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HOME AND COMMUNITY CARE (MISCELLANEOUS AMENDMENTS) ACT 1985 No. 185 of 1985 - SECT 7

7. Section 6 of the Principal Act is repealed and the following sections are
substituted: Authorisation of payments

"6. (1) Subject to this Act, the Secretary may authorise the payment of a
subsidy to an approved organisation in respect of the provision by that
organisation of meals in the course of conducting an approved meal service in
a State in a relevant period.

"(2) The Secretary shall not authorise the payment of a subsidy under this Act
to an approved organisation in respect of the provision by that organisation
of meals in the course of conducting an approved meal service in a State -

   (a)  where those meals were 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 the circumstances to which paragraph (a) does not apply, those
        meals were provided on or after the prescribed commencement day and
        they were the first meals to be provided by that organisation in the
        course of conducting that service in that State.

"(3) The amount of subsidy payable to an approved organisation in respect of
the provision by that organisation of meals in the course of conducting an
approved meal service in a State in a relevant period shall be determined by
the Secretary but shall not exceed -

   (a)  where meals were provided by that organisation in the course of
        conducting that service in that State during the base year - an amount
        equal to the lesser of -

        (i)    an amount equal to the sum of -

                (A)  subject to sub-section (5), the product of 55 cents and
                     the number of meals (if any) provided by that
                     organisation in that State in that relevant period that
                     included fresh fruit or fruit juice in accordance with an
                     arrangement approved under section 5; and

                (B)  the product of 50 cents and the number of meals (if any)
                     provided by that organisation in that State in that
                     relevant period that did not include fresh fruit or fruit
                     juice; and

        (ii)   the amount that is -

                (A)  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 organisation and that State 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 by that organisation of meals in the course of
                     conducting that service in that State 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 by that
                     organisation of meals in the course of conducting that
                     service in that State in the immediately preceding
                     relevant period; and

   (b)  where meals were first provided by that organisation in the course of
        conducting that service 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)    an amount equal to the sum of -

                (A)  subject to sub-section (5), the product of 55 cents and
                     the number of meals (if any) provided by that
                     organisation in that State in that relevant period that
                     included fresh fruit or fruit juice in accordance with an
                     arrangement approved under section 5; and

                (B)  the product of 50 cents and the number of meals (if any)
                     provided by that organisation in that State in that
                     relevant period that did not include fresh fruit or fruit
                     juice; and

        (ii)   the amount -

                (A)  where the relevant period is the first relevant period -
                     that bears the same proportion to the amount of subsidy
                     paid to that approved organisation in respect of the
                     provision by that organisation of meals in the course of
                     conducting that service in that State 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 of meals in the course of
                     conducting that service in that State in the first
                     relevant period as a period of 52 weeks bears to the
                     first relevant period.

"(4) The Secretary may, for the purposes of sub-section (5), by notice
published in the Gazette, specify conditions (in addition to any conditions
applicable under section 9) relating to the operation and management of
approved organisations in relation to the conduct by those organisations of
approved meal services.

"(5) Where the Secretary is satisfied that an approved organisation is, in
conducting an approved meal service, complying with the conditions referred to
in sub-section (4) that apply to that organisation, the amount of 65 cents
shall be substituted for the amount of 55 cents for the purposes of the
operation of sub-sub-paragraph (3) (a) (i) (A) or (3) (b) (i) (A).

"(6) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (3) (a) (ii), the adjustment factor, in
respect of a relevant period and a State in which an approved organisation is
providing meals in the course of conducting an approved meal service, is a
number calculated in accordance with the formula
0.75A   0.25C _____ + _____, 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.

"(7) Where the adjustment factor in respect of a relevant period and a State
in which an approved organisation is providing meals in the course of
conducting an approved meal service, as ascertained in accordance with
sub-section (6), would, but for the operation of this sub-section, be less
than one, that factor shall be taken to be one.

"(8) For the purposes of this section, the base amount in respect of the
provision of meals by an approved organisation in the course of conducting an
approved meal service in a State during the base year is an amount equal to -

   (a)  where meals were provided by that organisation in the course of
        conducting that service in that State throughout the base year -

        (i)    if none of those meals attracted a higher rate of subsidy by
               virtue of the operation of sub-section 6 (1B) as that section
               was in force immediately before the prescribed commencement day
               - subject to paragraph (c), the amount of subsidy paid or
               payable to that approved organisation under section 6 as that
               section was in force immediately before the prescribed
               commencement day in respect of the provision of those meals by
               that organisation in the course of conducting that service in
               that State in the base year; or

