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13016 Cat. No. 97 2645 4 ISBN 0644 517166
1998
THE PARLIAMENT OF THE
COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
CHILD CARE LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILL
1998
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
(Circulated by authority of the Minister for Family
Services,
the Hon. Mr Warwick Smith, MP)
CHILD CARE LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILL
1998
OUTLINE
Following the passage of the Child Care Payments Act 1997 the
Government received numerous representations about the likely administrative
impact on parents and on services which would flow from its full implementation
in April 1998. As a result the Government has decided to defer the
implementation of that Act until a child care card or similar technology is
available. This technology will allow for the introduction of a system which is
more efficient for all parties.
This Bill seeks to implement this
decision by deferring implementation of the Child Care Payments Act 1997.
This Bill also amends the Child Care Act 1972 and the Childcare Rebate
Act 1993 to allow the implementation of the other decisions taken in the
1997 Budget and reflected in the Child Care Payments Act 1997.
These are:
• a limit on Childcare Assistance of 20 hours a week
for non-work related care;
• introduction of a planning system for
long day care places and a limit on the number of new places approved in 1998
and 1999;
• introduction of immunisation as a criterion for
eligibility for Childcare Assistance and the Childcare Rebate.
The Bill
also facilitates the transfer of the payment of the current Childcare Assistance
program to Centrelink in the interim period pending the commencement of payments
under the Child Care Payments Act 1997.
Financial Impact and Regulation Impact Statements
The financial impacts and a regulation impact statement about these
measures were outlined in the explanatory memorandum provided with the Child
Care Payments Act 1997. The deferral of those arrangements will address
many of the concerns raised by the child care industry. However, operators will
be required to implement some new administrative procedures which check the work
related status and the immunisation status of families. The Department of
Health and Family Services is working to ensure that these procedures are as
simple as possible for operators. Any impact on the child care industry of the
deferral and the consequent changes to administrative arrangements will be
detailed for the Parliament in the regulation impact statements accompanying the
disallowable instruments to be made and or varied under the Child Care Act
1972.
NOTES ON CLAUSES
Clause 1 Short Title
Clause 1 gives the short title
for the Act.
Clause 2 Commencement
Clause 2 specifies and
differentiates the sections and items of Schedule 1 that commence on the day of
Royal Assent, and those that commence on a day to be fixed by Proclamation. The
new arrangements for planning approvals, for non-work related child care and for
immunisation will commence on a date to be proclaimed. This is expected to be
27 April 1998.
Clause 3 Schedule(s)
Clause 3 specifies
that, subject to the application of appropriate commencement days, each Act
specified in a Schedule to this Act shall apply as codified within that
Schedule.
Clause 4 Transitional matters
Clause 4 explains
that the Governor General may make regulations dealing with transitional matters
in respect of amendments made by Schedule 1 of this Act.
Schedule 1 - Amendment of Acts
Child Care Act 1972
Item 1 Section
4
Item 1 defines further terms used in this Schedule.
Item
2 At the end of section 4
Item 2 explains a term used later in the
Bill in dealing with confidentiality provisions.
Item 3 At the end of
subsection 4B(2)
This item gives the Secretary the power to take a
variety of actions against an operator of an eligible child care centre who
breaches the conditions of his or her approval. Consequently, section 4B(2) is
amended to reflect the Secretary’s new power to suspend or cancel an
approval under section 4E of this Bill.
Item 4 At the end of section
4B
Item 4 sets out the things that an operator of an eligible child
care service must do to maintain his or her approval. These provisions are
analogous to those contained in the Child Care Payments Act 1997 and
include the requirement that operators must hold an allocation of places and
must not exceed that allocation
Item 5 Subsection
4C(1)
Item 5 extends the Minister’s guideline making powers to
include new requirements under section 12F with regard to the allocation of
child care places. This is necessary in order to implement the 1997/98 Budget
decision to limit new child care places to 7000 per annum for 1998 and
1999.
Item 6 After section 4C
This item inserts a new
section 4D to make it clear that the 7000 per annum limit does not apply after
1999. New section 4E sets out a variety of options the Secretary may take in
respect of services which breach the conditions under which they were approved.
The powers are identical to those contained in section 179 of the Child Care
Payments Act 1997.
New section 4F is also identical to the Child
Care Payments Act 1997 (section 180) and sets out the procedure which must
be followed by the Secretary before imposing a sanction.
New section 4G
makes decisions to implement conditions or sanctions appealable to the
Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
Item 7 After the heading to Part 111
This item amends the
heading to this part to better reflect the purpose of the part by inserting
“Division 1 - Grants for new eligible child care centres and grants for
fee relief” under the heading.
