Commonwealth Numbered Acts

HOME AND COMMUNITY CARE (MISCELLANEOUS AMENDMENTS) ACT 1985 No. 185 of 1985 - SECT 17

17. Section 6 of the Principal Act is repealed and the following sections are
substituted: Grants of subsidies

"6. (1) Subject to this Act, where an eligible organisation that provides a
home nursing service in a State during a relevant period receives or is to
receive State assistance in respect of that relevant period in respect of the
provision of that home nursing service, the Minister may grant a subsidy to
that organisation in respect of the provision of that service in respect of
that relevant period.

"(2) The Minister shall not grant a subsidy under this Act to an eligible
organisation in respect of the provision by that organisation of a home
nursing service in a State -

   (a)  where that service was provided in a relevant period, or in a part of
        a relevant period, that occurs on or after the day on which an
        agreement substantially in accordance with the form contained in the
        Schedule to the Home and Community Care Act 1985 was, or is, entered
        into between the Commonwealth and that State; or

   (b)  if, in circumstances to which paragraph (a) does not apply, that home
        nursing service was first provided by that eligible organisation in
        that State on or after the prescribed commencement day.

"(3) The amount of subsidy payable to an eligible organisation in respect of
the provision in a State of a home nursing service by that organisation in a
relevant period shall be determined by the Minister but shall not exceed -

   (a)  where the home nursing service was provided by an eligible
        organisation in that State during the base year - an amount equal to
        the lesser of -

        (i)    the amount of State assistance received or to be received by
               that eligible organisation in respect of the provision in that
               State of that home nursing service in that relevant period; and

        (ii)   the amount that is -

                (A)  where the relevant period is the first relevant period -
                     subject to sub-section (8), the product of the adjustment
                     factor and the amount that bears the same proportion to
                     the base amount in respect of that organisation and that
                     State of that home nursing service as the first relevant
                     period bears to a period of 52 weeks;

                (B)  where the relevant period is the second relevant period -
                     the product of the adjustment factor and the amount that
                     bears the same proportion to the amount calculated in
                     accordance with sub-sub-paragraph (A) in respect of the
                     provision in that State of that home nursing service in
                     the first relevant period as a period of 52 weeks bears
                     to the first relevant period; or

                (C)  where the relevant period is neither the first nor the
                     second relevant period - the product of the adjustment
                     factor and the amount calculated in accordance with
                     whichever of sub-sub-paragraph (B) or this
                     sub-subparagraph (in a previous application of this
                     sub-section) applies in respect of the provision in that
                     State of that home nursing service in the immediately
                     preceding relevant period; and

   (b)  where the home nursing service was first provided by that eligible
        organisation in that State in the period commencing on 1 July 1985 and
        ending on the day before the prescribed commencement day (in this
        paragraph referred to as the 'prescribed period') - an amount equal to
        the lesser of -

        (i)    the amount of State assistance received or to be received by
               the eligible organisation in respect of the provision in that
               State of that home nursing service in that relevant period; and

        (ii)   the amount -

                (A)  where the relevant period is the first relevant period -
                     that bears the same proportion to the amount of subsidy
                     granted or to be granted to that eligible organisation in
                     respect of the provision in that State of that home
                     nursing service in the prescribed period, or in the part
                     of that period during which the service was provided, as
                     the first relevant period bears to the prescribed period,
                     or to the part of that period during which that service
                     was provided, as the case may be; or

                (B)  where the relevant period is the second or a subsequent
                     relevant period - that bears the same proportion to the
                     amount ascertained in accordance with sub-subparagraph
                     (A) in respect of the provision in that State of that
                     home nursing service in the first relevant period as a
                     period of 52 weeks bears to the first relevant period.