        (ii)   if at least one of those meals attracted a higher rate of
               subsidy by virtue of the operation of sub-section 6 (1B) as
               that section was in force immediately before the prescribed
               commencement day - subject to paragraph (c), the product of 65
               cents and the total number of meals provided by that
               organisation in the course of conducting that service in that
               State in the base year;

   (b)  where meals were provided by that organisation in the course of
        conducting that service in that State during a period consisting of a
        part only of the base year (in this paragraph referred to as the
        'prescribed period') -

        (i)    if none of those meals attracted a higher rate of subsidy by
               virtue of the operation of sub-section 6 (1B) as that section
               was in force immediately before the prescribed commencement day
               - subject to paragraph (c), the amount that bears the same
               proportion to the amount of subsidy paid or payable to that
               organisation under section 6 as that section was in force
               immediately before the prescribed commencement day in respect
               of the provision of meals by that organisation in the course of
               conducting that service in that State in the prescribed period
               as a period of 52 weeks bears to the prescribed period; or

        (ii)   if at least one of those meals attracted a higher rate of
               subsidy by virtue of the operation of sub-section 6 (1B) as
               that section was in force immediately before the prescribed
               commencement day - subject to paragraph (c), the product of 65
               cents and the number of meals that bears the same proportion to
               the number of meals provided in the prescribed period as a
               period of 52 weeks bears to the prescribed period; or

   (c)  where the Secretary has, in accordance with sub-section (9), given a
        direction specifying a period in the base year during which the number
        of meals provided by that organisation in the course of conducting
        that service in that State increased significantly -

        (i)    where the amount ascertained in accordance with subparagraph
               (a) (i) or (b) (i) would, but for this provision, be applicable
               - the amount that bears the same proportion to the amount of
               subsidy paid or payable to that approved organisation under
               section 6 as that section was in force immediately before the
               prescribed commencement day in respect of the provision of
               meals by that organisation in the course of conducting that
               service in that State in that specified period as a period of
               52 weeks bears to the specified period; or

        (ii)   where the amount ascertained in accordance with subparagraph
               (a) (ii) or (b) (ii) would, but for this provision, be
               applicable - the amount that bears the same proportion to the
               product of 65 cents and the number of meals provided by that
               organisation in the course of conducting that service in that
               State in that specified period as a period of 52 weeks bears to
               the specified period.

"(9) Where the Secretary is satisfied that the number of meals provided by an
approved organisation in the course of conducting an approved meal service in
a State in the base year increased significantly during a significant part, or
significant parts, of that year, the Secretary may give a direction in writing
specifying the total period during which, in the Secretary's opinion, the
number of meals so provided increased significantly.

"(10) Where -

   (a)  at least one of the meals provided by an approved organisation in the
        course of conducting an approved meal service in a State in the period
        commencing on 1 July 1985 and ending on the day before the prescribed
        commencement day (in this sub-section referred to as the 'prescribed
        period'), being an approved meal service that was provided by that
        organisation during the base year, attracted a higher rate of subsidy
        by virtue of the operation of sub-section 6 (1B) as that section was
        in force immediately before the rescribed commencement day; or

   (b)  the Secretary is satisfied that the number of meals provided by an
        approved organisation in the course of conducting an approved meal
        service in a State in the prescribed period, being a service that was
        provided during the base year, increased significantly for a
        significant period during the prescribed period, the Secretary may, in
        respect of the first relevant period, determine, in writing, a
        different amount in respect of the provision of those meals by that
        organisation in the course of conducting that service in that State
        from the product calculated in accordance with sub-sub-paragraph (3)
        (a) (ii) (A) and, where the Secretary 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. Advances

"6A. (1) The Secretary may, by writing, at such times as the Secretary thinks
fit, authorise the making to an approved organisation of an advance on account
of an amount of subsidy that is expected to become payable to the approved
organisation under section 6 in respect of the provision by that organisation
of meals in the course of conducting an approved meal 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 approved organisation under
sub-section (1) on account of an amount of subsidy that is expected to become
payable to the approved organisation under section 6 in respect of the
provision by that organisation of meals in the course of conducting an
approved meal 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 approved
        organisation under section 6 in respect of the provision by that
        organisation of meals in the course of conducting that service in a
        State in a succeeding relevant period; or

   (b)  is recoverable by the Commonwealth from that approved organisation as
        a debt due to the Commonwealth. Payments to approved organisations in
        the Australian Capital Territory

"6B. The Minister may, on or after the prescribed commencement day, by notice
published in the Gazette, declare that, in respect of meals provided in the
Australian Capital Territory on or after the day specified in that notice by
an approved organisation in the course of conducting an approved meal service
in the Australian Capital Territory, the Secretary will not authorise the
making of a payment to that organisation pursuant to section 6 in respect of
those meals.". 


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