Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

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IMMIGRATION (EDUCATION) REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT) 1994 NO. 142

STATUTORY RULES 1994 No. 142

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 that the Governor-General may make regulations, not inconsistent with the Act, to prescribe all matters which are required or permitted by the Act to be prescribed or necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to the Act. Subsection 4A(4) of the Act provides for the regulations to prescribe a card issued by the Commonwealth or a State or Territory government to be a "health care card" for the purposes of section 4A.

The purpose of the Regulations is to amend regulation 5 (Definitions - section 4A of the Act) to prescribe as a "health care card", a Pensioner Concession Card issued by the Commonwealth Department of Social Security and the Commonwealth Department of Veterans' Affairs. The holder of a card prescribed as a "health care card" is exempt from payment of fees for English language courses under section 4A. The Pensioner Health Benefits Card, to which regulation 5 currently refers, was replaced by the Pensioner Concession Card from 1 January 1994 and no further Pensioner Health Benefits Cards were issued after that date. Pensioner Concession Cards are issued on the same basis of eligibility as Pensioner Health Benefits Cards. The intention is that persons who hold either card are to be exempt from payment of a fee for English courses.

The Regulations commenced on 1 January 1994, the date of the introduction of Pensioner Concession Cards. Retrospective commencement of this amendment is entirely beneficial to holders of Pensioner Concession Cards. It is not prejudicial to the rights of any person and therefore does not contravene subsection 48(2) of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901.

Details of the Regulations are:

•       regulation 1 provides for the Regulations to be taken to have commenced on 1 January 1994;

•       regulation 2 provides for the Immigration (Education) Regulations to be amended as set out in these Regulations; and

•       regulation 3 amends regulation 5 (Definitions - section 4A of the Act) by inserting references to the Pensioner Concession Card in paragraphs 5(1)(a) and 5(1)(c).