Queensland Bills Explanatory Notes Queensland Bills Explanatory Notes[Index] [Search] [Download] [Bill] [Help]
1
Australian Catholic University (Queensland) Bill 2006
Australian Catholic University
(Queensland) Bill 2006
Explanatory Notes
General Outline
Short Title
The short title of the Bill is the Australian Catholic University
(Queensland) Bill 2006.
Policy Objectives of the Legislation
The primary objectives of the Bill are to recognise the Australian Catholic
University (ACU) as a university, and facilitate its operation in Queensland.
Reasons for the Bill
The provisions of Queensland's Higher Education (General Provisions)
Act 2003 currently enable ACU to operate as a university in Queensland, by
virtue of its status as an interstate university under that Act. However, for
some time, ACU has sought its own Queensland stand-alone legislation to
give it separate and specific recognition as a university in Queensland.
This will bring it into line with all other major Queensland-based
universities, for which there are separate Queensland Acts.
Achieving the Objectives
The Bill achieves the objectives by specifying that ACU is recognised as a
university in Queensland; and by including explicit provisions to facilitate
its operation in Queensland. This includes provisions to:
· confirm that ACU's governing body (its senate) is solely responsible
for, and has authority over, the provision of education by ACU;
· specify that it is a function of ACU to confer higher education awards;
· provide that ACU may establish investment common funds to enable
the pooling of trust and other funds for investment purposes;
2
Australian Catholic University (Queensland) Bill 2006
· prohibit ACU from using an exemption under the Anti-Discrimination
Act 1991 in relation to discrimination on religious grounds; and
· clarify that the State is not liable for ACU or its operations.
Administrative costs
There are no administrative costs associated with this legislation.
Fundamental Legislative Principles
The Bill does not infringe fundamental legislative principles.
Consultation
ACU was consulted during the development of the Bill and was provided
with a consultation draft of the Bill.
The following Government agencies were also consulted about the Bill:
the Department of the Premier and Cabinet, Queensland Treasury, and the
Department of Justice and the Attorney-General.
Notes on Provisions
Part 1 Preliminary
Short title
Clause 1 establishes the short title of the Act as the Australian Catholic
University (Queensland) Act 2006.
Definitions
Clause 2 provides that the dictionary in the schedule defines particular
words used in the Act.
Main purposes
Clause 3 states that the main purposes of the Act are to--
3
Australian Catholic University (Queensland) Bill 2006
(a) recognise the Australian Catholic University as a university; and
(b) facilitate its operation in Queensland.
Part 2 The university
Recognition as a university
Clause 4 provides that the Australian Catholic University is recognised as a
university in Queensland.
Independence of the university
Clause 5 provides that the university senate (i.e. its governing body) is
solely responsible for, and has authority over, the provision of education by
the university; and that the senate is not subject to the direction of any
person in relation to the provision of education by the university. This
confirms that the university is independent of other bodies (such as the
State) with respect to its provision of education.
Use of name `Australian Catholic University'
Clause 6 authorises the university and its senate to use the name `Australian
Catholic University' in relation to the conduct of the university.
As an Australian public company limited by guarantee, the university is
subject to the provisions of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cwlth), which
requires it to have the word `Limited' at the end of its name. However,
section 5G(6)(a) of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cwlth) does not prohibit
the use of another name if the use of that name is expressly provided for, or
authorised by, a provision of a law of a State or Territory. Therefore, the
clause permits the company to use the name `Australian Catholic
University'.
Function of conferring awards
Clause 7 provides that the university has a function to confer higher
education awards. Stating this function in the Act is consistent with the
National Protocols for Higher Education Approval Processes (the `National
Protocols'), which were approved by the Ministerial Council on Education,
Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) on 31 March 2000.
Item 1.14 of Protocol 1 of the National Protocols specifies that one of the
4
Australian Catholic University (Queensland) Bill 2006
features to be demonstrated by an Australian university is that it should be
authorised by law "to award higher education qualifications across a range
of fields and to set standards for those qualifications which are equivalent
to Australian and international standards".