Item 8 After subparagraph 12A
(1) (a) (1)
Item 8 provides that in addition to considerations of
economic need, the work related status of families will be a relevant factor in
determining the amount of fee relief payable to the operator of an eligible
child care centre. This head of power is needed to implement the government's
decision to restrict Childcare Assistance payable in respect of children whose
parents are not working, studying or training to 20 hours per week. Guidelines
to be developed will substantially resemble those previously developed under the
Child Care Payments Act 1997 and will ensure that the same exemptions
apply.
Items 9 & 10 After subsection 12A(1) and at the end
of section 12A
Items 9 and 10 say that the work test for the 20
hours limit is the same as the work test for eligibility for the Childcare
Rebate.
Item 11 After section 12E
This item inserts a new
heading, “Division 2 - Provision of tax file
numbers”.
Item 12 After section 12E
12F Secretary
to allocate child care places
This item inserts an new heading,
“Division 3 - Allocation of child care places”, and provides for a
new section 12F, which allows the Secretary to allocate child care places to new
and existing eligible child care centres. This is necessary in order to make
sure that the 7000 place limit for 1998 and 1999 which would have been required
by the Child Care Payments Act 1997 is complied with.
Section
12G The immunisation requirement
A new section 12G is also inserted,
under the heading, “Division 4 - The immunisation requirement”,
which specifies the immunisation requirements for Childcare Assistance. These
requirements are the same as those set out in the Child Care Payments Act
1997 and will operate until payments commence under that Act.
Section 12H Minister's directions
A new section 12H is inserted
which provides that the Minister may make directions which exempt certain
classes of children from the immunisation requirements and which set out the
requirements for notices issued under section 12G. These directions are a
disallowable instrument for the purposes of section 46A of the Acts
Interpretation Act 1901.
Item 13 After part 111
This
item introduces new sections 12J to 12V.
New sections 12J to 12V
introduce confidentiality provisions into the Child Care Act 1972. This
was a recommendation of the Law Reform Commission in its review of the child
care legislation. These new sections are identical to the confidentiality
provisions in sections 230 to 242 of the Child Care Payments Act 1997.
Item 14 After subsection 21(1)
Item 14 empowers the
Minister to delegate powers to the CEO or an employee of the Agency (Centrelink)
for the time when Centrelink take over the payment of Child care Assistance.
Powers are delegated under subsection 12A (2), 20B and 23, pertaining to making
grants to an operator, making recoveries, and the manner of payment of grants
respectively.
Item 15 After section 21
This item
introduces new section 21A.
New section 21A permits the Secretary to
delegate any or all powers under this Act to officers of the Department or the
CEO of Centrelink. Additionally, until Centrelink take over the administration
of the immunisation provisions, child care centre operators will be required to
verify parents' immunisation status. Accordingly, this section allows the
Secretary to delegate this power to operators.
Child Care Payments
Act 1997
Items 16 and 17
Items 16 and 17 defer the
payment commencement day of the Child Care Payments Act 1997. This is
necessary as a result of the Government’s decision to implement the
Child Care Payments Act 1997 so that it can be introduced in conjunction
with a smart card, in order to reduce the administrative complexity of the
system. The current provision requires the Child Care Payments Act 1997
to come into effect within 6 months of Royal Assent. These items extend this to
thirty months, which has been chosen to allow time for the development of the
smart card.
Child Care Payments (Consequential Amendments
and Transitional
Provisions) Act 1997
Items 18 to 24
Items 18 to 24
deal with consequential amendments to the Child Care
Payments
(Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Act
1997. These are technical amendments to the Child Care Payments
(Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Act 1997 which are
required as a result of this Bill.
Childcare Rebate Act 1993
Item 25 Section 4
This item inserts into section 4 of
the Childcare Rebate Act 1993 definitions relating to the Australian
Childhood Immunisation Scheme.
Item 26 After Division 1 of Part
4
This item inserts a new section 39A to introduce the requirement
that children meet the immunisation requirement in order to receive Childcare
Rebate. This provision is modelled on section 81 of the Child Care Payments
Act 1997. Briefly, it allows families which do not meet the requirements a
period of 28 days in which to take steps to meet the requirements.
The
new section 39B gives the Minister the power to direct in writing that classes
of children are exempt from the requirement to be immunised and to give
directions about the way the Health Insurance Commission will satisfy itself
about a child’s immunisation status. These directions are in the form of
a disallowable instrument and will be subject to Parliamentary scrutiny.