STATES GRANTS (PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION ASSISTANCE) REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT) 1994 NO. 439

STATES GRANTS (PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION ASSISTANCE) REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT) 1994 NO. 439

STATUTORY RULES 1994 No. 439

Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Schools, Vocational Education and Training

States Grants (Primary and Secondary Education Assistance) Act 1992

States Grants (Primary and Secondary Education Assistance) Regulations (Amendment)

Section 119 of the States Grants (Primary and Secondary Education Assistance) Act 1992 (the Act) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations for the purposes of the Act.

Subsection 106 (1) of the Act provides, in part, that the regulations may specify for a particular program year a number to be used for the variation of amounts of recurrent grants specified in the Schedules in relation to that year. The Minute recommends amendments to the States Grants (Primary and Secondary Education Assistance) Regulations to specify this number for the 1994 program year.

The amounts of recurrent grants given to each State for specific purposes are set out in the Schedules for each program year and are supplemented each year to meet the cost of inflation by multiplying the amounts of the Schedules by the relevant number set out in the Regulations.

Recurrent grants are supplemented in line with the Average Government Schools Recurrent Costs (AGSRC). The AGSRC index used for this purpose is based on movements in Average Government Schools Costs, excluding capital costs associated with the provision of buildings and grounds. The AGSRC is maintained by the Ministerial Council for Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs. The latest available AGSRC is for the 1992-93 financial year.

The supplementation applies to both government and non-government sectors.

The Regulations enable the initial legislated recurrent grant levels for 1994, 1995 and 1996 to be supplemented for the movement in the AGSRC between the 1991-92 and 1992-93 financial years. The variation of amounts of recurrent grants specified in the Schedules of the Act is determined according to the factor 1.051, which equates to an increase of 5.1%.

The effect of the Regulations is to provide an additional $131.36 million under recurrent grants to schools for the 1994 calendar year, bringing total funds appropriated under the Act to an estimated $3.026 billion.

The flow-on effect of the Regulation on general recurrent grants is as follows:

•       for 1995 - an additional $133.71 million increasing to an estimated $2.77 billion for recurrent grants; and

•       for 1996 - an additional $136.41 million increasing to an estimated $2,82 billion for recurrent grants.

Details of the Regulations are below.

Regulation 1: Amendment

Provides that the Regulations amend the States Grants (Primary and Secondary Education Assistance) Regulations.

Regulation 2: Cost supplementation - recurrent grants in 1993 program year)

This Regulation amends Regulation 3. Reference to program years 1994, 1995 and 1996 is removed so that recurrent grants for these years can be supplemented in a new Regulation.

Regulation 3: Cost Supplementation - recurrent grants in 1994, 1995 and 1996

Inserts a new regulation which provides that recurrent grant amounts specified in the relevant Schedules of the Act (see subsections 106(4) and (5)) will be increased by 5.1%, or by a factor of 1.051 in terms of the Act. This variation applies in relation to all recurrent grants for 1994, 1995 and 1996.