The Dictionary in the schedule to the Act defines the term higher
education award by reference to that term in the Higher Education
(General Provisions) Act 2003, schedule 2, which in turn states that a
higher education award means--
(a) a degree, status, title or description of associate, bachelor, master or
doctor; or
(b) any other award, if the course of study relating to it is classified as
higher education in the course descriptions stated in the Australian
Qualifications Framework.
Part 3 Investment common funds
Establishment of investment common funds
Clause 8 provides that the university may establish 1 or more investment
common funds for the collective investment of funds belonging to or vested
in the university. This includes trust funds that the university must apply
for the purpose for which they were given. Therefore, clause 8 allows the
university to invest such funds without incurring any liability for breach of
trust.
Income of investment common funds
Clause 9 specifies how the university must periodically distribute the
income generated by an investment common fund that it has established.
The income must be distributed among each fund forming part of the
investment common fund, having regard to the share each component fund
has in the investment common fund during the period in which the income
is derived.
However, despite this requirement, the university may also--
(a) add a part of the income to the investment common fund's
capital; or
5
Australian Catholic University (Queensland) Bill 2006
(b) use a part of the income to establish or augment another fund to
make provision against capital depreciation or reduction of
income.
Funds added to investment common fund
Clause 10 clarifies that if funds are added to an investment common fund
by a component fund, then the university is taken to hold those funds for
the benefit of the investment common fund. Also, the component fund is
taken to have added to the investment common fund an amount equivalent
to the value attributed by the university to the added funds at the time the
funds were added to the investment common fund. This clause also
provides that if a component fund stops forming part of the investment
common fund, then the amount to be withdrawn is to be equivalent to the
value attributed by the university to the component fund's equity in the
investment common fund at the time of the withdrawal.
Trust funds
Clause 11 states that the inclusion of trust funds in an investment common
fund does not affect the trust to which those trust funds, or amounts
attributed to those trust funds, are subject. Also, the power of the
university to include trust funds in an investment common fund is subject
to any express direction in, or express condition of, the trust.
Part 4 Miscellaneous
No religious discrimination
The Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 prohibits discrimination by educational
authorities against students or prospective students. However, it is not
unlawful for them to discriminate if a specific exemption applies. In
particular, section 41 of the Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 provides that an
educational authority that operates, or proposes to operate, an educational
institution wholly or mainly for students of a particular sex or religion, or
who have a general or specific impairment, may exclude applicants who
are not of the particular sex or religion, or who do not have a general, or the
specific, impairment.
Given that the university is open to all students and staff, regardless of their
beliefs and backgrounds, it is appropriate that the university should not be
6
Australian Catholic University (Queensland) Bill 2006
able to use the exemption in section 41 of the Anti-Discrimination Act
1991. Therefore, clause 12 supports this position by stating that section 41
of the Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 does not apply to allow the university
to discriminate in the area of education by excluding an applicant for
admission as a student who is not of a particular religion.
Liability of the State
Unlike the majority of other Queensland universities, the university is not a
statutory body. Consequently, the university is not required to comply with
the requirements of the Statutory Bodies Financial Arrangements Act 1982
or the Financial Administration and Audit Act 1977. Clause 13 clarifies
that the State is not liable for any action, claim, demand or liability arising
from the enactment or operation of the Act or from anything done by the
university under the Act.
Application of Higher Education (General Provisions) Act 2003
Clause 14 states that part 2 of the Higher Education (General Provisions)
Act 2003 does not apply to the university.
Schedule Dictionary
The schedule defines particular words used in the Act, as follows:
Australian Catholic University or the university means the Australian
Catholic University Limited ACN 050 192 660.
component fund see section 9(1).
funds include trust funds, real property, securities and other property,
belonging to or vested in the university.
higher education award see the Higher Education (General Provisions)
Act 2003, schedule 2.
senate means the Senate of the university as constituted under the
university's constitution.
© State of Queensland 2006