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This is a Bill, not an Act. For current law, see the Acts databases.
South Australia
Education (Compulsory Education Age) Amendment
Bill 2007
A BILL FOR
An Act to amend the Education Act 1972.
Contents
Part 1—Preliminary
1 Short
title
2 Commencement
3 Amendment provisions
Part 2—Amendment of Education
Act 1972
4 Amendment of section
5—Interpretation
5 Substitution of section 8
8 Power
of delegation
6 Substitution of section 13
13 Power
of delegation etc
7 Substitution of heading to Part 6
8 Amendment
of section 74—Interpretation
9 Amendment of section 75—Compulsory
enrolment of children
10 Amendment of section 75C—Appeal against
direction of Director-General or Minister
11 Insertion of sections 75D and
75E
75D Approved learning
programs
75E Report on operation of
Part
12 Amendment of section 76—Compulsory attendance and
participation
13 Substitution of section 78
78 Employment
of children of compulsory school age or compulsory education
age
14 Amendment of section 79—Attendance
15 Substitution of
section 80
80 Authorised
officers
80A Powers of authorised
officers
80B Offence to hinder etc authorised
officers
16 Amendment of section 81—Evidentiary
provision
17 Amendment of section 81A—Exemptions
18 Amendment of
section 107—Regulations
19 Amendment of long title
The Parliament of South Australia enacts as
follows:
This Act may be cited as the Education (Compulsory Education Age)
Amendment Act 2007.
This Act will come into operation on a day to be fixed by
proclamation.
In this Act, a provision under a heading referring to the amendment of a
specified Act amends the Act so specified.
Part 2—Amendment
of Education
Act 1972
4—Amendment of
section 5—Interpretation
Section 5(1)—after the definition of the Appeal Board
insert:
child of compulsory education age means a person who is
16 years of age;
Section 8—delete the section and substitute:
8—Power of delegation
(1) The Minister may delegate to a body or person (including a person for
the time being holding or acting in a specified office or position) a function
or power of the Minister under this Act.
(2) A delegation under this section—
(a) must be by instrument in writing; and
(b) may be absolute or conditional; and
(c) does not derogate from the ability of the Minister to act in any
matter; and
(d) is revocable at will.
(3) A function or power delegated under this section may, if the
instrument of delegation so provides, be further delegated.
(4) A person to whom functions or powers have been delegated under
subsection (1) who has a direct or indirect personal or pecuniary interest
in any matter in relation to which the person proposes to perform those
functions or exercise those powers must disclose the nature of the interest in
writing to the Minister.
Maximum penalty: $20 000.
(5) It is a defence to a charge of an offence against subsection (4)
to prove that the defendant was not, at the time of the alleged offence, aware
of his or her interest in the matter.
Section 13—delete the section and substitute:
13—Power of delegation etc
(1) The Director-General may, with the consent of the Minister, delegate
to a body or person (including a person for the time being holding or acting in
a specified office or position) a function or power of the Director-General
under this Act.
(2) A delegation under this section—
(a) must be by instrument in writing; and
(b) may be absolute or conditional; and
(c) does not derogate from the ability of the Director-General to act in
any matter; and
(d) is revocable at will.
(3) A person to whom functions or powers have been delegated under
subsection (1) who has a direct or indirect personal or pecuniary interest
in any matter in relation to which the person proposes to perform those
functions or exercise those powers must disclose the nature of the interest in
writing to the Director-General.
Maximum penalty: $20 000.
(4) It is a defence to a charge of an offence against subsection (3)
to prove that the defendant was not, at the time of the alleged offence, aware
of his or her interest in the matter.
(5) If the Director-General is absent from the duties of his or her office
for any reason, a Deputy Director-General will act in the office of the
Director-General and will exercise and perform the functions and powers of the
Director-General.
7—Substitution of
heading to Part 6
Heading to Part 6—delete the heading and substitute:
Part 6—Compulsory enrolment and attendance
etc
8—Amendment of
section 74—Interpretation
(1) Section 74(1)—before the definition of school
insert:
approved learning program—see section 75D;
authorised officer—see section 80(1);
(2) Section 74—after subsection (1) insert:
(2) For the purposes of this Part, a reference to
participation in an approved learning program includes a reference
to attending at the place or places at which the approved learning program is
conducted.
