Commonwealth of Australia Explanatory Memoranda Commonwealth of Australia Explanatory Memoranda[Index] [Search] [Download] [Bill] [Help]
2004-2005-2006-2007
THE PARLIAMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
SCHOOLS ASSISTANCE (LEARNING TOGETHER - ACHIEVEMENT THROUGH
CHOICE AND OPPORTUNITY) AMENDMENT (2007 BUDGET MEASURES)
BILL 2007
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
(Circulated by authority of the Minister for Education, Science and Training,
the Honourable Julie Bishop MP)
SCHOOLS ASSISTANCE (LEARNING TOGETHER - ACHIEVEMENT
THROUGH CHOICE AND OPPORTUNITY) AMENDMENT (2007
BUDGET MEASURES) BILL 2007
OUTLINE
The purpose of the Bill is to amend the Schools Assistance (Learning Together - Achievement
Through Choice and Opportunity) Act 2004 (the Act), which provides funding for Australian
Government programmes of financial assistance to the States and Territories for government and
non-government schools for the 2005 to 2008 quadrennium.
The purpose of the Bill is to provide increased per capita assistance to State and non-government
education authorities for newly arrived humanitarian entrant students under the English as a
Second Language (ESL) - New Arrivals programme for the 2008 programme year. The Bill
includes a new definition for eligible humanitarian entrant students. The Bill will amend the Act
to include a new Table 3 in Schedule 8 that specifies the per capita funding amount for eligible
humanitarian entrant students for 2008 (the ESL new arrivals humanitarian amount). This
amount is equivalent to double the existing per capita ESL new arrivals amount in Table 2 of
Schedule 8. Funding will be subject to indexation, as is the case for existing grants under the
ESL - New Arrivals programme.
The Bill will amend the Act to provide for additional funding in the form of a loading linked to
recurrent grants for non-government schools in rural and remote regions, based on the degree of
remoteness, for 2008. The Bill includes new definitions of `moderately accessible school',
`remote school' and `very remote school'.
The funding loading will be provided to non-government schools (or campuses of schools)
located within areas classified as `Moderately Accessible', `Remote' or `Very Remote'.
Eligibility for the loading will be determined using a remoteness classification as defined in the
Remoteness Structure under the Australian Bureau of Statistics' Australian Standard
Geographical Classification and according to the remoteness of the Census Collection District in
which the school campus is located. The delimitation criteria for remoteness areas are based on
the Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia (ARIA). Non-government schools and
campuses located within areas classified as `Moderately Accessible', `Remote' or `Very
Remote' will receive an additional 5 percent, 10 percent or 20 percent respectively of the
funding entitlement associated with their socioeconomic status score.
Funding amounts are in initial 2005 prices, the price basis of the Act.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The Bill measure to provide increased funding for newly arrived Humanitarian entrant students
under the English as a Second Language - New Arrivals programme for 2008 is estimated at $50
million for 2008. The cost of providing a loading to recurrent grants for eligible non-
government schools in remote areas in 2008 is estimated at $40 million. The financial impact is
an estimate as both programmes are demand driven with final funding determined by student
numbers in 2008.
SCHOOLS ASSISTANCE (LEARNING TOGETHER - ACHIEVEMENT
THROUGH CHOICE AND OPPORTUNITY) AMENDMENT (2007
BUDGET MEASURES) BILL 2007
NOTES ON CLAUSES
Clause 1 - Short title
Provides for the Act to be cited as the Schools Assistance (Learning Together - Achievement
Through Choice and Opportunity) Amendment (2007 Budget Measures) Act 2007.
Clause 2 - Commencement
Provides for the Act to commence on the day on which it receives Royal Assent.
Clause 3 - Schedule(s)
Provides that each Act that is specified in a Schedule is amended or repealed as set out in the
applicable items in the Schedule, and that any other item in a Schedule has effect according to its
terms.
