Bills Digest No. 150 1997-98
Child Care Legislation Amendment Bill 1998
WARNING:
This Digest was prepared for debate. It reflects the legislation as introduced
and does not canvass subsequent amendments. This Digest does not have
any official legal status. Other sources should be consulted to determine
the subsequent official status of the Bill.
CONTENTS:
Passage History
Purpose
Background
Main Provisions
Endnotes
Contact Officer & Copyright Details
Child Care Legislation Amendment Bill 1998
Date Introduced: 4 March 1998
House: House of Representatives
Portfolio: Health and Family Services
Commencement:Deferral of the implementation of the Child Care
Payments Act 1997 is to take effect on the day on which this Act receives
Royal Assent. The remaining provisions commence on a date to be proclaimed.
For items 4-12 of Schedule 1 dealing with several initiatives which had
been included in the Child Care Payments Act 1997, this date is
expected to be 27 April 1998.
Purpose
This Bill defers the implementation of the Child Care Payments Act
1997 including the introduction of changed payment procedures for
child care. The Bill implements other decisions included in the Child
Care Payments Act 1997 through amendments to the Child Care Act
1972 and the Childcare Rebate Act 1993
Background
For a history of the Commonwealth Government's involvement in child care
and an analysis of the provisions of the Child Care Payments Act 1997
the reader is referred to Bills Digest No. 21 1997-98, Child Care
Payments Bill 1997.
The Child Care Payments Act 1997 made a number of changes to the
administration of child care which were due to come into effect on 27
April 1998. These included:
-
- Child Care Assistance to be paid directly to parents rather than to
providers;
-
- payment of the Child Care Rebate and Child Care Assistance to be made
by Centrelink, the new Commonwealth Service Delivery Agency;
-
- the placing of a limit of 7000 places a year on the number of new
private child care places eligible for Child Care Assistance in 1998
and 1999;
-
- the placing of a limit of 20 hours a week on access to Child Care
Assistance for purposes not related to work, study or training;
-
- the introduction of immunisation as a requirement for eligibility
for Child Care Assistance and the Child Care Rebate; and
-
- the introduction of new confidentiality requirements to protect personal
and other child care information.
On 23 January 1998 the Minister for Family Services, Hon Warwick Smith
MP, announced that the Government had decided not to go ahead with the
proposed changes to the way in which child care payments were to be made.(1)
The changes would have seen payments of Child Care Assistance being made
directly to parents rather than to providers, with parents keeping records
of their use of child care. In addition, parents would have had responsibility
to notify Centrelink of any changes to their circumstances or to their
use of child care provider.
According to press reports, child care operators have been concerned
about the possible changes to their income which the proposed new system
might bring, and they wished to retain the existing payment procedures.(2)
In his press release, the Minister stated that '[p]ayments will continue
to be made directly to child care services, with services continuing to
calculate parents' child care entitlements'.(3) Mr Smith explained that
payments of Child Care Assistance will continue to be made by the Department
of Health and Family Services, and payment of the Child Care Rebate will
continue to be paid by Medicare. He anticipated that Centrelink will take
over the payment of Child Care Assistance later in 1998 with no change
to the current payment procedures.
Both in his press release, and in his Second Reading Speech on 4 March
1998, the Minister referred to the introduction in 1999 of a child care
card or "smartcard" technology which might enable both Child
Care Assistance and the Child Care Rebate to be paid by Centrelink. In
an answer to a question on notice in the Senate, the Minister for Social
Security, Senator the Hon. Jocelyn Newman, said on 4 March 1998 (the same
day as this Bill was introduced) that:
The Department of Social Security and Centrelink are together investigating
opportunities for improved service delivery through the use of new technology
including the potential for using smartcard technology. However, no
decision to adopt such technology has been made either by the Department
or Centrelink.(4)
While deferring changes to the way in which Child Care Assistance is
paid, the Government is seeking to implement, through this Bill, the other
initiatives which were included in the Child Care Payments Act 1997.
