
Provides that the Regulations amend the States Grants (Primary and Secondary Education Assistance) Regulations.
Regulation 3: Regulation 3A (Cost supplementation - recurrent grants in 1994, 1995 and 1996 program years)
Provides for a new regulation, regulation 3A, to prescribe a number in respect of the program years 1995 and 1996.
Regulation 4: (Cost supplementation - capital grants)
Provides for a new regulation, regulation 4, to prescribe a number in respect of the program year 1995.