Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

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CHILD CARE (TRANSITIONAL) REGULATIONS 1998 1998 NO. 64

STATUTORY RULES 1998 No. 64

Issued by authority of the Minister for Family Services

Child Care Legislation Amendment Act 1998

Child Care (Transitional) Regulations 1998

Subsection 4(1) of the Child Care Legislation Amendment Act 1998 (the Amendment Act) provides that the regulations may deal with transitional matters relating to the amendments made by Schedule 1 to the Amendment Act. Subsection 4(2) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations for the purposes of this section.

The Amendment Act implements a number of 1997 Budget initiatives and amends a number of Acts including the Child Care Act 1972 ( the Act) with respect to Childcare Assistance and the Childcare Rebate. The 1997 Budget initiatives are the limitation to 20 hours per week of Childcare Assistance for non-work related care, the linking of eligibility for child care payments to immunisation and the planning arrangements for long day care centres.

The purpose of the Regulations is to ensure that the Child Care (Eligible Child Care Centres) Guidelines made by the Minister prior to the Amendment Act continue to be in force.

Item 5 of Schedule 1 to the Amendment Act repealed the guide-line making powers of the Minister in section 4C(1) of the Act. Those powers related to the exercise of any of the Minister's powers under section 4B of the Act. One of those powers was the Minister's power to determine that a child care centre is an eligible child care centre for the purposes of section 12A of the Act. The Minister had made Guidelines - the Child Care (Eligible Child Care Centres) Guidelines - in relation to the exercise of that power. Item 5 of Schedule 1 substitutes, in place of the repealed subsection 4C(1), a new subsection 4C(1) which sets out new guideline-making powers for the Minister.

These Regulations provide that the Child Care (Eligible Child Care Centres) Guidelines, after the repeal of the old subsection 4C(1) of the Act, continue in force as if they were made under the new subsection 4C(1) .

The Regulations commenced on gazettal.