9—Amendment of
section 75—Compulsory enrolment of children
(1) Section 75(1) and (2)—delete subsections (1) and (2) and
substitute:
(1) Subject to this Part, a child of compulsory school age must be
enrolled at a primary school or secondary school (according to the educational
attainments of the child).
(2) Subject to this Part, a child of compulsory education age must be
enrolled in an approved learning program, or in a combination of approved
learning programs, so as to constitute full-time participation in approved
learning programs under this Act.
(2a) Nothing in this section requires a child who—
(a) is 16 or more years of age; and
(b) has achieved a qualification under an approved learning
program,
to be enrolled in a school or in an approved learning program under this
section.
(2) Section 75(5)—delete "shall be guilty of an offence and liable
to a penalty not exceeding one hundred dollars." and
substitute:
is guilty of an offence.
Maximum penalty: $500.
(3) Section 75(6)—delete "the name, date of birth and place of
residence of the child" and substitute:
—
(a) the name and date of birth of the child; and
(b) the place of residence of the child; and
(c) any other information required by the regulations.
(4) Section 75—after subsection (6) insert:
(7) The Governor may, by regulation—
(a) prescribe rules or criteria that will be applied for the purposes of
determining at which school a child must be enrolled under subsection (1)
or (2) (subject to the operation of subsections (3) and (4) of this section
and section 75A);
(b) prescribe rules or criteria that will be applied for the purposes of
determining what constitutes full-time participation in approved learning
programs for the purposes of subsection (2);
(c) prescribe rules or criteria that will be applied for the purposes of
determining whether a qualification has been achieved for the purposes of
subsection (2a)(b).
(8) A regulation under subsection (7) may confer discretionary powers
on the Minister.
10—Amendment of
section 75C—Appeal against direction of Director-General or
Minister
(1) Section 75C(1)(a)—delete "and 75B"
(2) Section 75C(1)(b)—delete "or 75B"
11—Insertion of
sections 75D and 75E
After section 75C insert:
75D—Approved learning programs
(1) For the purposes of this Part, a learning program is an approved
learning program if the program—
(a) —
(i) consists of secondary education provided under this Act; or
(ii) counts towards, or is otherwise required for, the award of a degree,
diploma or other award provided by a university declared by the regulations to
be a university or class of universities that is within the ambit of this
subparagraph; or
(iii) consists of technical and further education provided by a college
(within the meaning of the Technical and Further Education
Act 1975); or
(iv) consists of an accredited course provided by a training organisation
registered under the Training and Skills Development Act 2003 or a
corresponding law (other than a course or training organisation excluded from
the ambit of this definition by the regulations); or
(v) is an apprenticeship or traineeship undertaken with an employer
approved as an employer who may undertake the training of an apprentice/trainee
under an approved contract of training under the Training and Skills
Development Act 2003; or
(vi) is a program of a class declared by the Minister by notice in the
Gazette to be an approved learning program; and
(b) complies with the requirements set out in the regulations for the
purposes of this section.
(2) To avoid doubt, a reference to an apprenticeship or traineeship in
subsection (1)(a)(v) includes a reference to any relevant work undertaken
as part of the apprenticeship or traineeship.
(3) In this section—
corresponding law means a law of another State or a Territory
of the Commonwealth relating to higher education, vocational education and
training and adult community education.
75E—Report on operation of
Part
(1) The Director-General must, on or before December 31 in each year,
provide to the Minister a report on the operation of this Part (including
compliance with this Part) for the preceding year.
(2) The Director-General, in preparing a report under
subsection (1)—
(a) may, by notice in writing, require a specified person or body to
provide the information specified in the notice to the Director-General;
and
(b) must comply with any other requirements prescribed by the
regulations.
(3) A report under subsection (1) may be incorporated in the report
of the Director-General prepared under section 14.
12—Amendment of
section 76—Compulsory attendance and participation
(1) Section 76(1)—delete subsection (1) and substitute:
(1) Subject to this Part, a child of compulsory school age is required to
attend at the school at which he or she is enrolled on every day, and for such
parts of every day, that instruction is provided for the child at the
school.
(1a) Subject to this Part, a child of compulsory education age is required
to participate in an approved learning program in which he or she is enrolled on
every day, and for such parts of every day, that instruction is provided in
relation to the program.
