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1998 - 1999 – 2000 - 2001
THE PARLIAMENT
OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA
HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES
INDIGENOUS
EDUCATION (TARGETED ASSISTANCE) AMENDMENT BILL
2001
EXPLANATORY
MEMORANDUM
(Circulated
by authority of the Minister for Education, Training and Youth Affairs the
Hon Dr David Kemp MP)
ISBN: 0642 458855
INDIGENOUS EDUCATION (TARGETED ASSISTANCE) AMENDMENT
BILL 2001
OUTLINE:
The purpose of the Bill is to amend the
Indigenous Education (Targeted Assistance) Act 2000 (the Act) to provide
additional funding:
• for projects involving partnerships between
communities, industry and education providers and support for vocational
learning for Indigenous secondary school students; and
• to address
adverse effects that amendments to the Fringe Benefits Tax Assessment Act
1986 have on non-profit Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
organisations.
The additional funding is being targeted as part of the
‘Australian’s Working Together’ package released by the Prime
Minister on 2 April 2001 and is to fund projects that encourage Indigenous
secondary students to complete Year 12 and progress to tertiary and further
education.
The funding is also aimed at improving job opportunities for
Indigenous people, especially in remote areas where employment opportunities are
few, and will fund initiatives that promote early intervention strategies to
improve education outcomes for Indigenous school students and increase their
ability to complete apprenticeships and commercial cadetship, or to pursue
employment opportunities.
The Fringe Benefits Tax Assessment Act 1986
restricts the eligibility of certain benefits relating to charities and
non-profit organisations to a maximum of $30,000 of the gross taxable value of
the benefit per employee. This will impact adversely on the ability of some
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations to offer competitive salary
packaging to attract suitably qualified staff, especially in remote
areas.
The Bill seeks to alleviate the impact that amendments to the
Fringe Benefits Tax Assessment Act 1986 have on Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander non-profit organisations. The additional funding provided in
the Bill will ensure that such organisations, and the needy students who get
their education through those organisations, are not disadvantaged by the
changes to the fringe benefits tax.
The Bill increases appropriations for non-ABSTUDY payments
by:
• $2,538,000 for the year 2002;
• $4,504,000 for the
year 2003;
• $4,417,000 for the year 2004.
INDIGENOUS EDUCATION (TARGETED ASSISTANCE) AMENDMENT BILL
2001
NOTES ON CLAUSES
Clause 1 - Short Title
This clause provides for this
Act to be cited as the Indigenous Education (Targeted Assistance) Amendment
Act 2001.
This clause provides for this Act to commence on the day on which it
receives the Royal Assent.
Clause 3 –
Schedule(s)
This clause provides that each Act that is specified in a
Schedule is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in the
Schedule concerned.
Indigenous Education (Targeted Assistance) Act
2000
Provides for an increase in the amount appropriated out of the
Consolidated Revenue Fund for the purposes of making non-ABSTUDY payments for
the period from 1 January 2002 to 30 June 2003, from $126,066,000 to $128,
605,000.
Provides for an increase in the amount appropriated out of the
Consolidated Revenue Fund for the purposes of making non-ABSTUDY payments for
the period from 1 January 2003 to 30 June 2004, from $128,438,000 to
$132,942,000.
Provides for an increase in the amount appropriated out of the
Consolidated Revenue Fund for the purposes of making non-ABSTUDY payments for
the period from 1 January 2004 to 30 June 2005, from $129,588,000 to
$134,005,000.