Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

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LONG SERVICE LEAVE (COMMONWEALTH EMPLOYEES) REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT) 1998 NO. 19

Statutory Rules 1998 No. 19

(Issued by authority of the Minister for Workplace Relations and Small Business)

Long Service Leave (Commonwealth Employees) Act 19 76

Long Service Leave (Commonwealth Employees) Regulations (Amendment)

The Long Service Leave (Commonwealth Employees) Act 1976 (the Act) makes provision for long service leave in respect of Commonwealth employees and certain other persons. The Act provides for persons employed 'in Government Service' to be granted long service leave or a payment in lieu where the period of service of the person is at least 10 years.

Section 11 of the Act provides that the period of service of an employee is the period during which he or she has been employed continuously in Government Service. A person is taken to be employed in Government Service if the person is employed by the Commonwealth. In addition, subsection 7(2) of the Act allows the regulations to provide that previous employment of an employee in the service of a body referred to in the regulations shall be taken to be employment in Government Service.

Section 26 of the Act provides that the Governor-General may make regulations for the purposes of the Act.

Regulation 8 of the Long Service Leave (Commonwealth Employees) Regulations is made under subsection 7(2) and provides that the previous employment of an employee in the service of a person, authority, institution or body that is referred to in Schedule 2 shall be taken into account for the purposes of the Act as if it had been employment in Government Service.

The purpose of the regulation was to amend Schedule 2 so as to enable an employee who is transferred to Medibank Limited from the Health Insurance Commission (HIC) under section 21 of the Health Insurance Commission (Reform and Separation of Functions) Act 1997 ('the Transfer Act') to count his or her period of service with Medibank Limited as Government Service for long service leave purposes if they subsequently gain employment with other Commonwealth bodies bound by the Act.

Medibank Private is a health benefits fund operated as a subsidiary arm of the HIC. The Transfer Act provides for the separation of Medibank Private's functions from the HIC and its incorporation under the Corporations Law (known as 'Medibank Limited'). Section 21 of the Transfer Act provides a mechanism for the Minister to transfer certain employees of the HIC to Medibank Limited.

The regulation commenced on the date of gazettal.