EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
ISSUED BY AUTHORITY OF THE MINISTER FOR EMPLOYMENT, EDUCATION AND TRAINING
STATUTORY RULES 1987 NO. 289
STUDENT ASSISTANCE REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT)
The Student Assistance Act
The Student Assistance Act 1973 (“the Act”) provides the legislative authority for the provision of AUSTUDY. Section 36 of the Act empowers the Governor-General to make regulations under the Act.
Section 10 of the Act provides for the grant of AUSTUDY, subject to the regulations, to a person undertaking at an “education institution” a course of study approved by the Minister.
Under Section 5 of the Act, an “education institution” includes a “university” which in turn is defined in that section as an institution that is treated as such in the regulations.
THE AMENDMENTS
The present amendments change the definition of “university” to allow the University College of the Northern Territory to be classified as a “university”.
Prior to the amendments, the sub-regulation 29(4) definition limited the meaning of “university” to those institutions so regarded under the Commonwealth Tertiary Education Commission Act 1977. The University College is not regarded as a “university” under that Act.
Some students at the College have however been receiving AUSTUDY by virtue of a Federal Court decision in Darwin on 9 July 1987, O. Gipalis and N.T. Attorney-General v. Karen Schnierer. The Court held that, by reason of an agreement between the College and the University of Queensland, whereby the College teaches the University’s courses, the students concerned are, for the purposes of the Act, undertaking study at the University of Queensland.
The Government has accepted that the College should rank equally, for the purposes of AUDTUDY, with universities in the States. The amendments will allow students who are undertaking courses the College may decide to offer independent of the University, to qualify for AUSTUDY.
DETAILS OF PROPOSED AMENDMENTS
Regulation 2 of the amendments inserts regulation 4A to provide a new definition of “university”, which makes specific references to the University College of the Northern Territory.
Regulation 3 of the amendments deletes the existing definition of “university” by deleting existing sub-regulation 29(4).