Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

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AUSTUDY REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT) 1996 NO. 21

Statutory Rules 1996 No. 21

Issued by the authority of the Minister for Schools. Vocational Education and Training

Student and Youth Assistance Act 1973

AUSTUDY Regulations (Amendment)

The Student and Youth Assistance Act 1973 (the Act) provides the legislative authority for the AUSTUDY scheme and for a debt management regime for the AUSTUDY, ABSTUDY and Assistance for Isolated Children schemes. These schemes pay financial assistance directly to students or parents.

Section 56 of the Act provides that the Governor-General may make regulations for the purposes of the Act.

The changes to the AUSTUDY scheme made by the amending regulations provide for a Schooling Incidentals Allowance (SIA) to be paid to secondary students who are eligible for the Student Homeless Rate of AUSTUDY.

The regulations commence on the date of gazettal.

Attachment A contains a more detailed explanation of the amendments.

Authority: Section 56 of the Student and Youth Assistance Act 1973

Attachment A

DETAILS OF THE AUSTUDY REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT)

Details of the amendments to the AUSTUDY Regulations are set out below:

Regulation 1        Amendment

Subregulation 1.1 provides that the AUSTUDY Regulations are amended as set out in these regulations.

These regulations commence on gazettal in accordance with section 48 of the Acts

Interpretation Act 1901.

Regulation 2        New Chapter 6B

Subregulation 2.1 inserts Chapter 6B ("Schooling Incidentals Allowance") after Chapter 6A. Chapter 6B sets out details of the Allowance in regulations 103 to 106.

Regulation 103        Interpretation

Regulation 103 states that the Schooling Incidentals Allowance payable under Chapter 6B is referred to as SIA.

Regulation 104        Who can get SIA?

Subregulation 104(1) provides that a student can get SIA in a year if he or she is a secondary student and, at some time between 1 January and 31 March in that year, qualifies as independent under regulation 72, 73, 74, 75 or 76. These regulations apply if a student:

*       is an orphan (regulation 72);

*       has parents who cannot exercise normal responsibilities because they are in prison, incapacitated or missing (regulation 73);

*       does not live at home because of serious risk to his or her physical or mental health (regulation 74);

*       is an unsupported refugee without parents in Australia (regulation 75); or

*       was paid the Independent rate as wards of the State in 1990 (regulation 76).

A student in one of the above categories who qualifies as independent is granted Reviewable Independent (R1) status. The rate of AUSTUDY payment for a student granted RI status is the same as for other independent students of comparable age, and is called the AUSTUDY Student Homeless Rate (SHR).

Subregulation 104(2) provides that a student cannot get SIA in a year if he or she:

*       has already been paid SIA in that year eg. a student commences study at the start of the academic year on AUSTUDY SHR, discontinues, and then resumes study before 31 March and is again eligible for AUSTUDY SHR;

*       or has been paid SIA or an Incidentals Allowance (IA) under the ABSTUDY scheme in that year. SIA is payable to secondary students under the age of 18 years on ABSTUDY SHR. ABSTUDY already provides an IA to some secondary students who are over 18 years old as at 1 January in the year of study. A student can only receive one of the three allowances ie AUSTUDY SIA, ABSTUDY SIA or ABSTUDY IA, in any year.

Regulation 105        How much is SIA?

Subregulation 105(1) provides that SIA for 1996 is a single payment of $300. The payment is made as soon as practicable after a student is approved for AUSTUDY SHR.

Subregulation 105(2) provides that the payment for a year later than 1996 is calculated by applying the indexation factor for the later year to the SIA for the year before the later year.

Subregulation 105(3) specifies how the indexation factor is determined. The factor is identical to the indexation factor worked out under section 12ZZA of the Act for the purposes of that section.

Regulation 106        How might an overpayment of SIA arise?

Regulation 106 provides that an overpayment of SIA arises if a student who has been paid SIA in a year does not commence study in the course for which the amount was paid by the end of the second week of classes in the first term or semester of the course. The overpayment is recoverable under Part 6 of the Act.