(2) Section 76—after subsection (2) insert:
(2a) Subsection (1a) does not apply—
(a) in respect of a child exempted from participation in accordance with
this Part; or
(b) in respect of a child for whom a parent presents, within a reasonable
time, a prescribed reason for the non-participation of the child in the approved
learning program.
(3) Section 76(3)—delete "shall be guilty of an offence and liable
to a penalty not exceeding two hundred dollars." and substitute:
is guilty of an offence.
Maximum penalty: $500.
(4) Section 76(5)—delete subsection (5)
Section 78—delete the section and substitute:
78—Employment of children of compulsory school age
or compulsory education age
(1) Subject to this Part, a person must not employ a child of compulsory
school age or compulsory education age—
(a) during the hours at which the child is required to attend school or to
participate in an approved learning program (as the case requires); or
(b) in any labour or occupation that renders, or is likely to render, the
child unfit to attend school or participate in an approved learning program as
required by this Part or to obtain the proper benefit from such attendance or
participation.
Maximum penalty: $5 000.
(2) It is a defence to a charge of an offence against this section if the
defendant proves that the alleged offence was not committed intentionally and
did not result from any failure on the part of the defendant to take reasonable
care to avoid the commission of the offence.
14—Amendment of
section 79—Attendance
Section 79—after "age" insert:
and participation in an approved learning program by children of compulsory
education age
Section 80—delete the section and substitute:
80—Authorised officers
The following persons are authorised officers for the purposes of this
Part:
(a) any member of the police force;
(b) any person authorised in writing by the Director-General to exercise
the powers of an authorised officer under this Act;
(c) any person authorised in writing by the Chief Executive Officer
(within the meaning of the Family and Community Services Act 1972)
to exercise the powers of an authorised officer under this Act.
80A—Powers of authorised
officers
(1) If an authorised officer observes a person in a public place who
appears to the officer to be a child of compulsory school age or a child of
compulsory education age at a time when such a child should normally be
attending school or participating in an approved learning program (as the case
requires), the officer may require the child to provide—
(a) his or her name, address and age; and
(b) the reason for his or her non-attendance at school or
non-participation in an approved learning program.
(2) If a child referred to in subsection (1) is in the charge or
company of a person apparently over the age of 18 years, the authorised
officer may require that person to provide the authorised officer with the
information referred to in that subsection.
(3) If it appears to an authorised officer who is a member of the police
force, after enquiring into the child's reasons for not being at school or
participating in an approved learning program, that the child does not have a
proper reason for being absent from school or for not participating in an
approved learning program, the authorised officer may take the child into his or
her custody and return the child—
(a) to someone in authority at the school or in relation to the approved
learning program in which the child is enrolled (as the case requires);
or
(b) to a parent or guardian of the child.
(4) An authorised officer may at any time attend at residential premises
and request any person in the premises to provide the officer
with—
(a) the full names of all children of compulsory school age and children
of compulsory education age resident in the dwelling house; and
(b) the respective ages of those children; and
(c) the schools at which, or the approved learning program in which, (if
any) the children are enrolled in accordance with this Part.
80B—Offence to hinder etc authorised
officers
A person who—
(a) hinders or obstructs an authorised officer, or a person assisting an
authorised officer, in the exercise of powers conferred by this Part;
or
(b) uses abusive, threatening or insulting language to an authorised
officer, or a person assisting an authorised officer; or
(c) when required by an authorised officer under this Part to answer a
question, refuses or fails to answer the question to the best of the person's
knowledge, information and belief; or
(d) falsely represents, by words or conduct, that he or she is an
authorised officer,
is guilty of an offence.
Maximum penalty: $5 000.
16—Amendment of
section 81—Evidentiary provision
Section 81(2)(c)—after "school" insert:
or approved learning program
17—Amendment of
section 81A—Exemptions
Section 81A—after subsection (2) insert:
(2a) The Minister may, by notice published in the Gazette, publish
guidelines in relation to the granting of, or variation or revocation of, an
exemption under this section.
18—Amendment of
section 107—Regulations
(1) Section 107(2)—after paragraph (sa) insert:
(sb) the collection, recording and collation of information on any matter
relating to the administration or enforcement of Part 6 and the provision
of the information to the Minister or other body determined by the
Minister;
(2) Section 107(4)—delete "two hundred dollars" and
substitute:
$500
Long title—after "State;" insert:
to make proper provision for education alternatives to traditional
secondary schooling;