Three of these decisions - the cap of 20 hours for non-work related child
care, the limit of 7000 new long day care places in 1998 and 1999, and
the immunisation requirement - were taken in the context of the 1997-98
Budget. The confidentiality provisions were recommended by the Law Reform
Commission in its review of child care legislation.(5)
Main Provisions
Amendments to the Child Care Act 1972
Items 4-6 deal with the limit which is to be placed on the number
of new places approved in 1998 and 1999. This limit is to be introduced
through new arrangements for planning approvals. Item 4 lists the
things that the operator of an eligible child care service must do in
order to maintain his or her approval. These provisions are the same as
those contained in the Child Care Payments Act 1997 and include
at (b) and (c) the requirement that operators must hold an allocation
of places and must not exceed that allocation.
Item 5 has the effect of extending the Minister's powers to make
guidelines to include the allocation of child care places. This will allow
the implementation of the 1997-98 Budget decision to limit new child care
places to 7000 a year in 1998 and 1999. The effect of Item 6 is
to make it clear that the limit of 7000 places per annum does not apply
after 31 December 1999.
Item 6 also adds three new sections to the Child Care Act 1972
(the Principal Act). Proposed section 4E deals with penalties
for breaching any conditions of approval. Proposed section 4F
sets out the procedure which the Secretary must follow before imposing
a sanction, and proposed section 4G makes decisions to implement
conditions or sanctions appealable to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
Items 7-10 deal with the limit of 20 hours' child care for non-work
related purposes. The wording of these items reflect that of the Child
Care Payments Act 1997.
Item 12 inserts a proposed section 12G in the Principal
Act which specifies the immunisation requirements for payment of Child
Care Assistance. These requirements and exemptions are the same as those
set out in the Child Care Payments Act 1997. For further information
on the immunisation requirement, the reader is referred to pages 10 and
11 of Bills Digest No. 21 1997-98, Child Care Payments Bill 1997.
The amendments contained in Items 4-12 come into effect on a day
to be fixed by Proclamation. According to the Explanatory Memorandum this
is expected to be 27 April 1998.(6)
The effect of Item 13 is to introduce confidentiality provisions
into the Child Care Act 1972. The proposed sections 12J
to 12V are identical to the confidentiality provisions in sections
230 to 242 of the Child Care Payments Act 1997 and make unauthorised
access to or use of the protected information an offence punishable by
imprisonment of up to 2 years.
Item 14 and 15 put in place powers which will allow the
transfer of payment of Child Care Assistance from the Department of Health
and Family Services to Centrelink. Item 15 also allows the Secretary
to delegate power to the operator of a child care centre who will have
to verify a child's immunisation status.
The amendments in Items 13-15 will come into effect on a day to
be fixed by Proclamation.
Amendments to the Child Care Payments Act
1997
The effect of Items 16 and 17 is to defer the implementation of
the Child Care Payments Act 1997 for up to two years. These amendments
come into effect on the day this Act receives Royal Assent.
Amendments to the Child Care Payments (Consequential Amendments and
Transitional Provisions) Act 1997
Items 18 - 24 are a series of technical amendments required as
a result of this Bill.
Amendments to the Childcare Rebate Act 1993
Items 25 and 26 insert a requirement that children are immunised
in order to receive the Child Care Rebate. The provision in Item 26
is modelled on section 81 of the Child Care Payments Act 1997.
Endnotes
- Administration arrangements for child care payments, Hon Warwick
Smith MP, Minister for Family Services, Media release, WS3/98,
23 January 1998.
-
- 'Child-care reform delay', Australian Financial Review, 24
January 1998, 7, 'Child-care chaos predicted', The Age, 2 February
1998, 4.
-
- Administrative arrangements for child care payments, op.cit.
-
- Senate, Debates, 4 March 1998, 306.
-
- Law Reform Commission, Child care for kids: review of legislation
administered by Department of Human Services and Health, (Report
No. 70 Interim), Law Reform Commission, Sydney, 1994, 140.
-
- Explanatory Memorandum, Child Care Legislation Amendment Bill
1998, 1.
Rosemary Bell
11 March 1998
Bills Digest Service
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ISSN 1328-8091
Commonwealth of Australia 1998
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Published by the Department of the Parliamentary Library, 1998.
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