"(4) For the purposes of this section, the base amount in respect of the
provision of a home nursing service by an eligible organisation in a State in
the base year is an amount equal to -

   (a)  where that service was provided by that organisation in that State
        throughout the base year - subject to paragraph (c), the amount of
        subsidy granted, or to be granted, to that eligible organisation under
        section 6 as that section was in force immediately before the
        prescribed commencement day in respect of the provision in that State
        of a home nursing service in the base year;

   (b)  where that service was provided by that organisation in that State
        during a period consisting of a part only of the base year (in this
        paragraph referred to as the 'prescribed period') - subject to
        paragraph (c), the amount that bears the same proportion to the amount
        of subsidy granted, or to be granted, to that organisation under
        section 6 as that section was in force immediately before the
        prescribed commencement day in respect of the provision by that
        organisation of that service in that State in the prescribed period as
        a period of 52 weeks bears to the prescribed period; and

   (c)  where the Minister has, in accordance with sub-section (7), given a
        direction specifying a period in the base year during which the
        service provided by that organisation increased significantly - the
        amount that bears the same proportion to the amount of subsidy
        granted, or to be granted, to that eligible organisation under
        section 6 as that section was in force immediately before the
        prescribed commencement day in respect of the provision by that
        organisation of that service in that State in the specified period as
        a period of 52 weeks bears to the specified period.

"(5) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (3) (a) (ii), the adjustment factor in
respect of a State and a relevant period is a number calculated
0.75A 0.25C in accordance with the formula _____+_____, where -
                                 B     D

A and B are the hourly award rates of pay for adult wage earners index
numbers for the community services industry for that State as provided
by the Australian Statistician in relation to the series entitled 'Award
Rates of Pay Indexes, Australia', in respect of the month of March in
that relevant period and in respect of the preceding month of March,
respectively; and
C and D are the All Groups Consumer Price Index numbers (excluding
hospital and medical services) for the capital city of that State as
provided by the Australian Statistician in relation to the series entitled
'Consumer Price Index' in respect of the March quarter of that relevant
period and in respect of the preceding March quarter respectively.

"(6) Where the adjustment factor in respect of a State and a relevant period,
as ascertained in accordance with sub-section (5), would, but for the
operation of this sub-section, be less than one, that factor shall be taken to
be one.

"(7) Where the Minister is satisfied that the level of a home nursing service
that was provided by an eligible organisation in a State during the base year
increased significantly during a significant part, or significant parts, of
that year, the Minister may give a direction in writing specifying the total
period during which, in the Minister's opinion, the level of the home nursing
service increased significantly.

"(8) Where the Minister is satisfied that the level of a home nursing service
that was provided by an eligible organisation in a State during the base year
increased significantly for a significant period during the period commencing
on 1 July 1985 and ending on the day before the prescribed commencement day,
the Minister may, in respect of the first relevant period, determine, in
writing, a different amount in respect of the provision by that organisation
of that service in that State from the product calculated in accordance with
sub-sub-paragraph (3) (a) (ii) (A) and, where the Minister makes such a
determination, that determined amount shall, for the purposes of the operation
of sub-paragraph (3) (a) (ii), be substituted for the amount that would, but
for this provision, have applied in respect of the first relevant period under
sub-sub-paragraph (3) (a) (ii) (A) had no determination been made.

"(9) A reference in sub-section (7) or (8) to the level of a home nursing
service that was provided by an eligible organisation in a State during the
base year increasing significantly includes a reference to a significant
increase in the number of nurses employed to carry out, or in the number of
hours worked by nurses in carrying out, that service.

"(10) A subsidy may be granted on such terms and conditions as the Minister
determines.

"(11) A subsidy shall be paid in such instalments and in such manner as the
Minister directs. Advances

"6A. (1) The Minister may, by writing, at such times as the Minister thinks
fit, authorise the making to an eligible organisation of an advance on account
of an amount of subsidy that is expected to become payable to that eligible
organisation under section 6 in respect of the provision by that organisation
of a home nursing service in a State in a relevant period, and the terms and
conditions that would be applicable to a payment of such an amount of subsidy
are applicable to any such advance.

"(2) If the total amount of advances paid to an eligible organisation under
sub-section (1) on account of an amount of subsidy that is expected to become
payable to the eligible organisation under section 6 in respect of the
provision by that organisation of a home nursing service in a State in a
relevant period exceeds the total amount of subsidy that is so payable, an
amount equal to the amount of that excess -

   (a)  may be deducted by the Commonwealth from the amount of subsidy that
        would, but for this provision, be payable to that eligible
        organisation under section 6 in respect of the provision by that
        eligible organisation of a home nursing service in that State in a
        succeeding relevant period; or

   (b)  is recoverable by the Commonwealth from that eligible organisation as
        a debt due to the Commonwealth.".