Schedule 1 -- Eligible humanitarian new arrivals
Schools Assistance (Learning Together - Achievement Through Choice and
Opportunity) Act 2004
Items 1 and 2 - Section 4 (definitions)
Section 4 sets out the definitions used in the Act. Items 1 and 2 insert two new definitions of
eligible humanitarian new arrival and ESL new arrivals humanitarian amount.
Items 3 and 6 - Subsection 113(2) (formula) and subsection 114(2) (formula)
Part 9 of the Act provides for grants for teaching English to new arrivals. Section 113 deals with
grants for teaching English as a second language in government schools and section 114 deals
with grants for teaching English as a second language in non-government schools.
Items 3 and 6 repeal and substitute the formula in subsections 113(2) and 114(2) to provide for
a subset of students who are entering Australia with a visa issued under the Humanitarian
Migration Program and who are already eligible for the existing ESL new arrivals grant.
Items 4 and 7 - Subsections 113(2) and 114(2)
Items 4 and 7 amend subsections 113(2) and 114(2) to insert two new definitions of number of
eligible humanitarian new arrivals in government schools and number of eligible
humanitarian new arrivals in non-government schools as a consequence of the amendments
made by items 3 and 6 of Schedule 1.
Items 5 and 8 - Subsection 113(2) (definition of number of eligible new arrivals in
government schools) and subsection 114(2) (definition of number of eligible new arrivals in
non-government schools)
Items 5 and 8 consequentially amend subsections 113(2) and 114(2) to insert the words ", other
than eligible humanitarian new arrivals," after the words "the number of eligible new arrivals".
Item 9 - After paragraph 124(1)(c)
Division 2 of Part 11 of the Act deals with cost supplementation and section 124 deals with cost
supplementation for recurrent grants. Item 9 inserts proposed new paragraph 124(1)(ca) which
provides for the ESL new arrivals humanitarian amount.
Item 10 - At the end of Schedule 8
Schedule 8 deals with grants for targeted assistance. Item 10 inserts proposed new Part 3 to
Schedule 8 to deal with the amounts for ESL humanitarian new arrivals for the 2008 program
year. A note at the end of the table to Part 3 of Schedule 8 assists the reader by explaining that
the operation of section 124 may affect the amount of the grants.
Schedule 2 -- Remoteness per capita loading
Schools Assistance (Learning Together - Achievement Through Choice and
Opportunity) Act 2004
Items 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 - Section 4
Inserts definitions into section 4 for moderately accessible school campus, Remoteness
Structure, remote school campus, school campus and school campus census day and very
remote school campus.
Items 7, 8 and 9 - Paragraphs 53(1)(f), 53(1)(g) and after paragraph 53(1)(g)
Part 4 of the Act deals with varying lists and section 53 deals with the change of SES score and
SES current funding level of a non-government school in certain circumstances.
Items 7 and 8 make technical amendments to paragraphs 53(1)(f) and 53(1)(g) by inserting the
word "different" after the words "determine a". This is to clarify that schools to which those
paragraphs apply would have previously had a current SES funding level determined.
Item 9 inserts proposed new paragraph 53(1)(ga) which provides that the Minister must
determine a different current SES funding level for the school if, immediately before the
Minister determined the new SES score, Subdivision G of Division 2 of Par 6 of the Act applied
to the school.
Schools that are special schools or special assistance schools will need a current SES funding
level to use in the formula to work out the amount of any remoteness per capita loading for the
school under the proposed new Subdivision I of Division 2 of Part 6. The Minister will
determine a SES score for special schools and special assistance schools under section 8 to
enable the calculation of a current SES funding level. This new paragraph ensures that if the
Minister is required to determine a new SES score for a special school or a special assistance
school under paragraph 53(d) the Minister must also determine a different current SES funding
level for the school.
Item 10- After subsection 71(7)
Division 2 of Part 6 of the Act deals with grants for general recurrent expenditure for schools.
Section 71 provides a simplified outline of Division 2 of Part 6 of the Act. Item 10 inserts
proposed new subsection 71(7A) which provides that schools dealt with under Subdivision I will
receive remoteness per capita loading in respect of one or more school campuses.
