Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

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NATIONAL HEALTH REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT) 1993 NO. 280

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

STATUTORY RULES 1993 No. 280

Issued by Authority of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Community Services

National Health Act 1953

National Health Regulations (Amendment)

Part VA of the National Health Act 1953 (the Act) provides for the payment of nursing home benefits in respect of approved nursing home patients and Repatriation nursing home patients. The Department of Health, Housing, Local Government and Community Services administers this Part of the Act, processing claims lodged by proprietors of approved nursing homes on a computer based payment system. Payments are made by the Department of Finance from computer generated records, and payments in respect of Repatriation nursing home patients are charged by the Department of Finance to Department of Veterans' Affairs appropriations.

Subsection 135A(1) of the Act prohibits the disclosure of information, acquired in the performance of duties or in the exercise of powers or functions under the Act, to another person. This provision has the effect of denying the Department of Veterans' Affairs information regarding payments made on their behalf in respect of Repatriation nursing home patients. It also prevents the Department of Veterans' Affairs from verifying that those nursing home patients for whose care it is paying are in fact eligible to have some or all of the cost of their nursing home care met by that Department.

Paragraph 135A(3)(b) of the Act however, enables the Secretary to divulge information which would otherwise be subject to subsection 135A(1), to an authority or person if that authority or person is prescribed for the purposes of the paragraph and the information to be disclosed is of a kind that in accordance with the regulations may be provided to that authority or person.

Subsection 140(1) of the Act enables the Governor-General to make regulations, prescribing all matters which by the Act are required or permitted to be prescribed, including the prescribing of authorities or persons and kinds of information for the purposes of paragraph 135A(3)(b) of the Act.

The regulations prescribe the Department of Veterans' Affairs for the purposes of paragraph 135A(3)(b) of the Act, and define the kinds of information with respect to Repatriation nursing home patients and possible Repatriation nursing home patients which can be divulged to that Department under paragraph 135A(3)(b) of the Act.

The commencement of the proposed regulations from that date will not, in terms of subsection 48(2) of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901, affect the rights of a person as at the date of notification so as to disadvantage that person, and will not impose liabilities on a person in respect of anything done or omitted to be done before the date of notification.

The regulations are taken to have commenced on 1 July 1991 in order that information of the kind detailed in the regulations may be divulged to the Department of Veterans' Affairs from that date.


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