Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

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IMMIGRATION (EDUCATION) REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT) 1993 NO. 54

STATUTORY RULES 1993 No. 54

Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Immigration, and Ethnic Affairs

Immigration (Education) Act 1971

Immigration (Education) Regulations (Amendment)

Section 13 of the Immigration (Education) Act 1971 (the Act) provides for the

Governor-General to make regulations prescribing matters required or permitted by the Act to be prescribed.

Section 4A of the Act provides that the regulations may provide for the charging and recovery of fees in respect of English language courses provided under the Act. Subsection 4A(2) provides that the regulations must, inter alia, exempt the holders of a health care card from any fees imposed. Subsection 4A(4) provides that cards may be prescribed for the purposes of the definition of a "health care card".

In addition, paragraph 4D(3)(b) of the Act provides that other matters in addition to those mentioned in the Act may be prescribed as matters which the Secretary may have regard to in determining whether it is unreasonable for an obligation of the Commonwealth to provide English language tuition to a particular person to cease.

The purpose of the Regulations is to provide in:

•       Regulation 1, for regulation 3 to have commenced retrospectively on 1 January 1993;

•       Regulation 2, for the Immigration (Education) Regulations to be amended as set out in these Regulations;

•       Regulation 3, for regulation 5 of the Immigration (Education) Regulations to be omitted and substituted without amendment. Regulation 5 prescribes cards which are "health care cards" for the purposes of section 4A of the Act. Statutory Rules 1993 No 31 amended subregulation 5(1) to add a number of cards to the prescribed cards, but that amendment did not commence until 1 March 1993. The intention was that holders of all the cards prescribed should have been exempt from payment of fees from the date of commencement of the regulations imposing the fees, that is, from 1 January 1993. Regulation 3 of these Regulations achieves that objective by omitting subregulation 5(1) and reinserting it in its entirety (as previously amended) to operate retrospectively to 1 January 1993. Retrospectivity will be entirely beneficial to holders of the prescribed cards, and will not disadvantage anyone. It will therefore comply with the requirements of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901; and

•       Regulation 4, for an amendment to regulation 6 of the Immigration (Education) Regulations to prescribe a further matter which the Secretary may have regard to in deciding whether it is reasonable for the Commonwealth's obligation to provide English language tuition to a particular person to cease. The further matter relates to "any period or periods of absence from Australia", and would allow deferral of the cessation of the obligation in circumstances where absence from Australia prevented the person from undertaking English language tuition within the usual period of the obligation.

These Regulations commence on gazettal, except for regulation 3 which is retrospective to 1 January 1993 (as explained in the notes on regulation 3, above).