Commonwealth Numbered Acts

HOME AND COMMUNITY CARE (MISCELLANEOUS AMENDMENTS) ACT 1985 No. 185 of 1985 - SECT 38

38. Section 5 of the Principal Act is repealed and the following sections are
substituted: Grant of financial assistance

"5. (1) Subject to this Act, where a participating State has, after it has
given the notice by virtue of which it is a participating State, expended, in
a relevant period, an amount for or in connection with an approved paramedical
service scheme, financial assistance is payable to that State in respect of
the expenditure by that State of that amount.

"(2) Financial assistance is not payable to a participating State under this
Act in respect of an amount expended by that State for or in connection with
an approved paramedical service scheme where that State expended that amount
on or after the day on which an agreement substantialy 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.

"(3) The amount of financial assistance payable under this Act to a
participating State in respect of an amount expended by that State in a
relevant period for or in connection with an approved paramedical service
scheme is an amount equal to the lesser of -

   (a)  one-half of the amount expended by that State for or in connection
        with the approved paramedical service scheme in that relevant period;
        and

   (b)  the amount that is -

        (i)    where the relevant period is the first relevant period - the
               product of the adjustment factor and the amount that bears the
               same proportion to the base amount in respect of that State as
               the first relevant period bears to a period of 52 weeks;

        (ii)   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-paragraph (i) in respect of an amount expended by that
               State for or in connection with that scheme in the first
               relevant period as a period of 52 weeks bears to the first
               relevant period; or

        (iii)  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 subparagraph
               (ii) or this sub-paragraph (in a previous application of this
               sub-section) applies in respect of an amount expended by that
               State for or in connection with that scheme in the immediately
               preceding relevant period.

"(4) For the purposes of this section, the base amount, in respect of an
amount expended by a participating State for or in connection with an approved
paramedical service scheme in the base year is, subject to sub-section (6), an
amount equal to the amount of financial assistance paid or payable to that
State in respect of the base year under section 5 as that section was in force
immediately before the prescribed commencement day in respect of that
expenditure by that State in the base year for or in connection with that
scheme.

"(5) Where -

   (a)  the paramedical service provided under the approved scheme referred to
        in sub-section (4) was provided for a part only of the base year or
        the level at which the service was provided under the scheme increased
        significantly during the base year; and

   (b)  the Minister is satisfied that, for either or both of the reasons
        specified in paragraph (a), the total expenditure by that State for or
        in connection with that scheme in the base year does not fairly
        indicate the total amount that the State is likely to expend for or in
        connection with that scheme in a succeeding financial year, the
        Minister may, having regard to the matters referred to in paragraph
        (a) or (b), determine, in writing, a different amount to be the base
        amount in respect of the expenditure by that State for or in
        connection with that scheme.

"(6) Where the Minister makes a determination under sub-section (5), that
determined amount shall, for the purposes of the operation of paragraph (3)
(b), be substituted for the base amount ascertained in accordance with
sub-section (4).

"(7) For the purposes of paragraph (3) (b), the adjustment factor in respect
of a participating 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.

"(8) Where the adjustment factor in respect of a participating State and a
relevant period, as ascertained in accordance with sub-section (7), would, but
for the operation of this sub-section, be less than one, the factor shall be
taken to be one. Advances

"5A. (1) The Minister may, by writing, at such times as the Minister thinks
fit, authorise the making to a participating State of an advance on account of
an amount of financial assistance that is expected to become payable to the
State under section 5 in respect of expenditure by that State in a relevant
period for or in connection with an approved paramedical service scheme, and
the terms and conditions that would be applicable to a payment of such an
amount of financial assistance are applicable to any such advance.

"(2) If the total amount of advances paid to a participating State under
sub-section (1) on account of an amount of financial assistance that is
expected to become payable to that State under section 5 in respect of
expenditure by that State in a relevant period for or in connection with an
approved paramedical service scheme exceeds the total amount of financial
assistance that is so payable, an amount equal to the amount of that excess -

   (a)  may be deducted by the Commonwealth from the amount of financial
        assistance that would, but for this provision, be payable to that
        State under section 5 in respect of the expenditure by that State for
        or in connection with that scheme in a succeeding relevant period; or

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