EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
STATUTORY RULES NO. 326
Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Education
STUDENT ASSISTANCE REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT)
(Executive Council Minute No. 53 refers)
The Student Assistance Act 1973 (the Act) provides legislative authority for the Tertiary Education Assistance Scheme (TEAS) and for Post-graduate Awards.
Section 36 of the Act, so far as it is relevant, provides that:
“The Governor-General may make regulations, not inconsistent with this Act, prescribing all matters which, by this Act, are required or permitted to be prescribed, or which are necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to this Act…”
Section 10 of the Act provides for the approval of the grant of TEAS “subject to and in accordance with the regulations”. Section 11 provides that benefit under TEAS shall consist of, inter alia, living allowance “at such rate as is determined in accordance with the regulations”.
Section 14 of the Act provides for the approval of the grant of a Post-graduate Award “subject to and in accordance with the regulations”. Section 15 provides that benefit under a
Post-graduate Award shall consist of, inter alia, the payment of living allowance “at such rate as is determined in accordance with the regulations”.
These Statutory Rules make the following amendments to the Student Assistance Regulations (the Regulations):
(i) implement Amended Cabinet Decision No. 18407 of 16 July 1982 concerning the levels of living allowances and means tests for 1983 (this decision was taken in the 1982-83 Budget context);
(ii) delete provisions which depended on sections in the Act that were repealed by the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act (No. 1) 1982 (No. 26 of 1982). These sections referred to the Senior Secondary Scholarships, which have now been phased out, and transition arrangements for holders of Commonwealth Scholarships terminated by the Act;
(iii) delete provisions relating to the Melba Memorial Conservatorium of Music. Eligibility to receive TEAS for study at the Conservatorium has been progressively phased out since 1980, consequent on Cabinet Decision No. 6696 of 13 September 1978 to phase out Commonwealth funding for the Conservatorium;
(iv) modify eligibility for the “sole parent concession” under TEAS (which involves a more liberal means test) to require that the student should be receiving family allowance in respect of his or her child, unless the child is himself receiving TEAS;
(v) provide that the late commencement of a course by a student will not affect the normal application of the TEAS means test to the student;
(vi) make a number of drafting changes, such as repealing obsolete concessions that have now been phased out.
Details of the regulations are set out below:
Regulation 1 concerns commencing dates. Amendments affecting substantive matters take effect from 1 January 1983 and other amendments take effect from Gazettal.
Regulation 2 concerns a drafting matter, the removal of references to “the Minster of State for Labor and Immigration” and inclusion of a reference to “the Minister of State for the time being administering the Migration Act 1958”.
Regulations 3 and 4 delete provisions which relate to the former Senior Secondary Scholarships.
Paragraph (a) of regulation 5 modifies the means test for TEAS so that a student who commences his course late in a year will be means tested on the same basis as a student who commences his course on time (where late commencement is due to reasons beyond a student’s control, he is entitled to Assistance as though he had commenced his studies on time).
Paragraphs (b), (c) and (d) of regulation 5 implement the increases in the levels of the maximum allowances for TEAS decided in the 1982-83 Budget context.
Paragraphs (a) and (b) of regulation 6 concern drafting matters and remove references to existing regulations that have been or are proposed to be deleted. Paragraph (c) removes a reference to the Melba Memorial Conservatorium of Music. TEAS approval for study at the Conservatorium has been revoked from the beginning of 1983. Paragraphs (d) and (e) correct a drafting error introduced by a previous amendment.
Regulation 7 repeals existing regulation 34A, which provided concessions to the TEAS eligibility conditions relating to teacher education courses. Access to the concessions was limited in 1979 to continuing students, and it is expected that there will not be any students in a position to benefit from the concessions in 1983.
Regulation 8 repeals some provisions of existing regulation 34B, which provides concessions to the TEAS eligibility conditions relating to courses of technical education undertaken before 1974. The repealed concessions would have applied only to students continuing courses commenced before 1974 and there are no longer any students in such a situation.
Paragraph (a) of regulation 9 modifies the conditions under which a student may qualify for the “sole parent concession” under TEAS.
Paragraph (b) of regulation 9 and paragraphs (a) and (b) of regulation 10 give effect to the relaxation of the TEAS means tests decided on in the context of the 1982-83 Budget.
Paragraph (c) of regulation 10 corrects a drafting error in the definition of “payday” for the purposes of TEAS.
Regulation 11 deletes a reference to section 16 of the Act. This section, which made provision for students who held a former Commonwealth Post-graduate Scholarship, was repealed by the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act (No. 1) 1982.
Regulations 12 and 13 delete existing regulations 50 and 69.
Regulations 50 and 69 make special provisions for Post-graduate Awards held prior to 1976 and are now obsolete.
Regulation 14 increases the levels of living allowances under the Post-graduate Awards, as decided in the context of the 1982-83 Budget.
Regulation 15 repeals existing regulation 84, which related only to the former Senior Secondary Scholarships and is now redundant.
Regulation 16 concerns a drafting matter and will repeal existing regulation 85(1) (p) (iii). Regulation 85 imposes an obligation on a TEAS recipient to notify changes in his situation. Sub-paragraph (1)(p)(iii) follows a provision in the TEAS means test which has been repealed previously.
Regulations 17, 18, 19 and 20 are consequent on the amendments to the Act made by the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act (No. 1) 1982. Regulations 17, 18 and 20 relate to the former Senior Secondary Scholarships. Regulation 19 relates to the former section 16 of the Act, a transition provision concerning holders of the previous Commonwealth Post-graduate Awards.
Regulation 21 removes a reference to the Melba Memorial Conservatorium of Music and follows the decision to revoke TEAS approval for study at the Conservatorium.
Regulations 22 and 23 repeal Schedules 6 and 7, which listed various courses relevant to the teacher education concession provided under existing regulation 34A. Regulation 34A has been repealed by regulation 7.
Regulation 24 makes changes in the existing Regulations to take account of changes in terminology made to the Social Security Act 1947 and the Commonwealth Tertiary Education Commission Act 1977.