Issued by authority of the Minister for Revenue
and Assistant Treasurer

A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999

A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Amendment Regulations 2007 (No. 3)

Section 177-15 of the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 (the Act) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations prescribing matters 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.

Section 38-85 of the Act provides that the supply of an ‘education course’ is GST free. An ‘education course’ is defined in section 195-1 of the Act to include a ‘first aid or life saving course’, which is further defined in section 195-1 as a course of study or instruction that principally involves training individuals in first aid, resuscitation or other similar life saving skills (including personal aquatic survival skills) that is provided by certain entities. The relevant entities include those entities that use instructors for the course who hold certain specified training qualifications for the course.

Subparagraph (b) (vi) of the definition ‘first aid or life saving course’ allows additional qualifications (in life saving) to be specified in the regulations.

The Regulations amend the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Regulations 1999 (the Principal Regulations) to allow a broader range of personal aquatic survival skills courses to be provided GST free by specifying additional training qualifications (or competencies) for first aid or life saving courses.

Item 1 of the Regulations provides that the qualification specified in sub paragraph (b) (vi) of the definition of a first aid or life saving course is a qualification that;

·      is provided by a registered training organisation under the National Training Framework (NTF); and

·      certifies the attainment of all the competencies mentioned in Schedule 12.

Item 2 of the Regulations inserts Schedule 12, which lists six first aid or life saving competencies for which an instructor must obtain a certificate of attainment from a registered training organisation under the National Training Framework. The National Training Framework and registered training organisation are defined in Items 3 and 4 of the Regulations.

The NTF provides a framework for ensuring an appropriate standard of qualifications for instructors who provide personal aquatic survival skills courses that are GST free.

Broadly, the effect of the Regulations is that if an instructor holds a certificate in the specified qualifications, personal aquatic survival skills courses provided by the instructor will be GST free.

The Regulations commenced on the day after they were registered on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments.

Targeted consultation was undertaken on the competencies to be included in the Regulations.