Item 11 - At the end of Subdivision B of Division 2 of Part 6
Inserts proposed new section 77A which identifies the schools to which Subdivision I applies for
a particular program year. A note at the end of section 77A clarifies that assistance under
Subdivision I of Division 2 of Part 6 of the Act is in addition to the financial assistance that is
available under Subdivision C, D, E, F or G.
Item 12 - At the end of Division 2 of Part 6
Inserts proposed new Subdivision I which provides for remoteness per capita loading for certain
schools. Subdivision I inserts proposed new sections 98A, 98B and 98C.
The purpose of proposed new Subdivision I is to allow the Minister to make a determination
authorising payment of the remoteness per capita loading and sets out how the amount of
remoteness per capita loading is worked out. The formulas set out in sections 98B and 98C use
the new definitions inserted into the Act by items 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.
Because of the way the Act is structured and how it provides for general recurrent funding and
SES scores, each section in Subdivision I is divided into two parts: one dealing with a school's
primary students and a school's secondary students.
Proposed new section 98A deals with authorising payments for remoteness per capita loading.
Proposed new subsection 98A(1) provides that section 98A applies to a school in a State for a
particular program year if Subdivision I applies to the school for that program year in accordance
with section 77A.
A note at the end of subsection 98A(1) clarifies that assistance under Subdivision I is in addition
to the financial assistance that is available under this Act.
Proposed new subsection 98A(2) provides that the Minister may make a determination under
subsection 98A(2) authorising payment of financial assistance to the State for recurrent
expenditure of the school for the program year of an amount not more than the amount worked
out for the school by adding up:
· the amount worked out under subsection 98B(1) for the school's primary students (if
any) for the program year; and
· the amount worked out under subsection 98B(2) for the school's primary students (if
any) for the program year; and
· the amount worked out under subsection 98B(3) for the school's primary students (if
any) for the program year.
Proposed new subsection 98A(3) provides that the Minister may make a determination under
subsection 98A(3) authorising payment of financial assistance to the State for recurrent
expenditure of the school for the program year of an amount not more than the amount worked
out for the school by adding up:
· the amount worked out under subsection 98C(1) for the school's secondary students (if
any) for the program year; and
· the amount worked out under subsection 98C(2) for the school's secondary students (if
any) for the program year; and
· the amount worked out under subsection 98C(3) for the school's secondary students (if
any) for the program year.
Proposed new section 98B sets out how the amount for a school's primary students for the
program year is calculated under subsection 98A(2).
Proposed new subsection 98B(1) provides a formula for calculating the amount for a school's
primary students for a program year who receive primary education at a school's moderately
accessible school campus.
Example of how to calculate the number of relevant primary students for the purposes of the
formula: A school has 2 moderately accessible school campuses (school campus A and school
campus B) for a program year. Two hundred full-time students receive primary education at
school campus A on the school campus census day for school campus A in the program year.
One hundred full-time students receive education at school campus B on the school campus
census day for school campus B in the program year. So the number of relevant primary
students for the school for the program year is three hundred.
The definition of number of relevant primary students in proposed new subsection 98B(1) does
not include primary distance education students unless the Minister has made a determination
under paragraph 5(1)(b) in relation to those students. This is because the definition applies to
students receiving primary education and subsection 5(1) provides that a student is not taken to
be receiving primary education at a non-government school unless the student attends the school
at the location on a daily basis or the Minister has made a determination under paragraph 5(1)(b).
Proposed new subsection 98B(2) provides a formula for calculating the amount for a school's
primary students for a program year who receive primary education at a school's remote school
campus.
The definition of number of relevant primary students in proposed new subsection 98B(2) does
not include primary distance education students unless the Minister has made a determination
under paragraph 5(1)(b) in relation to those students. This is because the definition applies to
students receiving primary education and subsection 5(1) provides that a student is not taken to
be receiving primary education at a non-government school unless the student attends the school
at the location on a daily basis or the Minister has made a determination under paragraph 5(1)(b).
Proposed new subsection 98B(3) provides a formula for calculating the amount for a school's
primary students for a program year who receive primary education at a school's very remote
school campus.
The definition of number of relevant primary students in proposed new subsection 98B(3) does
not include primary distance education students unless the Minister has made a determination
under paragraph 5(1)(b) in relation to those students. This is because the definition applies to
students receiving primary education and section 5(1) provides that a student is not taken to be
receiving primary education at a non-government school unless the student attends the school at
the location on a daily basis or the Minister has made a determination under paragraph 5(1)(b).
Proposed new subsection 98B(4) provides that if an amount worked out under subsection
98B(1), 98B(2) or 98B(3) is an amount of dollars and cents, the amount is to be rounded to the
next higher dollar.
Proposed new section 98C sets out how the amount for a school's secondary students for the
program year is calculated under subsection 98A(3).
Proposed new subsection 98C(1) provides a formula for calculating the amount for a school's
secondary students for a program year who receive secondary education at a school's moderately
accessible school campus.
The definition of number of relevant secondary students in proposed new subsection 98C(1)
does not include secondary distance education students unless the Minister has made a
determination under paragraph 5(1)(b) in relation to those students. This is because the definition
applies to students receiving secondary education and subsection 5(1) provides that a student is
not taken to be receiving secondary education at a non-government school unless the student
attends the school at the location on a daily basis or the Minister has made a determination under
paragraph 5(1)(b).
Proposed new subsection 98C(2) provides a formula for calculating the amount for a school's
secondary students for a program year who receive secondary education at a school's remote
school campus.
The definition of number of relevant secondary students in proposed new subsection 98C(2)
does not include secondary distance education students unless the Minister has made a
determination under paragraph 5(1)(b) in relation to those students. This is because the definition
applies to students receiving secondary education and subsection 5(1) provides that a student is
not taken to be receiving secondary education at a non-government school unless the student
attends the school at the location on a daily basis or the Minister has made a determination under
paragraph 5(1)(b).
Proposed new subsection 98C(3) provides a formula for calculating the amount for a school's
secondary students for a program year who receive secondary education at a school's very
remote school campus.
The definition of number of relevant secondary students in proposed new subsection 98C(2)
does not include secondary distance education students unless the Minister has made a
determination under paragraph 5(1)(b) in relation to those students. This is because the definition
applies to students receiving secondary education and subsection 5(1) provides that a student is
not taken to be receiving secondary education at a non-government school unless the student
attends the school at the location on a daily basis or the Minister has made a determination under
paragraph 5(1)(b).
Proposed new subsection 98C(4) provides that if an amount worked out under subsection
98C(1), 98C(2) or 98C(3) is an amount of dollars and cents, the amount is to be rounded to the
next higher dollar.
Item 13 - Paragraph 132(1)(d)
Section 132 deals with a change of SES score due to a false or misleading statement. Item 13
repeals paragraph 132(1)(d) and inserts a proposed new paragraph which provides that section
132 applies if the other requirements in section 132 are met and as a result of the statement, the
school or a school in the approved school system either:
· obtains a higher funding level for the purposes of meeting recurrent expenditure than, in
the Minister's opinion, the school may have obtained if the statement had not been made;
or
· obtains a larger amount under Subdivision I of Division 2 of Part 6 than, in the Minister's
opinion, the school may have obtained if the statement had not been made.
This proposed new paragraph is inserted because for some schools, the funding level, as defined
in section 6, would not change if a different SES score were determined for the school. However
the amount of financial assistance for such schools worked out under proposed new Subdivision
I of Division 2 of Part 6 would change if a different SES score for the school were determined.
Item 14 - Schedule 4 (note)
Schedule 4 to the Act sets out the amounts for general recurrent grants for non-government
schools.
Item 14 amends the note to Schedule 4 by inserting the words ", 98A to 98C" after the words
"93 to 96" to refer to amounts in Schedule 4.
Item 15 - Application
Provides that the amendments made by Schedule 2 apply to a school for the 2008 program year
and later program years.
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